The Mediterranean waves shimmered eerily in the moonlight. Caesar's final 'Greek Fire' fleet surged forward like a pack of sharks drawn by the scent of blood, swarming towards the isolated flagship, the 'Zhenhai'.
On the Zhenhai, Liu Xun stood on the main deck, his black military overcoat fluttering in the wind. Rather than ordering a salvo from the main guns, he shut down most of the power boilers, allowing the flagship to drift slowly across the sea like a wounded beast.
'Your Majesty, the enemy ships are two nautical miles away. Their fire-breathing crossbows are already preheating,' came Gongshu Qi's tense voice through the brass microphone. Liu Xun activated Top-Tier Performance: Fallen Overlord, deliberately hoisting the 'damaged' signal flag on the flagship and ordering the sailors to set off a few insignificant plumes of black smoke on the deck.
"Caesar wants to see me fall, so I'll put on a grand show for him." Watching the approaching Roman warships through his telescope, Liu Xun revealed a barely perceptible sneer.
Seeing this, the Roman fleet erupted in deafening cheers, believing that the "iron myth" of the Han Dynasty had finally collapsed under the lingering power of "Greek fire". Caesar then ordered a full-scale assault, attempting to use the westerly winds to spray chemical propellants onto the 'Zhenhai'. Just as the Roman fleet entered the 'half-nautical-mile' 'deadline', Liu Xun abruptly pressed an icon flashing with cyan lightning.
[System God-Level Authority Activated: Weather Control – East Wind Assistance'.
Consumption: 50,000 Imperial Reputation Points.
Effect: Forcibly reverses the sea surface pressure field to create a localised, instantaneous, directional level 10 gale, lasting fifteen minutes.
The previously calm westerly winds suddenly stopped without warning, and a roaring east wind rose from the ground behind the Han flagship! Whoosh! The 'Greek fire' spewed by the Roman fleet and whipped into an arc by the wind was forced back by hundreds of eerie blue tongues of fire. They slammed directly onto the Romans' wooden decks and fuel-laden supply ships.
'The wind... the wind has shifted? This is impossible!' Caesar watched helplessly as his fleet was engulfed in the inferno he had created. No longer feigning injury, Liu Xun instantly regained his composure, his eyes sharp as an eagle's. 'All ships are on fire! Activate the arc spotlights and the main guns for pinpoint kills!'
Three futuristic beams of snow-white light pierced the night, illuminating the Roman wreckage in the sea with crystal clarity. The rifled main guns of the Zhenhai, already preheated, unleashed their final judgement: "Boom!" Boom! Boom! Due to the favourable wind direction, the trajectory of the Han's exploding shells was corrected, precisely igniting the ammunition magazine of the Roman flagship. Deadly red lotuses bloomed on the sea. The wind gradually subsided, leaving only charred driftwood and the desperate cries of Roman soldiers. With his hands behind his back, Liu Xun stood at the bow of the ship, watching the wisp of blue mist (the Corrector's consciousness) flee in disarray amidst the flames. He then issued a proclamation to the entire army via radio: "Tell the world that I am 'Heaven's Mandate'. I command the wind and the sea surges; I command the fire and the enemy turns to ashes.'
[System Settlement]
Achievement Completed: Weather Master – First Victory
Judgment: The Roman naval forces have been completely wiped out.
Unlocked rewards: Basic Fluid Dynamics Calculation Model and Precision Barometer Manufacturing Process.
System prompt: Due to your forced intervention in atmospheric physical constants, Lord Liu, the Corrector has been forced to expose the coordinates of its base station.
Target location: The Alps — the Pinnacle of the Gods. Looking at the faintly visible mountain outline in the distance, Liu Xun coldly wiped the command sword at his waist and said, 'Gongshu Qi, forget about these remnants. Bring out all the liquid oxygen explosives for me.' "Let's go and level that mountain."
On this day, the year-round snow of the Alps was mercilessly compacted by the tracks of the Hán armoured vehicles. At the mist-shrouded summit of the Pantheon, a rhomboid structure made of an unknown silver alloy — the 'Corrector Base Station: Pantheon"— was emitting an eerie, pulsing blue glow.
Liu Xun, dressed in a dark cold-weather military overcoat, held a Dingqin sword fitted with a high-frequency vibration component. Behind him stood an elite armoured infantry regiment wearing sealed leather armour and carrying bolt-action rifles. As the Han army entered the core area of the base station, a piercing metallic scraping sound suddenly emanated from beneath the snow.
Twelve mechanical constructs, each over three zhang tall and resembling ancient Greek war gods, burst forth from the snow. They did not breathe like humans, and their eyes flashed with a cold red light. Their arms were connected to crystal cannons capable of firing high-energy plasma beams. [System alert: encounter with prehistoric civilisation guardian mechanism — Titan type] Armour made of self-repairing nano-alloy (immune to primary kinetic energy ammunition).
