Chương 188: The Ten Apostles

At the mention of shipbuilding, Tie-Ouk's face nearly collapsed. Following the engineering schematics provided by Li Qinwu, he had recently fabricated a prototype steam engine drive and assembled a wooden hull to house it. That entire propulsion unit was currently resting at the bottom of the riverbed; the vessel had sunk with breathtaking velocity. Shipwrights were specialized, high-tier craftsmen—many of whom held noble patents in human lands.

The desperate humans who had braved the Monster Forest to seek a livelihood under Li Qinwu were down-on-their-luck refugees and laborers; not a single one knew the first thing about naval architecture. They had no choice but to improvise. They pieced together a basic wooden hull and mounted the engine. Initially, the makeshift steamship floated near the riverbank and successfully moved under its own power.

But the moment it ventured into deeper water, a single swell struck the bow, and the entire vessel sank straight to the bottom. Had a squad of Water Wyverns not been escorting the vessel, several crew members would have drowned. Tie-Ouk wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Your Majesty... we simply don't have anyone skilled in naval construction. Brute-forcing it isn't working. That last steam engine is still resting on the riverbed! We need to hire real shipwrights, or we'll keep sacrificing engines to the river!" Li Qinwu conceded the point. Recognizing the physical limits of trial and error, he resolved to contact Jin Lanbo to inquire about hiring professional shipwrights from human territories.

Shifting focus, Li Qinwu and Tie-Ouk discussed manufacturing specialized industrial machinery—specifically rolling mills and steam-powered forging presses. Li Qinwu intended to establish a formal currency system for the Alliance, which required machinery capable of high-volume minting. He had already mapped out the currency denominations: 1-credit small copper coins, 5-credit large copper coins, 50-credit small silver coins, 100-credit large silver coins, and high-value gold coins for grand transactions.

To prevent individuals from shaving or clipping the silver coins to harvest silver dust, Li Qinwu planned a bimetallic construction: a ring of copper enclosing a center of silver. Anyone attempting to file down the edge would only yield worthless copper shavings. Meanwhile, within the Western Expedition Encampment, operational command officers gathered around a large tactical map. Gob-Spear stared at the map, his eyes heavily bloodshot.

"The Artillery Battalion! Where is the Artillery Battalion?!" The deputy commander of the battalion swallowed nervously.

"Thirty li behind the main column, Commander." BANG! Gob-Spear slammed his fist onto the campaign table.

"Why are you lagging thirty li behind?! What are you people doing out there?!" The deputy artillery commander wiped cold sweat from his forehead.

"The draft horses pulled down tainted water two days ago, and five died on the road. The mud is terrible, so—" BANG! Gob-Spear roared over him: "Requisition draft beasts from logistics! Not a single gun gets left behind!!" The logistics commander offered weakly: "Our... our draft horses suffered even worse casualties. The heavy supply train is still fifty li out." Gob-Spear froze.

"... Fine. I'll detach four cavalry squadrons to reinforce logistics. The war-spiders aren't that fragile." Gob-Gallop, seated in his wheelchair, nodded in agreement. Gob-Spear shot him a look of gratitude, while Gob-Gallop returned an expression that promised unwavering camaraderie. Gob-Spear turned toward Knight Reo, letting out a sharp grunt.

"Where is your unit?" Knight Reo maintained an impassive expression, tapping a stick against a spot on the map.

"My command is right here, Commander." Seeing how far back the infantry trailed, Gob-Spear snapped: "Why is your unit lagging so far behind as well?! You aren't hauling heavy siege engines!" Knight Reo lowered his head.

"My fault, Commander. Many soldiers in the First National Defense Regiment can't handle the forest insects. To date, eight have died from fever, twenty-one are bedridden, and morale... morale is fragile." Gob-Spear scoffed: "You humans are soft. You—" Scratch, scratch, scratch! Before Gob-Spear could finish, the military police inspector standing beside the table began scribbling frantically into his notebook with charcoal. Gob-Spear's face paled.

"Hey! Hey! Don't write that down! It was a slip of the tongue—I don't hold prejudice against humans!" The inspector finished his entry, looking up at Gob-Spear with an expression that invited him to keep speaking. Gob-Spear felt a knot in his stomach. This log was going straight to the Boss; he was going to get pulverized.

"Wood-rat's sake!" he muttered under his breath. Scratch, scratch, scratch. The inspector's charcoal pencil moved again.

"Hey! No! Don't log that! Damn it, don't log this either! Why are you still writing—" Before chaos fully broke out in the command tent, a scout burst inside.

