The screen displayed the Golden Guards. Leading them were Lu Wu and Lu Qingluan, the Golden Guard Commanders. They bore the critical responsibility of defending Haiyuan City (Sea Abyss City), so they specialized in defensive combat, and their Soul Tool Combined Array leaned toward defense.
Each of them was equipped with a Black Tortoise Shield that could be disassembled. This shield not only possessed powerful defensive capabilities but could also be used for control and sealing, and could even deploy the combined Soul Tool formation.
The defensive formation created by tens of thousands of Golden Guards was incredibly strong, capable of withstanding a full-power strike from Changli.
Keep in mind that Changli has reached the terrifying realm of Level 99 Titled Douluo. This means the combined efforts of the Golden Guards could withstand the violent bombardment of a Tier 9 Fixed Soul Tool Cannon Shell.
Such formidable defense was already astounding.
Even the Sun Moon Empire's five Protecting Hands of the Nation wouldn't dare claim they could easily resist a Tier 9 Fixed Soul Tool Cannon Shell.
If not for the Mech Corps and the Anti-Matter Legion, the Golden Guards would be able to dominate the entire Douluo Continent.
This was the immense power generated by the combination of Soul Tools and Fusion Warriors.
The entire Golden Guard Corps, save for the initial batch of members, had subsequent recruits whose integrated genes heavily focused on defense.
Coupled with in-depth research into the Profound Nether Sect's martial soul, they developed the Black Tortoise Shield Soul Tool, ranging from Tier 5 to Tier 9, all specialized for defense and control. It was one of the top Soul Tools developed by Haiyuan City.
Especially the Tier 9 Black Tortoise Shield; once a Titled Douluo was restrained, they were nearly unable to break free.
The main duty of the Golden Guards was to protect Haiyuan City and maintain order within it, which was why the Black Tortoise Shield was created.
With a soft, warm beauty in his arms, Lu Jingming naturally wasn't idle. He gently wrapped an arm around Changli's slender waist, then focused his attention on the screen.
Seeing the Golden Guards break the 10,000 mark and develop into such a powerful force, he couldn't help but smile in gratification.
After all, this was the very first legion he had personally established. He was naturally delighted that it had grown to such a powerful state.
Feeling the restless hand on her waist, Changli quietly rolled her eyes but didn't stop Lu Jingming. She continued to swipe the screen, showing the deployment of Haiyuan City's other military forces.
Next, the screen displayed a legion composed of various different troop types.
Compared to the defense-specialized Golden Guards, this legion was clearly geared more toward external operations. Its structure was complex, and its troop types complemented each other, forming a tight, efficient combat system.
First came the Wind-Fist Vanguards. They wore black and green Soul Tool armor and had successfully integrated the genes of wind-attribute Soul Beasts.
The Soul Tool Iron Fists in their hands were their signature weapons. Utilizing the power of the wind element, they could engage enemies fiercely on the front lines, boosting their attack power with the force of wind. They could also cleverly release wind elements to form a sturdy barrier around teammates, providing reliable protection.
More crucially, the Wind-Fist Vanguards possessed the ability to purify negative status effects on their teammates, greatly ensuring their combat effectiveness and survival in complex battle environments.
Following the Wind-Fist Vanguards were the Thunder-Hammer Vanguards.
They wore purple-black armor and wielded massive purple-black Thunder Great Hammers. Lightning flickered on the hammerheads, seemingly containing destructive power.
This unit integrated the genes of lightning-attribute Soul Beasts, allowing them to skillfully control the power of lightning and deliver heavy blows to enemies with powerful lightning-attribute attacks.
The Hydro-Gun Heavy Guards and Cryo-Gun Heavy Guards were also conspicuous.
They integrated the genes of water-attribute and ice-attribute Soul Beasts, respectively. The Hydro and Ice Soul Tool Cannons in their hands were their effective weapons.
