An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 309 Next Plan

"laugh."

Another flame lit up, followed by more flames, with clusters of flames floating around the group.

In the firelight, faces became clear, and people could see the faces of others around them. There was no murderous intent towards their compatriots in those faces, only crushed despair and, hidden within that despair, a yearning for life.

It turns out that we were all just ordinary people crushed by fear.

For some reason, the moment they realized this, the atmosphere of mutual suspicion in the shelter suddenly dissipated considerably.

At this point, government officials, realizing what was happening, arrived late and separated the father and son.

Upon seeing this, Chu Xiu, who had been monitoring the situation underground with his divine sense, breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He never expected that this matter would be resolved in such a simple way.

Under his divine sense, he could sense that those flames were just ordinary, pure flames, without any power to influence people's hearts.

But this faint light and warmth had an unexpected effect.

Suddenly his expression changed, and the Garuda wings behind him spread out, and in the blink of an eye he arrived at the other end of the street.

Opposite him stood a tall woman, over 1.8 meters tall, wearing sunglasses and with long, golden hair that shone like sunlight, drawing the eye involuntarily. However, she seemed not to want to attract attention, as her dazzling hair was covered by a black beret and a khaki coat, with only a few strands of golden hair showing at her neck.

Her skin was extremely fair, which made her golden hair shine even brighter. Judging from her high nose bridge and red lips under her sunglasses, she didn't seem to be Chinese. Her simple sweater and straight-leg pants outfit exuded the confident and mature aura of a sophisticated woman.

"Thank you for your help earlier," Chu Xiu said.

This woman was the one who ignited the flames in the shelter.

Although those flames were just ordinary flames, the ability to raise so many flames at the same time and keep them stably suspended between the group was a level of control that ordinary awakened individuals could not achieve; it required at least the rank of general or higher.

"Easy to do."

The woman chuckled, waved her hand, and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute," Chu Xiu called out, looking at the woman with some confusion.

In his consciousness, this woman was just an ordinary general-level awakener, but for some reason, Chu Xiu's spiritual senses rose up with a strange feeling. He actually felt an inexplicable pressure in front of this woman, as if he were facing a misty and illusory mountain hidden in the clouds.

Furthermore, he felt that the woman's tone of voice was somewhat familiar.

"Where are you planning to go?" Chu Xiu asked.

Upon hearing this, the blonde woman turned around and gave Chu Xiu a serious look.

"Are you curious?"

“It’s just a bit strange,” Chu Xiu said. “In the current situation, leaving the shelter and walking on the street is not a good choice. Even if you have the strength of a general, it is still better to stay in the shelter.”

The woman adjusted her sunglasses, and Chu Xiu sensed that her expression behind the sunglasses had become playful: "Thank you for your advice, sir. I will find a new refuge. My departure now is merely a choice to hide after exposing my strength."

"As a member of the Alliance, I have no reason to risk my life for your China."

The woman's words made Chu Xiu frown. He said, "In the current situation, what distinction is there between the Chinese Alliance members? If we don't work together, we will all die at the hands of the extraterrestrial demons."

The woman smiled and said, "You're right, but there's actually another option."

"what?"

"That means hiding like a turtle, hiding until the dead zone is fully descended, and then waiting for the strong to step forward and solve everything."

After saying that, she didn't look back and disappeared at the end of the street in a few steps, leaving Chu Xiu standing there with a thoughtful expression.

He always felt that there was something hidden in the woman's words.

After a long while, he let out a soft breath and shook his head.

He felt that he was being paranoid because of the murderer incident. He had only cultivated the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Body to the most basic seventh level, and his spiritual perception was prone to hallucinations, just like how AI often talked nonsense.

Without further thought, he flapped the wings of Garuda and headed to the command post to report the situation.

Three minutes later.

Inside the central command post, the heroic spirits who were responsible for carrying out the mission returned one after another.

Ella and Chen Yuan were among them.

"How is it?" Chu Xiu asked.

Chen Yuan shook her head: "Those guys were very well prepared. They only killed some horned demons and three king-level beings. All the heroic spirits escaped."

"By the way, how are you? Are your injuries alright? And what about that traitorous heroic spirit?"

"I'm fine. As for Zhang Kunlun, I've already killed him."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

The two women wisely refrained from asking Chu Xiu for Zhang Kunlun's belongings or a share of the spoils. Chen Yuan was perhaps grateful to Chu Xiu for saving her life, while Ella, despite being the fastest, was slacking off in the back. It was already a favor that Chu Xiu didn't bother her, so she dared not make any more demands.

