Chapter 1914: Chapter 1907: Shaping an Image

He evaded the guards’ notice, scaled the wall to the outside of the house, and strode down the avenue with his sword in hand.

Holy Heart City, unlike Lipei, did not have such strict weapons management regulations. Firearms could be carried openly on the street as long as they were wrapped, and there were no restrictions on cold weapons like swords.

Yalunte walked down the sparsely populated street, occasionally having to avoid the patrolling guards. His face was contorted by potions, making it difficult for people to look at him directly. Only his hawk-like sharp eyes still retained the demeanor of the court guards of old.

His curly long hair hung disheveled, and he wore a darkened cloak that completely concealed the long sword at his left arm and waist.

Of course, after years of being immersed in Earthly culture, Yalunte was no longer a pure swordsman. A silenced pistol was tucked in the holster under his left arm, and if the situation allowed, he preferred to draw the gun instead of the sword.

In the small pouch at his waist, a few flashbang grenades were tucked. These could be used for offense or to cover a retreat.

Yalunte’s seemingly shabby appearance was actually equipped with high-tech products from Earth, which was the main source of his confidence.

This time out, he continuously followed the Maniken from behind, secretly observing his movements to find a loophole where he could strike.

Luo’er’s order was to confirm the identity and gather evidence, followed by assassination. It was because of this that Yalunte went to the trouble of following, otherwise, he would have already called Liseya to eliminate the target.

The other party seemed to be protected by Odelanqi, with the king sending a squad of more than ten armed men for his security, leaving Yalunte with no opportunity to approach.

Odelanqi’s army had essentially modernized, with a large influx of Cold War-era weapons into the Otherworld, allowing them to bypass two world wars’ worth of equipment.

It’s somewhat amusing that the regular armies of today’s Otherworld nations are more advanced in weaponry than nearly half of Earth’s countries.

This situation arose because the Otherworld contained wealth that Earthlings could not refuse: gold. Trading gold for weapons had become a consensus between Earthlings and the Otherworlders.

The Aud Army’s equipment was mainly of NATO standards. However, since the Otherworlders dislike small calibers, excessively believing in calibers, they do not favor the NATO-standard 5.56mm rifle caliber.

To compete for these arms orders, Earth’s arms dealers immediately modified their existing Cold War standard rifles specifically for the Aud Army with 7.62X39mm and 7.62X51mm calibers.

Most of these weapons have a ‘OT’ suffix, indicating they were specifically made for the Odelanqi army. But in reality, because the Aud Army began modernizing early, these weapons are sold to other regions alongside being supplied to the Aud Army, forming a broad category of firearms.

No matter which Cold War standard weapon it is, if it bears the ‘OT’ letter designation, it is either of the 7.62X39mm or 7.62X51mm caliber.

The patrolling Aud Army soldiers on the street wore olive camouflage wool training uniforms, with weapons like the FNC-OT rifle and the FAL rifle as their primary armaments.

FN’s investment in the Otherworld had reaped substantial rewards, securing military contracts from countries including Odelanqi.

Every few hundred meters, a ten-man squad’s checkpoint could be seen, with two RPD light machine guns mounted on sandbags. In the field of light machine guns, NATO countries had gained little advantage, as the Aud Army clearly favored this former Soviet light machine gun.

Occasionally, cavalry squads galloped swiftly past, primarily composed of light cavalry. Even in the Otherworld, cavalry’s battlefield role had significantly declined by this period, with them more often being used for raids and reconnaissance missions.

Even Yalunte had to admit that creating chaos in Holy Heart City had become extremely difficult.

This was no longer a decade ago; Gudelv’s militarization had filled Holy Heart City with heavily armed soldiers, where a small mistake could stir a hornet’s nest, making any escape a matter of luck.

Hence, Yalunte simply did a roundabout reconnaissance, roughly pinpointing the envoy’s residence, and then reluctantly withdrew.

On another front, intelligence from Kali made Luo’er tense, prompting him to hold two meetings upon returning to Sheng Hua. The big shots held no objections to Luo’er’s assassination order, only reiterating the need to obtain accurate intelligence.

As long as irrefutable evidence could be secured, Lipei would effectively gain a get-out-of-jail-free card. If a crisis arose, the nation would intervene, presenting evidence to prove their adversary was involved in Otherworld activities.

The presence of Americans in Holy Heart City disturbed Luo’er immensely.

For at the moment, Gudelv seemed to have little interest in Lipei. But if someone intervened, inciting Gudelv to turn his main focus towards Lipei, the situation could become quite dire.

Therefore, upon receiving this news, Luo’er immediately ordered Kali’s team to find an opportunity to eliminate the American.

For a week, relocation efforts in the Lipei villages and towns took place. During this week, the Aud Military had repeated bloody clashes with the Church Court’s forces, resulting in over a hundred deaths so far.

The higher-ups on both sides remained composed, neither making public statements. In contrast, Kali, upon arriving at Holy Heart City, made repeated requests to meet with Gudelv throughout the week, continually calling for both sides to cease hostilities and withdraw.

This approach, whether effective or not, at least established Lipei’s official stance of seeking peace. These reports were relayed to Earth by Otherworld informants and immediately became a hot topic among Earthlings.

Media outlets worldwide worked to uncover the inside story of this Otherworld conflict, continually using their planted media informants in the Otherworld to gather any valuable information.

In this context, Lipei’s statements undoubtedly increased Earth’s positive sentiment towards Lipei, even earning the title of a “peaceful city-state” from some media.

Luo’er was not surprised by these developments because he sent Kali to Holy Heart City to create a media campaign.

As the highest commander of Lipei, how could he not know that Gudelv had no intention of resolving things peacefully?

He knew it well, and he also understood that Gudelv had no regard for Kali. Sending her was purely to garner attention in the media and to establish Lipei’s radiant image.

Gudelv’s conspiracy is blatantly obvious, and Odelanqi’s unified expansion war is unavoidable. Luo’er was well aware of this, hence his proactive preparation for war ever since assuming office.

By now, Lipei has almost completed a scorched earth policy, with nearly all Lipeians relocated to settlement areas near the main city of Lipei.

Uninterrupted supplies continued to flow through the Otherworld Gate to sustain these hundreds of thousands of Lipeians. While the settlement areas were a bit crowded, there was no lack of food and drink, and even entertainment facilities were available for use.

Concurrently, Lipei’s outer defenses were nearing completion. From the outside in, three lines of defense were established, with the main artillery positions deployed at the final line, and the outermost consisting of robust, reinforced concrete permanent fortifications.

This enormous project was not completed overnight, taking only a few weeks to finish.

In fact, ever since the headquarters took charge of Lipei, they had been planning to build a comprehensive permanent fortification, just as these fortifications were finished, war broke out.

Although the robustness of the three lines of defense could rival the Maginot Line, Luo’er clearly refrained from such a comparison, deeming it too ominous.