"Why on earth is there a draft of fifty million? Are they treating us like opponents!"
"In addition."
"Investigate, investigate thoroughly. What is the background of that Commander-in-Chief named Lin Fan? Why have we never noticed him before? Why would Daxia make him Commander-in-Chief?"
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..." Puchuan was halfway through speaking when a strange series of sounds suddenly rang out.
Kameda Country's National Chairman Kameda asked in confusion, "Big Brother Puchuan, what did you just say? We didn't quite catch that."
Puchuan's voice sounded somewhat embarrassed: "Oh, my friend, it's nothing. I just sharted again..."
Meanwhile.
Lin Fan had no idea that he had become the center of the vortex, drawing countless gazes.
At that moment, he was in an office discussing the military draft with a group of major military region commanders.
"Ring-a-ling!"
The telephone rang.
Lin Fan took his second-hand old Nokia out of his pocket, answered it amidst the complicated gazes of the various military region commanders, and smiled, "Hello, Mom?"
"Xiaofan..." Mother Lin's voice trembled slightly. "How come I saw you on TV? How, how did you become the Commander-in-Chief..."
For a moment, Lin Fan didn't know what to say, and stammered, "Ah, Mom, this..."
"Xiaofan, hurry home. Don't go making trouble outside." Mother Lin's voice carried complex emotions. "No matter how big the trouble you've caused is, as long as you come home, Mom will definitely protect you!"
Listening to Mother Lin's words, Lin Fan's eyes turned slightly red.
"Mom," Lin Fan smiled, "don't worry, your son has grown up."
"Now, your son no longer needs your protection."
"From now on, I will protect you and Dad. And I will protect everyone."
"Mom, trust me, I'm not messing around."
Mother Lin remained speechless for a long time, leaving Lin Fan with no choice but to continue: "Mom, I still have things to attend to here, I'll hang up for now, it's quite urgent."
With that, Lin Fan hung up the phone and continued, "The current draft is only the first step, but it is also the most crucial one."
"Only with sufficient manpower can we proceed with the subsequent Steel Great Wall project. This in turn involves a series of trivial matters such as relocating the people, tightening strategic resources, and securing steel supplies."
Just halfway through Lin Fan's sentence, the middle-aged man from the Chuanzhou Military Region suddenly interrupted: "Wait, I have something to say."
"Go ahead." Lin Fan nodded.
"First let me state, I am not doubting you, nor am I doubting the judgment of Elder Jin, Elder Chen, and the National Chairman." The middle-aged man glanced at Elder Jin and Elder Chen, stood up, and looked straight at Lin Fan. "I just want to know why the National Chairman chose you to be the Commander-in-Chief?"
"You must remember, everyone present here has been through countless battles and possesses combat command experience."
"Either that, or they are high-ranking officials of their respective regions."
"Even if you were the one who discovered the descent of the gods, why must it be you acting as Commander-in-Chief?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the others also looked at Lin Fan with suspicion and scrutiny.
Everyone present was a commander of a military region, and in their youth, they had fought countless bloody battles for Daxia and experienced life and death.
In terms of qualifications, they were far more reliable than this kid who popped up out of nowhere and was still in high school!
Harboring their own doubts, they all looked at Lin Fan, taking advantage of the middle-aged man's inquiry.
Lin Fan looked at the forthright middle-aged man and the others before him and nodded.
Lin Fan had long known that although he was the Commander-in-Chief, truly winning these people's recognition would not be easy.
"Because I come from after the descent of the gods," Lin Fan said calmly. "Let me introduce myself, my name is Lin Fan."
"Six-Star Saint General, Daxia God of War, Supreme Commander of the Asian Alliance."
"In terms of combat experience, I have commanded a thousand battles, large and small, against the gods. The gods... that kind of combat is completely different from anything you have experienced before. The enemy you will face is entirely different and far more powerful."
"I have slain fifty-four gods."
"I am the one who understands the gods best, and the one who knows best how to kill them."
At this point, Lin Fan paused slightly: "I am not saying this to boast, but to let you know why I am the Commander-in-Chief, to facilitate our cooperation moving forward."
"The battles to come will likely exceed your imagination. Back then, Daxia was unprepared, and in the first battle, the mortality rate among soldiers reached as high as fifty percent."
"Rivers of blood, mountains of corpses, Daxia fallen, the nation shattered and families destroyed."
Lin Fan looked at the middle-aged man: "Your name is Bai Zhan, born in 1975, enlisted at eighteen, and through military merits in border skirmishes, you step by step became the commander of the Chuanzhou Military Region."
"In the year 0007 of the New Era, facing the Sky God, when our side ran out of ammunition and food, you led a suicide squad piloting fighter jets charging toward the Sky God, dying a glorious death in battle."
