Li Qing arrived at the room, settled down by the gss window, and realized he had arrived just in time.

  The siege of the Royal City unfolding before him was intensely fierce and utterly spectacur.

  The Sea Race warriors resembled knights, riding colossal octopuses, shells, sharks, and crabs—grotesque behemoths encased in exoskeletons of every imaginable shape.

  These holy knights had their lower bodies submerged within the heads of the giant beasts, controlling the marine leviathans with their muscur upper bodies wielding ancient tridents as they unched their assault.

  Half-human, half-beast—this was an entirely new iteration of exoskeleton mechs.

  "Attack Atabia Imperial City!"

  "Kill the Tyrant!"

  The disciplined army surged forth from the sea, storming the central, towering Imperial City on nd.

  Li Qing was utterly mesmerized.

  This war surpassed even the grandest myths in its scale and detail—a meticulously rendered assault involving tens of millions of soldiers, each figure rendered with breathtaking precision.

  The spectacle was simply magnificent.

  But the battle showed no signs of ending soon, and Li Qing's stomach began to growl.

  "Should I go find something to eat first?" he wondered.

  He couldn't offer any real assistance here anyway.

  Just then, the Pope arrived with a retinue of high-ranking Cardinals in their crimson robes, signaling the start of their daily report.

  The Pope stepped forward from the group and knelt:

  "Lord," the Pope began, kneeling before Li Qing, "we have discovered that Emperor Atabia has accelerated the construction of the Tower of Babel. This can only mean something terrible is about to happen!"

  "Emperor Atabia is gradually and completely relinquishing his authority, ignoring our missionary work and concentrating all his power on the Tower of Babel. He has gathered the hundred billion wisest schors of the Atabian people within its walls, and none are allowed to leave."

  Atabia's elite leadership has been completely drained.

  Without competent leaders, the remaining ignorant masses would be easily swayed and deceived.

  "Therefore, we must expedite our pns and unch the final battle immediately. We will order our armies to storm the Royal City, capture Emperor Atabia, and sy the Emperor!"

  Li Qing listened to the report.

  The Pope's decision was sound.

  Though the Church had only been established for two and a half days, he clearly possessed a natural talent for military command.

  Launching the final assault now was the best course of action. Who knew what dangerous weapons Emperor Atabia might be developing?

  After a moment's thought, Li Qing replied, "Overthrow the Tyrant! God is with you always!"

  Whoosh!

  Holy Light cascaded down.

  The followers prostrated themselves, bathed in the divine radiance, chanting sacred verses, fervently praying, and confessing their Original Sin to the Lord.

  "Lord, awaken my soul and guide us onto the path of righteousness!"

  Seventy seconds ter.

  The entire Guardian Corps received the divine blessing.

  The Holy War's morale surged instantly, as God Himself watched over this sacred conflict. Their spirits soared as the elite force charged toward the front lines, ready to assault the Royal City.

  "The Lord grants us sharpened bdes!"

  Boom!

  The army marched in perfect formation, their battle fervor burning like wildfire.

  "Carry out the Lord of Righteousness's will! Fight for the Lord!"

  They raised their Awakened Divine Artifacts high, hacking down enemies with righteous fury.

  "The Lord awakens my soul and guides us onto the path of righteousness!"

  Li Qing watched silently.

  He suddenly recalled Ning Guochang's description of the csh between their two armies.

  Ning had called it a terrifying, cataclysmic scene of war, a spectacle rivaling the grandeur of mythology.

  At the time, Li Qing had found his words overly dramatic. Now, he finally understood the magnificence he had been trying to convey.

  "Attacking the Royal City might force Emperor Atabia to reveal his hidden cards," Li Qing mused thoughtfully.

  The siege was clearly not going to be swift. The Empire's elite forces stubbornly defended the Royal City, seemingly stalling for time to complete the final phase of the Tower of Babel.

  The Empire's elite forces were formidable.

  Their military technology, centered on Exoskeleton Ocean Giants, far surpassed the Church of Light's civilian-grade technology. Even with Li Qing's help in Awakening their weapons, the gap could only be partially closed.

  Li Qing seriously doubted they'd breach the Imperial City before noon.

  After all, ancient warfare was all about close-quarters combat. Siege battles sting an entire day were perfectly normal.

  "I should have grabbed breakfast earlier," Li Qing muttered.

  He considered his options. "The pre-battle rally's done, morale's boosted, there's nothing more for me to do here. It's not too te to grab a bite."

  He propped up his phone, keeping the livestream monitor open to watch for any unexpected developments, and hurried out.

  He rushed to buy breakfast and returned to the living room with his ptop. Half an hour ter, the battle still raged.

  "Just as I suspected," Li Qing said with a smug expression. "I knew I wouldn't miss anything."

  After watching for a while, he moved to the other side of the living room, about seven or eight meters away, and started browsing his computer. He checked the comments on yesterday's video.

