I've Become the King of Villains in the Game

With the defeat and retreat of the Anlong Garrison at Hercules Bridgehead Fortress, large numbers of the Imperial Army had gradually occupied various areas, and had even begun to clean up the battlefield.

General Vance, despite the advice and opposition of his adjutants and the rest of the senior officers, insisted on entering the Bridgehead Fortress for a personal inspection.

The sky's rain had slowly stopped, and the clergy of the Hailing Group, including Priest Kuni, returned to the ranks and suggested they could accompany General Vance into the Bridgehead Fortress. The leading Nun of the Moon Church, due to her prior engagement with that streak of aurora, had suffered considerable injuries and thus remained behind to rest in the rear camp.

The group entered the Bridgehead Fortress, where they saw scattered rubble and burning ruins; blood-soaked medical bandages littered the ground, and many enemy corpses were being orderly collected by the Imperial Army and piled in the corners, seemingly intended for a mass cremation.

The environment was saturated with the pungent smell of gunpowder, charred remains, and blood, forming an acrid blend. The adjutant, seemingly accustomed to such odors, held a report in his hand and calmly said to General Vance beside him,

"General, the army from Anlong originally planned to retreat through the underground tunnels they had dug in advance, but it seems that Governing Officer Jack had already anticipated their move. He dispatched his Transcendent subordinates to intercept in time, and the Undead Foreigners Legion under his command also joined the pursuit, resulting in a sweeping victory... even enemy General Maiersa was captured on the spot!"

The adjutant's tone was quite pleased.

But he quickly noticed that General Vance's expression did not look very good.

The adjutant instantly realized that the General had always disliked the Seven Gods Church and was even less fond of the clergy interfering in military affairs. Although the actions of Governing Officer Jack had brought great benefits to the Imperial Army, even providing significant assistance, it clearly touched General Vance's bottom line.

So he quickly added,

"Ahem, Miss Floey, the 'adjutant' of Governing Officer Jack, timely informed the leaders of several legions who were fighting inside the Bridgehead Fortress of the intelligence. Our troops also then carried out a pincer movement. Without such action, the enemy would have likely managed to escape the encirclement... due to the urgency of the situation, we were unable to inform you immediately."

General Vance raised his hand, signaling for the adjutant to stop.

He simply said indifferently,

"Hmm, I know."

At that moment, a squad of the Imperial Army came running toward them, led by a captain. Dozens of them carried flintlock guns, each with a mini monocular telescope hanging in front of their chests, and they stopped neatly in front of the General and saluted.

"Royal Support Battalion of the Eleventh Legion, Second Foxes Scout Squadron, at your service, General."

"Captain Harrowin."

General Vance recognized the man and nodded with his hands behind his back.

"Is there something you've discovered?"

"Report, General, yes."

Captain Harrowin nodded gravely.

He quickly had his men take out a stack of freshly organized reports from their backpacks and handed them to the General. The documents contained some textual records, as well as black and white photos taken with portable cameras.

"Our soldiers have conducted thorough searches in the buildings of the Bridgehead Fortress and discovered several secret doors leading to underground areas... After deeper exploration, they found that thousands of high-explosive barrels of gunpowder were buried beneath the Bridgehead Fortress, even under the support pillars of the Hercules Bridge, similar explosive packages were found."

General Vance's pupils shrank as he carefully read through the report in his hands, which even featured assessments from internal experts of the Imperial Army. The results showed that these explosives could flatten the entire Hercules Bridgehead Fortress, demolish the great bridge, and even annihilate the Imperial Army within several kilometers of the Bridgehead Fortress.

"General, please leave the battlefield immediately and return to the rear. This place is extremely dangerous!"

Upon hearing the Captain's words, the adjutant, dripping with cold sweat, urged him anxiously.

However, General Vance simply waved his hand dismissively.

Although he recognized the terrifying extent of the situation, he did not panic but instead looked at the Captain and asked,

"The report says that those barrels of gunpowder did not detonate due to some abnormality?"

"Yes, General."

The Captain nodded.

"Based on our deductions, the enemy originally intended to detonate the explosives while retreating, to destroy both the Bridgehead Fortress and the bridge along with our troops. But the barrels of gunpowder failed to detonate due to unknown reasons... Here is some of the gunpowder we've collected for your inspection."

As he spoke, he handed over a small paper packet the size of a palm.

General Vance, frowning deeply, took it and opened it to reveal a small amount of black powder, which looked quite normal.

But after closer observation, he suddenly noticed a deep green luster flowing within the powder, as if it was undulating and even emitting a faint scent of decay.

General Vance, well-versed and knowledgeable, instantly recognized this as the influence of a mysterious power.

"A Transcendent's handiwork..."

He murmured, but his words were heard by everyone around, causing quite a surprise.

A thought crossed General Vance's eyes, and after a brief pause, his expression subtly changed.

He realized then that the enemy's previous behavior of moving those barrels of gunpowder on the high wall was only a ruse, aimed at provoking and luring them to attack the Bridgehead Fortress. The ultimate goal was to blow up the Imperial Army and the Bridgehead Fortress into ashes.