Chapter 646: The Meeting

Over the next two months, the coalition forces of Australia and the Sunrise Alliance indeed adopted an extremely conservative strategy and tactics.

The vast majority of the South Pacific Combat Group's efforts were focused on ensuring the smooth flow of supply lines.

Not only were the defensive capabilities of the two military bases on Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands greatly strengthened, but the coalition also obtained permission and a lease agreement from Indonesia to build over a dozen permanent military fortresses and supply bases on Bali and the surrounding Nusa Tenggara Islands. Dense arrays of missiles, artillery, and magic towers ensured sea control over the surrounding waters.

This greatly reduced the threat of legendary sea beasts to the coalition's supply convoys. Although seventeen naval battles broke out in two months, they all ended in victory for the coalition.

Though the coalition's victories were pyrrhic, with casualty ratios nearly matching the enemy's, they ensured that their supply ships passed safely through the waters between Australia and Java.

During this period, although the coalition successively landed forty full-strength divisions on Java, apart from launching one offensive aimed at expanding defensive depth, the entire combat group remained virtually stagnant in Surabaya.

Almost all of the coalition's manpower and resources were used to enhance their defensive capabilities. Massive amounts of cement, prefabricated magic energy arrays, various types of fortress guns and machine guns, and crates of ammunition were continuously shipped to Java.

The Sunrise Alliance's advantage in mages was fully displayed, as temporary or permanent fortresses sprang up in a very short time, turning the Surabaya area into a true meat grinder for both sides.

Regardless of Odin's and the gods' intentions, Garcia Ferrun adhered to two principles: first, to prevent the war from spreading to Australia; second, to avoid Java's manpower and resources falling into the hands of the Beast Empire.

Thus, at the current stage, the coalition indeed had no need to hastily expand the front and drive out the Beast Empire's army. They only needed a solid foothold in Surabaya, enough to pin down millions of the Beast Empire's troops and ensure that the island's resources could not be integrated by the Beast Empire.

Li Mochen was undoubtedly very satisfied with the strategy adopted by the South Pacific Combat Group. Garcia Ferrun had precisely grasped his intentions and adopted the most suitable strategy—wearing down the enemy by attrition.

In a protracted war, they would consume the enemy's manpower, resources, and war potential.

Ultimately, what would decide the war was air and sea supremacy. As Wallace Clayton, recently promoted to 'God of Naval Warfare,' put it, once they fully controlled the seas and skies, the Beast Empire's armies scattered across the continents would be like dead fish lying on the shore, at their mercy.

Therefore, the Sunrise Alliance, besides continuously expanding the 'Divine Wing Knight Order,' was allocating at least sixty percent of its resources to naval and air forces.

At this time, in America, the Eastern Ancient Kingdom, Korea, and Japan, almost all shipyards were operating at full capacity. Orders from the navies of America and Australia, all churches under the Divine Mandate Pantheon, and the 'Sunrise Alliance,' including sixteen top-tier sequence families and over seventy elite clans, occupied nearly all the production capacity of these shipyards.

Although the economies of various countries had suffered severe trauma due to the war, the foundations of these families were still formidable. As developed countries and among the most stable and peaceful regions in the world, America and Australia could issue bonds and overprint currency that gained market acceptance. This led to an abnormal boom in the military industries of various countries, with overall unemployment rates falling instead of rising.

At the current intensity of the war, it was not enough to put pressure on them.

It was also with the aim of depleting the Beast Empire's war potential that in July of the year 4000 of the Bright Calendar, driven by domestic forces, the American Federation responded to the invitation of South American countries and sent millions of troops across borders into Brazil and Bolivia. In the middle section of South America, a prolonged war with the Beast Empire began.

This was driven partly by the Divine Mandate Church and partly by the extremely favorable terms offered by South American countries to the American Federation and its many capitalists.

Of course, a greater reason was that all of America, from top to bottom, felt a bone-chilling fear over the fall of Argentina and Paraguay.

These two wars, fought in the South Pacific and South America, also caused Li Mochen to receive a massive amount of war source power.

By this time, Li Mochen had already elevated all the divine positions he possessed to divine rank eighteen. Yet this still could not prevent the waste of this source power; his main divine position, 'Fate,' limited the growth of his other divine positions, making it impossible to absorb this vast war source power.

Thus, after completing the sword case for the 'Zhoutian Thunder Mars Core Sword Array,' Li Mochen began to refine Genghis Khan's 'Supreme War Spears,' namely 'Khar Sulde' and 'Tsagaan Sulde,' re-forging them into powerful artifacts that could be used.

