Zhou Sen was a little confused. According to his original experience, he should have appeared next to the ruins of an ancient teleportation array.
Could it be that my own spiritual thoughts can control the direction and directly penetrate into the five star fields?
Thinking of this, Zhou Sen was ready to make a move...
"quack……"
While Zhou Sen was about to explore, suddenly, the golden sea of clouds on his shoulders moved and let out a joyful cry. Then, like a golden lightning, it shot up into the vast sky, creating a network of lines in the sky.
Fang Liu, Lord Saar, Yue Lao and Wu Tian, a group of space hunters, all looked at the world full of vitality with expressions of amazement.
For humans in the meteorite belt, this place is simply a paradise.
"Where is this place?" The Babel God Mouse jumped on Zhou Sen's shoulder and ran across the grassland, his excitement palpable.
"Hahaha, I actually returned to the Han Empire in the Gods and Demons Continent. It feels so good!" Zhou Sen felt a familiar atmosphere and looked up to the sky laughing. The laughter was hearty and heartfelt.
"This is the Continent of Gods and Demons, yes, but it is not the Han Empire!"
Suddenly, in the void, a soldier wearing vine armor and holding a long bow flew over on a huge black bird, blowing a fierce wind with terrifying force.
Black-winged Kunpeng!
Zhou Sen's face suddenly changed color, because he had recognized that the soldier and the big black bird were the Crusaders who had appeared on the Immortal Island of Japan.
Suddenly, Zhou Sen had a bad feeling.
Judging from the flat terrain here, it should be in the inland area of the Han Empire. If enemy troops appear in the hinterland, it means that the territory of the Han Empire has fallen.
What makes Zhou Sen even more uneasy is that from the west of the Yin Tan tribe through the desert, there is the mountain and sea pass on the western border of the Han Empire, where the Longtu God is seated, and thousands of miles away, there is the imperial city in the inland...
…
Could it be that Shanhaixiongguan fell?
Could it be that the imperial capital fell?
…
"Who are you? Put down your weapons quickly and follow..."
When the soldiers on the black-winged Kunpeng saw that the leader of the long-haired young man was ignoring him, they were furious. They shouted loudly, bent their bows and drew arrows. Immediately, a cold murderous aura filled the air.
Sangbao and Thrall looked at each other.
Without warning, Sangbao took action.
Humans living in the meteorite belt are affected by the environment. When hunting, every attack must be done with all their strength and must hit with one hit. This fighting style has trained the hunters into killing machines.
Every movement has the potential to be broken into pieces rather than destroyed.
The humans in the meteorite belt are all born iron-blooded warriors.
Now, Sangbao has been promoted to the Space Hunter, and has obtained Zhou Senxiu's mysterious book. His skills have improved by leaps and bounds. With all his strength, he is shaking the earth and the earth with a terrifying momentum. His whole body is like a shooting star that suddenly shoots towards the black-winged Kunpeng in the sky.
I bumped into it, full of courage and determination to never come back.
Although the soldiers in the sky bent their bows and prepared arrows, they did not expect that the opponent would burst out and hurt people, nor did they expect that he would become an attack target at high altitude. When the mourning leopard shot from the sky, his pupils shrank for a while, and he had not yet reacted.
, a cold and sharp dagger has cut off his head, blood spurts out, and the blood is scattered in the sky. However, the bow and arrow he drew have not yet been shot. This is evident from the speed of Sangbao...
…
"Gah..."
The black-winged Kunpeng let out a shrill cry, dropped the soldier's body, and suddenly sank, avoiding the mourning leopard. Its huge wings flapped, and its body immediately flew away, turning into a small gray dot.
It has to be said that the reaction speed of the black-winged Kunpeng is first-class and very amazing. The moment the Sangbao cut off the soldier's neck, it had already fluttered its wings and fled. After the Sangbao killed the soldier, it was already too late to pursue him.
In the air, the black-winged Kunpeng is undoubtedly a king-like existence. No matter how powerful the mourning leopard is, it cannot hunt down the black-winged Kunpeng before it masters the art of flying. As for bows and arrows, it is the weak point of hunters in the entire meteorite belt.
The advantages of meteorite belt hunters who grew up in a special environment are agility and flexibility, and strong bodies. Especially the physical strength is far beyond that of ordinary humans. If you want to compare, it can only be said that the only meteorite belt hunters are the Han Empire.
