Chapter 2466: Target 5

The method of slaying gods was simply overwhelming for the members of the Roman Advisory Group who came with Pipunsanannus for blessings; they had no idea such an operation existed. Although the Romans, except for the god of war, treated other gods with mere respect, directly going up to slay a god…

To be honest, the Roman Advisory Group not collapsing after Pipunsanannus’s action is proof enough of their robust nerves.

As for an explanation, it’s really difficult to articulate such matters. Fortunately, the Roman Advisory Group had a mind-link. After Pipunsanannus acted, he immediately shared his thoughts with the present members through the link, preventing any subsequent upheaval.

“It seems my guess was correct. Now we can indeed convert our spiritual capacity into a blessing for the soldiers’ vision,” Pipunsanannus said, sensing his newfound ability, tempted to slay another god to confirm his hypothesis. This feeling of deft command clearly indicated that this power originated from within them.

“Can you notify us next time before you act?” Lakrilayke said, somewhat exasperated. He too had grasped this power by now, and with Pipunsanannus’s hypothesis, they all mostly accepted this conjecture after acquiring the power.

As for god-slaying, well, aside from the war god being a symbol and hero of Rome, the others were merely respected. Besides, Pipunsanannus had already done it— it was a fait accompli, and there was not much they could do about it.

“I’m not quite sure. If I tell you, you’d be accomplices. Anyway, there’s no problem now; people create gods, not the other way around,” Pipunsanannus said calmly, then waved and left. “Be prepared, I think it’s unlikely we’ll possess the ability to control nature. Our power is more about human blessings.”

The other advisory group members nodded. The shared thoughts earlier allowed them to follow Pipunsanannus’s thinking, so now they understood his words. If they had known, they would’ve slain those personified natural phenomenon gods earlier.

“Indeed, our power differs fundamentally from the Han Dynasty,” Pipunsanannus said with a wave as he left, needing to inform Severus of his hypothesis. They were merely bound by gods. This so-called divine power ultimately originated from these mortals.

The so-called divine favor is just a manifestation of their own power. In essence, they inherently possess this power, though it’s not strong. But there’s a huge difference between having it and not.

However, this is not important. At the imperial level, any opponent who has faced the Han Dynasty, apart from Kushan, will speculate a part of the truth: divine power is merely humans setting limits for themselves.

But breaking the limits by oneself differs greatly from following others after discovering they’ve broken theirs. The former leads to a spiritual and willful transcendence, while the latter is merely conformity.

After attempting to break his self-imposed limits, Pipunsanannus realized this. These individuals might intellectually match Han civil officials, but this generation has no hope of surpassing the Han Dynasty in mighty power.

After all, it’s only after witnessing the Han Dynasty that they developed this thinking, and this became another form of restraint. Compared to previous restraints, it’s subtler but harder to shatter. Yet, having power in one’s own hands is better than before.

Let it be. The Han Dynasty indeed possesses astonishing strength, but so what? Whether Rome or the Han Dynasty, they remain as distant as the heavens to each other.

Moreover, even absent these powers, Rome remains confident it won’t lose to the Han Dynasty.

After a six-day rest, on Parthia’s side, Sassanid Fars and others managed to recover some morale, and the military formation was set up. Even when Zhuge Liang climbed the earth mountain for a closer look, he had to admit it was an orderly formation.

Clearly, even without systematic study of camp layouts like in the Central Plains, these veteran Sassanid Fars commanders arranged an excellent formation based on years of experience, hard for even Zhuge Liang to find faults with.

Of course, finding no faults doesn’t mean perfection. Whether it’s the trenches, pits, wooden spikes barely protruding above ground, or arm-deep large mouth-sized pits, these measures can only be seen as marginally better than nothing in this war.

The disparity in strength between the two sides in this battle is quite significant. If these defenses were for guarding against ordinary armies, they might be useful. But against such a nation-destroying Roman army, they might as well get some sleep.

In nation-destroying level wars, such trifles have no impact whatsoever.

From Zhuge Liang’s perspective, if the Romans decipher Chen Gong’s marshes set up in the Two Rivers, the remaining defenses would lose value. However, there’s good news that Romans don’t understand the Changing Heavens.