"Report!" The officers turned toward the scout. Gob-Gallop asked, "What's the situation? Speak."

"Reporting! Vanguard scouts detected campfire smoke twenty li ahead of our path. A close inspection revealed a concealed campsite, complete with campfire ash and waste. Based on scent profiling, the intruders are adult human males—at least ten individuals based on track density." Gob-Spear frowned. They were still 300 kilometers from human territory. What were humans doing here? Even elite adventurers wouldn't venture this deep into the forest.

"Do we know when they broke camp?" Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"The ashes were still warm. We estimate they spent the night there and resumed moving this morning." Gob-Spear muttered to himself: "Camped at night... moved at dawn... heading east... Wait! They're going to collide with our column! No—they've already passed us!

"Pass the word! Full combat readiness across all units!!" The officers looked puzzled. Gob-Bow asked dubiously: "It's just ten humans—probably adventurers searching for rare herbs. Is full combat readiness necessary? We have an army of ten thousand." Gob-Spear locked eyes with Gob-Bow.

"The Hero! Have you forgotten the Hero's party?!" Gob-Bow stiffened, his expression darkening instantly. The original Tenth Company of the Penal Corps had been completely wiped out by a single Hero! Gob-Spear warned sternly: "We have no direct confirmation, but any ten-man human squad that dares infiltrate deep into the Monster Forest is not ordinary. They are likely combatants on par with Heroes!

"Even if they lack Hero-level strength, why infiltrate covertly instead of traveling with a registered merchant caravan now that the Alliance is established? What are they after?" Silence fell over the tent until Gob-Gallop spoke up: "Understood. I will dispatch all available cavalry to sweep the area.

"Regardless of who these illegal entrants are or what they intend, we capture them first!" Swarms of war-spiders surged out of the encampment, fanning out in all directions to track the human infiltrators. Gob-Spear's intuition was accurate: the humans they had crossed paths with were indeed the Ten Apostles sent by the Church of the Goddess of Life. However, Gob-Spear had miscalculated one critical detail—the Apostles hadn't collided with his column; they had already slipped past it.

Five li behind the Alliance march, the Apostles crouched in the brush, watching the endless column of troops pass by. Their expressions were grim. A flaxen-haired man whispered under his breath: "Goddess above! Is this monster army marching to invade the Kingdom of Sarthos? How can they field such a vast force?! This is absolute sacrilege!" All ten individuals radiated sharp, lethal aura. They were encased in full plate armor, carrying long cross-hilted swords at their waists and heavy travel packs on their backs.

Had Li Qinwu been present, he would have realized with astonishment that their weapons and armor were forged entirely from pure mithril! After observing the column and spotting swarms of war-spiders fanning out, one of the Apostles tensed: "Dammit! Have they detected us? Why are they deploying cavalry in all directions?!" Another added: "With an army this size moving west, an invasion of Sarthos seems imminent. Could our primary target—the monster chieftain—be commanding this force?

We can't hope to breach a corps of ten thousand! What happens to our mission?" A heavy silence descended until the tall, blonde leader spoke.

"It appears the monster chieftain is indeed with the main army. Reports indicate he carries the Purity Pendant on his person at all times. The primary objective must be abandoned." A wave of frustration washed over the men. After enduring so much hardship to reach this depth, retreating empty-handed was demoralizing. However, the leader—designated Apostle No. 1—continued:"During the previous monster raid on Poloya, a mere thousand beasts threw the Halyuin domain into utter chaos. Now they field over ten thousand.

Their destructive potential is immense. Poloya is destined to become the Goddess's earthly kingdom; any damage to Sarthos is a loss to Her Holiness. We must act!" The flaxen-haired man asked, "No. 1, what is the plan?" No. 1 instructed: "No. 10, fall back to Poloya immediately and report this force concentration to the Grand Pontiff. The Church leadership will know how to respond.

"As for the rest of us, we will strike deep into the monster core territory. While we cannot fight an army of ten thousand head-on, executing sabotage in their rear is well within our capability. We will buy time for Sarthos to mobilize. If the monster army receives word that their homeland is under attack, they may be forced to turn back and defend!" Driven by miscalculations on both sides, the remaining nine Apostles set off to wreak havoc within the heart of the Alliance.

They moved with urgency, knowing war-spiders were already picking up their trail. Kobold riders among Gob-Gallop's cavalry were using their heightened sense of smell to track the nine infiltrators. However, the Apostles possessed extraordinary physical conditioning. Moving through the dense primeval forest, their foot speed rivaled the all-terrain war-spiders.