  Thanks to promotional posts from various ptforms, the video had already amassed 3.81 million views, making it the most-watched video on the entire site in recent times.

  Several more people had messaged him seeking permission to use his content, and Li Qing took advantage of the opportunity to fleece them for over ten thousand yuan.

  "Not bad at all," he thought.

  Seeing he had some free time and riding the wave of popurity, Li Qing spent another ten minutes screenshotting the tranquil and beautiful underwater city from the previous night's video.

  As for the ongoing war he was witnessing?

  Best not to upload that; keeping a low profile would be wise.

  A Day in R'lyeh, the Underwater City—Awakening Cthulhu!

  The video thumbnail featured another stunning image of the underwater metropolis, embzoned with the words:

  Heart-stopping Effort! 191 Hours of Frame-by-Frame Polish! An Animated Masterpiece of R'lyeh, the Mythical Sunken City!

  Clicking the video revealed a familiar self-pitying description:

  Ugh, this video cost me my hair! In this era of clickbait marketing accounts, everyone's just copying everything. I'm exhausted. Let it all burn—this might be my st video.

  High-resolution version couldn't be uploaded. Download link in the pinned comment.

  He pressed "Upload."

  This might truly be his st video.

  Li Qing had only pnned to make quick money. This next video's earnings would likely be substantial, and the combined income from both would cover his expenses for the time being. He could worry about future funds ter.

  No sooner had he posted the video than viewers began flocking to it.

  Comments appeared almost immediately.

  -Waaah, no way! Is this the big boss's true power? Noooo! It's all those clickbait marketing accounts' fault!

  -Holy crap! You madman, did you really grind for nearly two hundred hours again? Do you even have that many hours in a day?!

  -Not necessarily. The big boss clearly has a team. A few hours from each member would easily add up to two hundred. Plus, I checked the visuals—it's the same panoramic city view. Absolutely insane! It's still the daily life of the Sea Race citizens, and even the camera angles haven't changed. Making the second video must have been way easier.

  -Stop kidding yourselves. This is obviously a demonstration of loyalty to attract investors. Some bigwig must have already come knocking, which is why they stopped making videos.

  The commenters chattered endlessly, marveling at the stunning CG technology and assuming someone had already invested in it.

  What they couldn't imagine was that...

  ...the creator was actually a deadbeat, desperate to make a quick buck to cover some urgent expenses before calling it quits.

  Meanwhile, others were dissecting the video itself:

  -This boss is insane! Compared to the st video, many buildings have changed, as if several years have passed. Even some of the Sea Race's appearances have evolved, yet their neighborly retionships remain the same.

  -That's right! That mysterious tower has already reached eight stories. This must be several years ter.

  -Last night, the Tower of Babel was indeed eight stories tall. This morning, it's already twenty stories and still growing.

  -Holy crap, why does this tower look so much like a cssic Huaguo pagoda? It cshes so badly with Cthulhu's R'lyeh!

  -You're right, it feels totally out of pce. This tower must have some deeper meaning. If it's R'lyeh we're talking about, maybe this tower is reviving or sealing away a Cthulhu Evil God!

  The armchair analysts were running wild with specution, conjuring theories out of thin air.

  -Wait a minute, you're saying this tower is reviving Cthulhu? Maybe that's why it looks like this! An ancient Huaguo-style pagoda wouldn't be out of pce in the West either!

  -Don't dismiss it so quickly! Do you know where Huaguo's octagonal tiered pagodas originally came from? Some theories say their prototypes were based on the human spine, embodying a hidden aesthetic of human anatomy. Look at the tower in the video—doesn't it look like a human spine stuck into the ground?

  Li Qing stared in stunned silence.

  A human spine?

  This towering white Tower of Babel, segmented and piercing the sky, did indeed resemble a colossal spine. Was this massive spinal column being constructed to create humanity?

  How could a civilization still pying with primitive fish, relics of an era when life consisted of simple organisms, achieve such a quantum leap in technological prowess to possess advanced human genetic blueprints for constructing this edifice?

  Li Qing immediately considered a possible expnation.

  Ning Guochang had resided within the tower for so long—they must have acquired human genetic blueprints.

  -The human spine has twenty-six vertebrae. If this tower has twenty-six floors, then it truly is a spine! The creators are geniuses!

  -This aerial view of the city, with its bustling crowds, may not explicitly reveal the plot, but there's definitely a hidden storyline unfolding beneath the surface.

  -Cthulhu of R'lyeh, the Great Old One, is awakening in this city! Please don't stop updating! I'm eagerly awaiting the next episode where the Great Old One fully awakens and R'lyeh descends into chaos!

  "I just casually posted a short video, and they've already figured this out? Impressive," Li Qing muttered, setting down his computer.

  He turned his gaze toward the distant Royal City.

  He observed that the Tower of Babel had already reached twenty-five floors. It seemed the final vertebra—the twenty-sixth—was about to emerge.