I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

Yuzuru stood on the altar, and Gu Yan stood in the crowd below. Their eyes met in the air for less than half a second before they looked away.

The scene was repeatedly slowed down, and it was said that this was the legendary telepathy.

The host pointed to the screen, his tone a mix of teasing and admiration.

"It is rumored that the Chiyomiya family has a marriage contract passed down since the time of the first shrine maiden, and this mysterious deputy is the inheritor of this contract."

"Furthermore, there are reports that the two were engaged when they were very young, but the wedding was delayed due to the war."

"Although neither side has confirmed it yet, Lady Chiyomiya herself said at the barrier conference that this deputy is a distinguished guest of the Chiyomiya family and also her most important person."

This news caused a sensation in the global community of superhumans.

In the comments section, some people lamented that the Chief Priestess had found a new support only three years after the death of the Imperial Wall, while others were happy for her, saying that it was a good thing to have someone standing behind her when the front lines were so tough.

But no one knew that the person referred to as the deputy, the distinguished guest, the most important person, almost spat out his tea onto the TV screen when he saw this news.

The operations hall is located deep underground in the core fortress of the fourth line of defense.

The entire hall is welded from thick alloy plates, and the walls are covered with real-time updated holographic tactical screens, while a miniature sand table of the entire Eastern Theater Command floats in the air.

From the eastern coast of the Sakura Kingdom all the way to Kyoto, all defense lines, troop deployments, and energy supply lines are clearly marked with different colored dots.

Yuzuru changed into the formal attire of the chief priestess, a plain white kimono covered with a dark red haori with a barrier pattern, and a pheasant sword hanging at his waist.

She led Gu Yan through three rune-marked doors that verified her identity, and into the hall.

All the generals who were already seated stood up at the same time.

The stars on the epaulets gleamed under the cold light.

The commander of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, the chief of staff of the Great Xia Expeditionary Force, the commander of the remnants of the Russian Federation, the representative of the Southeast Asian coalition forces, and dozens of senior staff officers with generals on their shoulders.

They paid the highest salute of their respective armies to Yuzuru, and when their eyes swept over the unfamiliar man beside her, they all looked at him with undisguised curiosity and assessment.

"This is my deputy."

Yuzuru's tone remained calm and elegant.

"During the previous defensive battle, he used his mental barrier to block the Black Tide vanguard, buying the retreating convoy a few last minutes."

"There is no problem with him attending this meeting."

No one raised any objections.

Everyone sitting in this hall knows what that seven-colored light curtain means.

The meeting officially began.

On the holographic sand table, all the weak points of the fourth line of defense were illuminated one by one.

The commander of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces pointed out several gaps in firepower.

The chief of staff of the Great Xia Expeditionary Force tapped his knuckles on the mountain pass in the northern suburbs of Kyoto and said that if the steel behemoths were to break through here, the entire defensive line would be cut in half.

The commander of the remnants of the Russian Federation spoke in a hoarse voice, repeatedly mentioning the Titan-class.

It is fast and its shell can absorb all known energy attacks. At least five layers of rune blast arrays must be prepared.

After listening to all the reports, Yuzuru placed the pheasant sword on the long table.

"The core of the fourth line of defense is in Kyoto."

"This is the last intact line of defense for the Sakura Kingdom. Beyond that lies the sea."

Her fingers slowly traced across the holographic sand table, and each defense zone she touched lit up with a dark red light.

"The northern section is jointly defended by the remnants of the Russian Federation and the Great Xia Expeditionary Force, and is equipped with a five-layer rune explosive array."

"The southern section will be handed over to the Southeast Asian coalition forces and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, with a focus on deploying amphibious warfare infiltration."

"The middle section is personally guarded by the Chiyomiya family, and all the chief priestesses and sealing arrays are deployed in the suburbs of Kyoto City, directly connected to the energy core of the fourth line of defense."

No one objected to her arrangement.

Commanders began to engage in a tug-of-war over specific troop deployments.

The northern section still needs at least two more S-class superhumans to withstand the swarm of skeletal dragons, but most of the S-class combatants withdrawn from the third line of defense are still in the medical bay.

At this moment, the communications soldier raised the message board in his hand and said that the latest battle report showed that the Black Tide offensive in the Middle East theater had temporarily stopped and the defensive line was stabilizing.

The chief of staff of the Great Xia Expeditionary Force's eyes lit up.

"Could you coordinate something and get that person from the Pei family involved?"

He stopped halfway through his sentence and changed his words.

"Bring that sword immortal over? Pei Yuran, the Great Xia sword immortal, with her ice-type superpowers combined with her swordsmanship, could push the entire East Coast defense line forward by a hundred kilometers when she teams up with Cecilia in the North American theater."

"If she were guarding the pass on the northern outskirts of Kyoto, no matter how many steel giants came, they would all freeze."

The commander of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces is also gathering intelligence.

"Pei Youyi, the head of the Pei family, is an SS-level ancient martial artist with wind-type superpowers."

"Her defensive wind wall is no less effective than an S-rank barrier master in terms of group protection. She once single-handedly guarded the entire flank defense line for six hours in the South China Sea Secret Realm."

"If these two S-class combatants from Great Xia can be temporarily deployed, the pressure on the northern section will be much less."

Gu Yan paused slightly in the hand holding the teacup.

He lowered his head, staring at the holographic map in front of him, but his peripheral vision was fixed on the two people talking.

Pei Yuran.

The girl who placed the sword tassel before his coffin in Santorini.

Pei Youyi.

The gentle aunt who helped him stop Cecilia and Shen Youwei from confronting each other at the martial arts exam site turned out to be even more unfathomable than he remembered.

After finishing a series of encrypted communications, the chief of staff of the Great Xia Expeditionary Force put down the message board and shook his head.

"The Middle East war zone won't release them."

"Pei Yuran is currently the core combat force in her defense zone, and the transfer order was directly rejected."

The commander of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces asked again if Pei Youyi could be transferred.

The chief of staff continued to shake his head.

"Pei Youyi is the former head of the Pei family and does not belong to any war zone organization, making coordination very difficult."

"Without higher-level authorization, we can't mobilize her."

Yuzuru raised his head and glanced around the long table.

"Everyone, Ms. Pei Youyi is an SS-level ancient martial arts expert with wind-type superpowers."

"Her defensive wind wall is no less effective than an SS-rank barrier master in providing group protection."

"Behind the fourth line of defense is Kyoto, where tens of millions of civilians reside."

"We need someone who can hold the pass, not someone who can single-handedly kill an SSS-level enemy."

"From this perspective, Ms. Pei is more suitable for the current situation than Pei Jianxian."

She turned to Gu Yan.

"What do you think, my deputy?"

Gu Yan nodded.

Yuzuru picked up the pheasant sword from the long table, hung it back on his waist, and turned to face him.

A very faint smile flickered in those deep brown eyes under the cold light.

She spoke gently in front of a room full of high-ranking generals.

"Then, sir, please go and invite Ms. Pei Youyi over."

"Your personal visit is more effective than any encrypted communication."

After saying that, she blinked gently.