This crucial information came from Sassanid Fars. After learning this, Zhuge Liang realized they had much more room to maneuver. Even if absolutely outmatched in strength, having this absolute advantage makes retreat easy.

“Kongming, are you sure about intercepting the Romans here?” Sima Yi asked, pale-faced. Lately, he’s been using his spiritual capacity to manipulate vapor, continually increasing air humidity while preventing gathered water from becoming rain, leaving him visibly fatigued.

“This place is close to the Two Rivers, rich in vapor. No other place has such a good fallback,” Zhuge Liang said with a smile, “Besides, if we don’t engage, I’m worried. The Roman Empire’s foundation seems too formidable; I’m afraid they’ve not exerted themselves fully yet.”

Sima Yi remained silent for a while then nodded, having to agree with Zhuge Liang’s guess. Not even grasping the depth of the Roman army and rushing to aid Parthia could lead to disaster.

“What’s been on your mind lately? You seem more cautious than before,” Sima Yi suddenly asked. Zhuge Liang fell silent but did not answer, naturally shifting the topic.

“How do you think the Romans will cross the marshes without the ability to change celestial phenomena?” Zhuge Liang asked, turning to Sima Yi.

“They’d likely cross it as they would a river,” Sima Yi replied offhandedly.

“It’s already the sixth day. Do you think the Romans did nothing during our six days of New Year celebrations?” Zhuge Liang bent to pluck a blade of grass, glancing sharply at Sima Yi. Six days—we asked for a six-day ceasefire for the New Year, and no one did nothing during that. Especially the Romans, they surely prepared plenty in those six days.”

“You mean tonight?” Sima Yi frowned as he spoke, though it was more of a speculation, it gave a sense of certainty.

“What do you think of blanketing them in clouds tonight?” Zhuge Liang asked with a smile.

“Then we wouldn’t be able to see well either,” Sima Yi frowned.

“At least we’re the defending side. They still need to assault our defenses,” Zhuge Liang said flatly, and Sima Yi nodded. If both sides couldn’t see clearly, their advantage would be more significant.

“How to address the Fifth Lark Legion? If it were me, on a dark night, I’d definitely have the Fifth Lark raid our main force,” Sima Yi said, acknowledging Zhuge Liang’s point but also raising his concerns.

“It’s unavoidable. The Fifth Lark Legion, as we understand, has dual talents: Light and Shadow Manipulation and Suppression. Nearly invincible in skirmishes, if I were them, I’d use them like this. Besides, in such an environment, they might thrive,” Zhuge Liang said calmly to Sima Yi.

“So, are you planning to annihilate the Fifth Lark Legion?” Sima Yi asked, frowning at Zhuge Liang. The Fifth Lark was indeed troubling, its talent extremely mysterious and advantageous in chaotic battles. “But in this scenario, how could we possibly seize the Fifth Lark Legion?”

Meanwhile, Chen Gong and Sheni Pei were discussing the same issue, both basically certain that the Romans would attack tonight.

“Do you have a strategy for the Fifth Lark Legion? Its strengths in night battles and skirmishes are daunting, and once it breaches our lines, it’s hard to clear,” Sheni Pei said. Having faced the Fifth Lark Legion, he knew its trouble well.

“Zheng Nan probably never considered any other use for the gathered rainwater up there,” Chen Gong said with a faint smile to Sheni Pei. “Light and shadow manipulation is indeed great for stealth, but rain can also uncloak them.”

Sheni Pei suddenly understood—light and shadow manipulation was formidable, but with rain? He didn’t believe they could remain hidden from rain.

“It’ll depend on you then. If we don’t settle this Fifth Lark, we’ll never sleep easy. This battle’s main aim is their elimination. If not, the upcoming wars will become very troubling,” Chen Gong said solemnly, and Sheni Pei nodded in agreement.

Sima Yi, seeing Zhuge Liang’s gesture skyward, suddenly understood, though his face fell dark. He felt like Zhuge Liang’s mind was increasingly adept, while his own gap was widening.

[Kongming seems to be hiding something else; what’s so important that he’s kept it from us?] Sima Yi thought grimly.