After finishing, Lin Fan looked toward the commander of the Heizhou Military Region next to him: "Your name is..."
Lin Fan called out their names one by one, stating their ultimate fates in the future.
Every single one of them died on the battlefield!
Without a single exception!
These were all comrades-in-arms with whom Lin Fan had fought side by side in the future!
This was the military spirit of Daxia!
They would fight to the death and never retreat!
The military soul of Daxia!
Especially that Chuanzhou Military Region commander, who led the sons of Chuanzhou out of the province once more, personally plunging into bloody combat—not to mention that his entire family, young and old, male and female, all went to the battlefield, refusing to be pulled back by anyone until not a single person was left alive!
An oppressive, murderous atmosphere filled the office.
A military region commander who had not been called out looked astonished: "Then in the future, I..."
"You died too, killed in the year 0006..."
Just as Lin Fan was about to elaborate, he was interrupted by that military region commander, who only smiled and said: "I'm not asking you about that. Whether I die or not doesn't matter; what I want to know is, did we succeed in the future?"
Everyone stared straight at Lin Fan.
The expressions on their faces were far more solemn and expectant than when they had just heard about their own future deaths.
Chapter Nine: Design Blueprint of the Steel Great Wall
Lin Fan fell silent.
He and the National Chairman had discussed the fact that only fifteen years remained before humanity's total annihilation.
The National Chairman's view was that this matter was best kept unannounced to avoid causing unnecessary turmoil.
However.
"Fifteen years after the appearance of the gods, humanity is annihilated."
"Daxia held out until the very end, but in the end..." Lin Fan spoke in a heavy tone.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the Supreme Command Center office became incomparably heavy.
"Annihilated..."
"Fifteen years, and everyone was wiped out?"
"Six billion people, how many brilliant cultures..."
"Our vast Daxia, exhausting the nation's strength to hold out until the end, still couldn't..."
Even the Chuanzhou Military Region commander, Bai Zhan, couldn't help rubbing his face and muttering, "So, this is the future?"
Those who had been full of high spirits and fighting vigor during the meeting now wore complex expressions.
When they heard about their own deaths in the future, they hadn't hesitated at all.
Yet upon hearing of Daxia's fate fifteen years later, every single one of their faces was laden with heaviness.
Looking at Lin Fan, they spoke in low voices: "Everyone, in terms of age, you are all my uncles, elder brothers, or even my grandfathers."
"That is history I have personally experienced, and it is also the future about to unfold."
"However, the future is not necessarily predetermined!"
"This time when I returned, it was to change the future, to change history!"
Bai Zhan nodded, clenching his fists: "That's right! Nothing has happened yet, as long as Daxia prepares itself, what is there to fear!"
"We will reverse the future!"
"With the entire strength of our nation, Daxia will surely change the future!"
"Starting today, Daxia shall halt the steps of the gods!"
In an instant, a fire ignited in everyone's eyes.
The future?
A predetermined future?
Daxia has never feared hardship!
If anyone wishes to invade Daxia, even if they are gods, we will slaughter them right before your eyes!
"Next, let's talk about specifics." Seeing that everyone's morale had risen, Lin Fan immediately said, "For the upcoming draft, I must still trouble you all. Chuanzhou will be responsible for five million, Luzhou for five million, the three northeastern provinces for ten million, and the rest..."
"A total of fifty million. Any problems?"
The military commanders said in deep voices: "No problem!"
"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"
"Actually, my side can manage a bit more. This batch of young people, including my son, are far tougher than we were back then..." Chuanzhou Military Region commander Bai Zhan grinned and chuckled.
"Good! If you can recruit more, then recruit as many as possible!" Lin Fan continued, "At the same time as the draft, conduct a gene activity test. Send me the list of those whose gene activity exceeds eighty percent; they will enter the God-Slaying Army! Within one week, the draft must be completed! And the God-Slaying Army must also exceed one hundred members!"
At this point, Lin Fan glanced at Chen Yan. The set of the God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique in his mind had been researched by this old man!
"One week... no problem!"
"I'll issue the orders right now! Starting today, Chuanzhou will set up five thousand recruitment stations!"
"Though time is tight, we guarantee completion of the mission!"
The military bigwigs gritted their teeth and agreed.
"Alright, everyone hurry off and make your preparations." Lin Fan smiled. "In addition, regarding the subsequent Steel Great Wall project, I must ask you all to assist as well."
"Rest assured!"
The military region commanders strode out of the office, brimming with heroic spirit and radiating martial aura!
"Deputy Commander-in-Chief Chen Yan," Lin Fan turned to look at the old man beside him, "you will be responsible for the Steel Great Wall project next."