Only the strong ones can be compared to it, but in terms of speed, the strong ones are far from their enemies, much inferior.
Unfortunately, the black-winged Kunpeng is not the only king of the air.
Yunhai Jinqiu is the killer in the sky!
Just one Yunhai Golden Wither can scare away tens of thousands of herbivores brought along by the meteorite. This is evident from its ferocious and terrifying fighting power.
A golden ray of light shot down from between the white clouds, like a golden arrow stabbing the black-winged Kunpeng silently.
laugh……
With a thrilling cutting sound, the sharp beak of Yunhai Jinduo actually cut the black-winged Kunpeng's neck into two pieces. The black-winged Kunpeng didn't even have time to make a whine, and blood was already spilling into the sky, and its feathers
Flying around, the pitch-black body made two circles in the air before falling straight onto the grassland.
"Quack..." Yun Haijin fell on Zhou Sen's shoulder, chirping triumphantly, and demonstrated to the Heavenly Rat.
"Good job!" Zhou Sen patted Yunhai Jinqi in reward.
"Zhizhi..." The Tongtian Divine Rat bared his teeth at Yunhai Jinzhu, with a look of disdain on his face, as if to say, he just killed a flat-haired beast, so there is no need to show off.
"Why don't you speak human language again?" Zhou Sen looked at the squeaking Divine Rat with a puzzled look.
"Zhizhi..." the Tongtian Divine Rat barked again, looking too lazy to explain.
"..."
Looking at the virtue of the Tongtian Divine Rat, Zhou Sen could only be speechless. Since the Tongtian Divine Rat was unwilling to tell the reason, he didn't bother to ask. Anyway, he didn't want to talk to the Tongtian Divine Rat who always had a look of contempt.
At this time, a group of space hunters had already inspected the corpse of the rattan-armored soldier. Except for an iron waist tag, there was nothing of value.
Looking at the tranquility under the blue sky and white clouds, Zhou Sen stood tall as a mountain and fell into deep thought.
"Sir, what's wrong?" Wu Tian saw that Zhou Sen was thoughtful and asked cautiously.
"If I'm not wrong, the Han Empire has fallen." Zhou Sen's expression was extremely heavy.
"The Han Empire fell!"
A group of space hunters suddenly looked at each other.
During this time, everyone has become very familiar with the Han Empire. In the eyes of the space hunters, the Han Empire is a powerful country, not only full of talents, but also extremely rich.
Because of Zhou Sen's description, a group of space hunters can be said to be full of infinite yearning for the Han Empire.
In fact, no one was disappointed.
When a group of space hunters landed on this vast grassland, they felt relaxed and happy, and were deeply intoxicated by the beautiful scenery of the Han Empire.
Compared with the harsh environment of the meteorite belt, this place is a paradise and a fairyland.
What no one expected was that the paradise they longed for had fallen into the hands of Mr. Enemy.
If you can be your enemy, you must be a very powerful being.
"Kingdom of Heaven, Crusaders!"
Zhou Sen spoke out five words one word at a time.
…
There is no doubt that judging from the mutual information, the Han Empire is already in a relatively weak position. One is deliberately planning and the other is passively fighting. In the past year, the Han Empire, which had long been riddled with internal strife, fell.
impossible.
"Crusader?!"
Wu Tian, Yue Lao and Saar all shook their heads, their faces turned pale with fright, and asked in unison.
"Is there a problem? Do you know the Crusaders?" Zhou Sen didn't expect their reaction to be so big.
"The meteorite belt was torn apart by a sneak attack by the Crusaders back then." Wu Tian said in a low tone.
"Why don't we know?" Fang Liu and a group of young hunters asked Wu Tian.
"Except for the city lord, only those who have reached the advanced level of hunter are qualified to know these secrets." Thrall said slowly.
"Really?" Fang Liu's eyes fell on Mr. Yue, because Mr. Yue was also a high-level space hunter.
"Yes." Mr. Yue nodded affirmatively, confirming Sal's words.
"Are there any detailed records?" Zhou Sen suddenly realized that he was involved in a religious war.
In fact, Zhou Sen is no stranger to the term "Crusader" because large-scale religious wars related to the Crusaders have occurred eight times on earth.
