Chapter 486 - 280: The Fall of the Southern Territory
Lin Chen naturally recognized this announcement; when Jiuxing City was overrun by the Beast Tide, Lin Chen had vividly experienced this scene.
Lin Chen could imagine that now the city must be a river of blood, with corpses everywhere.
"Is the war about to begin?" Lin Chen whispered to himself.
It is not unusual for small cities to encounter Beast Tides, but for a large city like Haicheng to be invaded by a Beast Tide indicates that the Demon Beasts have openly torn the Celestial Realm Mountain 2.0 agreement.
After all, the Human Race had won the Celestial Realm Mountain conference, a decidedly established fact.
Lin Chen knew very well that acting alone now was extremely dangerous. He quickly found a team escaping from this small city and learned a shocking piece of news.
The last Demon Beast invasion mainly focused on occupying cities.
But this time, it was no longer concerned, and started a large-scale massacre.
"...Many people have died." The passerby said in tears, his eyes red, "Overnight, many people were gone."
These people were survivors who escaped from the city, with a clear goal; if the Beast Tide struck, small cities were not safe. The safest option was still large cities, so they decided to head to South City.
Lin Chen silently followed the team, thinking that with Qin Shaoshao in Jiuxing City, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.
But now the most important thing is to figure out what happened.
Yet so far, neither the Dubhe Pavilion nor the Beast Tamer Guild has issued a clear announcement.
Could it be they don’t know?
This is absolutely impossible.
...
Celestial Capital
National Master’s Institute
At this moment, Gu Ning was seated at the upper part of the main hall of the National Master’s Institute, Zhang Jin was looking at Gu Ning from below, his gaze distant.
The Demon Beast attack that Lin Chen and the others encountered was not the first instance; even before the Haicheng attack, the city to the east of Haicheng had already reported a Beast Tide.
In these past few days, reports of the Beast Tide have come one after another.
Currently, the main severely affected area of the Beast Tide is the Southern Region.
Nowadays, the vast majority of cities large and small in the Southern Region have fallen.
In wartime, the Dubhe Pavilion and the National Master’s Institute have the right to deploy troops.
According to the agreement at the time of the founding of Cangling Ancient Country, the allocation of troops for each force during a national-level conflict is already written on paper.
Now, the forces are ready, and all major forces have not shirked.
Just as the Dubhe Pavilion and the National Master’s Institute were planning to move troops southward to support the Southern Region, news came from the Demon Race that the Demon King Nine Netherworld Snake had recovered and would lead the Demon Race to attack the Celestial Capital within a month.
Upon hearing this news, all major forces in the Celestial Capital panicked.
They were certainly willing to support the Southern Region.
However, if their own home could not be protected and they still needed to support the Southern Region, they were unwilling.
Thus, the support army had just left the city gates only to be called back.
Currently, this issue has caused fierce arguments among the various factions in the Celestial Capital.
There are two entities with decision-making power: one is the Dubhe Pavilion, and the other is the National Master’s Institute, which is Gu Ning.
"Lord National Master, we can’t wait any longer." Zhang Jin said excitedly, "Just now, South City reported and requested support."
His agitation was for good reason; South City, the largest city in the Southern Region, has always been the defense center of the Southern Region. Once South City falls, it can be declared that the Southern Region has completely fallen, and recapturing it would become several times more difficult.
Gu Ning remained silent while Zhang Jin continued, "The teacher once fought a great battle with Ming, even if the teacher was no match for him, the other side could not easily retreat. In such a short time, it is impossible for the other side to recover so quickly."
"Therefore, the message from the Demon Race is absolutely impossible to be true."
"And if it is true?" Gu Ning replied.
"The strength of the Celestial Capital is the strongest in the nation, even if the Demon Race truly attacks, we should have enough time to defend and wait for reinforcements." Zhang Jin explained.
Gu Ning remained silent again.
Zhang Jin actually understood that Gu Ning would not send troops; among the four major families, only the Yin Family supported sending troops south, while the other three families chose to remain silent, but their silence indicated their unwillingness.
People are selfish.
Living in the Celestial Capital, they naturally hope to keep the Celestial Capital safe.
"You are a master of this country, now that Cangling Ancient Country is in trouble..." Zhang Jin’s voice suddenly became hoarse. He wanted to point at Gu Ning but restrained himself, saying, "Lord National Master, reconsider! You are supposed to lead Cangling Ancient Country towards the future."
Hearing Zhang Jin’s earlier words, Gu Ning’s face changed dramatically. He forced back his anger and said, "Precisely because of the national crisis, we must preserve the main base. The Celestial Capital is our main base. If the Celestial Capital falls, Cangling Ancient Country will have no way to stand and continue fighting."
"So you’re saying, you won’t send troops, is that right?" Zhang Jin asked.
"Yes."
"Then I will go." With that, Zhang Jin turned to leave.
After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped and said, "From today onward, I, Zhang Jin, will no longer be associated with the National Master’s Institute."
Upon hearing these words, Gu Ning still remained silent. Watching Zhang Jin’s departing figure, he actually understood everything in his heart.
Indeed.
What Zhang Jin said was a very likely scenario.
This time, the Demon Race’s aggressive push southwards is intended to use the Southern Territory as a base to continuously expand outward.
It might even form a division of control between the north and south.
However, if the message from the Demon Race is true and the Celestial Capital falls, the consequences will indeed be more severe.
Thus, whether this attack from the Demon Race is a diversion tactic or a trap to lure forces out, it is momentarily difficult to discern.