With that, Lin Fan produced a simple blueprint from his breast pocket. It clearly displayed a structure diagram of a hundred-meter-tall city wall, with foundations, internal structures, and materials for every section meticulously marked in pencil.
Lin Fan had rushed to finish this last night.
Although Lin Fan had not been in charge of scientific research in his previous life, he was nevertheless the Daxia God of War, having personally directed a series of construction projects and even participated directly in building the Steel Great Wall as an enlisted officer.
He could roughly remember the structure of the Steel Great Wall.
"This is..." Chen Yan stared at the blueprint with shock in his eyes. "The structural diagram of the Steel Great Wall? You drew this?"
"It is something you will lead the research institute staff to research in the future." Lin Fan dared not steal the credit. "This is the crystallization of wisdom belonging to all of Daxia."
"Of course, my drawing is merely rough; there might be some deviations in certain specific details, and I will need you to lead people in correcting them."
Chen Yan stroked the blueprint, his expression growing increasingly shocked.
A three-hundred-meter city wall.
Steel supports, poured concrete, with foundations reaching a depth of five hundred meters!
"Perfect, an application of mechanics that can be called nothing short of perfect!"
"And this material ratio, filling with a mix of cement, gravel, and some recyclable materials—this alone can save eighty percent of the steel!"
"Even the world's top architects could not produce such a design! Truly masterful craftsmanship!"
"This... is this really a Steel Great Wall from the hands of the future Daxia?!" Chen Yan looked at Lin Fan with complex emotions.
"Yes." Lin Fan nodded. "It's a pity it wasn't built ahead of time back then, leaving us no choice but to mend the fold after the sheep had escaped."
"It was you who led the research institute through all-nighters, producing this design blueprint in a mere seven days!"
Chen Yan drew a sharp breath: "Seven days!"
After a long silence, looking at the design blueprint in his hand, Chen Yan suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, without realizing it, our Daxia actually already possesses such strength."
"In the past, we guarded our national gates and took beatings, but now, we can complete the design of such a Steel Great Wall in just seven days!"
"Right now, I suddenly have a feeling that making an enemy of us will perhaps be the greatest mistake the gods could ever make!"
Once upon a time, Daxia stood as a representative of technological backwardness.
History taught the people of Daxia at a heavy price that backwardness invites aggression.
Over the past century, Daxia had buried its head in development, silently growing and strengthening itself every step of the way!
And now, lifting their heads once more, they unexpectedly discovered that they still stood proudly at the summit of the world, with various technologies surpassing international first-class standards!
At this moment, holding the preliminary structural diagram of the Steel Great Wall, Chen Yan's old eyes grew blurry. How he wished the predecessors of the past could look upon today's Daxia, and look upon this prosperous era!
Looking at the trembling Chen Yan, Lin Fan suddenly said in a deep voice: "I give you one week to completely restore the full blueprint and its details. Can you do it?"
"Swish!"
An unexpected surge of energy seemed to emanate from Chen Yan's aged body as he abruptly stood upright. A stern, martial aura erupted from this scholar who otherwise possessed no binding power over chickens!
"Within three days, mission guaranteed!"
The sexagenarian stood as straight as a ramrod!
With this rough structural diagram as a foundation, he believed that given three sleepless nights, he could lead the members of the research institute to perfectly design the blueprint of the Steel Great Wall!
Though my body is old and I can no longer hold a gun or go to the battlefield to kill the enemy, my heart, which beats to serve the citizens of Daxia, remains scorching hot! The blood of Daxia remains boiling!
Yet immediately afterward, Chen Yan furrowed his brow, using his pencil to calculate on the back of the blueprint.
Sweat beaded on his aged forehead.
A few minutes later, Chen Yan raised his head and said with a complex expression: "It's just that... even though this design minimizes the consumption of steel resources, if we want to initially build it along the two-thousand-li coastline of Ludong, we will still need at least eighty million tons of steel."
"And if we want to complete the final three-hundred-meter-high Steel Great Wall along the entire coastline, we will need... two billion tons!"
"How do we solve the steel problem?"
Chapter Ten: Better to Give Up?
Two billion tons!
The mere utterance of this figure made the scalps of everyone present go numb.
One had to know that Daxia's total steel production for this year was only four hundred million tons!
To gather two billion tons relying solely on production would take twenty years! Even with overtime and overload production, it would still take ten years!
And right now, what was lacking most of time.
"We must first find a way to resolve the eighty million tons of steel needed for Ludong. The national treasury should be able to satisfy that. As for the rest, as long as we survive this crisis, we will still have time to find more." Lin Fan said this, turning his gaze toward the middle-aged man who had previously spoken about taking charge of steel resources.
