Chapter 131: A New Combat Mode

The furious Yu Sheng’an made Afnora shiver for no reason.

She instinctively stepped back half a step, a trace of fear flashing in her eyes.

“Sorry, I lost my composure.” Yu Sheng’an took a deep breath.

“It’s okay, I understand. Are you really planning to attack Khazad-dûm?” Afnora shook her head, looking worried.

Phobos also looked over gravely upon hearing this.

“That’s right!” Yu Sheng’an nodded.

“But…” Afnora hesitated: “It’s not a good idea. Khazad-dûm is easy to defend and hard to attack. Even if we pour all our resources into taking it, it holds no value.”

“The underground world here is only livable by a few races like dwarves and goblins. Most others can’t survive long-term. The surface environment is harsh and unsuitable for settling, so even if we conquer it, it’s just barren land, not worthwhile.”

The Prophecy God Phobos agreed: “Afnora is right! The Five Prime Gods retreated not because they couldn’t conquer Khazad-dûm, but because the cost was too high and there was no benefit.”

Faced with Afnora and Phobos’s advice, Yu Sheng’an surveyed the chaotic surrounding world through God’s Perspective, sneering:

“I admit the dwarves are an excellent race. For this, I even assisted Dwarf King Kauth in stealing the production line.”

“I thought the dwarves would be impressed by industrial manufacturing. Even if they didn’t submit to me, they’d at least have some reverence.”

Yu Sheng’an looked self-mocking as he spoke: “Turns out, I was wrong!”

“The dwarves are too proud, their thousands of years of iron forging monopoly makes them arrogant. They can’t acknowledge anything excellent from outsiders.”

“Repelling the invasions of the Five Prime Gods and orcs has made them complacent, thinking no one can harm them as long as they are backed by Khazad-dûm. Hmph, they are ignorant and laughable.”

“Honestly, I just wanted to spread the Internet, at most make them subcontract, but they didn’t give me a chance to speak.”

“Since they are courting death, they can’t blame me.”

“I know why you’re reluctant to start a war. War is a means, not an end. A war without benefits is indeed meaningless.”

“I admit I was angered by the Dwarf King’s arrogance, but not to the point of losing my sanity.”

Yu Sheng’an spoke eloquently.

A general who thinks first of defeat before thinking of victory can remain undefeated in a hundred battles!

When Yu Sheng’an found the Dwarf King, he had already prepared two options—subjugate them or go to war.

He left the choice to the dwarves.

Now the dwarves have given their choice—war!

The two gods fell into deep thought.

Phobos instinctively used the Prophecy Divine Spark for prediction.

Afnora directly asked, “Do you mean there is profit in waging war against the dwarves?”

Yu Sheng’an smiled: “Of course there’s profit, and quite a bit of it!”

Afnora was stunned.

The dwarves are famously stubborn.

Hard to deal with and not worth much.

How does Yu Sheng’an find a lot of benefits?

Not to mention Afnora, even Phobos, who calculated ‘wealth’ with the Prophecy Divine Spark, was surprised.

“First, you’ve overlooked the wealth of the dwarves! They are a race known for their dragon-like greed. The wealth accumulated over thousands of years of arms trading, besides buying wine, has little other expenditure. So where did this wealth go?”

Need you ask?

It’s surely piled in countless dark caves of Khazad-dûm, like dragons do.

“What else?”

Afnora wasn’t excited.

For gods, gold and stones are no different. They only care about followers.

If believers didn’t care about gold, they wouldn’t mind wealth at all.

Phobos held his breath instinctively.

Even the Prophecy Divine Spark only calculated ‘wealth’ as an option.

He didn’t understand where the ‘a lot of benefits’ the Internet God mentioned were.

“Second, war is the best stimulus for industrialization.”

“It doesn’t just mean war loot as gains, it rapidly pulls domestic demand, synchronizing growth in military and industrial capabilities.”

“Simply put, war requires weapons, like Flintlocks, which will drive industry leaders to expand, optimize, and upgrade industries madly.”

“Citizens will also feast on war profits due to the overwhelming demand from war orders. As the populace grows affluent, naturally there’ll be financial capability to popularize basic education, expand Internet users, and even nurture more powerful magicians!”

“Of course, war is just a means, not an end. What’s our end? Is it really extermination? No, we can define this war as wealth looting.”

“The wealth looted can just be the funds to pay the factories, forming a positive cycle.”

“Our industrial manufacturing capacity will rapidly expand and upgrade due to this war, leaving potential catchers far behind.”

“And all this will create the third benefit, which is the market!”

“Do you know what the biggest advantage of industry is?”

“Scale! The larger the scale, the lower the cost. When our scale grows unimaginably large, our weapon costs will also become unimaginably low. This not only strengthens our war potential but also allows us to gradually infiltrate the multiverse through arms trading!”

When he finished speaking, Afnora and Phobos were stunned.

To be honest, they couldn’t fully understand Yu Sheng’an’s words, only part of it.

There’s no way, even gods are limited by their knowledge and experience.

But just that part was enough to shock them!

“Actually, it would be best if the dwarves submitted to us. We’d not only gain a Well of Origin populated by billions but also utilize dwarf forging skills to develop the largest industrial production base. Unfortunately…”

Yu Sheng’an regretfully shook his head.

This was the fundamental reason he didn’t make a move when discovering the Dwarf King, but instead deliberately gave him the production line.

He initially wanted to use the complex craft of the production line and the theft excuse to subjugate the dwarves.

Unfortunately, he underestimated the pride and stubbornness of a race with thousands of years of heritage and countless wars.

He also underestimated the arrogance of the dwarves.

Right, like in a cliché TV drama, could he conquer a race with a casual offer of liquor?

It’s simply laughable.

Since it’s like this, he isn’t keen to curry favor only to face cold treatment. Directly starting the war is better.

Hit until they lose their wealth, the market collapses, they are impoverished, eat their children, then even if they aren’t exterminated, it would seem like they were!

Even more painful ten thousand times over!

By then, even if the whole dwarf tribe submits to foreign gods, few gods would dare take them in.

Otherwise, could they still want to buy arms?

Right, why sell weapons? Why not use it as an excuse to start another war? Isn’t it appealing?

“So how do we implement it? Khazad-dûm is a medium-sized plane. High-end forces can’t intervene, and the interconnected passages will divide our army. Small units will be taken down one by one by the dwarves.”

Afnora keenly and carefully considered practical issues.

“Moreover, it’s hard to establish a base. Khazad-dûm, after all, is the dwarves’ world. Whether built on the surface or underground, it must withstand constant harassment from the dwarves. Delivering supplies will also be a major problem.”

“If we open a teleportation array, the magic consumption will be too great, likely diminishing the returns.”

“Finally, which corps do we deploy? The Fourth Catastrophe is inexhaustible but requires a lot of magic. The undead demon legion is too chaotic to fulfill your wealth looting goal. As for deploying magicians… that’s too costly.”

Afnora listed the issues they faced in one breath.

Reality isn’t theatrical, and many decisions can’t be made on a whim.

War sounds simple, but it involves a vast array of issues, affecting all aspects.

“That’s what I wanted to say. To resolve these drawbacks, I’m going to launch an innovative combat mode.”

Yu Sheng’an restrained his smile, looking serious:

“—Airborne operations!”