Chapter 123: They Are Celebrating

"Who knows what they're thinking?" Chen Yan looked equally bewildered, truly unable to fathom it. "We are here, braced for battle, and you over there are happily singing and dancing..."

Lin Fan swiped casually, and the next video was of the first drill of the Great Steel Wall, which was currently circulating online.

The wall, bristling with guns and artillery, looked like a dragon. A dragon four thousand miles long. When it unleashed its full firepower, the very ocean churned and boiled, as if the dragon were exhaling, its roar a furious battle cry.

The next video, also trending on the internet, was titled: "The Great Xia's fifty million recruits are being vaccinated with Tianshan Snow Lotus extract in orderly, phased batches!"

The footage was captured from a high vantage point. On the drill grounds, an endless sea of young, inexperienced faces clad in green military uniforms stretched out before the camera. Every face held a mix of nervousness and anticipation, their shoulders weighed down by firearms and ammunition. At the end of the lines were the vaccination stations. As the soldiers were inoculated, their trim, fit bodies instantly became more robust; some even grew visibly taller. Their muscles became taut and powerful, as if tempered by fire and iron. A surge of energy radiated from them, so intense that some soldiers even burst through their uniforms.

Beyond the vaccination stations, stacks of heavy stone slabs and boulders were piled up. A young soldier, having just been vaccinated, strode forward, grabbed a massive boulder with both hands, and hoisted it directly above his head.

"Two hundred kilograms—passed!"

*Thud!*

The boulder hit the ground, causing the very earth to tremble.

Immediately after, the young soldier threw a punch at a stone slab.

*Boom!*

The marble slab, a full ten centimeters thick, shattered instantly, sending fragments flying everywhere.

"Punch force: 500 kilograms—passed! Go run a few laps, get used to this strength! Use this time while the extract is effective to push your bodies and unlock your full potential!" a recorder in a white lab coat urged. "Next!"

At this moment, fifty million Great Xia soldiers were transcending the ordinary.

Watching this video stirred the soul, not just because of these super-human soldiers, but because of the sheer scale—fifty million of them! What an unfathomable number, what a terrifying army! Fifty million people! It was impossible to see the end of the line. Just by standing there, they exuded a power that surpassed demigods, surpassed gods themselves! This was the Iron Army of Great Xia.

These soldiers still possessed a certain youthful innocence; they were young, and had only been conscripted for a little over a month. But in that month, their naivety had been ground away. The hellish training they endured was no less rigorous than that of the God-Slaying Army; in fact, it arguably surpassed it.

Every day, they hauled bricks, steel, and cement for eight hours. They didn't even need to use weights; a single sack of cement weighed seventy or eighty kilograms, and a bundle of steel bars weighed over a hundred. After just five minutes, they would be panting. After an hour, their clothes would be soaked through, as if they had just crawled out of a lake, water still dripping from them. This was far more terrifying than standard combat training, yet these soldiers never needed their veterans or officers to urge them on. They worked themselves to the bone because they knew this wasn't just training—it was building the Great Steel Wall, a bulwark to protect the borders of Great Xia and the people within.

Now, they could run twenty kilometers in one go without breaking a sweat. And that was just the physical conditioning. They spent five hours a day in intensive marksmanship training, mastering various firearms, learning to handle light and heavy machine guns. Those with higher education and quick learning abilities were trained to operate missiles and heavy artillery. A select few were even chosen for pilot training.

The soldiers had almost no downtime; they fell asleep the moment they lay down and inhaled their meals in seconds. The only silver lining was that their eight hours of sleep were strictly guaranteed. This month of grueling training had forged them, transforming them from raw recruits into warriors ready for battle. Those who had experienced the fight against the "General's Blade" radiated an aura of iron-blooded determination; they had found their courage. They were waiting for the call to battle.

Fifty million iron soldiers—just seeing them standing there brought an incomparable sense of peace. With such an army guarding Great Xia, how could one not feel secure?