Energy source: Zero-point energy fission (extremely unstable).
Weakness assessment: Due to the lack of 'Corrector' control, its logical judgement is delayed by 0.5 seconds.
'Your Majesty, these guys' armour is too thick! Our 57 mm direct-fire cannons can only leave white marks!' Gongshu Qi roared, his glasses blurred by the heat of the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Liu Xun stood on the roof of the speeding command vehicle and activated Supreme Spellbreaker: The Ultimate Judgment of Science.
'Thick armour? Then burn them from the inside.' He coldly ordered, 'Activate the Class B High-Voltage Tesla Induction Coil!' Three specially modified vehicles quickly surrounded them, their roofs adorned with huge copper coils spinning wildly and emitting a chilling hiss of electricity. With a 'boom', millions of volts of artificial lightning instantly struck one of the Titan machines.One of the Titan machines was struck by millions of volts of artificial lightning. As it was made entirely of metal, the high-voltage current pierced its intricate crystal logic array instantly via the gaps. With a burst of sparks and the acrid smell of burning metal, the once mighty mechanical war god collapsed to its knees as though its strings had been cut.
'Now's the time! All troops, charge!' Liu Xun led his infantry regiment personally, weaving through the paralysed machines. He knew perfectly well that these guards were merely cannon fodder, used by the 'Correctors' to buy time.
Deep within the base station, a consciousness was attempting to achieve 'spacetime stability' by 'downgrading humanity' and trying to format the planet's civilisation progression.
'Liu Xun!' A distorted roar echoed from the void: 'Humanity is an uncontrollable cancer! You've advanced industry by three thousand years, only to attract the Purifiers from the depths of the universe!'
Liu Xun charged into the core of the base station. Facing the massive, pulsating blue sphere, he wasted no words. He pulled out a Primitive Electronic Logic Gate Jammer, a system reward hand-etched by a Han Dynasty scientist.
'The affairs of the universe are none of my concern, but my people are none of yours.' Liu Xun activated 'The Emperor's Mockery: The Crushing of the Era', forcefully inserting the jammer into the sphere's core interface.
'A logical deadlock between 0 and 1 — here you go.' With the injection of the logic bomb, the once orderly blue sphere exploded instantly into chaotic red light. The corrector's consciousness was plunged into endless self-paradoxical calculations, ultimately dissipating into countless fragments amidst a piercing shriek. The roar of the Pantheon ceased.
All the mechanical guards lost power, transforming into silent iron monuments. Standing amidst the ruins, Liu Xun witnessed the dramatic transformation of the system interface before him.
[System Announcement: Ragnarok Quest – Final Completion]
Judgement: The Time-Space Correctors have been completely annihilated.
Civilisation lock: Human civilisation has officially emerged from the 'observation period' and entered the 'free development period'.
Final reward: A complete set of internal combustion engine blueprints, a radio broadcasting system and an introduction to the principles of nuclear physics.
Liu Xun slowly walked out of the base station and stood atop the Alps, gazing at the awakening world in the distance. On the horizon, the black dragon flag of the Han dynasty flew over every fallen fortress.
'Your Majesty, shall we descend the mountain and return to Chang'an?' Gongshu Qi asked tentatively.
Liu Xun looked up at the deep night sky, a smile of ambition spreading across his face. 'No. Tell the Academy of Sciences that, since the Correctors say the "Cleaners" are watching us from space, we must quickly build a "Great Wall" capable of flying beyond the atmosphere.'
The smoke of battle had not yet cleared from the Alps, and the final battles in Mesopotamia and along the Mediterranean coast were reaching their conclusion. The 'invincible elite' that Julius Caesar was so proud of — those heavily armoured legions carrying eagle banners who had instilled fear across Europe, Asia and Africa — were now facing 'industrial destruction' on an unprecedented scale.
Two miles ahead of the Roman legions, the First Artillery Brigade of the Han dynasty had finished building their defences. These were not just a few isolated bronze cannons, but a terrifying deep phalanx of "Jianwu Modified 75mm Rifled Field Guns".
'Calibration complete, pressure correction complete!' Gongshu Qi waved a red flag sharply. "Boom—"
With a deafening volley, the horizon seemed to tear open. Unlike the solid stone projectiles the Romans had seen before, the Han used high-explosive shells. Each shell that landed on the Roman marble floor or within their dense formation kicked up a cloud of black smoke mixed with steel fragments and scorched earth.
"For Rome! Charge!' The Roman commander brandished his short sword, attempting a final counterattack. However, in the context of modern ballistics, such a dense phalanx charge was tantamount to suicide.
