Of course, the "cannon fodder" remark was just Luca's playful banter.
Dunshan would never treat Tony—genius scientist, former richest man in the world, superhero, and his Young Master's close friend—as a disposable clone worth a few thousand bucks.
Luca briefly introduced Tony's situation to Dunshan and granted Tony significant autonomy on the battlefield.
As long as he didn't disrupt the overall operation of the Dimension War.
Whether Tony wanted to vent his emotions by physically fighting on the front lines, or stay in the base and use his brain to upgrade the Hex Legion's production lines and unit equipment...
It was entirely up to him.
With the "Sabretooth Enhancement" Superpower Capsule, Tony was basically immune to dying from stray bullets or accidents.
And regarding weapon upgrades? As long as he coordinated with Dunshan, there was no fear of him causing trouble.
However, after Luca finished arranging things for Tony, he noticed Dunshan still looked hesitant. This surprised him.
"What's wrong? Is Tony's presence going to be a problem for you?"
Dunshan shook his head quickly.
"It is not about Mr. Stark. It concerns the reconnaissance of the Hell Dimension that you ordered previously, Young Master..."
Luca's interest was piqued.
"Our troops can penetrate into Hell now?"
Dunshan nodded, then shook his head slightly.
"We still rely on the assistance of the Kamar-Taj sorcerers. However, we have indeed obtained some intelligence from within Hell..."
Dunshan then explained in detail.
As opposing sides in a Dimension War, gathering intelligence on the enemy was naturally a priority.
Early in the war, Luca had instructed Dunshan to gather as much information on the other side as possible.
However, due to the unique nature of the Dimension War, while both sides clashed in this intersection zone, any Hex unit passing through the battlefield would only end up in the Hex Dimension, not Hell.
So initially, "intelligence gathering" mostly relied on Yuri's psychic units mind-controlling demons on the battlefield and ripping information from their brains.
But most demons were brainless. Even when they managed to control a Lord-class demon with higher intelligence, the information was usually fragmented.
Fortunately, Luca wasn't the only one fighting here.
Because of the Ancient One, Kamar-Taj had stationed many sorcerers to assist.
Usually, these sorcerers didn't fight. They mostly acted as portal-openers between Earth and the battlefield for Luca.
But after interacting with them for a while, Dunshan asked for help. With the Ancient One's permission, the sorcerers figured out a way to open a "Hell Gate."
"Because opening a gateway to Hell is considered forbidden knowledge among sorcerers."
"Among all the sorcerers dispatched by Kamar-Taj, only one named Kaecilius has received the Sorcerer Supreme's approval to master this ability."
"If we want to send probes into Hell, we must rely on him to open the portal."
Dunshan then explained the current difficulties.
According to the intelligence gathered so far:
With Mephisto currently imprisoned by the Ancient One, the Hell faction was technically leaderless. However, several Demon Lords governing the regions bordering the battlefield had formed a coalition to launch the invasion, eyeing the profits of the war.
The nominal leader of these Demon Lords was said to be Mephisto's son, a demon named Blackheart.
Blackheart didn't possess absolute power, so he couldn't fully control the entire Hell Legion.
But having a nominal leader meant the Hell Legion had some level of organization.
Currently, inside the Hell Dimension, the areas controlled by this legion were actively targeting any Hex constructs.
The reconnaissance units Dunshan sent through Kaecilius's portals—whether intelligent machines or bio-clones—were almost immediately destroyed. Very few returned with intel.
"Currently, our options are either to flood the area with sheer numbers, hoping a few units survive to bring back data, or to send psychic squads to sneak in, using mind-controlled demons as cover. But even then, the intelligence yield is minimal."
Luca frowned slightly after hearing Dunshan's report.
He wasn't surprised that the Demon Lords had formed a coalition. In terms of Dimension War experience, Hell was leagues ahead of him.
But the intel blockade was tricky.
Flooding the zone with probes would just alert the enemy and had a low survival rate.
Sneaking in with psychic troops was risky too. Yuri's mind control required a continuous "mental link." It wasn't like other fiction where you could just plant a suggestion and walk away.
This meant Yuri's units couldn't control targets across dimensional boundaries.
Using controlled demons as cover sounded nice, but if they were discovered, a few demons wouldn't be able to protect the psychic units when an army descended on them.
"Does infiltrating Hell for recon have a big impact on the war effort?"
As soon as he asked, Luca felt a bit embarrassed.
Stupid question.
Forget mapping all of Hell.
Just scouting the area near the battlefield—knowing how many troops the Hell Legion was amassing, what unit types were coming next—would be huge.
It would allow the Hex Legion to prepare countermeasures, conserve firepower, adjust production lines, and manufacture specific counter-units.
"Alright, I'll figure something out."
"For now, try to capture some humanoid demons alive. I brought some new Ability Capsules. Let's see if Skrull-disguised demons can fool the senses of other demons."
Although he said that, Luca wasn't too optimistic about using Skrull capsules without genetic injection for perfect transformation.
Maybe I should try creating a batch of actual Demon Warriors?