Chương 194: How to Counterattack?

Casting a look of disgust at the corpse, Li Qinwu turned to Gobu-Kuang and said: "Death was too quick a mercy for him. Drag him out—everyone else, keep the music playing and the dancing going." The crowd returned to feasting gluttonously, and mages soon pushed open the doors to treat their wounds. In a joyful atmosphere, everyone ate their fill with complete satisfaction, leaving the Chief's Residence late at night in a drunken stupor. Only Li Qinwu and Kanda remained in the messy room.

Opening Kanda's character status panel, Li Qinwu smiled at him: "Kanda, you've become a Hero now. Do you know what that means?" Upon transferring to a Hero, Kanda had become an officially recognized NPC within the system framework. Unlike standard system-produced units, an NPC gained stat points with every level up, granting far greater potential for growth. And even as a Level 1 Hero, Kanda's baseline attributes were absurd.

His stats read: Vigor 35, Control 35, Endurance 35, Cunning 35, Social 35, Intelligence 35—every single attribute stood at 35! Furthermore, his combat skill proficiencies were all maxed at 350, while non-combat skills like socialing, trading, and command hovered around 100. Li Qinwu had only one evaluation for this: a human Gundam! And a human Gundam with massive growth potential at that! For NPCs, leveling up from 1 to 30 was relatively quick; only past Level 30 did it become a slow grind.

That meant Kanda could easily gain another 30 attribute points. If all of those were dumped into Vigor, he could probably wrestle an Ogre with his bare hands. Clenching his fist, Kanda felt the surging power within him. Looking into Li Qinwu's eyes, he spoke resolutely: "Boss! I want to defend the dignity of our nation!" Li Qinwu was taken aback, not expecting Kanda to express such a high level of political awareness.

Noticing Li Qinwu's puzzled expression, Kanda lowered his head and gritted his teeth: "Boss, what that enemy said back then was right... Without national dignity, there can be no security for our citizens!" Kanda recounted the intruder's taunts to Li Qinwu, and realization dawned on the Chief immediately. With bloodshot eyes, Li Qinwu agreed passionately: "Kanda, he was right. A nation's dignity is forged solely on the edge of the blade! This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"They entered our borders at will and launched strikes as they pleased—our dignity was indeed trampled on!

"If we tolerate this behavior and fail to strike back, anyone will think they can send elite teams into our lands and slaughter our citizens at whim!" Kanda looked up at Li Qinwu.

"What should we do?" Li Qinwu slammed his left fist heavily against Kanda's chest.

"An eye for an eye! We strike back using the exact same playbook!

"The Alliance must show our enemies that small-scale elite infiltration and sabotage will not be tolerated—and will be met with decisive retaliation!

"We will launch a thunderous offensive against any enemy that resorts to such tactics! Let potential foes know that daring to launch such strikes means facing the Alliance's thunderous rage! We will establish a psychological red line in the mind of every enemy!!" Kanda's body tensed with anticipation.

"Boss! I understand! I am now an extraordinary force of the Alliance! I will immediately infiltrate deep into enemy territory and strike at their core headquarters!" Li Qinwu waved his hand, motioning for Kanda to sit back down and talk.

"Kanda, you've heard about Leon the Hero, right?" Kanda nodded, looking at Li Qinwu with admiration.

"I know, Boss. You and the Old 10th Company of the Penal Corps made tremendous sacrifices to kill Leon the Hero!" Li Qinwu let out a grunt of affirmation.

"Kanda, back then I didn't fully grasp what level of existence a Hero truly was. But now that you've become one, I have a much clearer picture.

"A Hero's growth potential is astronomical. Back then, Leon the Hero didn't even look older than twenty—extremely green, impulsive, and recklessly rushing here to throw his life away after hearing about the Alliance from who-knows-where." With his Intelligence attribute at 35, Kanda grasped Li Qinwu's meaning instantly.

"Boss, you mean... I shouldn't put myself in unnecessary danger, but rather focus on steady growth and becoming stronger first?" Li Qinwu nodded, slightly envious of the guy's high intelligence.

"Kanda, do not follow in Leon the Hero's footsteps. His individualistic heroics are unacceptable; back then, he literally worked himself to death.

"Think about it: if Leon had brought a thousand—no, even just a hundred—soldiers with him back then, hacked away at us for a while, retreated into his ranks to rest and recover his stamina, and then struck again, the Alliance would have been nipped in the bud!" A wave of panic washed over Kanda. That was true. If that fool Leon had been slightly more rational and kept standard guard units to cover his retreats, how could the tiny Alliance back then have ever stopped him?

Seeing Kanda's relieved expression, Li Qinwu knew he had internalized the danger of reckless individualism. Satisfied, he felt confident that Kanda would never rely on his superhuman stats to foolishly charge solo into an enemy army in the future. Li Qinwu continued: "Kanda, even if you could infiltrate deep into enemy territory, launch a strike, and make it back safely, I wouldn't send you.

"Because that kind of operation is just rogue sabotage. It's irregular, offers limited impact, and carries questionable strategic deterrence.

"What we need to do is deploy a proper army—using the full military power of the state to safeguard national dignity, rather than sending a few elite transcendents to commit rogue sabotage!" Kanda hesitated: "But the core territory of the Church of the Goddess of Life lies in the royal capital of Sazos. To strike them, our infantry would need to cross at least three provinces and over 2, 000 kilometers. Do we possess such long-range strike capabilities?" Li Qinwu flashed a sinister smile.

"Have you forgotten our airships? Have you forgotten our paratroopers?"