The artillery fire swept repeatedly across this so-called 'elite front' like a giant red-hot iron. The once impregnable shield wall shattered like rotten wood under the force of the proximity fuses. The centurions, survivors of countless battles, didn't even catch a glimpse of the Han soldiers' uniforms before their internal organs were ripped apart by the shockwave.
When the surviving Roman soldiers finally managed to close to within a hundred metres, they were met with a black-barrelled Maxim automatic machine gun emerging from the trenches of the Han infantry. Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Tongues of fire erupted, creating a visible death zone. The Romans' so-called 'iron will' crumbled instantly under a hail of ten lead bullets per second. It was a one-sided massacre, an utter defeat of agrarian civilisation's courage against industrial civilisation's logic.
'This isn't war; it's a harvest!' As the first Roman legion's banner fell into the mud, their centuries-old faith shattered. Soldiers began discarding their heavy armour and fleeing in a frenzy, scattering their rear guard. Chaos spread along the Mediterranean coast like a plague.
Standing on the deck of the command ship, Liu Xun looked through binoculars at the scorched earth ploughed by cannon fire. His expression was cold as he ordered all units not to pursue. Turn on the high-powered loudspeakers and broadcast surrender pleas across the entire frequency range. I don't want corpses; I want labourers to tighten screws in factories.'
In the afterglow of the setting sun, the last organised Roman force laid down their arms on the Cypriot coast.
[System Announcement: First Phase Main Quest – Endgame]
Civilisation Achievements: The Roman Empire has officially disintegrated.
Power assessment: The Han Empire has achieved absolute physical control over the Old World.
Civilisation Level Breakthrough: The embryonic form of global integration has been achieved.
Liu Xun lightly tapped the system panel, transmitting the long-prepared 'Global Peace Act' via radio code to destinations around the world.
'Gongshu Qi, send all these scrapped Roman heavy armour pieces into the furnace.' Liu Xun turned to look at the moon rising slowly on the horizon, his eyes deep. 'In the next chapter, we'll send this iron into the sky.'
As the sun set, casting a golden glow, the edge of the Syrian desert was stained a dark, grim red. In the midst of the sandstorm, Pompey, the last Roman war god, led his remaining three thousand iron-fisted Praetorian Guards in a desperate wedge formation. This was no longer a clash between legions, but a final struggle between the martial prowess of the past and the rulers of the present.
Pompey stood on his horse, sword drawn, his carburetted steel armour, etched with battle trophies, gleaming coldly in the afterglow. Looking at the distant, dark mass of Han tanks, he spoke in a hoarse yet powerful voice:
'Liu Xun! You use steel artefacts to deceive my comrades — what kind of hero are you? If you truly have courage, then fight me, Pompey, to the death under this vast desert wind!'
Surrounded by the Han central army, Liu Xun slowly rode out. He removed his heavy military overcoat to reveal dark, form-fitting nanocomposite armour and gripped the Ding Qin sword, which was equipped with a high-frequency pulse component.
[System plugin activated: max level combat power – war god descends]
Status: Nerve reflex speed increased by 500%; physical explosive power surpasses human limits.
Passive skills: [Bullet Time] (slows down dynamic objects within perception) and [Force Suppression].
Battle Spirit: MAX
'Since you want to witness dying in the old way, I'll grant your wish.' Liu Xun yanked the reins sharply and his genetically modified Akhal-Teke horse let out a long neigh. It transformed into a black lightning bolt and charged straight towards the Roman army formation.
"Release the arrows!" Pompey roared. A hail of arrows rained down, but to Liu Xun, they moved as slowly as snails. He swayed slightly as he drew his Ding Qin sword, cutting countless impenetrable arcs in the air and cutting the arrows in half with a clanging sound. The next second, he crashed into the Roman phalanx! This was not a battle, but an art form called 'violence'.
Liu Xun moved with his sword, the Ding Qin sword emitting high-frequency pulses that cut through the air with a piercing sound. Each swing sliced through armour and even cleanly cleaved through massive shields forged from fine iron.
'Thud!' The Roman Praetorian Guards were horrified to discover that their short swords could not even touch the hem of Liu Xun's clothes. He darted and weaved through the crowd, shattering the rocks beneath his feet with each step. In just ten breaths, he had single-handedly carved a bloody path through three thousand Praetorian Guards.
Pompey's pupils contracted sharply. He felt the suffocating pressure, roared, raised his golden spear and unleashed the strongest thrust of his life. Liu Xun, expressionless, didn't even dodge. Instead, he extended his left hand and caught the spearhead in his bare hand, gripping it tightly. 'Pompeii, your era has rusted away.'
Holding the Qin sword upside down in his right hand, Liu Xun closed in as if by teleportation. A streak of azure electricity flashed from the blade as it passed over Pompey's throat and the sandstorm ceased abruptly.
