Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

"Also," he lowered his voice, "have your people spread the news in Cheshi: say that the Arabs promised Kucha that upon completion, the northern grasslands of Cheshi would be ceded to Kucha. Also... 'accidentally' have the Cheshi King's spies intercept several 'secret letters' stating that the Arabs and Kucha are plotting to divide Cheshi."

Ying Qi understood: "I understand. This is a tactic to sow discord and prevent the Cheshi from making any rash moves!"

Arrangements finalized, Qin Ming walked to the window, gazing at the dark western sky. The rebellion of Kucha, though seemingly a crisis, was actually an opportunity to bring the undercurrents of the Western Regions to light! A decisive battle against Kucha would intimidate all the wavering smaller Western states! And at Yumen Pass… he would personally confront the front lines, directly confronting the Arab army, a perfect opportunity to test the strength of this Western empire!

Ten days later, Meng Zhi led 10,000 elite troops south, their iron hooves treading through the dusty desert as they descended upon Qiuci. Meanwhile, reinforcements from various regions arrived at Yumen Pass. Inside and outside the city walls, banners shone brightly, and swords and armor shone fiercely. Qin Ming, clad in black armor and a golden helmet, ascended the pass tower and personally led the troops, greatly boosting their morale!

The Battle of Kucha was exceptionally brutal. The King of Kucha, relying on the strategic position of Yancheng, held out stubbornly. Meng Zhi led his troops day and night, attacking with a relentless barrage of crossbows and cannonballs, causing the city walls to collapse in sections. On the 25th day, the Black Armor Army's death squads blew open the east gate with gunpowder, allowing the army to pour into the streets. The King of Kucha burned himself to death in his palace, and Yancheng fell. Over 10,000 people were beheaded and countless more captured. The might of the Daqian army resonated throughout the Western Regions!

When the victory report reached Yumen Pass, the sky outside the pass was filled with dust - the 15,000 Guram cavalry led by the son of the governor of Khorasan of the Arab Empire had arrived at the pass!

Qin Ming stroked the Kucha King Seal sent by Meng Zhi, listened to the horns of the enemy outside the pass, and a cold arc appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"finally come."

He slowly drew the long sword from his waist, and pointed the sword directly at the dark enemy formation outside the pass.

"Beat the drums! Meet the enemy!"

The smoke from the Yumen Pass had barely cleared when an urgent secret report, delivered eight hundred miles away, arrived at Qin Ming's desk. Unfolding the blood-stained parchment, his pupils suddenly constricted—the governor of Khorasan, the Arab Empire, had personally led an army of eighty thousand men on an eastern expedition. The vanguard had already crossed the Pamir Mountains and was splitting into two groups, attacking Shule and Khotan!

"What a feint to the east, attack in the west." Qin Ming's fingertips traced the two sinister arrows on the map. The Guram cavalry outside Yumen Pass were merely bait; the real killer lay to the west. He was silent for a moment, then suddenly threw his red pen onto the table: "Send a message to Meng Zhi."

That night, the Black Armor Army quietly broke camp. Meng Zhi led 20,000 elite troops westward overnight, their horses' hooves wrapped in cloth and their men gagged as they galloped along the hidden ancient path at the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains. Qin Ming, stationed at Yumen Pass, ascended the tower daily, beating drums and unfurling banners to create the illusion that the main force was still there.

At dawn on the seventh day, as Shule City was about to fall, Meng Zhi's cavalry burst through the desert mist like a divine force descending from the heavens. The Arab vanguard was caught off guard, their formation in disarray. The Black Armor Army's crossbows rained down like locusts, singularly targeting the enemy's horses. In an instant, the desert transformed into a battlefield. In this battle, they killed 8,000 enemies, captured the Arab vanguard commander alive, and seized a mountain of food and fodder from the camel caravans.

When the victory message arrived, Qin Ming was playing chess on the gate tower with the Khotanese prince, who was disguised as a merchant. He picked up a black piece and placed it on the "Tian Yuan" position, saying calmly, "Tell the Governor of Khorasan that I see through his moves."

However, the true crisis was brewing in the shadows. Three days later, the Hexi Army's grain route was suddenly intercepted, and the head of the transport officer was dumped outside Yumen Pass. The scimitar left at the scene bore the insignia of the Cheshi royal family, but the silk thread wrapped around the hilt was the golden silk unique to the Kucha court.