The Hydro-Gun Heavy Guards could use their cannons for both attack and control, utilizing the properties of flowing water to restrict enemy movement. The Cryo-Gun Heavy Guards could create chilling attacks with their Ice Cannons, freezing enemies in place and creating favorable combat conditions for their allies.
The Geo-Wand Skirmishers were the legion's defensive and long-range support force.
Wielding Soul Tool Staves and integrating earth-attribute Soul Beast genes, they could expertly manipulate the earth element.
They could release solid shields to protect teammates from enemy attacks and use the power of the earth element for long-range attack and suppression, flexibly adjusting tactics on the battlefield to provide comprehensive support for the team.
The Pyro-Gun Skirmishers carried fire-attribute Soul Tool Sniper Rifles. They integrated the genes of fire-attribute Soul Beasts and could launch precision strikes on enemies from extreme distances.
The fire-attribute bullets possessed explosive impact and penetrating power, capable of cornering enemies.
In addition to these basic troop types, the legion also included numerous elite troops, each not to be underestimated.
The Pyro Snezhnayan Debt Collector specialized in assassination. They could cleverly conceal themselves in the darkness, approaching enemies like ghosts to deliver fatal blows.
The Electro-Cicada Mages and Cryo-Cicada Mages specialized in controlling lightning and ice powers, respectively, unleashing powerful Soul Skill attacks to provide strong fire support for the team during combat.
Elite troops like the Mirror Maiden, Anemoboxer Vanguard, and Cryo-Skirmisher also played important roles, their unique abilities allowing the Fatui Legion to maintain strong combat effectiveness in all kinds of complex environments.
Such a complex and varied combination of troop types allowed the Fatui Legion to operate with ease in any environment.
In terms of overall combat power, it was even superior to the Golden Guards, unequivocally becoming Haiyuan City's current trump card legion.
However, building such a diverse legion required all sorts of different Soul Beast genes to create the various specialized Fatui soldiers.
The primary provider of these Soul Beast genes was none other than Miss Gu Yuena.
As the co-lord of the Soul Beasts, as long as the Soul Beasts haven't gone extinct, there was no Soul Beast gene she couldn't acquire.
It could be said that Gu Yuena contributed half of the effort to the successful establishment and comprehensive combat readiness of the Fatui Legion.
After all, without her providing the rich Soul Beast gene pool, where would they get so many Fusion Warriors with strange and powerful abilities, who were now the elite soldiers of the Fatui?
Currently, the Fatui soldiers on screen were being led in training by "Sky Wing" Yu Mengdi, the Fatui's Eleventh Harbinger, and "Golden" Ye Wuqing, the Tenth Harbinger.
As the earliest genius Soul Masters to pledge allegiance to Lu Jingming, he was extremely generous with them—Soul Bones, Stigmata, Honkai Energy, and various precious natural treasures were all at their disposal.
With such abundant resource support, Yu Mengdi and Ye Wuqing progressed rapidly, and have now become powerhouses at the Soul Douluo level.
In the Fatui Legion, this level of strength was enough to hold the position of the final Harbingers.
Both of them had exceptional talent, especially Ye Wuqing, whose talent was no less than that of the Shrek Inner Court disciples.
Under Lu Jingming's massive resource infusion, his progress was even faster than the Shrek Academy Inner Court disciples.
After all, if the Sun Moon Empire could stack resources to create Tier 9 Soul Engineers, Lu Jingming, with even more abundant resources, could naturally do the same.
However, Lu Jingming considered the long-term development of Yu Mengdi and Ye Wuqing and didn't want to overly deplete their potential. Otherwise, with his ability, he could even directly push them to the Titled Douluo realm.
But such Titled Douluo, achieved through "drug use," would not only have questionable combat power but also severely limited potential for future growth.
Yu Mengdi and Ye Wuqing naturally understood this, so they didn't blindly pursue increases in Soul Power level.