However, the religious wars about the Crusades rarely conflicted with Eastern religions. In the historical records of Eastern religions, there are even no written records about the Crusades.
On the ancient earth, Zhou Sen once believed that Christianity had nothing to do with Eastern religious beliefs. Only in modern times did Christianity gradually penetrate into the East...
…
Zhou Sen never dreamed that the Crusaders from the ancient Earth would actually appear in the Gods and Demons Continent. It is very possible that the Gods and Demons Continent is actually a round planet like the ancient Earth. On the other side of the planet, there is a place called "
The countries of "the Kingdom of Heaven" and their people believe in Christianity.
It seems that my guess was very wrong. As early as thousands of years ago, probably tens of thousands of years ago, when mankind was still in a prehistoric state, the gods of the East had already competed with the gods of the West for the power of faith.
And a fierce conflict occurred. This conflict did not occur in human society, but in the world of gods at a higher level.
Judging from the current situation, the gods of the West seem to have the upper hand.
It is very possible that after the Eastern gods suffered a loss, they reached some agreements with the Western gods to allow Christianity to preach in the East.
Of course, in order to highlight fairness, the West also promised to let the East preach in the West.
Because of that background, Christianity began to penetrate into the East, and Taoism and Buddhism from the East slowly penetrated into the West, forming a melting pot of ancient earth religions. However, according to the situation on the earth at that time, the influence of Christianity
The power has surpassed all religious beliefs...
…
Apart from some natural penetration, war is still one of the most direct ways to promote religious beliefs.
Because of the emergence of some international organizations, religious wars on the ancient earth have gradually decreased. However, on a relatively backward planet like the Gods and Demons Continent, using war to preach religion is still the first choice.
Zhou Sen was distracted for a while. He never thought in his dreams that this continent of gods and demons was inextricably linked to the ancient earth...
…
"Then, let's fight!"
Zhou Sen stared at the sky, his long hair flying, and his whole person was like an unsheathed sword, with its sharp edge exposed. No one dared to look at him.
In the sky, dozens of black shadows passed by.
Black-winged Kunpeng!
Zhou Sen had seen the power of Kunpeng's army. Not only were they highly mobile, their message transmission also far surpassed that of the Han Empire's cavalry.
He just killed an ordinary soldier, and the other party immediately sent a large number of black-winged Kunpeng reconnaissance intelligence.
Rumble...
In the distance, there was a heavy sound of horse hooves, and the entire grassland seemed to be trembling.
Zhou Sen held down Yunhai Jinqiu, who was about to fly into the air to fight, and looked into the distance quietly.
In just a few breaths, a cavalry team appeared on the horizon. The number was about thirty. They were all black in armor. If it weren't for the different helmets, from a distance, one would have thought they were cavalry from the Han Empire.
"Sir, is it an enemy?"
Wu Tian opened his arms, and the mechanical arm made a heart-stopping sound. After Wu Tian's hands were cut off, Zhou Sen found inspiration from the knowledge of the earth and built a mechanical arm for Wu Tian. This mechanical arm
It is not an ordinary mechanical arm. It has a magic circle and five energy stones placed in it. It is not only as flexible as ordinary people, but its power is even greater.
"Yes." Zhou Sen nodded.
"Kill?" Wu Tian didn't dare to make the decision without authorization.
"Leave the horse and armor." Zhou Sen nodded calmly.
"Yes, sir."
Looking at Zhou Sen's cold gaze, Wu Tian shuddered inexplicably.
At this time, a group of hunters discovered that Zhou Sen seemed to have changed.
If Zhou Sen in the past still had a calm and fairy spirit, now Zhou Sen's whole person is like a sharp butcher's knife, with murderous intent that makes people dare not look at him.
The rumbling sound got closer and closer.
Behind the cavalry, dust filled the sky, and the momentum surged.
A group of space hunters surrounded Zhou Sen, forming a huge fan shape.
The hunters in the meteorite belt are all born warriors!
Facing dozens of cavalry approaching like a violent storm, the hunters stood as still as rocks, their deep gazes like the vast eternal stars.
Compared with the ferocious beasts in the meteorite belt, these dozens of iron cavalry are really not worth mentioning.
Getting closer!
People can already see the fierce gaze of the cavalry.
