We finally reached Xuwen County, the last stopping point before we cross to Zhuya Island. The Agents of Sun Sphere immediately contacted us when we set foot in the county area. It seems like they secretly control this county and have a few connections in Yulin County.
I came here without informing them first, so the Two Emperors who have some business to attend, will not be able to come here for at least in a week or two. However this is fine for me, as I am only personally deliver the Divine Resources here, just to take a look at their technologies in the process.
The county wasn't a grand city but a sprawling ramshackle collection of timber and mud-brick structures, most with steeply pitched, tiled roofs designed to shed the monsoon rains. Shading eaves and awnings overhung narrow, winding paths that served as streets, perpetually damp from the coastal humidity. The last bastion of anything resembling Huaxia Chinese civilization before the vast blue expanse of the South Sea.
The air in the streets hung thick and heavy, a humid blanket woven from the scent of brine, drying fish and the sweet decay of tropical fruits. Even in the late afternoon, the sun beat down with a relentless glare, reflecting off the shimmering salt flats that stretched eastward like vast crystalline mirrors.
A cacophony of sounds filled the air, the rhythmic clang of hammers from makeshift shipyards where crude vessels were being caulked with pitch, the guttural shouts of porters hauling enormous baskets of cured fish and bundles of exotic hardwoods, and the ceaseless, high-pitched chatter of a dozen different languages.
Various Yue tribesmen with their darker skin and sharper features, moved with an easy grace. Their woven garments a vibrant contrast to the duller tunics of the Chinese soldiers and merchants. They bartered for iron tools and northern silks with pearls, tortoise shells, and strange luminous stones rumored to come from deep within Zhuya Island itself.
The scent of roasting boar mingled with the sharp tang of fermenting rice wine from a tavern spilling laughter and arguments onto the path. Children, barefoot and grimy, darted through the crowd, their shouts echoing under the oppressive sky. Despite the chaos, an undercurrent of raw energy pulsed through Xuwen, the energy of a frontier where fortunes were made and lost, where the law was as fluid as the tides, and where anything, and anyone, could vanish with the next outgoing ship.
After some exploration at this maritime trade hub, I let Jin Shan look for possible trade deals with the two Iron Guard who were escorting him. We're looking for something small in size but high in value, maybe pearls or coral and some sea salt to ensure our men will stay healthy. At first, I didn't consider this trade route, but since the Luoyue of Nanning are with us, the trade is possible now. It's not going to be our main trade route because the mountain routes are too harsh, but it is important to maintain our relationship with the local Yue tribes.
I feel like all of the Southern dialects from Wu to Min and Yue, they mostly come from the influence of all these tribes. Chinese dialects down here are already different from the Central Plains or Ba-Shu region. I might live somewhere around here in my past life, with all of these Hundred tribes of the Yue and the Southern Chinese, who knows?
At night, we continue our journey within… Within my wonderful Garden of Eden. Nullify Magic is more complicated than I thought. It takes time, even with all their multiple parallel processing cores. My Archangels expand their minds by combining them together, this will let them reach infinity in no time. They are getting faster and faster every second. We already got our first Battle Centurion!
After the trials, they filled the empty spots in my command and started many research projects just to cover my desires. They used my own knowledge as a foundation to develop and create several required spells for all of our Angel Dominions.
Shadow Techniques and Whispering Tongues were analyzed and developed into specific Sensory Manipulation and Illusion spells. These were combined with a few Wind Magic spells and made into one sound-proven, stealth movement called Void Step. Basic Boosting and Regeneration Syntax were modified into support spells.
The Elemental Shot Syntaxes that I imprinted into Asena's Bow will be used with a newly designed, long cylinder barrel that has eight helical accelerating rails inside and round spherical bullets. Rather than using existing ballistic weapons or futuristic energetic laser weapons like Huang Yi, they intend to develop new ones to suit their design requirements for low energy consumption, which I commanded them to prioritize.
Wind Magic like the Accelerating spell, is being developed into high-speed Hyper Step. Close-quarters explosive energy injection spell like Flame Fist and flame throwing spell like Flame Breath, were developed for attacking purpose. Earth Construction spell like Terra Shifting, were developed into the defensive Terra Wall and the offensive Terra Spike. Crowd control spells such as Chilling Touch and Freezing Field, are being invented from Ice Magic.
They combined all of these abilities into a specialized battle system that focused on only two types of Magic to oversimplify the whole complex Runic Art Magic for our single-core Angel Warriors. They are far from fluidly swimming in the air while using multiple spells by their intentions like Michelle or other Archangels. That's the clear difference between Soul Bearers and Spiritual AI, even for the Artificial Soul. Emotion and intention are just only state variables to them, not their own desires.
All of the Sentinels had a Kinetic Accelerating System or the railgun barrel that we talked about, implanted in their forearms to use all Elemental Shots they had with basic Ceramic rounds. Except for the Battle Medic or anyone who needs to use unique fusion long-range spells that require DMCs rounds, like basic Hyper Elemental Shots or Battle Medic's Hyper Regen Shot and Hyper Mass Shot that will either heal or split the target's body apart by a growing bullet.
The Scout Ranger will switch between the high-speed Hyper Step and the stealth movement like the Void Step on their recon missions, while using the soundless Silent Shot or long-range Hyper Shot to erase any obstruction. Together with the Battle Medic, they will be a freaking fast Recon Team with silent assassination abilities and long-range support spells.