Li Mochen had originally intended to use them as materials to forge bullets for the 'Heaven's Will' gun, but in the end, he could not bear to part with the primal faith power gathered by 'Khar Sulde' and 'Tsagaan Sulde.'

Due to Genghis Khan's mythical feats of conquering half the world with these war spears, they themselves had become legends of this world, revered and worshipped by many. This endowed the 'Supreme War Spears' with a powerful divine power source, and altering their form would undoubtedly be a waste of a precious gift from heaven.

Just as he was beginning to cleanse the bloodline imprints of these powerful weapons and merge his own spirit into them, an invitation he had long anticipated caused his main body, which was studying various laws including 'Fate,' to temporarily leave the Underworld, temporarily leave Angela's side, and arrive at a beach in the southwestern part of America.

Here, a woman with a high nose, deep-set eyes, and brown skin was waiting for him.

Li Mochen's eyes narrowed slightly: "Your Highness Isis!"

His words carried a hint of respect, for this woman was indeed worthy of his admiration and caution.

Leaving aside her great achievements during the era of the Egyptian Ennead, her experiences and strategies around the time of the Solar Calendar Era alone were enough to leave an eternal mark on the mystical history of this world.

When the faith of the sun god 'Amun' rose and the Greek gods, leveraging the powerful Roman Empire, substantially intervened in the Egyptian region, she was able to assist Horus in turning the tide against all odds, starting from the Jews who fled Egypt, and ultimately nearly unifying the faith of the West.

This Holy Mother's wisdom and ability were respected by all gods and the magical world.

Moreover, she was a powerful goddess of life, earth, death, magic, marriage, mystery, and fertility.

Her main divine position, 'Life,' had a divine rank as high as twenty, and in the aspect of earth, due to inheriting the power of the earth god Geb, she also reached the level of divine rank twenty, possessing an authority over earth second only to Gaia and Rhea.

Even in terms of combat power alone, she had the strength to surpass Li Mochen.

In magic, Isis's power was also extremely formidable. If it were not for the fact that after the Middle Ages, mages in this world were condemned as heretics by the Church of Light, and that she had also left this world over a thousand years ago, Diana would never have been able to complete the establishment of the Weave and reach the extreme of pseudo-truth.

In fact, at least four of the seven deaths of this goddess of magic were at the hands of Isis.

"Your Majesty Wiltenstein!"

Isis smiled slightly and returned the greeting. Her voice, words, and demeanor all exuded a spring-like atmosphere.

Her smile was also different from Apollo's and Lord's; it was truly capable of making one drop all defenses and vigilance, filled with a sincerity that felt genuine.

"You must have guessed my purpose by now, right? For the Root, and for the Thorn of the Root."

"You want me to betray Gaia."

Before he said this, Li Mochen sensed Isis's divine power spread out, sealing off Gaia's spiritual perception.

This demonstrated Isis's immense power. Li Mochen shared the Root with Gaia, meaning the connection between them was hard to sever, especially when Gaia's divine name was invoked.

Even Li Mochen himself, if he wanted to avoid Gaia in doing something, would need to make preparations and expend considerable effort. But Isis did it with a wave of her hand.

"It's hardly betrayal, is it? I know your covenant with Gaia is not a true mutual defense pact. Moreover, that Root Mother Goddess cares more about her direct descendants in the Olympian pantheon, even though Zeus has always maintained a fence-sitting attitude."

Isis's voice was melodious: "Won't you hear our terms? Insert three hundred 'Thorns of the Root' along the coasts of Australia and South America, and we grant you ten percent of the Root's authority. Note, this is true dominion over the World's Core, not a shared form."

Li Mochen's reaction was calm: "But this contract would push me and my pantheon into an unknown future. I cannot be sure you will abide by the agreement, and this authority will sooner or later be reclaimed by one of you, won't it? Rather than that, I prefer to remain neutral or support Gaia."

"Even if that makes you a stumbling block that everyone must remove before killing Gaia?" Isis asked with a smile. "Your Majesty Wiltonstein, do you understand the consequences of refusal?"

Li Mochen's aura turned cold: "Your Highness Isis, I will not fear nor yield to your threats."

This was not only due to the numerous mythical armaments he had recently consecrated, but also because his conventional military forces had greatly expanded.

The 'Divine Wing Knight Order', now expanded to four sub-regiments with two thousand reserve knights, along with six 'Divine Will Warrior Legions' in his divine kingdom, gave him ample confidence and backing.