Only after experiencing the beast tide in the Sky City, the hunters in the meteorite belt began to pay attention to cooperation. Perhaps due to the special environmental impact, the hunters who had never had cooperation experience had an almost instinctive tacit understanding.
As the cavalry rushed towards them, the hunters began to move.
Thrall, Yue Lao, and the four hunters did not join the battle. Instead, they took a few steps forward and formed a horn formation to protect Zhou Sen.
Everyone knows that Zhou Sen does not need protection, but this is a high respect for Zhou Sen and the treatment of a leader.
Wu Tian took the lead in launching an attack. His body bounced up lightly, like a wisp of smoke. A pair of iron arms opened, and his cold metal fingers spread directly into the neck of a cavalryman. With a slight movement, the cavalryman's head was directly removed from the body.
The neck was torn, and a rain of blood flew across Wu Yuan. When the head fell to the ground, there was an incredible expression of fear in its eyes. Obviously, he did not expect that the opponent's speed would be so fast.
Because of the harsh environment of the meteorite belt, hunters in the meteorite belt are not allowed to make mistakes. If they make mistakes, it means death. Therefore, every attack by the hunter in the meteorite belt must be refined and hit with one hit.
In addition, due to gravity, the biggest characteristic of the hunters in the meteorite belt is their speed, and this speed is simply not something that the soldiers of the Gods and Demons Continent can compete with...
…
The battle was over as soon as it started.
In fact, this is not a battle, it is completely a one-sided massacre.
More than thirty cavalrymen wearing armor and armor, almost armed to the teeth, in just two breaths, the grassland was already stained with blood.
Just when Wu Tian launched his attack, Yunhai Jinliu also took action.
This time, Yunhai Jinqi brought its enemy, the Tongtian Divine Rat.
One wither and one monkey rushed into the sky, killing several black-winged Kunpeng carrying soldiers on the spot like chopping vegetables and melons.
It has to be said that the black-winged Kunpeng is an extremely terrifying existence, but what they face is the Yunhai Jinqiu, which is known for its speed. What's more terrible is that there is also a perverted squirrel that can attack and hurt people at any time.
Facing the massacre of the Yunhai Golden Rat and the Sky-reaching Divine Rat, the Black-winged Kunpeng had no room for resistance. The disparity in combat effectiveness between the two sides was so great that the Black-winged Kunpeng was vulnerable to a single blow. The golden light passed by, and there was blood.
In the sky, as for the soldiers above, they were torn to pieces by the Heaven-reaching Divine Rat, and their internal organs were all over the sky. It was extremely tragic...
…
Zhou Sen did not watch Wu Tian and the others fight.
From beginning to end, Zhou Sen stared at Xiao Hui.
Zhou Sen had asked Xiao Hui about his past many times, but Xiao Hui kept silent and seemed extremely mysterious. This made Zhou Sen a little more wary of Xiao Hui. After all, the Tongtian Divine Rat is really famous in the world of cultivating gods.
It was so big that even Zhou Sen didn't dare to ignore his existence.
Zhou Sen discovered that Xiao Hui's fighting style was extremely brutal and he was simply a killing machine.
This guy is so violent, he will never surrender so easily. Back then, the Stone Monkey was known to the whole world, and he killed the Xiu Shen Realm until the blood flowed like a river for some trivial matters. The cruelty of his heart is evident.
, and this Heaven-reaching Divine Rat is a more powerful existence than the Monkey King...
…
While Zhou Sen was thinking about it, Yunhai Jinqiu and the Tongtian Divine Rat had hunted down all the black-winged Kunpeng within a radius of dozens of miles.
At the same time, Sangbao and others also cleaned the battlefield and gathered together the captured war horse corpses and weapons one by one.
After everyone cleaned up, they each found a corpse of similar stature, peeled off the armor and stomach, and replaced it. Immediately, they turned into a Crusader cavalry.
Zhou Sen carefully observed the weapon configuration of the Crusaders.
Judging from the configuration of dozens of people and the last time I saw it on Dongying Xiandao, this should be the standard configuration of the cavalry. They all have knee-length armor and are connected to a conical helmet with chainmail to protect the sides and back of the head.
As well as the neck, helmet and armor together, it becomes a set of armor weighing at least more than fifty kilograms.
Under the armor, cavalry also wore protective pads to reduce the impact of a blow. Other changes included a nose piece on the helmet, a long sword that could only cut, and a kite made of wood and leather.