This person was named Shang Weitian, the Chief Administrator of the Ministry of Commerce, responsible for handling all internal and external resource allocation for Daxia and managing commercial imports and exports.
"I'll take responsibility for it!" Shang Weitian showed no hesitation whatsoever, nodding directly. "Not only the remaining shortfall in steel resources, but cement, gravel, and food—I will resolve them all!"
"I am willing to sign a military pledge!"
"However, I require a very high degree of discretionary authority."
Lin Fan looked at the middle-aged man before him with complex eyes.
In his previous life, this Shang Weitian had demonstrated astonishing dispatching capabilities.
He was the undisputed Chief Logistics Administrator of Daxia!
Lin Fan didn't even know how this fellow had managed time and time again to conjure up so many resources to help Daxia weather successive catastrophes inflicted by the gods.
"Good! I don't care what methods you use, as long as you do not harm Daxia or injure its citizens, and as long as you can gather two billion tons of steel, you don't need to report anything you do to me!" Lin Fan nodded.
"Mission guaranteed! If I fail, Shang Weitian willingly accepts military law!" Without an ounce of hesitation, Shang Weitian turned and strode away.
Swift and decisive!
"Everyone, go attend to your own matters." Lin Fan clapped his hands. He, too, had his own affairs to handle.
He needed to elevate his strength as quickly as possible, push the God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique to its limit, and become a mortal demigod!
Once the God-Slaying Army was formed, the God-Slaying and Demon-Butchering Technique would become humanity's sharpest weapon for slaying gods!
However.
Just as the meeting was drawing to a close, a middle-aged man sitting in the back row tentatively raised his hand: "Commander-in-Chief, compared to building the Steel Great Wall, I have a better suggestion!"
"Speak." Lin Fan was slightly startled.
"Look," the middle-aged man stood up, walked over to the wall, pointed at the map of Daxia hanging there, and pushed up the bridge of his glasses, "our Daxia has a vast territory, even if the Ocean God truly invades..."
"Even with a hundred-meter tsunami, or even a three-hundred-meter tsunami."
"It would only affect a dozen or so provinces in the eastern part of Daxia."
"Why don't we simply abandon the territory of these dozen or so provinces and relocate the people and property to the west? Wouldn't that save time and effort?"
At this point, a wise and calm light reflected in the middle-aged man's eyes.
However.
As soon as his voice fell:
"What did you say?!" Elder Jin, who had been sitting calmly all along, abruptly stood up.
He drew the sidearm from his waist, racked it with a sharp *clack*, pointed it directly at the middle-aged man, and glared as he shouted, "Are you telling us to abandon Daxia's territory?!"
Elder Jin had fought through numerous battles throughout his life, seasoned by the fields of war to become a high-ranking general.
Though no longer in his prime, at this very moment, his imposing momentum was like a freshly unsheathed sword, reeking of a murderous aura!
"Do you have any idea that every single inch of Daxia's land was fought for by our ancestors over five thousand years!"
"Do you know how the predecessors a century ago protected this land from invaders!"
"Do you know that every inch of the land beneath your feet is soaked in blood? Do you know how many soldiers are currently standing guard at the borders through bitter cold and scorching heat, all just to protect this piece of our homeland!"
"And you open your mouth to talk about retreating? To abandon Daxia's territory? Generations of Daxia people have lived right here, and at the mere scare of someone, you want to throw away our damn home too? Are you even human? Do your parents agree? Do your grandparents agree?"
"Damn it, if you have the guts to say that one more time, let's see if I don't blow your head off!"
Elder Jin was clearly provoked to the extreme; for a moment, even profanity slipped out.
Given his status as a Five-Star Golden General, this was a complete loss of composure.
Disregarding the occasion entirely, he drew his gun on the spot, looking ready to shatter the middle-aged man's brains.
Yet none of the people present attempted to dissuade Elder Jin; instead, they all glared angrily at the young man who had just spoken!
How could Daxia's territory ever be handed over on a silver platter?!
What was land?
Land was the very root of the people of Daxia!
What had the predecessors of yesteryear fought and bled for amidst the bullets and artillery fire of invaders on this very soil, willing even to sacrifice their lives?
It was precisely for the land beneath their feet!
Now, the gods were about to arrive.
How could these descendants hand over the land protected by the blood of their predecessors as a gift to the gods? How was this any different from being a traitor to the nation!
In an instant, the face of the middle-aged man who had spoken turned instantly pale, yet he still stammered defensively, "Rather than exhausting the nation's power, drafting fifty million men, and mobilizing steel resources, wouldn't it... wouldn't it be better to evacuate the common people, relocating them where necessary and providing compensation..."
"Besides, what if the Steel Great Wall fails to hold back the enemy, and the people remain right where they are..."
*Bang!*
A gunshot rang out!