Chapter 205: Nicole’s Confusion
Roger’s strategy in this wave was quite simple: to force the Naga forces to gather, as they would need to consolidate to counter the Sea Kingdom’s forces.
At this point, the Naga expeditionary forces knew that Shaq’s troops represented the Sea Kingdom’s last organized and most powerful mobile force. They also possessed the strategic weapon capable of directly annihilating such a force. The Naga commanders, in a state of celebratory revelry and basking in the joy of their victory, would undoubtedly choose the simplest strategy: eliminate the enemy quickly and then rest. After all, continuous battles would also weary them as the attacking force.
Roger had confirmed through previous engagements that Nicole was not an invincible war goddess. Her approach simply differed from that of ordinary military leaders, and in critical moments, she placed greater faith in her deities, which led to the fall of Black Shark Fortress. However, while she achieved her strategic objective, she did so at the cost of depleting her Naga expeditionary forces to a numerically inferior state. Consequently, she lacked the strength to continue fighting in the Sea Kingdom. Instead, she established a base near the Dark Tree, awaiting the arrival of the second wave of Naga troops to fully secure their occupied landing points.
At this juncture, aside from a small number of Naga who had returned to the Dark Tree’s camp due to their self-control, the Naga army gathered on the battlefield was indeed the last main force of the expeditionary army. Subsequently, after consulting with her military leaders, Nicole believed that a decisive victory, achieved by using the strategic weapon to eliminate the Sea Kingdom’s last mobile force, would secure victory in the war with 98% certainty.
Nicole assumed that the Sea Kingdom was unaware of their possession of the Overlord Fungus, as they had not deployed this trump card even when the fighting was so fierce. However, unbeknownst to her, Roger, through the equipment sold to the Naga by the Azurevine Empire, knew the exact location of Nicole’s Overlord Fungus.
An interesting scenario unfolded. Nicole approved the expeditionary force’s use of the Overlord Fungus. The Overlord Fungus was transported from Xilin Fortress to the Dark Tree camp and then moved towards the assembly point of the Naga troops on the front lines.
As the weapon and troops converged… the explosion occurred! The largest single explosion since the beginning of this campaign erupted on the edge of the Naga expeditionary army’s last main force formation. The Naga soldiers, having endured three days of combat, one day of slaughter, and the release of their brethren, were completely unprepared for an explosion from friendly forces. They were already an exhausted army, anticipating their leaders to deliver a superweapon that would swiftly eliminate the enemy before them. Instead, the superweapon arrived, only to create a new sun before their eyes, eliminating themselves.
At that moment, Roger pressed the activation button in his hand. The energy released by fission triggered fusion, and an energy explosion equivalent to five million tons of TNT began to release from a single point, directly tearing apart the Naga expeditionary army’s hard-reorganized formation. Even though it wasn’t at the absolute center of the formation, the yield was sufficient to engulf all the soldiers. The scythe of death swung down, vaporizing—along with the Naga officers who believed this long battle was about to end—leaving a faint scar on the ground.
The Sea Kingdom’s forces intentionally slowed their advance, maintaining their speed while raising their defensive shields. They couldn’t withstand the direct explosion of the Overlord Fungus, but the mages assured them they could defend against the aftershocks. Amidst the chaotic currents, the Sea Kingdom’s soldiers had hoped to witness their enemies’ descent into oblivion. However, the light was so intense that even with the shields significantly weakening it and the water becoming murky, it was still impossible to look directly at it. But feeling the continuous tremors of the ground and hearing the roaring chaos of the sea, everyone intuitively felt that there were likely no survivors on that side. The last fifteen thousand main force of the Naga expeditionary army had vanished without a trace!
In that instant, the Naga officers awaiting news of victory within the Dark Tree camp were stunned. “Why hadn’t our explosion command been given? Why hadn’t the great bomb been sent to the enemy’s position? Instead, our own camp exploded?”
Nicole, having just finished her prayer, rushed into the command center. Staring at the magical sand table, where the explosion’s epicenter coincided almost exactly with the location of the Naga’s last main force, her mind went blank, and she felt a shortness of breath, nearly fainting as she clutched her forehead. “Why, why did this happen? Why did the weapon we poured all our resources into explode in our own camp? Why, when we were on the verge of victory, are we being rewritten by a Crown Prince?”
Countless officers turned questioning eyes towards her, especially the deputy commander of the expeditionary force, Kamy Blue Coral. His son, Nickel Blue Coral, had been sent to establish a blockade to prevent Prince Shaq from reinforcing the main battlefield. Now, Prince Shaq’s forces had appeared here, indicating that his son was likely in grave danger. And knowing his son’s character, Kamy understood that his son’s death was almost certain; otherwise, he would never have allowed Prince Shaq to breach the blockade.
Such a monumental sacrifice, the expeditionary force’s immense sacrifice, and the Naga Empire’s colossal sacrifice—all were made to achieve victory. A cornerstone of this victory was the reliability of the equipment introduced by Nicole, which had indeed demonstrated the power described. While all previous equipment had proven its worth, even exceeding the Naga’s expectations, the most crucial strategic weapon had encountered a fatal flaw at the most critical moment! At this point, no one would consider the fact that the decision to purchase the Overlord Fungus was a unanimous vote. Instead, they would focus their gaze of disaster upon Nicole!
Nicole was also in distress, not even knowing what had happened! Master Copperbeard’s weapons were certainly not the issue; they had been verified so many times before. Why had there been a problem this time? Yet, all communication from the front lines had been severed. Their attempts to confirm the nature of the chaotic energy storms revealed an explosion whose destructive power surpassed any previous failure of the Large Hydrangea Fungus. This meant the Overlord Fungus they had sent to the front lines had exploded. Without the enemy’s super-magic, without the enemy discovering new weapons, their own weapon had annihilated their last remaining effective force.
Nicole’s mind, recovering from its blankness, struggled to speak: “Give me about a minute.” She stepped outside the command center, took out her Super Dimension Sketchpad, and asked Master Copperbeard in the anti-Azurevine Alliance group: “Master, why did the Overlord Fungus explode for no reason?”
“Child, there is no love in this world without reason, and no explosion without reason,” Master Copperbeard replied immediately.
“What do you mean…” Before Nicole could finish typing, she suddenly found that her Super Dimension Sketchpad had malfunctioned, turning into a common bubble and evaporating. She had been removed from the chat group. She began to question the identities of the group members and was about to be apprehended by the Azurevine Empire, so staying in the group was meaningless. Frankenstein, fearing further questions, used his stolen authority, obtained Roger’s permission, and directly kicked Nicole out. “If I’m not questioned, I won’t bear guilt. That’s how it is!”
At this moment, the trumpets of battle sounded. The Sea Kingdom’s forces, led by Shaq, arrived outside the Dark Tree camp.
