As Zhao Zheng refocused on battle plans per He Chuan's counsel, Matthew Ho remained hidden in the tower, analyzing the conflict below. The Tianhua-Ocland war presented a perfect marketplace—yet the reality of his trade now struck with visceral horror.
Strategic Assessment
Preferred Buyer: Tianhua forces (cultural affinity, easier trust-building)
Problematic History: Killed an Ocland archer (bad for business relations)
Entry Challenge: Reappearing mid-battlefield meant instant death
The solution became irrelevant when the armies clashed without warning.
First Contact With War
Matthew's enhanced senses magnified every atrocity:
Cavalry Charge: Tianhua lancers impaling Ocland infantry only to be hooked off saddles by halberds
Arrow Storm: A black cloud of shafts turning sunlight into shadow
The Wounded: A boy no older than fourteen trying to stuff his intestines back into a gut wound
His body rebelled before his mind could process—stomach acid scorching his throat, tears blurring the carnage. This wasn't the sanitized violence of films, but raw human meat grinding against steel.
The Moral Abyss
The Portable Armory's interface flickered with a new alert:
[Cognitive Dissonance Detected]
[Suggested Remedy: Profitability Analysis]
Numbers scrolled across Matthew's vision:
Estimated fatalities/minute: 37
Potential arms sales: 2,300+ units
War Points multiplier: x3 (active combat zone)
A Tianhua spearman collapsed nearby, an Ocland dagger in his kidney. As the dying man's fingers brushed Matthew's shoe, the system pinged again:
[First Client Identified]
[Tianhua 7th Spear Regiment: 89% equipment depletion]
[Recommended Package: Basic Polearm Bundle (50 units)]
Matthew's shaking hands hovered over the "Confirm Transaction" prompt. The spearman gasped his last breath, blood bubbling between his teeth.
Choice:
[ ] Complete the sale (War Points +150)
[ ] Withdraw to tower
[ ] Attempt ceasefire
His father's face flashed in memory—framed for selling weapons he never trafficked. Now fate offered cruel irony: become the very thing that destroyed his family, or let them remain unforgiven.
Matthew forced his gaze back to the battlefield—and witnessed something that defied his expectations. Contrary to his assumptions, not a single soldier showed hesitation. Those still standing fought like rabid beasts, their weapons tearing through flesh with frenzied determination.
Don't they see the severed limbs?
Can't they smell the copper-tainted air?
Do the dying screams not haunt them?
Why charge toward certain mutilation?
Then it struck him—a half-remembered quote surfacing through the carnage:
"War is the demon that devours civilizations... and the engine that drives progress."
The philosopher's name escaped him (some foreigner with an unpronounceable name), but the thesis burned clear: War was humanity's eternal companion. History bore witness—no era had ever known universal peace. Yet paradoxically, every cataclysmic conflict had catapulted civilizations forward: the steam engine born from naval arms races, penicillin perfected to save soldiers, even the damned internet tracing back to military networks.
A grim clarity settled over Matthew. His nausea subsided, replaced by cold certainty. When he closed his eyes, he no longer saw gutted boys, but the relentless march of progress.
"If war accelerates civilization..." His fingers twitched. "...then I'll be the catalyst."
His reopened eyes gleamed with lethal focus. With a gesture, he summoned a weapon from the sample vault—a 2.5-meter halberd forged from hyperalloy. (System Level 1 restrictions limited him to non-energy melee weapons, but this would suffice.)
The battlefield froze for a heartbeat as Matthew emerged from thin air, his modern sportswear stark against the bloodstained earth. Then he moved—
—straight into the Ocland lines.
The halberd's first swing cleaved three spearmen in half.
Strategic Impact:
✔ Shock Value: Sudden reappearance destabilizes Ocland morale
✔ Demonstration: Showcases weapon superiority to Tianhua forces
✔ War Points +200 (First kill streak)
As entrails slid off his weapon, Matthew finally understood his true role: not just an arms dealer, but the midwife of progress—no matter how bloody the delivery.