Inside Astria's Mornwick Command, Darrow had been running on pure urgency.Orders flew out one after another as he pushed covert teams toward Ivoria's border, right up against the Sahar Wastes.Emergency channels remained open to four neighboring states, and their highest- ranking commanders were brought into the call.One goal ruled the room: to get Leander back."What? An ambush in the Sahar Wastes? The target is General Ashcroft?"The voices on the line grew tense. That name was familiar, and hearing it associated with a trap struck a deep chord."Who's bold enough to try this?""Qasara?""Angleland or Etrax making a move?""Agylae testing the waters?"Questions collided, heavy and tense.These men commanded great powers. They understood exactly what those nations could unleash when they chose to erase someone. Even Angleland and Etrax had long perfected methods meant to deal with peak martial artists.Old rumors still lingered. Years ago, Etrax and Angleland had worked together to hunt down five King Phase masters and more than ten Transcendent Realm masters. No nation lacked tools designed to kill martial artists.This time, Leander had walked straight into the Sahar Wastes.Nothing about this felt random. Darrow could tell the Sahar Wastes had been turned into a cage, built in advance for the moment Leander stepped inside.Leander was Astria's steadfast supporter, a recipient of the Guardian Medal, and the chairman of Jeff Enterprises. He embodied the nation's strength, and losing him would create an irreplaceable wound that Astria might never recover from.Every commander on the call expressed the same idea: protect him at all costs, but avoid altering the political landscape of the Sahar Wastes.Beep, beep.A sharp alert cut through the room.Darrow took the call at once. The report poured in.His breath hitched."3,000 special forces? Twenty-four armored vehicles? Five rocket armored vehicles, fifteen heavy tanks, twenty-one AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters... and ten supersonic fighter jets?"He did not bother lowering his voice. Every word of the call was heard.The room went cold.A dedicated special operations unit of this size alone could wear down a Martial Sovereign. With armor and rockets added, even a top Transcendent Realm master would find it difficult to survive. AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters could control entire regions, and supersonic fighter jets would finalize the advantage.This isn't a hunt; this is extermination, more than one general realized. Against firepower like that, even the King Phase masters of a century past would fall.Darrow's hand shook around the phone. As commander of Mornwick, he forced himself steady."General Ashcroft, what's his status? Have you located him?"Darrow knew what "located" could imply. It might mean nothing more than a corpse on the sand. Even so, he held on to a single hope—that they would find Leander still breathing, broken perhaps, yet alive long enough to be pulled back from the edge. The report continued.Faces on the screens changed from grim to stunned, with eyes widening. A few men leaned back as their strength seemed to drain away."What did you just report?" Darrow snapped. "Repeat it. Start from the beginning." He listened again, forcing every detail out.Silence followed.Then a laugh tore from his chest before he could stop it."Commander Leon, what is it?" someone pressed. "Is he down? Or do we still have hope?"Darrow exhaled slowly, rubbing his brow."Confirmed from the front. General Ashcroft fought alone. The 3,000 special forceswere wiped out. Every armored unit was destroyed. No survivors."All twenty-one AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters were taken down, and the ten supersonic fighter jets never made it back."Torre and the others have already boarded the evac chopper and left the Sahar Wastes. General Ashcroft has crossed Ivoria's line. He's safe."Darrow recited the report from start to finish, leaving nothing out.On the screens before him, the commanders initially showed minimal reaction, with only brief flickers passing across their faces.By the time he reached the end, these same men—each governing a large part of Mornwick-appeared even more shaken than Darrow was just moments earlier.What in the world are we even hearing?More than a thousand soldiers... not driven back, not scattered, but wiped out completely. A modern formation loaded with heavy weapons, torn apart like paper. Then even the air force AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, supersonic fighter jets— every last one gone.General Ashcroft is no longer just a martial artist; he has become a monster.For a long stretch, the room stayeddead silent as the generals stared attheir screens. Then, almost together,noveldramathey broke out in stunned protest "This is getting ridiculous!" A faint grin lifted Darrow's lips."The emergency is over. This call ends here."He closed the terminal, pride surging through his chest."Leander... how many times are you going to shake this world?"The image of Leander standing alone against twenty-one AH-1 Cobra attackhelicopters and ten supersonic fighter jets filled him with savage joy.He thought, Now those so-called giants won't sleep tonight....The clash in the Sahar Wastes spread like wildfire.notFor the first time, a martial artist had smashed head-on into a modern army. Those Transcendent Realm master's who witnessed it could fo stay silent. News flooded into the International Martial Network rippling across every dark corner of the underground. Forums exploded as headlines rocketed to the top.'No. 1 Sovereign Crushes an Army.''Jeff Ashcroft Drags Fighters from the Sky.''A Great Power's Trap Shattered.'Thread after thread climbed to the top.The International Martial Network boiled.The Global Assassin Network erupted.Old monsters reemerged. Legendary stories, unheard for decades, came aliveagain. New names surfaced suddenly.In a single night, the underworld shook to its core.