The long shield can provide better protection for personnel whether riding on horseback or fighting on foot.
Through testing, it was found that the hardness, toughness and manufacturing process of the metal used in the Crusader weapons were comparable to those of the Han Empire.
However, Zhou Sen still discovered the gap between the Han Empire and the Crusaders from some details.
The weapon configuration of the Crusaders seems to be more focused on combat efficiency, while the weapon configuration of the Han Empire has extremely high requirements on appearance.
Generally speaking, the cavalry of the Han Empire were more majestic in appearance, but the cavalry of the Crusaders were more suitable for combat.
In addition, Zhou Sen also saw the difference in the weight of the weapons. The cavalry weapons of the Han Empire weighed about thirty kilograms, while the weapons of the Crusaders exceeded fifty kilograms.
It is worth mentioning that the cavalry of the Kingdom of Heaven Crusaders were not equipped with bows and arrows. If the cavalry of the Han Empire were equipped with bows and arrows, the weight gap between the two would be even smaller.
Theoretically, the cavalry of the Han Empire should be more maneuverable due to the reduced weight, but in fact, this is not the case, because the Crusaders' horses are taller and the load-bearing weight has increased a lot.
Because of the difference in weight, the combat effectiveness of the war horses is equal. However, because the weapons of the Crusaders are twenty kilograms heavier, it also means that the defense capabilities of the Crusaders' armor and stomach are stronger, and the attack capabilities of the weapons are also greater than those of the big men.
Imperial Cavalry.
Putting aside the combat effectiveness of the soldiers, judging from the configuration of the cavalry alone, the Han Empire was already at a disadvantage.
If you want to defeat the Crusaders' cavalry, you must use the heavy cavalry of the Han Empire.
Immediately, Zhou Sen broke this idea. There is no doubt that this is fanciful, because the number of heavy cavalry in the Han Empire is very small, and the weapon configuration of one cavalry can block the property of a village. It is impossible to attack on a large scale.
equipment.
In addition, in the entire Han Empire, there were probably no more than 10,000 strong men who could meet the standards of heavy cavalry.
In the face of a large corps battle with a scale of hundreds of thousands, even ten thousand heavy cavalry cannot change the entire battle situation. Moreover, the mobility of heavy cavalry has destined that it cannot be equipped on a large scale.
At present, Zhou Sen has not come into contact with the infantry of the Crusaders, but judging from the heyday of the army he saw on the Immortal Island of Japan last time, the infantry of the Crusaders are not inferior to the infantry of the Han Empire.
According to Zhou Sen's judgment, the Crusaders cavalry has the advantage, and the infantry should be on par with the Han Empire's infantry. In this battle, the Han Empire should not be defeated. After all, this is a battle on the territory of the Han Empire, and the Crusaders
The army traveled far across the ocean and lost the right time and place...
…
Black-winged Kunpeng!
Suddenly, Zhou Sen discovered that he had ignored an army that could reverse the situation at any time.
Black-winged Kunpeng.
A wry smile appeared on Zhou Sen's lips. He suddenly understood why the Crusaders were not equipped with bows and arrows, because they didn't need them at all.
It seems that the situation may be more severe than he imagined.
Not to mention that the Crusaders cavalry are already comrades, even if they are evenly matched, the Crusaders have the help of the heavenly army composed of black-winged Kunpeng, and they will definitely be unstoppable in conquering the city...
…
Inexplicably, Zhou Sen thought of the battleships in the five star regions.
Theoretically, the Black-winged Kunpeng is exactly the same as the battleships in the five star regions. They both have absolute air superiority.
For the soldiers of the Han Empire, the black-winged Kunpeng was an absolute nightmare.
You can imagine how painful it was when the soldiers of the Han Empire were fighting bloody battles on the city wall when a burst of arrow feathers suddenly fell from their heads.
The Black-winged Kunpeng also had an absolute advantage in reconnaissance. Its flying height was simply beyond the reach of bows and arrows. This made the Han Empire's army movements seem transparent in front of the Crusaders, leaving nothing to hide.
Theoretically, with the Black-winged Kunpeng, the Crusaders were already in an invincible position, while the Han army was at an absolute disadvantage.
In this unequal fighting environment, it is not impossible for the Crusaders to conquer the city and sing all the way...
