Chapter 144: The Spanish Civilization

"Queen Isabella, a player discovered this map in some ruins, and it records the surrounding terrain."

The man handing the map to the queen had black curly hair, a meticulously trimmed beard, and wore a leather armor, a short skirt, and tights. The name floating above his head read Hernán Cortés.

In the modern European landscape, Spain is a relatively ordinary country, and historically, it boasts far fewer prominent figures compared to nations like Britain or France.

Yet Cortés is a world-famous name in history. He was a Spanish adventurer during the Age of Discovery. In February 1519, with just 11 ships, 110 sailors, 553 soldiers, a mere 13 muskets, 32 crossbows, alongside 10 heavy cannons, 4 light cannons, and 16 horses, he managed to conquer the Aztec Empire, a civilization of fifteen million people!

The Aztec Empire was a powerful ancient civilization in the Americas, infamous for its extreme brutality and ritual human sacrifices. Yet, when confronted by these white men, they completely lost their nerve. Incidentally, this civilization also exists in the game, represented by the very leader Hernán defeated: Montezuma.

The unique weapon of this civilization is the obsidian blade, unlockable right from the Stone Age, and their unique unit is the Jaguar Warrior, also unlocked in the Stone Age.

They belong to an early-game civilization.

Hernán Cortés, the conqueror who brought down the Aztec Empire, is one of the most vital generals of the Spanish civilization. As for Isabella's other prominent commander, Francisco Pizarro, this illiterate Spanish adventurer led a mere 180 men to conquer the Incan Empire, which had a population of six million!

In the book *The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History* by an American scholar, these two fellows rank 62nd and 63rd respectively...

One can only say that the ancient civilizations of the Americas were remarkably fragile in combat...

"The Great Barrier Reef and Mount Fuji! These two natural wonders alone are enough to guarantee our Spanish civilization's prosperity and strength throughout the Stone Age and the Bronze Age! With the Pyrenees as a natural barrier, coupled with less-developed maritime technology in these eras, we can safely develop all the way to the Enlightenment Age!"

"By then, Your Majesty's Invincible Armada will set sail from the oceans, and whether it is America, China, India, or Japan... every civilization will tremble beneath Spanish cannons! We shall establish a vast Spanish Empire upon which the sun never sets!"

Both Cortés and Pizarro were fanatics of invasion and adventure.

Queen Isabella was a twenty-year-old maiden clad in white, with light-brown hair, radiating vitality and wildness. By Western aesthetic standards, she was an absolute beauty.

The queens in the game generally ranged in age from fifteen to twenty-five. Japan's Himiko was fifteen, a petite loli, while the Old Buddha Cixi was twenty-five.

This was designed to cater to the diverse tastes of various players.

It was worth noting that virtually every queen's facial features were modeled after real-world celebrities. Aside from the cutting-edge virtual reality tech, the game's inner world was largely identical to the surface world, featuring similar celebrities. Wu Zetian had the face of Bingbing, and Artoria Pendragon—King Arthur—used Taylor Swift as her template.

Britain's Queen Victoria bore the visage of English actress Vivien Leigh, while Queen Isabella was modeled after Spain's Golden Rose, Penélope Cruz.

Naturally, this being a video game, the appearances were undoubtedly beautified to the absolute limit!

Hearing the glorious future described by her two conquering generals, a proud smile bloomed across Isabella's face: "Under my rule, the Spanish civilization shall undoubtedly stand at the pinnacle of the world!"

Simultaneously, the Spanish players stood frozen, staring in utter bewilderment at the coastline.

Border Line
Chinese Territory. All Incursions Will Be Punished.

What on earth is this?

The young man astride a horse had a name floating above his head: Chief Halberdier of Huaihua, Mid-level Boss...

Because the game featured a translation system, everyone instantly understood that this was an official title. Some people recalled that fellow mentioned in the world broadcast; the person in the announcement had been the Forest Fairy, whereas this young man's title was Mid-level Boss... Could it be the same person? Besides, it didn't seem like name-change cards were available for purchase yet, right?

Among these seventy or eighty Spanish players, there were certainly no Modulators.

Modulators could not resurrect and were bound by main quests. Even if Isabella became overwhelmingly powerful during the Enlightenment Age, who could guarantee that the Spanish civilization would safely survive until then? European Modulators would only ever choose the most powerful leaders.