Pompey froze in the saddle, his golden spear falling to the sand with a dull thud. He looked into Liu Xun's godlike, indifferent eyes and a bitter smile of relief appeared on his face. 'So... this is the power of "god"?'
As Pompey's head fell to the ground, the last Roman banner bearing the image of a lion and an eagle collapsed. Three thousand guards knelt in unison, their cries echoing across the wasteland.
[System Announcement] Achievement Completed: [Fallen General – The Last Battle]
Judgment: The military totem of Western civilisation has been utterly shattered.
Unlock rewards: Basic Human Exoskeleton Technology Concept and Global Standardised Combat Techniques.
Liu Xun wiped the last drop of blood from his sword, mounted his horse and, without glancing back at the ruined ancient battlefield, calmly gave the order over the radio:'Collect the corpses and erect a monument. Then the entire army will turn around.' The target is the Senate in Rome. I'm going there to take over the whole planet.'
The ruins of Rome still smouldered, but the conquerors under the black dragon banner had taken over the land. Liu Xun stood on the partially collapsed terrace of the Senate and looked down at the numbed, desperate and even hateful Roman civilians below. He knew that steel could conquer the body, but to enslave the souls of this land, a far more advanced 'weapon' was needed.
Post-war plagues were often deadlier than artillery shells. The stench of rotting flesh in Rome's wounded soldiers' camps was nauseating. While Western priests were still sprinkling sheep's blood in prayer for divine intervention, the Han Dynasty's field medical corps, carrying sealed glass vials, stepped into this deathly wasteland.
'Is this a miracle?' asked a centurion with a broken leg, watching a nurse inject a crystalline liquid into his vein.
[System Medical Module: Antibiotic Hegemony]
Core Resource: First-generation industrialised penicillin
Dimensional reduction point: in an era where even a cold could be fatal, the Han army displayed the power to resurrect the dead.
Psychological Offensive: Every Roman receiving treatment was required to learn their first Chinese phrase at their bedside: 'Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty.'
Liu Xun activated his 'Supreme Fatherly Compassion: A Healer's Benevolent Acting Skill'. He personally inspected the camp of the wounded soldiers, showing no disgust at their filth and even covering the veterans with cotton quilts made in the Han dynasty.
At that moment, the hatred in the Romans' eyes melted away, replaced by awe of the emperor and a yearning for life.
Hunger breeds rebellion, while satiety breeds obedience. Liu Xun ordered the construction of a large "Han Dynasty Relief Centre" on the site of the former Roman Colosseum. Instead of black bread mixed with sand, relief came in the form of snow-white, finely milled Han Dynasty flour, as well as canned braised pork and luncheon meat, all of which exuded the aroma of oil.
The moment the first mouthful of rich sauce slid down their throats, the pride of the Roman commoners crumbled.
'Following Caesar meant eating only the basics, but following Lord Liu means eating meat?' 'Food is the best brainwashing agent,' Liu Xun said calmly to Gongshu Qi. Once their stomachs have adapted to the taste of the Han Dynasty, their minds will never go back to that barren old era.' Meanwhile, on the ruins, the Han Dynasty's engineering battalion began a frenzied spree of infrastructure construction.
[Urban planning] involved demolishing low, dark houses, paving straight asphalt roads and installing the first batch of gas streetlights.
[Educational Castration] – The 'Great Han Public School' was established, and Roman youths were required to wear Hanfu (traditional Han clothing) and learn Chinese characters. Liu Xun personally compiled the textbooks, portraying Roman history as a 'chaos of superstition and barbarism' and the Han Dynasty as the 'savior of civilisation'.
[Provincial System] Abolishing the Senate and establishing the 'Europa Province', employing pro-Han Roman nobles as low-level officials and using the 'barbarians controlling barbarians' strategy to allow the Romans to govern themselves.
To completely eliminate potential armed resistance, Liu Xun implemented a large-scale 'labour force transformation'. He ordered the construction of the first 'steam-powered textile factory' outside Rome, requiring Romans who had once wielded swords to operate shuttles and wrenches.
[System Social Module: Industrial Taming]
Policy: Romans working in the factory would receive 'second-class citizenship' in the Han dynasty and enjoy medical and educational subsidies.
Logic: When a young Roman becomes accustomed to an eight-hour working day, receiving a monthly salary in Han Yuan and listening to stories in a Han Dynasty teahouse after work, they are no longer a warrior, merely a qualified industrial cog.
Standing on top of the newly built Roman telegraph tower and looking down at the orderly, brightly lit city below, Liu Xun said to Gongshu Qi, 'You see, they no longer miss Caesar. Now, they only care if their bonuses next month will be enough to buy a sewing machine made in the Han dynasty.'