If warships could be built, the Han Empire would be able to turn defeat into victory immediately.
A strange smile appeared on Zhou Sen's face. He couldn't figure out why he had such thoughts. Let alone a fighter jet with sophisticated craftsmanship, even a simple firearm could not be produced in a short time, because
, that is a complex industrial system engineering, involving not only metal smelting, but also biochemistry, machinery, electronics, etc.
Of course, Zhou Sen can also refine weapons to make firearms, but one gun and two guns cannot change the fate of the Han Empire. If he wants to equip every soldier of the Han Empire with firearms, Zhou Sen will not be able to do it even if he works hard.
It's possible to do...
In short, without a complete industrial system, it is impossible to copy the weapons of the five star regions. Moreover, Zhou Sen also lacks a high-quality scientific research team. Although he himself is a scientist, he only understands it in a literal sense.
The scientific civilizations of the five star regions are basically ignorant of some details of industrial manufacturing.
Of course, even if it were possible, Zhou Sen would not take action because it was impossible for him to spend a lot of time and energy studying the industrial civilization of the five star regions.
In addition, Zhou Sen does not want to bring industrial pollution to the Gods and Demons Continent. If the Gods and Demons Continent needs to integrate with the technological civilization of the five star regions, it only needs to open routes with the five star regions. There is no need to start all over again.
"quack……"
Suddenly, the golden cloud on his shoulder gave off a warning chirp, interrupting Zhou Sen's thinking.
Zhou Sen listened intently, and heard the sound of iron hooves in the distance.
Obviously, there are Crusaders galloping towards this direction.
Zhou Sen used a long-sleeved move to blow up a hurricane out of thin air. All the corpses and debris on the ground were swept into the sky, and then burned into a ball of blazing fire. In the blink of an eye, the dozens of corpses were all swallowed up by the fire and transformed into a
A wisp of green smoke...
The blazing flames gradually extinguished, and the grassland became quiet, as if nothing had happened. However, the blood-stained grass reminded people that brutal massacres had occurred here.
The eyes of a group of space hunters changed from horror to fanatical worship.
"Let's go!"
Zhou Sen took the lead and galloped away in the opposite direction of his pursuers.
At present, with the situation unclear, Zhou Sen does not want to engage in direct combat with the Crusaders. After all, he is a person with super powers, and he still has to follow some rules and cannot kill mortals on a large scale.
In the history of cultivating gods, many gods and superpowers have intervened in human wars, but there are certain limits to their intervention. For example, most superpowers will only fight with the opponent's generals, and rarely participate in the massacre between the two armies.
Zhou Sen can also intervene in the battle between the Han Empire and the Crusaders. After all, the other side also has some strange people, so there is no problem in intervening. However, it is the human soldiers who really determine the outcome of the two armies, because they have to occupy a vast territory.
, defending a huge city relies on human warriors. One or two superpowers may be able to achieve local victory, but it is difficult to play a decisive role.
Usually, superpowers and gods intervene in human wars, mainly to set an example and inspire the combat morale of human soldiers, so that the soldiers believe that their supernatural powers can help them win, and thus fight more bravely.
In fact, some clues can be seen from some ancient books on the ancient earth. In "The List of the Gods", the generals who lead the troops at the beginning of each battle must be the victorious side. The military morale must be high and the momentum of a tiger must be strong. The generals on the defeated side are mostly
The army was defeated like a mountain, and collapsed at the first touch...
If it were really just about who was more powerful among the superpowers, then there would be no need for hundreds of thousands or even millions of human armies. After all, superpowers could kill countless humans with just a single magical power.
In general, in wars between humans, superpowers can only guide but cannot directly determine the outcome. The outcome of victory ultimately depends on ordinary humans.
If you want to change the war situation of the Han Empire, you must first let the soldiers of the Han Empire regroup and take back the cities one by one...
…
Zhou Sen suddenly reined in his horse because there was a small town ahead.
A group of hunters stood quietly behind Zhou Sen.
The hunters in the meteorite belt all know about the Han Empire in the Gods and Demons Continent from Zhou Sen, so they all know that they cannot give any advice, and everything depends on Zhou Sen's decision.
After thinking about the time to get acquainted, Zhou Sen made a decision,
Enter the town and have a look.
Only by getting close to the crowd can we learn the true information about the Han Empire.
