17 Chapter 17 — Preparation

The Clyven Kingdom was a small neutral kingdom, located near the Third Reich. Due to their backwards communications, they didn't know much about the current affairs of the world. To protect themselves, they had military alliances with the surrounding small countries. As a weak country, they still relied on the backwards adventurer system to protect their lands from wild beasts and explore ancient ruins.

Over 5 months ago, Ichino Mochuzuki, a normal Japanese teenager, had been hit by a truck and isekai'd into this country. But he came with a cheat that allowed him to get stronger the more monsters he killed! After struggling for a long time, trying to survive in this world, he slowly grew stronger and became the strongest adventurer in the country! Unlike Daiki, he remained humble and extremely nice. Due to his nice nature, a battle harem that lived and fought monsters with him had formed around him. However, he never had any impure thoughts towards them and remained oblivious to their advances.

[Ichino, that was really heroic of you, how you single-handedly repelled that goblin attack!]

[Are you hurt, Ichino? Geez… You shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard…]

Ichino blushed and pushed away the girls who were clinging to him.

[Don't worry, I'm not hurt. You know that I'll be fine, right?]

[That's right! Ichino is the strongest warrior!]

Suddenly, multiple ear-splitting foghorns sounded in the sky. Their eerie blare disrupted the peace of the small Capital city.

[W-what is that sound?]

Ichino's face turned serious.

[Let's go out and see]

Panic spread in the city as 10 giant floating steel ships slowly flew over the city. From the giant loudspeakers came an announcement.

[Citizens of Clyven, this is the Third Reich. We demand that your country immediately surrender to us. This is not a request. You have 1 hour to surrender before we start using force]

Ichino heard the name and saw the emblems on the ships.

[No way… Are there Nazis in this world?]

Meanwhile, as the strongest adventurer, Ichino had been summoned to the King's castle. In the King's room, the King sat with his few ministers and discussed whether to surrender or not.

[This Third Reich seems to be a powerful Kingdom. It might be best to surrender to them. After all, we can't even reach their ships and we only have a couple of smuggled cannons. We can't possibly hope to fight them]

Suddenly, Ichigo stood up.

[No, we cannot surrender to this force! They are called Nazis, and they are pure evil! I have something to confess; I am not from this world. The Third Reich also existed in my world, and they started a war that killed tens of millions! The worst part is they even killed millions of their own people!]

While Ichigo didn't know a lot of history, he still had some basic history knowledge. He desperately tried to convince the court.

[We must ally with our neighbouring countries to stop them!]

The King's face turned red.

[What nonsense are you talking about? You're from another world? How can we believe you? We have no choice but to surrender!]

[You must believe me, please! We must stall for time!]

The King opened his mouth, but before he could respond an announcement came from the ships.

[To help you decide, we will demonstrate our firepower]

The ships aimed at the forest near the city and opened fire, sending shockwaves rippling through the city. The shells streaked through the air and razed the forest to the ground with a deafening explosion. The entire city fell silent with shock. This power was simply unheard of!

[If you don't surrender, the next volley will be at your city]

The King wearily turned to face his court.

[We have no choice. It would be absolutely devastating if that happened to our city. If we refuse, it would be a question if we could even send a message to the other Kingdoms. Raise the white flag]

Ichigo's face was pale white.

[No, it can't end like this. I must rally the other Kingdoms to fight against this evil!]

Ichigo immediately sprinted out of the castle and headed to the adventurer's guild. Over his five months of adventuring, he had formed many close friends.

By the time the army of the Third Reich arrived, Ichigo had already fled to the neighbouring Kingdom with his girls and a group of powerful adventurers. With minimal resistance, the People's Army quickly took control of the operations of the city. With an iron fist, the country was forced to slowly transition into an industrial society.

A group of soldiers walked down the street. At the sight of them, all the crowds dispersed and hid in their homes, nervously looking at them through their blinds. One of the soldiers sighed.

[How many countries had this been?]

[I lost count. We just keep scaring them into submission with the battleships and then take control with the army. It's too easy]

[Well, it's good that they came under us. They would've been destroyed by the Elsass Empire otherwise]

[Yes, for the Third Reich]

[For the Third Reich!]

Over the last month, the Third Reich had devoured all the neighbouring countries like a hungry beast. All the other countries viewed the Third Reich as a crazy beast, desperately struggling against inevitable destruction, trying to drag as many countries as possible into the grave with them. They saw the Third Reich as a desperate gambler who was ready to risk it all, not caring about the consequences or how many people got caught in the crossfire.

In the Third Reich during the last month, with the news of the invading army, the entire country had gone crazy and broke the limits of what was thought to be possible in a country. With the help of propaganda, the efficiency of the people soared to 200%. Every citizen crazily gave it their all, forsaking sleep and rest. Even young children and old people desperately worked like they were going to drop dead the next minute. Constant detailed reports of the approaching Imperial Army drove the frenzy to the next level, causing staggering numbers of workplace injuries and deaths from over-exertion.

However, the effect of this was evident. Factories and mines constantly broke their output records day after day. Efficiency didn't just soar; it shot up into outer space. In his office, Konrad sighed at the frenzy of the whole country. Although he wished to keep this output forever, he knew that it was unsustainable and was only an effort of vigorous propaganda campaigns and mass hysteria. In this age, people's thoughts were simple and easily led.

Over the last month, Konrad hadn't been idle as well. He had been constantly going through reforms and plans with his officers and advisors. After all, he had a lot of knowledge about modern cities, but to put those ideas into practice was not easy. The upcoming battle would not be as easy as the previous one. Archmage Daiki was the biggest variable.

[The Imperial Army will be here soon. Recall all our troops. It's time for the decisive battle]

For the past month, the country's strength had rapidly soared. Konrad estimated that he would be able to harvest a huge amount of source energy from the upcoming battle. Most of his previous points had gone towards advancing the country. Now, it was time to reap the rewards.