Chapter 86 – Military Conference

Volume 3: Rising Winds and Clouds

By the time Wen Yu followed Kuangliu into the strategic command center on the third floor, the room was already packed. Officers from every department had arrived early and were waiting inside.

Kuangliu went straight to an empty seat and sat down, gesturing for Wen Yu to take the seat beside him.

Xiao Xue and the others filed into the seats behind Kuangliu.

Wen Yu glanced at the soldiers sitting rigidly around the room, then took in the solemn atmosphere. He immediately understood what they were about to discuss.

It had to be whether they should fight or retreat, and if they chose to fight, how they should go about it. From the soldiers' slightly elevated heartbeats and reddened eyes, it wasn't hard to tell how most of them felt about the Demonic Creature threat.

Beside him, Kuangliu poured Wen Yu a glass of water. He then picked up a document envelope and placed it in front of him.

"Take a look at this first."

…

The envelope contained only a few simple photographs of the Bipedal Lizard species and some written notes about it.

There was nothing worth mentioning there. Wen Yu already knew all of it.

The last few documents, however, caught his attention.

They contained panoramic images of Demon City. A massive Black Vortex could clearly be seen standing where one of the Demon Realm Gates had originally been. Since one Demon Realm Gate had collapsed, the blood-red Mini Demon Realm Gate at the center was also partially visible.

Wen Yu nudged Kuangliu with his elbow and pointed at the red Demon Realm Gate.

"It's for the ones with a Black Crystal on their heads!"

That one sentence made the purpose of the Mini Demon Realm Gate perfectly clear.

Wen Yu nodded and stared intently at the Mini Demon Realm Gate, his thoughts unreadable.

"According to the drone footage, the Giant Snake smashed straight through one of the Demon Realm Gates, and that's when the Black Vortex appeared. The footage was taken from too far away, so it's blurry. We don't know exactly what happened."

Wen Yu studied the Black Vortex in puzzlement.

In the photograph, an enormous Bipedal Lizard was crawling out of the Silver Vortex. Apparently, this thing served as the Bipedal Lizard species' own "Demon Realm Gate."

What Kuangliu had said left Wen Yu confused. In his memories of his previous life, even six months after the Demon Disaster began, the Demon Realm Gates had been completely indestructible.

Even Simba, the strongest being Wen Yu remembered from his previous life, had only crouched beside a Demon Realm Gate and hunted for food. Wen Yu had never heard of Simba causing any damage to one, much less shattering it outright.

He shook his head slightly and set aside the question he couldn't answer. Then he quietly picked up his glass and waited.

…

Wen Yu and Kuangliu had already been among the last to arrive.

Yet even they still had to wait for someone else. There was no need to say who that person was.

Less than ten minutes later, the conference room doors were pulled open, and Lin Haifeng's familiar figure appeared in the doorway.

An elderly man in a white lab coat and a man around thirty years old entered behind him.

The instant they saw Lin Haifeng, every soldier in the room rose to their feet. They snapped off crisp salutes and shouted in unison,

"Good day, sir!"

Even Wen Yu was hauled to his feet by Kuangliu and gave an awkward, sloppy salute.

Lin Haifeng didn't offer any stock response like "Good day, comrades" or "Thank you for your hard work." He merely waved a hand, signaling for everyone to sit down.

"The man in the white lab coat is Feng Guansheng, president of the Academy of Sciences. The one behind him is Wei Tian, the Academy's vice president."

Hearing Kuangliu's explanation, Wen Yu finally took a closer look at the two men behind Lin Haifeng.

There was little worth mentioning about Feng Guansheng. He was just a balding Old Man. Wei Tian, on the other hand, caught Wen Yu's attention.

The fact that he had become vice president of the Academy of Sciences at such a young age was proof enough of his ability.

And Wen Yu had to admit, the guy was more handsome than him.

"Old Man Feng is an incorrigible lecher. I heard he even married a woman in her twenties not long ago. That Old Man is the ultimate fence-sitter. He used to be close to the Aristocratic Families, but the moment he saw they were finished, he ran straight to Commander Lin to curry favor. If he weren't genuinely capable, my Old Man would have gotten rid of him long ago!"

Kuangliu spoke in a whisper pitched just loud enough to reach Wen Yu's ears.

After all, it would be a joke if anyone else overheard a conversation between Sequence 2 and Sequence 3.

After listening to Kuangliu's introduction, Wen Yu asked in an equally quiet voice, "That Wei Tian…"

"He's a genius. A true genius. Since the Apocalypse began, he has developed many of the theories concerning Demon Qi, not to mention a great deal of new equipment!"

Wen Yu nodded, then took his seat alongside Kuangliu and quietly waited for Lin Haifeng to speak.

…

Lin Haifeng did not have much of a bureaucratic air about him. At least, from Wen Yu's dealings with him, he could tell that the Old Man handled matters swiftly and decisively.

This meeting was no exception.

A simple "Let's begin" from Lin Haifeng officially opened the meeting that would determine the Outpost's fate.

First, the secretary behind Lin Haifeng gave a detailed explanation of the current situation and the various pieces of intelligence they had gathered.

There was naturally no need to dwell on any of it. Everyone seated here already knew the situation, and Wen Yu and Kuangliu were the main reason matters had reached this point in the first place.

As soon as the secretary finished, Lin Haifeng spoke.

"Now, I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts. Do you want to continue fighting the Bipedal Lizard horde, or withdraw from this Treasure Land?"

The moment Lin Haifeng finished speaking, Fang Wenhai, seated nearby, immediately said, "I believe that although the Bipedal Lizard species possesses an extraordinary reproductive capacity, it is not beyond our ability to fight. The three waves of missile strikes conducted earlier have shown that modern weaponry can still play a powerful role in the current war. That also means the Military still holds an overwhelming advantage in firepower!"

"There are no cowards afraid of death in our 8th Division!"

"I think this is an excellent opportunity for the Huaxia Military to train its soldiers and earn Point rewards!"

All kinds of opinions came from the assembled officers, though nearly all of them supported fighting the Bipedal Lizard horde. There were a few dissenting voices from the more conservative faction mixed in, but they were of little importance.

Because what truly mattered at this meeting was Lin Haifeng's own opinion and will.

After destroying the Aristocratic Families, Lin Haifeng now held absolute power. It would not be an exaggeration to call him the most powerful man in the entire Military, or even all of Huaxia!

In ancient times, he would have been the emperor!