"What a chain of tricks!" Qin Ming sneered, crushing the golden thread with his fingertips. He immediately ordered Ying Qi to infiltrate Cheshi, while he personally led 3,000 light cavalry to reinforce the supply route. During their nighttime march in the desert, they were ambushed and rained down arrows. Qin Ming's black armor, stained with blood, was about to sever the enemy commander's flag with his longsword, only to discover that his opponent was actually the Prince of Kucha, who had faked his own death and escaped.

The truth was revealed: the remnants of Kucha had colluded with the pro-war faction of Cheshi, joining forces with the remnants of the Arabs to set up this trap. Qin Ming stormed the Cheshi royal court overnight, and at dawn, he aimed his sword at the Cheshi king's chambers. The old king trembled and handed over the alliance document, which was stamped with the golden seal of the Arab governor of Khorasan.

The north wind from the Western Regions blew sand against the window lattice. Qin Ming looked at the jagged lines of power on the map and suddenly chuckled. He picked up his red pen and drew a blood-red cross on Khorasan.

"It's time to wrap up."

A north wind swept through the shattered walls of Kucha, mixing the odor of burning and blood into a handful of cold gravel that whipped the banners of the Black Armor Army. Qin Ming stood at the highest point of the ruins of the Kucha Royal Palace. At his feet lay a pile of scattered objects presented by Meng Zhi—several twisted pieces of iron pipe, a bit of inky powder, and pieces of iron sheets covered in strange patterns. These were the remains captured from the Arab vanguard, a terrifying firearm that spewed iron sand and gravel.

"I see." Qin Ming picked up a piece of burnt and deformed iron sheet, his fingertips tracing the spiral grooves inside. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. "The firearms of the Arab Empire contain their violence with a coiled iron wall, like a poisonous snake latching onto the throat, aiming to kill with one blow." During the street fighting in Kucha, this weapon had left many fierce soldiers in a bloody mess. Its power was astonishing. However, its range was short, its reload time was slow, and it was prone to exploding, which could also injure the enemy.

He turned and walked into the makeshift Shenji Workshop, throwing the wreckage in front of a group of pale craftsmen: "Take its skill in concentrating fire and increasing power, and combine it with the distance of my arrows and the power of artillery. I want to see the real weapon in one month." The workshop was dead silent, with only the coal dust falling from the anvil.

A month later, outside Yumen Pass, deep in the wasteland.

Qin Ming stood alone on the dune, three ferocious giants looming before him. One resembled a large divine crossbow, its arms clad in thick iron, its trough welded to a sealed iron box. Another resembled a miniature catapult, its stone rim replaced by a fine steel concave disc enclosed by a strange iron ring. The last was the most bizarre of all: a stubby iron cylinder mounted on a wheeled cart, its body covered in iron hoops, resembling a canister used to seal a throat.

"Your Majesty!" the chief craftsman's voice trembled. "The crossbow is called 'Sun Chaser'. It has a spiral iron tube filled with granular gunpowder and scrap iron. The gunpowder ignites and shoots out iron sand, destroying everyone within a hundred steps. The concave-disc cannon is called 'Earth Splitting'. It uses a ring inside the disk to control the force of the gunpowder, erupting a fireball that explodes on the ground, shaking the whole area. The iron-tube cannon is called 'Kill Bandits'. It's filled with heavy stones and a newly developed powerful explosive. It sets fire and rocks ablaze, breaking through armor and destroying cities!"

Qin Ming's eyes swept across the three weapons, finally settling on the short, thick iron mouth of the "Kuaishou" weapon: "Test the gun."

The earth is shaking!

The "Sun Chaser" crossbow whistled, and the earthen wall fifty steps ahead was struck by a hurricane, instantly reducing wooden targets to dust and leaving radial scorch marks on the sand. The "Earth Splitter" cannon's fireball arced and smashed into the distant pre-positioned camel caravan. A resounding explosion sent flames soaring into the sky, and debris flew in a blazing heat. The "Kill the Bandits" was the most terrifying. After a dull blast, fragments of the three-inch-thick iron-clad city gate rained down like a torrential rain, flattening a sand dune three hundred steps away!

Amidst the thick dust, Qin Ming's dark cloak fluttered. "Military exercise," he uttered only two words, his eyes like a quenched blade.

Ten days later, on the edge of the Pamir Plateau, in an unnamed river valley thirty miles outside the Iron Gate Pass.