If Heaven hadn't given birth to me, I would be arrogant.

The group didn't have to wait long. With Zong Ze's abilities, he quickly understood the changes in the high-altitude airflow and mastered how to choose the wind direction based on the changes in airflow. So, after flying in the sky for three days, Zong Ze and the others piloted the hot air balloon back to the Shenji Camp!

However, although it was only a short three days, in the minds of Lan Qizhan and the others, these three days felt as long as three eras. When the hot air balloon reappeared in their sight, the crowd began to stir.

When the hot air balloon landed steadily and Zong Ze and the other six stepped off, the entire place suddenly fell silent. After a moment, everyone could no longer suppress their excitement, and the entire Shenji Camp erupted in earth-shaking cheers. Even Lan Qizhan disregarded etiquette and kept hugging and kissing the Empress beside him!

After a three-hour flight, the hot air balloon circled the entire capital city. Almost everyone in the capital saw the flight, so not long after, envoys and spies from other empires and duchies arrived in the Ruen Empire!

For those envoys, Blue Chess War dispatched the eloquent and sycophantic Fox, who, together with the Empire's Foreign Minister, perfectly sent them away. However, the capital could not completely eliminate the spies.

It was at this moment that Lan Qizhan understood why Zong Ze had insisted on prioritizing the ideological work of the Shenji Battalion soldiers, then building the city walls, and only finally starting to construct the hot air balloons. Because now all the spies from various countries had failed!

The soldiers of the Shenji Battalion were already granted the right to visit their families, but no matter how these spies threatened or bribed them, they couldn't get a single word out of them. Their classic line, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!" made countless spies and leaders from other countries grit their teeth in hatred!

Well, since they couldn't get anything out of the soldiers, these professional spies started trying to infiltrate the Shenji Battalion to find out what was going on. But when they finally found the Shenji Battalion's headquarters, they were all dumbfounded!

I don't know what method Zong Ze used, but the guards on the Shenji Camp city wall could tell from 200 meters away whether the person wanting to enter the city was one of their own or an outsider. If it was one of their own, no problem, open the gate and let them in!

But if it's an outsider, sorry, as long as they enter the 200-meter restricted area, they will be killed without hesitation!

Initially, some spies from other countries were indeed shot and killed by arrows for entering the restricted area. However, this did not attract the attention of the people of the Rune Empire. After all, the spies shot were from other countries, and the death of one or two would be a good thing for the Rune Empire!

It wasn't until one day, when General Zong Kuang, the father of General Zong Ze, the commander of the Divine Machine Battalion, was almost shot dead in the restricted area, that everyone in the empire realized that the so-called restricted area was truly a restricted area. No matter who it was, even His Majesty the Blue Chess Warrior of the Luen Empire, anyone who rashly entered the restricted area without prior notice could be shot dead!

It was by chance that time. After witnessing the Shenji Battalion truly take to the sky, the imperial high command did not visit the Shenji Battalion for a period of time. After all, no one would be so bored as to travel dozens of miles away to the Shenji Battalion every day to listen to the clanging and banging of the blacksmiths.

That day, the generals of the Imperial Army gathered together to chat. As they talked, they came up with all sorts of things about the Divine Machine Battalion. Whether it was ideological and political education or hot air balloons, these topics gave the generals countless things to talk about!

As the Grand General of the Empire, Zong Kuang was naturally among them. Everyone was talking about his son, and their words were full of praise for him. Zong Kuang was naturally extremely proud. No one knew what made him suddenly decide to take everyone to the Divine Machine Camp for an inspection!

Since this inspection was decided on a whim by Zong Kuang, the Shenji Camp was not notified in advance, and the guards on the Shenji Camp's city wall naturally did not know that the Imperial General was about to arrive!

Zong Kuang led his men on horseback to the outskirts of the empire, and it took them a full day to reach the Shenji Camp's camp.

Originally, the walls of the Shenji Camp were surrounded by a dense forest. However, when Zong Ze was burning the walls, he led his men to cut down all the trees within a 200-meter radius of the walls to use as kindling!

So when Zong Kuang and the others passed through the woods, they saw a vast, flat area and a gleaming black city wall 200 meters away!

Every fifty meters along the edge of the woods, there was a sign that read in red: "Restricted Area! Military Restricted Area. Entry is prohibited and will result in death!"

Zong Kuang and the others naturally saw the warning signs as well. Zong Kuang, mounted on his horse, pointed at the signs with his whip and laughed at the generals, "This little brat still lacks experience in battle. What's the use of putting up a warning sign 200 meters away? Doesn't he know that the effective range of an arrow is only about 100 meters?"

The generals all nodded in agreement. Just then, they noticed a sentry on the city wall holding a shiny, one-end-larger-the-other-end barrel-shaped object. He pointed the smaller end to his mouth and shouted, "Listen up, you've entered a restricted military area! I order you to leave immediately, or you will be killed on sight!"

"Hey!" Upon hearing a mere soldier order him, a general, to leave the restricted area, Zong Kuang couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He no longer cared about how the little sentry's voice could be heard so clearly from 200 meters away!

Zong Kuang lightly kicked his warhorse, took a few steps forward, and laughed loudly at the city wall: "You little brat, you actually dare to give me orders? You've got some nerve! Come on, I won't obey your orders. Let's see how you're going to kill me without mercy!"

As a Grand General of the Empire, Zong Kuang was not ignorant of military orders. However, since the Divine Machine Battalion was built by his own son and was so far from the city walls, Zong Kuang simply found a mischievous pleasure in teasing the sentries!

If it were truly within effective firing range, Zong Kuang wouldn't dare step into the restricted area. Even as a Grand General of the Empire, he wouldn't lead the way in violating military regulations. He knew very well that without revealing his identity, the sentry might actually dare to draw his bow and shoot!

But after all, there is still a distance of 200 meters from the city wall, which is why Zong Kuang is so arrogant!

No one expected that just as Zong Kuang was laughing and cursing loudly, a "buzz" was heard and a sharp light shot out from the city wall, rushing straight towards Zong Kuang's face at an extremely fast speed!

Even though Zong Kuang possessed the strength of a Martial Saint, he had no time to dodge the sharp light coming straight at him. Helpless, Zong Kuang shouted and drew his long sword from his waist to protect his face!