Chapter 7: The World in Uproar

The mechanical soldiers under Wang Bo were not only impervious to blades and arrows but could also attack from a distance. With a single leap, they could scale city walls, and a single mechanical soldier could easily kill dozens of ordinary soldiers.

Five hundred thousand mechanical soldiers, even if attacking a million-strong army head-on, could effortlessly rout the enemy.

In Wang Bo's eyes, the enemy's resistance was utterly futile.

Wang Bo captured the second city with ease.

From the start of the battle to its end, not even half an hour had passed—at most a dozen minutes—before the enemy general was captured alive by Wang Bo's mechanical soldiers and brought before him.

Wang Bo followed the same procedure: he hypnotized the general, interrogated him about the people in the city—who were innocent, who acted for the people's good, who were wealthy but unkind, and who oppressed the populace.

Upon entering the city, Wang Bo dispatched mechanical soldiers to arrest all such individuals and hold public trials before the people.

Those with minor offenses were sentenced to hard labor.

Those with heinous crimes were beheaded outright.

Wang Bo did not act personally; the mechanical soldiers under his command carried out the executions.

These soldiers knew no fear, would not retreat, and felt no pity. They were born warriors, obeying only Wang Bo's orders. Killing was perfectly normal in their eyes.

After all, they had been created from the very beginning for slaughter.

Then, following the same routine, Wang Bo executed a batch of officials, promoted another batch, distributed enough food, left behind ten thousand mechanical soldiers, and had the newly promoted officials help him govern the city.

Wang Bo continued his sweep across the land.

He believed that in the presence of ten thousand mechanical soldiers, no one would dare play tricks with him.

On the first night, Wang Bo captured a third city, arranged everything in the same manner, and then continued on his way.

After all, his mechanical soldiers knew no fatigue, no hunger or thirst, never complained, and would never mutiny; they obeyed Wang Bo's every command.

More importantly, they needed no rest, for they were machines.

As for Wang Bo, he returned to the Time Villa to rest for a few days. When he left the Time Villa, the sky outside had not yet brightened; it was still deep night.

But the mechanical soldiers had night vision and would never lose their way.

Wang Bo advanced along his current target. By daybreak, he had successfully captured two more towns, taking them smoothly and turning them into his territory.

Everywhere he passed, it was like smashing dry rot and withered grass—no one could stand in his way.

In just a few days, Wang Bo had seized three prefectures.

That might sound impressive, but in reality, the Tang Dynasty had vast territory. During the Zhenguan era of early Tang, the empire was divided into ten circuits: Guannei, Henan, Hedong, Hebei, Shannan, Longyou, Huainan, Jiangnan, Jiannan, and Lingnan.

During the Kaiyuan era, Shannan and Jiangnan were each split into east and west, and the circuits of Jifu, Duji, and Qianzhong were added, forming a pattern of fifteen circuits. Under the circuits were prefectures and commanderies, and under those were counties.

By the end of the Kaiyuan era, there were 328 prefectures and commanderies and 1,573 counties nationwide.

The three prefectures Wang Bo had seized were but a drop in the bucket for the entire realm.

To rescue the people of the world more quickly, Wang Bo brought out another five hundred thousand mechanical soldiers, all produced over the past few days in the Time Villa, working overtime.

After all, while only a few days had passed outside, several months had already elapsed in the Time Villa.

Churning out five hundred thousand troops was not too many.

Combined with the previous five hundred thousand mechanical soldiers, totaling one million, Wang Bo divided them into twenty armies, each with fifty thousand soldiers, and began radiating outward across the nation.

Given the combat effectiveness of mechanical soldiers, fifty thousand troops could easily defeat ten times that number of ordinary human soldiers. In the late Tang period, there was hardly any military governor who could field five hundred thousand troops.

Thus, Wang Bo's twenty armies won victory after victory.

Almost every day, the territory under Wang Bo's control expanded at a visible rate.

In just a few days, Wang Bo's three prefectures had grown at least tenfold.

This frenzied expansion also drew the attention of the entire realm.

About a week had passed since he made his move, and that week was enough for Wang Bo to attract the notice of the whole world.

After all, this was not an ordinary world but a xianxia world.

There were too many tools for transmitting information across the land, not limited to carrier birds or human messengers.

In fact, not to mention a week, by the third day after Wang Bo made his move, the entire realm already knew that a madman with hundreds of thousands of troops was sweeping across the land.

Warlords and the emperor who received this news were all in an uproar.

No one was willing to believe that in this era of war, someone could raise an army of hundreds of thousands, and that this person was not anyone they knew.

This defied common sense.

Everyone was puzzled: where on earth had this madman and his army come from?

So their first reaction was to gather information, to find out the origins of this army and this madman.

But then something even more absurd happened.

While they were still gathering information, Wang Bo suddenly raised more troops again, splitting into twenty armies. Each army neither ate nor drank, felt no hunger or thirst, and wherever they passed, they swept away all obstacles.

Many藩镇 (military governors) too close to Wang Bo were eliminated by his army before they could even react.

For a time, everyone was terrified.

Because in their eyes, this army was simply too incredible.

Not only was their marching speed astonishing, but their methods of combat were also incredibly shocking. Moreover, they were impervious to blades and arrows, could tear apart tigers and leopards with bare hands, and injure people from a distance...

These things were not human at all!!!

How could they fight this? The enemy wasn't even human—how could they win?

Thus, those without the power to resist were either panicked or pondering whether they should surrender and secure an official post, which was better than having their heads chopped off.

Meanwhile, those with power began contacting famous Buddhist temples and Daoist monasteries, seeking ways to defeat this army. Their reasoning was simple: since this mysterious army might not be human, they had to consult experts in that field.

After all, when it came to exorcising demons and ghosts, these Daoists and monks had the solutions.

At the same time, Wang Bo, busy expanding his territory and saving the common people, did not know that some had already regarded him as an enemy and had found a group of Daoists and monks to deal with him.

Of course, even if Wang Bo knew, he wouldn't care.

After all, his soldiers were neither demons nor ghosts—what could Daoists and monks do?

Wrong expertise.