Furthermore, using specialized concealment techniques, the Apostles managed to completely mask their scent signatures at a crucial moment, breaking the tracker line. As these reports filtered back to Gob-Spear, every clue pointed toward an elite squad of transcendent or near-transcendent combatants. Anxiety gnawed at him. He had to warn the capital immediately! Gob-Spear aborted the training exercise entirely, ordering an immediate about-face.

He dispatched elite cavalry riders to ride day and night back to Iron City to alert Li Qinwu. Yet due to the rugged forest terrain, human speed outstripped spider cavalry over long distances. Coupled with organizational delays in turning a ten-thousand-man column, Gob-Spear could not close the gap. Believing they had gained a full day's lead over their pursuers, the nine Apostles penetrated the core territory of the Alliance.

They bypassed Gob-Fort, recognizing from intelligence reports that it was merely an outpost of minor strategic value; Iron City was the true capital. Unbuckling their travel packs, the nine men pulled out glass vials filled with a brilliant blue elixir. Downing two vials each, the exhaustion of days of continuous travel vanished instantly. After another half-day of hard sprinting, they reached the forest perimeter surrounding Iron City.

Looking out at the vast urban complex in the distance, the nine men stood frozen in shock.

"Goddess above!" one gasped.

"These monsters actually built a city!!" No. 1 studied the layout of Iron City before issuing orders: "Scatter and inflict maximum casualties on the monsters! Reassemble here in twenty-four hours for extraction.

"Forward! For the Goddess!" Drawing their mithril longswords, the nine Apostles charged out of the tree line. Iron City was encircled by vast agricultural fields where goblins, kobolds, and humans labored together. A goblin farmer was methodically using an axe butt to break up large dirt clods. The fields had been deeply tilled by Ogres and the Crimson Queen pulling heavy iron plows, leaving large chunks of earth that needed manual crushing.

After shattering a clod of dirt, the goblin heard fast, heavy footsteps approaching. Looking up, he saw a human clad in full plate armor sprinting across the field, trampling the fresh green sprouts. The goblin farmer flew into a rage, roaring: "You bastard! Stop stepping on my crops!!" SWISH! A flash of white light cut through the air, and the goblin farmer's head flew into the sky. Apostle No.

1 flicked the blood off his blade, casting a disdainful glance at the headless corpse before stepping on the newly sprouted seedlings to charge the next farmer. He moved with terrifying swiftness, slaying dozens of farmers in quick succession. Because everyone was engrossed in field work, no one initially noticed the slaughter.

"This is too slow," No. 1 muttered.

"I need to head where the monsters are concentrated." He turned toward the urban center and accelerated. The city interior was far more densely populated, featuring paved stone roads, structured storefronts, and residential blocks. No. 1 leapt onto the roof of a small building to survey the layout. While many structures were simple timber frames or masonry built from unknown stone, the streets were straight and laid out on a clear grid.

Inhabitants thronged the thoroughfares—mostly goblins, alongside humans, kobolds, Water Wyverns, and the occasional Troll. Species that typically occupied opposing ends of the food chain lived side-by-side in peaceful coexistence, maintaining a strange, highly organized order. No. 1 marveled at the sight before shifting back to his objective.

Rather than leaping down to engage in indiscriminate melee, he reached into his pack and retrieved a specialized magical artifact—an array disc embedded with high-density mana crystals. Activating the array, No. 1 tossed the artifact into a crowded street below, then immediately leapt toward a distant rooftop without looking back. Before he had covered fifty meters, a deafening explosion shattered the street behind him. Blast waves threw monster limbs into the air, followed by terrified screams. No.

1 initiated full sabotage mode, hurling explosive artifacts across the city blocks. A series of violent detonations ripped through the streets, inflicting heavy casualties and plunging the district into chaos. High above, warning bells began to chime across the city in unison. Units of the Penal Corps immediately deployed into the streets, securing intersections and key chokepoints while executing systematic crowd evacuation. Within minutes, the thoroughfares were cleared of civilians.

Li Qinwu had previously conducted urban defense drills for high-tier intruder scenarios; that preparation was now paying off. No. 1 quickly ran out of viable targets as civilians took shelter. Explosive magic artifacts were far too valuable to waste on isolated guards. Furthermore, he noticed the monster guards were moving with exceptional discipline. Soldiers had locked down key intersections, while sharpshooters mounted watchtowers to harass him with long-range fire, severely restricting his mobility.

Frowning, No. 1 clutched his remaining artifacts, searching for a high-value target. He then recalled a key detail from intelligence reports: the monsters maintained a massive industrial foundry complex. It represented a critical strategic asset—the perfect target for his remaining explosives.