A hint of satisfaction appeared in Lin Fan's eyes, but the next video took a jarring turn, showing foreign friends singing and dancing on the beach.

The contrast was surreal. On one side, high walls were being built and troops were training like madmen. On the other, people were singing, dancing, and welcoming guests with banners.

"Are they welcoming the arrival of the gods?" Lin Fan asked, his tone deeply strange.

"Yes. It's written on the banners... things like 'Welcome, Noble Gods,' 'We are your most humble servants,' 'Please grant us glory and eternal joy,' 'Please accept our offerings'..." Elder Chen looked equally baffled. He even began to wonder if Great Xia was being too tense. Why were they preparing for war while the rest of the world was trying to befriend the gods? The disparity in their mindsets was simply too vast.

"What on earth does this even mean?" Lin Fan was utterly unable to comprehend it. He frowned and said, "We deliberately made our drill footage and the soldier vaccination process public. Did those foreign netizens and world leaders not see it? Do they still not realize the severity of the situation?"

"They should have seen it. It caused quite a stir on the international network," Elder Chen scratched his head. "But most of them still believe we're lying to them, that we're deliberately trying to incite panic..."

For a moment, Lin Fan was so angry he laughed. Good grief, these people truly thought highly of themselves. Great Xia had built an entire wall, and yet, to them, it was all a ploy to scare them and create panic.

If he were to be blunt: if Great Xia really wanted to scare them, they wouldn't need to build a wall or conscript fifty million men—they would just need to show their true hand.

The blind optimism of those foreign citizens left Lin Fan speechless. Some even left comments under the videos asking if Great Xia was selling tickets for a tour of the Great Steel Wall. They were treating the wall, built with such painstaking effort, as a tourist attraction! They had no clue how serious things were.

"Should I send an urgent telegram to the Freedom States?" Elder Chen asked, his expression complex. "Even though those countries harbor deep hostility toward Great Xia, they are human, after all. We should be standing together against the gods."

Elder Chen didn't want to see the people of the Freedom States face destruction.

But Lin Fan patted the elder's shoulder. "Forget it, Elder Chen. Don't waste your energy. It's not like we haven't warned them before. This time, to force them to take it seriously, we even live-streamed the drills globally. And what happened? They knew about it all along, but they simply chose not to believe it. Forget a telegram; even if you shouted in their ears, it wouldn't matter. You can never wake someone who is pretending to be asleep."

"Sigh," Elder Chen sighed, forced to admit that Lin Fan was right.

"Great Xia’s capabilities are limited. Protecting every single one of our own people is already the limit," Lin Fan looked out the window at the vast, endless ocean. "We must face this battle alone."

"I can only wish them luck."

With those words, Lin Fan turned and walked back to the podium, beginning a serious lecture on the characteristics of the sea-beast followers.

Time slipped away. Two days passed.

During these two days, the atmosphere on the Great Steel Wall grew increasingly heavy and tense. Everyone’s face was filled with the stifling pressure that precedes a great war. They knew the battle was about to begin. This time, Great Xia’s opponent was a god!

Fighter jets were deployed from all over, heavy artillery and machine guns were constantly transported to the wall, and mountains of spare ammunition were stacked in every combat zone. On the ramparts, guns bristled like spikes. Humans, small as ants, stood their ground, weapons in hand, staring out at the ocean, vowing to protect the land behind them.

The citizens behind them were also prepared. Those who chose to evacuate had reached shelters a hundred kilometers away; those who refused to leave clutched kitchen knives, swearing to live and die with their homes.

On this day, the gods would descend.

Across the ocean, thousands of miles away on the west coast of the Freedom States, crowds were also bustling. But the atmosphere was entirely different—filled with laughter and joy. Devout believers in religious garb, led by priests, sang hymns to the gods at the top of their lungs. Some fanatical followers had already knelt, eager to embrace the gods. Some tourists even brought their families to the coast, full of excitement, ready to witness the legendary, supreme gods descend to grant them eternal happiness.

They were celebrating. They were welcoming them.