Moreover, two worlds in the Primordial Vault had recently merged, bringing Li Mochen a massive merit of one hundred thirty million strands, increasing the merit on the 'Divine Pylon Purple Gold Pagoda' to three hundred million strands. Although still far from the fifth purple merit aura, it could sustain a high-intensity battle among god-kings.

And this power was enough to make his enemies think twice.

He had no intention of sacrificing everything for that one and eventually being besieged and killed by several god-kings, but he did have the capital to wait and see, to hold out for a better offer.

The so-called promise of true Root authority was essentially a hollow promise.

If these god-kings plotting against Gaia offered only such paltry chips to make him turn against Gaia, it was nothing short of an insult.

"Then fifteen percent? You need only provide us with a little assistance, and you will receive fifteen percent of the Core's authority."

Li Mochen sneered directly: "Your Highness Isis, you are trying to lead me to self-destruction!"

Isis stared at him for a long time, then shook her head slightly: "Indeed, it won't work. But before coming, I could roughly guess Your Majesty's attitude. After all, your reputation for integrity has always been quite good."

Li Mochen thought this was utterly wrong. He had no need to remain faithful to Gaia. If, besides authority, they added some 'Essence' that could ensure his safety, he might be swayed. But then he heard Isis's tone shift: "So I came here actually to persuade Your Highness to remain neutral in the battle between us and Gaia."

"Neutral?" Li Mochen looked at Isis thoughtfully.

"Absolute neutrality! Neutrality unmoved by any conditions from Gaia."

Isis's lips curled slightly: "And I believe my筹码 will move you. If you do not participate in the coming battle, the previous condition of ten percent Core authority remains. And once we ultimately win this struggle for the Root, Horus promises to grant you forty percent of the Root's authority, sharing dominion with you."

Li Mochen found it absurd. Grant him forty percent of the Root's authority? That would mean the Lord of Radiance did not intend to advance to God Above Gods?

He also keenly noticed the discrepancy in her words: "That is to say, this is a separate agreement between you, the Lord of Radiance, and me, correct? But I am curious, what benefit does Gaia's death bring you? I doubt Your Highness and the Lord of Radiance fail to understand that once Gaia is gone, you will be the first targets they must eliminate. Your reliance surely isn't on Satan, whose true form is 'Osiris'?"

Osiris, Isis's husband, Horus's father, the underworld king of the Egyptian Ennead era.

Although 'Satan' had existed long before the Light Calendar, Li Mochen had discerned his true form from various esoteric texts.

Even in the Abyss, he had always upheld his duty as the underworld king and father of Horus. He had been receiving souls unrecognized by the Celestial Kingdom in the Abyss and letting them perish in the civil wars of Abyssal demons.

"Of course it's not him. Both Horus and I owe Osiris. He will provide us with some help, but he cannot directly intervene. Besides, Gaia has long been wary of him. Isn't the reason Lucifer still exists after betraying Horus and can split the Abyss precisely for today?"

Isis shook her head: "The real筹码 we can rely on is you, Your Majesty Wiltonstein."

Li Mochen couldn't help but laugh: "You don't think these words and that absurd condition can convince me, do you? Isis—"

But before he could finish, he stopped, because at that moment, Isis took something out of her sleeve.

It was a dazzling earth-yellow crystal so bright that even Li Mochen could hardly look directly at it. The magical energy surging from it was fully materialized, and Li Mochen sensed the world's will's craving for the object in Isis's hand.

This was a Core capable of generating a large world!

Isis quickly put it away and said with a smile: "How to put it? With financing from various investors, the company called the Bright World has become stronger. At some future moment, it can accommodate a second 'God Above Gods.' And Your Majesty Wiltonstein, you have such an opportunity."

"You stir my heart, Your Highness Isis."

Li Mochen was indeed in a state of mental disarray. He had to take several deep breaths to barely suppress the greed sprouting in his heart.

"But as far as I know, you and His Majesty Horus have a poor reputation. Not to mention the ancient Egyptian gods, just consider Lucifer, whom your beloved son promised as Vice-Lord of the Celestial Kingdom—"

"Horus's handling of Ishtar was indeed somewhat improper."

Isis smiled: "But I believe a strict Root contract can safeguard the interests of both parties. Besides, I'll offer you one more piece of information. I know Your Majesty Wiltonstein is in great need of Essence, right? I happen to know the location of a type of Essence. However, if you want to obtain it, you need the right timing. For instance, when all the god-kings of this world are too preoccupied to act—"