They constantly trained in the Simulated Universe, diligently studied how to use various Soul Tools, and even tried to create their own Soul Skills, continuously improving their comprehensive strength.
Otherwise, given the fierce competition within the Fatui Legion, it would be difficult for them to hold onto their Harbinger positions.
Even though they were the last two spots, quite a few people in Haiyuan City were eyeing those positions, especially many outstanding elite soldiers among the Fusion Warriors within the Fatui.
Of course, several positions among the Eleven Fatui Harbingers were currently vacant, and a few were temporarily filled by Keqing and Ganyu out of Lu Jingming's sheer amusement; those positions would eventually be handed over to more suitable people.
In this fiercely competitive environment, the Fatui Legion continuously produced powerhouses, which was a major reason why it had become Haiyuan City's ace legion.
Every soldier in the legion was a carefully selected and trained elite. If placed in the army of any other empire, they would be capable of serving as a mid-level military officer.
Changli rather indignantly swatted away Lu Jingming's restless hand, which was trying to climb up her thigh, then her finger gently swiped the screen again, and the image changed.
This time, the Night Return Corps appeared on the screen. They wore modern equipment and were proficient in operating various advanced devices such as Soul Tool Detectors, Soul Tool Drones, and Soul Tool Chariots.
This legion was primarily responsible for logistics and support, but they also possessed combat power that couldn't be underestimated, as they were equipped with the most advanced Soul Tools.
The Night Return Corps had a scale of 30,000, making it the largest legion by headcount.
They had clear divisions of labor: one part was responsible for intelligence gathering, using advanced Soul Tool Detectors and drones to penetrate enemy territory.
Another part operated various large-scale Soul Tool devices to provide necessary logistical support for the front lines.
The final part was responsible for long-range strike support, providing long-distance fire suppression to the enemy at critical moments.
The Fatui Legion focused on combat, the Golden Guards on defense, and the Night Return Corps on intelligence and logistics—these were Haiyuan City's three major legions in the current stage.
These 50,000 troops were all elites who had undergone rigorous screening and training.
Although their numbers didn't reach the hundreds of thousands or even millions of other empires, their combat power was not to be underestimated.
In the exercises within the Simulated Universe, these 50,000 troops displayed astonishing strength. They were fully capable of frontally defeating the Northwest Group Army stationed in the Ming Dou Mountain Range, which was responsible for defending against the Sun Moon Empire.
The Northwest Group Army was personally led by the Duke of White Tiger and was the Star Luo Empire's strongest legion, numbering around 300,000.
It was precisely because of this that they were tasked with the important duty of defending against the Sun Moon Empire.
In the Simulated Universe's mock battles, Haiyuan City's three major legions, facing the Northwest Group Army—including its two major Soul Master Legions, several Titled Douluos, and the command of the renowned Duke of White Tiger himself—were still able to defeat them like a hot knife through butter, showcasing formidable combat capabilities.
In fact, the three major legions of Haiyuan City had engaged in multiple mock battles against the elite armies of various empires in the Simulated Universe, collecting a vast amount of data on the armies of the major empires.
The results showed that, aside from the Sun Moon Empire's five protecting hands being strong and slightly tricky, the armies of the Star Luo Empire, Heaven Soul Empire, and Dou Ling Empire were no match for Haiyuan City's three major legions.
It could be said that in terms of military strength alone, Haiyuan City was already incredibly powerful, and this trend of growth was constantly expanding.
Though Changli had stopped him earlier, Lu Jingming wasn't one to give up easily.
His right hand slowly crept up Changli's lower abdomen, subtly slipping inside her clothes, and finally reached the magnificent and righteous peaks that stood above all of Haiyuan City.
Changli wore a helpless expression and shifted her body slightly into a more comfortable position. She pretended not to notice Lu Jingming's mischievous hand, treating it as a benefit for the young man.
Finally, a special legion appeared on the Soul Tool screen. This legion comprised only five hundred people.
