"What did you say? You—you dare?" Noboru Hidenaka’s face instantly turned green when he heard this. Right now, they really had laid a kill formation inside the Japanese Imperial Palace. Anyone who stepped in would be dead meat.
But who could have guessed Ryan Ling wouldn’t even bother going in—he just ordered the whole palace leveled. All the schemers were caught totally off guard.
There were plenty of journalists on-site, but the timing for triggering the kill formation was entirely in their own hands. If things went south, they could always find an excuse. But nobody expected Ryan to just say something like that.
Ryan didn’t care how shocked Noboru Hidenaka was. As soon as he finished speaking, Jason Lin, Harvey 'Million' Jin, and all his sworn brothers were already locking and loading. The Dragon Group folks didn’t hesitate either.
Marshal Black Tortoise was secretly impressed by Ryan’s cunning. This move hit the enemy’s weak spot dead-on—just start shooting and all their plots go up in smoke.
In the blink of an eye, a barrage of shells blasted toward the entire Imperial Palace.
"Baka! Baka! Ryan Ling, every Japanese will hunt you down!" The Japanese Imperial House finally tore off its mask, shrieking at the top of their lungs. Ryan’s move had totally broken them.
"What a joke. The palace belongs to me now—if I want to tear it down, I’ll tear it down. If I want to smash it, I’ll smash it. Who’s gonna stop me?" Ryan sneered, secretly loving it.
This is what you call eating bitterness in silence—no way to complain even if it kills you!
Seconds after the shelling started, screams erupted from inside the Japanese Imperial Palace. Hidden assassins started wailing one after another, instinctively trying to escape. But the moment the palace blew open, Ryan had already locked it down with his Golden Core true qi. They wanted to run? No chance.
"Ryan Ling, you’re way too ruthless!" Noboru Hidenaka’s veins popped out on his forehead.
"Ruthless? I can’t compete with you guys for ruthlessness, can I? Didn’t you just hand me the whole palace? So what’s with all these assassins? Free servants? Or were you planning to knife me in my sleep?" Ryan sneered. Before Noboru Hidenaka could answer, he cut in coldly: "I bet these guys were all ready to kill me. Too bad they’re trash—trying to mess with me? Dream on. All of them—die!"
Ryan didn’t hesitate for a second. He moved his true qi, and every assassin inside the barrier exploded one after another, like popping balloons.
As the assassins died, all the surrounding media started live-broadcasting with savage commentary.
"So this is the legendary Japanese honor? What a joke."
"Hundreds of assassins hiding in the Japanese Imperial Palace, just waiting to ambush Huaxia’s War God Ryan Ling—and look how that went!"
"When it comes to brains, Japan’s not even in the same league as Huaxia!"
......
Hearing all these reports roasting Japan, and seeing their own scheme backfire, Noboru Hidenaka was about to blow a gasket. He suddenly dropped to his knees, shouting at the bombarded palace, "Great Shō War-God, please open your eyes—your people are suffering the ultimate humiliation!"
As Noboru Hidenaka knelt, the rest of the Japanese Imperial House dropped to their knees too, biting their fingers and writing the character 'war' in blood on their chests.
Even the Emperor of Japan dropped to his knees, shouting the War-God’s name. At this moment, if the Great Shō War-God didn’t show up, they’d all be dying for their country!
Just then, a thunderbolt split the sky and blasted straight into the Japanese Imperial Palace. The palace’s shield shattered, all the flames around it snuffed out, and in a blink, a giant ghostly face slowly rose from the ruins.
"Th-The Great Shō War-God—he’s really descended!" Even Chiharu Mitsui, usually fearless, turned white as a sheet and collapsed to her knees beside me.
Not just her—Wendy Chiba, and every Japanese onlooker, dropped to their knees. It was obvious: the Great Shō War-God was Japan’s ultimate trump card. Sure, Chiba Shrine had plenty of gods, but none of them were even in the same league.
To the hundreds of millions of Japanese, only the Great Shō War-God counts as their ‘real god’.
And as that ghostly face floated higher, two more god-tier figures appeared at his sides—both of them packing God Realm power.
But the Great Shō War-God himself? Even stronger.
Just like the Saint Realm, the God Realm has levels—nine ranks in total, each one a monster. Hit ninth-rank God Realm and you’re basically a true ‘god’.
The Great Shō War-God isn’t a literal heavenly god, but among Japan’s evil gods, he’s top dog. His power is at least peak first-rank God Realm.
Hector Fujita only just broke into God Realm, barely scraping by. Compared to the Great Shō War-God, he’s a small fry.
If you want the strongest, the Great Shō War-God is it—the supreme existence in Japan. He’s basically their ancestral spirit.
"Ryan, looks like we underestimated Japan. This Great Shō War-God is way stronger than Hector, and he’s got four God Realm attendants. What do we do now?" Even Sophia Long looked pale.
On the other side, Marshal Black Tortoise didn’t hesitate—he tried to contact the Dragon Group back home, but suddenly found all comms down. Not just that, every media broadcast was blocked. Ever since the Great Shō War-God showed up, the whole area for a thousand li was sealed tight!
"Don’t panic!" I steadied myself. Sure, the Great Shō War-God was a curveball, but I didn’t go all out against Hector. I’ve still got cards to play—especially my Hell Furnace trump.
As long as I time it right and unleash Yellow-Spring Hellfire, even the Great Shō War-God is toast!
"Minister Hidenaka, report! The Prime Minister has deployed our elite Fourth Brigade—eight thousand troops have the place locked down!"
"Excellent, perfect!"
"Minister Hidenaka, report! The US has sent warships and jets—give it a few minutes and all of Kyoto will be locked down tighter than a drum. Not even a fly gets out!"
"Good. Now every escape route is sealed, all outside comms are blocked. There’s only one thing left to do: kill every enemy of Japan in here—leave no survivors!"
Minister Hidenaka finished, then shot the Emperor a deadly look. The Emperor didn’t hesitate—he gave the killing signal!
Instantly, every Japanese eye locked onto the Great Shō War-God!
The Great Shō War-God didn’t waste a second—his eyes locked on me, and he started moving in.
"Kill him! Avenge the dead at Chiba Shrine!"
"Kill him! Avenge the ninja clans and sword clans!"
"Kill him! Avenge Lord Hector!"
...
In seconds, every Japanese in the crowd was shouting for blood, each wave louder than the last!
Right then, I became target number one—my advantage vanished in an instant!
Meanwhile, on a distant rooftop, Eagle King from the World Dominion Society watched, grinning darkly.
"You little punk, no matter how talented you are, no matter how invincible, no matter if you’re Japan’s War God—today’s where you die. The tallest tree gets chopped first. You brought this on yourself!" Eagle King cackled.
"Kid, today I’m gonna skin you alive for every fallen warrior. Four God Realm Attendants—lock down the four cardinal gates! I want him sacrificed alive!" The Great Shō War-God finally made his move. With a single order, his four God Realm Attendants flew out, each locking down a gate. They roared, and in a flash, four beams of black divine light caged me in.
"This—this is the Death Domain! Eighty years ago, in the war against Huaxia, I saw it myself—at least eight Huaxia God Realm experts died in this Death Domain! Now it’s back, and this kid is absolutely doomed!"