Soon, with all the heroic spirits returning, the operation came to an end.

Generally speaking, things went smoothly. After all, those who manage to become Heroic Spirits are all shrewd and calculating individuals, and naturally, they wouldn't be easily manipulated by the Yakuza.

In reality, only fourteen people dared to resist like Wang Meng, and almost all of them quickly compromised after a brief battle.

There were only three instances in total where the ambush was carried out in advance in coordination with the Yakuza.

From this perspective, Chu Xiu was quite unlucky.

Of course, upon closer examination, the Yakuza were even more unfortunate.

However, the success of the operation did not bring much joy to the command post.

After handing over all the [seeds], the group of heroic spirits frowned, looking worried.

The reason is simple: not only Chu Xiu, but almost every heroic spirit is aware of the fear and despair spreading in the shelter at this moment.

If left unchecked, there's no need for the Extreme Path or the Horned Demon to intervene; the slightest disturbance could act as a fuse, quickly triggering a chain reaction that would instantly collapse the order of Pengcheng! The number of people who die would be astronomical!
Furthermore, the collapse is bottom-up. When ordinary people fall into a battle royale state of mutual distrust, it will naturally infect lower-level awakened individuals, and then move upwards, causing higher-level awakened individuals to start fighting among themselves!
So when the eight demigods appeared and began to summarize the results of the battle, almost immediately someone raised this question.

"I understand your questions. The government has already prepared preliminary countermeasures."

"All the infrastructure is being repaired urgently, and it shouldn't be long before we have widespread lighting throughout the shelters. We've also issued orders to temporarily lift the food rationing measures tonight and provide an ample supply of meat. I think good food should be able to soothe people's hearts for a while," Green Princess said.

These words left the assembled heroic spirits below looking at each other in bewilderment.

After a long pause, a senior heroic spirit couldn't help but say, "Senior Green Princess, in my opinion, this is merely a temporary solution."

Green Princess chuckled softly without speaking, while Zhao Fengming beside her nodded and said, "Your Excellency is right, so we have gathered everyone here to announce our next action plan."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked puzzled, wondering what the government still needed them to do.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Zhao Fengming said with a faint smile, "What we urgently need now is a great victory to restore the confidence of the people!"

A resounding victory?
These four words caused everyone to look at each other with strange expressions.

Their current situation might be an exaggeration to describe them as "fish on a chopping board," but it's not far off.

In this situation, it would be good enough to survive a few more days; how could one possibly achieve a great victory?

Could this genius, who enjoys the deep trust of the King of Slaughter and is ranked first on the Dragon and Phoenix List, have he gone mad?
Under the questioning gazes of the crowd, Zhao Fengming calmly said, "Our plan is very simple: to let the people see our heroic fighting spirit."

"Once they realize that we are fighting to protect them, their suspicions will dissipate."

"The announcement has been issued, and emergency network connections are being established in all shelters. We need to let the public know that the government has the ability to protect them and defeat the Horned Demon!"

As the words fell, the doubt in everyone's eyes did not lessen; on the contrary, it intensified.

This is certainly a plan that could eliminate public concerns in one fell swoop, but the key question is, isn't it a bit of a pipe dream?

The horned demon isn't a motionless puppet; does it expect to stand still and cooperate with your performance?

Faced with a barrage of questioning glances, Zhao Fengming remained calm and said, "Our plan is quite simple: we will divide you into more than ten well-matched groups and launch surprise attacks in different directions."

"The enemy's forces are indeed sufficient, but in order to surround Pengcheng, their forces are also very dispersed, which is perfect for using the high mobility and high destructiveness of the awakened heroes to harass them."

After he finished speaking, one of the heroes finally couldn't help but say, "But General Zhao, didn't you just say not long ago that the enemy's generals were just waiting for us to harass them?"

"Is that so?" Zhao Fengming tilted his head and thought for a moment, then chuckled, "Even if it's a demigod, there's nothing to be afraid of, right?"

"After discussion, we have arranged a reasonable team composition for you. Your team will be divided into three parts: main attacker, early warning, and interference. Only the main attacker will be responsible for combat."

"The warning heroes will be on alert for demigods coming to provide support. Once a demigod appears, the disruptors will remotely intercept the demigod, while the others will take the opportunity to retreat."