The moment he saw this legion, Lu Jingming immediately sat up straight, pulling Changli tightly into his embrace, his right hand unconsciously clenching.
Changli winced in pain and couldn't help but groan, giving Lu Jingming an annoyed glare.
Lu Jingming realized he had been too excited, and an embarrassed look washed over his face, his eyes full of apology.
But he truly couldn't contain his excitement, because the legion on the screen was simply too astonishing.
Standing neatly in the barracks were five hundred silver-white mechas, each over three meters tall. This was the absolute trump card Lu Jingming had meticulously forged: the Molten Knights.
The pilots of these five hundred mechas were all Fusion Warriors at the Soul Saint level or above, with extremely high loyalty to Lu Jingming.
These mechas were all modeled after Firefly's Sam mecha, possessing a Master Recognition function that allowed them to resonate and achieve symbiosis with their master, even growing alongside them.
Their raw material came from the high-quality, living Polar Ice Divine Crystal found beneath the Earth Dragon Gate—a highly precious, spiritual, active metal.
The mechas were internally equipped with Honkai Energy Furnaces, providing powerful propulsion support. They were fitted with Aggregated Beam Cannons capable of firing powerful energy beams, delivering devastating long-range strikes to the enemy.
They also carried Plasma Swords, showcasing immense lethality in close combat. Furthermore, they possessed Anti-Gravity Fields, Spatial Phase Transfer Devices, and a Stellar Propulsion System, greatly enhancing the mechas' mobility and battlefield survivability.
It could be said that the combat power of each mecha was comparable to that of an ordinary Titled Douluo.
The Molten Knights—these five hundred mechas were equivalent to five hundred powerhouses with Titled Douluo-level combat strength.
In the past, such a force would have been able to sweep across the entire Douluo Continent.
Even in the special time frame of the current Holy Grail War, their invincible status might be somewhat affected by the existence of Servants, but this power was still sufficient for Haiyuan City to establish hegemony in future wars.
This was the absolute ace knight regiment Lu Jingming had spent years accumulating and pouring massive resources into, and it was a crucial symbol of Haiyuan City's future status.
With such immense power, Lu Jingming naturally wouldn't easily entrust it to others.
The Commander of the Molten Knights was Firefly. Only she could make Lu Jingming feel secure.
After all, these Molten Mechas were created based on Firefly's Sam mecha, and Firefly held the foundational control authority over all the mechas. Even if the mechas recognized a master, they could not escape her control.
Of course, if a mecha could evolve alongside its master and reach a certain level, it could break free from foundational control and gain freedom.
But by that time, Lu Jingming would naturally have other ways to tame the pilots and the mechas.
After all, those capable of evolving their mechas would surely be exceptional individuals, and granting them better treatment would be only natural.
Furthermore, these mecha pilots were Fusion Warriors who had gained new life through Lu Jingming. They were utterly loyal to him—die-hard zealots.
As long as Lu Jingming didn't seek his own demise or become incompetent, the probability of their betrayal was nearly zero.
With multiple safeguards in place, this powerful Molten Knights legion was completely under Lu Jingming's control.
With such a powerful force in hand, even if the upcoming war were to sweep across the entire continent, Haiyuan City could rest easy.
Even the Anti-Matter Legion, constrained by materials and energy, would likely not reach the level of a cosmic disaster of their original universe without the Destruction Path .
So, Lu Jingming wasn't overly concerned that the Anti-Matter Legion would ruin the planet.
Even though Celenova also controlled a lot of high technology, as a memory unit, her memory was incomplete and couldn't compare to the fully intact memory of Herta.
As an Annihilation Gang Lord, the technological power of the Anti-Matter Legion shouldn't be underestimated. Starships, anti-star weapons, and various cosmic-level high-tech devices—any one of them could cause the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tool technology to leap forward.
However, Celenova clearly didn't hold the Sun Moon Empire in high regard, treating them merely as tools.
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