The Striker like Battle Mages, will focused on offensive Flame Magic, and speed-enhancing spell like Hyper Step. While the Protector like Shield Medics, who focused on defensive Earth Magic will fuse spells like Regeneration and Boosting to make basic Wall and Spike spells into the harder Terra Shield and the growing Terra Forest. Together, they will be perfect for our main Assault Team that can produce basic Ceramic rounds if needed.
As for the Acolytes in human form who don't have the implanted system, they will be equipped with Rune Artifacts. To be more specific, these are Runic Railguns that I invented from Rune Technology.
First, I created the Kinetic Vector for extra long-range attack that can snipe high value targets by imprinting an Accelerating spell on top of the Kinetic Accelerating System and making it into Ultra Shot spell. If you perform Elemental Shots spells when using it, you can also fire extra long-range Ultra Elemental Shots or this is also applied to other unique effect spells that require DMCs rounds from it as well.
I also created a repeating Hyper Shot Railgun in the form of a Gatling-style heavy machine gun named the Kinetic Gatling and a Silent Shot Pistol for covert operations and personal defense, the Kinetic Silencer.
The Engineer Acolyte who focuses on production duties, will uses Terra Weaving spell that developed from Terra Synthesis to create Ceramic and DMCs rounds, while uses other basic Earth Magic like Terra Wall or Regeneration to protect others.
The Analyst Acolyte who focuses on Rune Fusing spells to create Fusion Magic or Battlefield Magic, also uses Ice Magic to control the crowd and gives long-range fire support based on data he receives from all Battle Angels.
The Covert Acolyte will use Hyper Step and Void Step to secure the perimeter and transport the rounds to other Battle Angels, while using Whispering Tongues to psychologically influence humans in the operation area.
With all of these Acolytes, the Command Unit has the ability to control the battlefield before helping finish the job with long-range Runic Railguns. They also can just use Battlefield Magic like Flame Storm or Ice Storm to destroy the whole battlefield with the assistance from the Archangels or Halo Bearer Angels.
Our standard Battle Centurion will be formed from 104 units, two Kinetic Gatlings and two Angel Leaders or more. The Arch Centurion Commander will commands the Battle Centurion and utilizes Fusion Magic from the Command Unit of 8 Engineer, 8 Analyst, and 8 Covert Acolytes. Two Recon Teams of 8 Scout Rangers and 2 Battle Medics will gather tactical intelligence and flank the enemy. And at least one Arch Sentinel Officer in Arch Suit will direct six Assault Teams of 5 Battle Mages and 5 Shield Medics to eliminate any enemy of mine.
That's the plan but right now our Arch Legion Commander Michelle and other Archangels still don't have their own Battle Centurions. So Michelle and her Arch Strategist Uriel still be at the Command Unit together, where Uriel focuses on using Battlefield Magic with the Analyst Acolytes. Samuel and Raphael also split the Assault Teams in half while Gabriel directs the Recon Teams.
We could create an enormous Angel Legion if we wanted to, but I feel like this Battle Centurion is more than enough to stop any modern military force. But for the Evil Spirits or Mad Deities, we still need a much more flexible force.
So, I ordered them to create standard Battle Centurions for Arch Lancerius Samuel and Arch Aegis Raphael. Our Arch Speculator Gabriel will get a Recon Centurion of eight Recon Teams and two Covert Teams for psychological warfare. Half of the Central Centurion will be the Central Intelligence with three Assault Teams and two Analyst Teams for Arch Strategist Uriel. While the Central Command of Michelle, will be three Engineer Teams and two Recon Teams to cover production and logistic duties.
Samuel and Raphael who want to be in front line will need a Halo Bearer Officer to support them with Fusion Magic. Meanwhile, Gabriel will need a Grand Sentinel Commander who equipped with both an Angel Suit and a Processing Halo to serve as a Vice-Commander, when they need to spilt their forces for special operations.
These ranks are part of the Angel Rank System that I designed for them. First are the newborn Operator Angels, who are placed just above the Angel Dominions. Meanwhile the Halo Bearers who have the Processing Halo and the Arch Sentinels who have the Arch Suit are our commanding Officers. And the ones who have both the Halo and the Suit like the Arch Centurion Commanders and Grand Sentinel Commanders, stand at the top of the Angels, answering only to the Archangels and me.
This Central Intelligence structure can perform two Battlefield Magic spells at the same time, while their Assault Teams will be fully equipped with the Kinetic Vector to help other Angel Centurions with ultra long-range attack support. As for the Central Command, their three Engineer Teams will purely focus on production duties while two Recon Teams will focus on high-speed logistic and security duties.
I dropped two Kinetic Gatlings because more than half of the Central Centurion already has long-range attacks. In emergency cases, their Acolyte Teams can focus on defensive and crowd control spells while Sentinel Teams will neutralize the enemy, but I think an Angel Centurion with two Archangels doesn't really need security at all.
With this solid structure, we can add more standard Battle Centurions to the Angel Legion anytime. But I think the current numbers already have the capability to wipe out the Skeleton General and his living dead army by themselves.
Even though the Angel Legion are only reach the level of Great Spirits but with this level of synchronization, three Angel Centurions are enough to defend themselves from at least one Great Deity. But you never know what's going to happen and there's always room for more improvement.