As soon as the words were spoken, the expressions of all the heroic spirits became extremely strange, as if they could not help but curse at any moment.

Is this even human language? Using Heroic Spirits to warn demigods? Using Heroic Spirits to intercept demigods?
If that were possible, it wouldn't be called a Heroic Spirit!
A demigod possesses some of the power of a god, and the demigod's body is qualitatively different from that of a heroic spirit. To fight against a demigod, even ten heroic spirits wouldn't be enough!
This is just a temporary standoff; in a real life-or-death battle, even doubling the numbers might not be enough!

Just as all the heroic spirits were about to curse, Zhao Fengming slowly added, "By the way, before carrying out the mission, Senior Green Princess will prepare an escape route in advance. You can get rid of the demigods by using her domain."

These words made everyone's expressions much better, but some people still keenly noticed something was wrong: "What if the enemy general is hiding in the army beforehand? Then we won't have any warning or time to retreat, and we'll be instantly killed by the enemy!"

Faced with the man's doubts, Zhao Fengming chuckled and said, "Don't worry, everyone. We demigods won't be idle either. In fact, this surprise attack is also related to the plan to contact the outside world. You will play a role in diversionary tactics, and..."

Zhao Fengming smiled mysteriously at everyone and said, "Moreover, the experts present are all outstanding members of our human race. Perhaps they can really kill a demigod."

Upon hearing this, all the heroic spirits were at a loss for words.

But Chu Xiu understood the meaning behind his words.

Because of the existence of the Extreme Path, the government has no way of knowing how many enemies are still lurking within its ranks. Even among the heroic spirits present, who can guarantee that no one has secretly surrendered to the extraterrestrial demons out of fear of death?
Furthermore, with such a massive undertaking as preparing for the internet, it was impossible to keep it a secret. Therefore, this operation was practically an open secret!
But that's the key point.

If you disperse your generals in an attempt to intercept the attacking heroic spirits, you're giving humanity the opportunity to defeat them one by one!
Perhaps the attack was just a pretext; the government's real goal was to kill a demigod!

When this audacious idea popped up, even Chu Xiu was startled, but upon closer examination, it made perfect sense.

How can we boost morale and give the citizens confidence without killing a demigod?
Zhao Fengming deliberately released this information, presumably to make the enemy hesitant to act and unsure of his true intentions.

"Alright, that's the plan. You all have two days to rest and prepare."

"Of course, if anyone wants to withdraw, we won't force them."

"However, heroic spirits who are willing to carry out the mission will receive 300,000 causality points directly from the government upon completion!"

Three hundred thousand karmic points!

Even for heroic spirits, this is a resource that would normally take several years to obtain through exploration, since a piece of divinely bestowed meteorite iron is only worth one million karma points.

Finally, after some hesitation, the vast majority of the heroic spirits agreed, since they were no longer in a position to back down.

Chu Xiu then made an additional request: "Could I receive the reward in advance?"

“Normally, that wouldn’t be possible, but Brother Qin is exceptionally capable, so it’s not impossible to make an exception,” Zhao Fengming said with a smile.

After seeing that Zhao Fengming agreed, Chu Xiu had no further objections.

Anyway, he has a deep-sea diving safety rope and can escape at any time, so his life is guaranteed.

Next, the government distributed a very precious recovery item to everyone and said that the operation would begin in one day.

Meanwhile, the Divine Might Taoist secretly approached Chu Xiu.

"The family has not been properly disciplined, and a traitor has emerged. I would be grateful if you could help our Zhang family cleanse itself of this traitorous behavior."

As Shenwei Daoist spoke, he took out a golden talisman, which looked almost exactly the same as the talisman that Zhang Kunlun had used to summon the spirit sword, except that instead of a magic sword, several bolts of lightning were engraved on its surface.

"This is a thunder talisman that I personally crafted. It is a legendary item of the Heroic Spirit level. It can be activated by injecting spiritual power. Consider it my apology to you, young friend."

These words surprised Chu Xiu somewhat. He hadn't had much goodwill towards the Zhang family because of the Soul-Gathering Treasure Box, but now his opinion of them had changed considerably.
He didn't hesitate and readily accepted it.

Next, Chu Xiu went to a secluded corner to prepare to deal with the spoils of war.

He was very much looking forward to seeing what good things a heroic spirit from the Zhang family would bring!

(End of this chapter)