Nor were there any Diamond VIPs here—players who had poured immense fortunes into the game. Such individuals would have long since joined crowded civilizations to show off—Napoleon's faction of players in France was hardly any smaller than Qin Shi Huang's.

Standing on the ground, wielding wooden clubs, wooden spears, or at best Roman bronze gladii and hand axes, the players gazed up at Yan Luo, who sat majestically atop a magnificent steed, exuding an imposing aura.

"What is going on here?"

"No idea..."

"Isn't this the coast of the Aegean Sea? How did it become Chinese territory?"

Just as a clamor of murmurs arose, Yan Luo suddenly let out a thunderous roar: "I am the Chief Halberdier of Great Zhou! Who dares to fight me to the death!" His voice boomed like a giant clap of thunder, causing the Spaniards who heard it to tremble in their boots.

Well, that was perhaps a slight exaggeration. After all, it was only a game, and many white people harbored a deep-seated sense of superiority.

As one of the three European nations identified by a BBC survey as having the strongest anti-China sentiments—alongside Germany and France—the players from this country lived in a nation where anti-China protests frequently erupted. Naturally, Spaniards held no favorable view of the Chinese.

For a Chinese player to wander over here and declare the Aegean Sea shown on the map to be "Chinese territory"—could this possibly be tolerated?

"There's only one of him, let's all charge together!"

"Kill him!"

"That horse is mine!"

A mob of players, gripping their respective weapons, swarmed collectively toward Yan Luo. These individuals had all distributed their starting bonuses into the three primary attributes, pushing their physical capabilities far beyond those of the real world. A few of them were even Iron, Bronze, or Silver VIPs who possessed templates.

Yet, in Yan Luo's eyes, they were nothing more than a disorganized rabble.

Compared even to the Macedonian phalanx he had previously faced, they fell utterly short!

At the very least, the Macedonian phalanx possessed officers to command them, coordination between different troop types, an initial volley of covering archer fire followed by auxiliary troops to exhaust the enemy, and regular soldiers forming a hedgehog-like phalanx.

Yan Luo was a mid-level life form who had already mastered the Ten-Direction Staff Technique and internal force! The immense benefits brought by his sub-persona Guan Yu were staggering. Even without utilizing any active skills, armed simply with a staff, he could single-handedly wipe out a Macedonian phalanx of a hundred men.

Let alone these modern people who possessed nothing beyond mere attribute stats and zero combat experience.

Facing the players bravely charging toward him, Yan Luo directly leaped down from his horse, grabbed the wooden spears he had looted from Dragon Overlord and his companions, and hurled them out like javelins! With a strength stat exceeding twenty points, the flying javelins tore through the air with a violent whistling gale.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

...

Four times in rapid succession, four players charging at the very front were impaled through the chest by the wooden spears, carrying them backward through the air. On the final throw, the Shang dynasty stone spear thrown by Yan Luo pierced clean through the first target, its momentum unabated, before piercing a second and continuing straight through a third before finally clattering to the ground.

"What?!"

"This is impossible!"

A chorus of incredulous gasps erupted. Five thrown weapons had inflicted fatal damage upon seven Spanish players. Had it not been for the novice protection against near-death states, they would have instantly perished. As it stood, those near-death players were paralyzed on the ground, gasping in terror.

Yan Luo vaulted back onto his horse and drew a five-meter-long Macedonian sarissa.

This was tantamount to cavalry slaughtering infantry! Bolstered by his exceptionally high strength attribute, every thrust of Yan Luo's spear impaled a player into a near-death state. Before long, the beach was thickly strewn with a vast number of downed players. Even a few who fled in sheer panic were quickly run down from behind and speared out of the saddle.

If this had not been a video game, the shoreline would undoubtedly have been soaked red with blood!

Sitting astride his horse amidst the sea of "corpses" covering the beach, Yan Luo cast his gaze toward a young woman approaching from a distance, bearing the title Queen Isabella, accompanied by several Spanish civilization generals and a massive horde of soldiers.

He stowed the Macedonian sarissa away, silently switched to his coiling dragon staff, and drew his Mandarin Duck twin sabers, tucking them into his belt.

The true challenge was about to begin!