A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 316: Chapter 251 New Hope (Personality Disintegration is Fun but Too Short)_1

After evacuating everyone from the underground, Duanmu Huai activated the Ground Fire System, filling the entire underground tunnel with magma. Though this was tantamount to creating an artificial volcano—there aren’t many people left on this continent now, are there?

The condition of the rescued prisoners was not very good.

Many of the prisoners had been brain-transformed by the Beast Race. Their frontal lobes were removed, turning them into docile living dead. Duanmu Huai promptly granted these slaves their final humanitarian light. Others hadn’t been transformed, but they had endured the Beast Race’s brutal torture. Some even chose suicide after being rescued.

Nevertheless, some people came out alive, returning to the surface.

Duanmu Huai didn’t care what happened to these prisoners. As mentioned before, Tribunal does not accept the living. If you want to join the Tribunal, you must have pure faith, die for it, and discuss joining the Star Realm Army officially only after your soul enters the Obliteration Domain.

In this regard, Duanmu Huai felt rather helpless. Despite his imposing stature, Duanmu Huai was purely human, not a genetically modified Astarte with three hearts and six lungs. Without gene seeds and cyborgs, he couldn’t augment the Asttart Legion through human body modifications like in the Imperial Era. He had to replenish his troops in his own way.

Although Duanmu Huai did not intend to harbor these refugees, they did not leave. On the contrary, they settled in a small town not far from the castle. It’s normal—nomads migrate due to the Beast Race’s attacks. The ground beneath this land was filled with scorching magma now, making it impossible for the Beast Race to dig here. With the strong presence of the Steel Warriors nearby, only a fool would embark on an unknown adventure again.

If they were to leave here and get ambushed by Beast Race troops, calling for heavenly help would be futile.

Since these nomads were willing to stay, Duanmu Huai naturally wouldn’t drive them away. Although this planet had a sparse population, it wasn’t completely devoid of the possibility of being conscripted by the Tribunal. After all, keeping a branch here to boost his troops was viable.

These nomads weren’t useless. Aside from working hard to rebuild their hometowns, they also tirelessly contacted other nomadic tribes.

Soon, many nomadic tribes learned about the Tribunal through various means. They came from the stars, Divine Envoys defending humans. Even the Beast Race feared their wrath, scampering in the face of their fury. Even the Beast Race’s lair turned to ashes in hell’s flames.

If you want to protect humans and fight for the future of mankind, come to the Tribunal! This is the promised land for the future of mankind!

Most nomadic tribes dismissed these rumors, considering them the mad ravings of another tribe. After all, it’s the end of the world, and you’re telling us that a deity is coming to save mankind—only a fool would believe such nonsense. If there was a deity, what took them so long?

Although most nomadic tribes scoffed at this, a portion of nomads who retained hope and faith in the apocalypse decided to try their luck and chose to head towards the land occupied by the Tribunal.

Similarly, the news about the Tribunal also reached mankind’s last bastion of hope—Jasindu.

“… Is this information accurate?”

A man in a suit grimaced, furrowing his brows as he looked at the report in front of him and started to inquire. The man standing in front of him, clad in military uniform, nodded.

“We have questioned several people who can testify to it, and we also have battlefield footage from that time…”

“Sigh…”

Upon hearing the man in uniform’s answer, the man in the suit could not help but furrow his brows and sigh. The man in the suit, sitting at the desk, was none other than Praisecau, the chairman of the Wei’an Government Alliance. He was initially the vice-chairman of the Alliance, but after the leader fell suddenly ill and died on the day of the incident, Praisecau took over his position, becoming the chairman of the Wei’an Government Alliance.

It has been fourteen years since then.

To be honest, Praisecau’s feelings were mixed as he looked at the intelligence report. On one hand, he saw hope for defeating the Beast Race, but on the other hand, he felt immense fear. According to the information in the report, the force known as “Tribunal” had incredibly powerful warriors. Their armor could withstand the attacks of Beast Race bullets, and their weapons could easily penetrate the Beast Race warriors.

In addition to this, they even had Ground Drilling Bombs capable of reaching the earth’s core… While this was only the tip of the iceberg for this mysterious force, Praisecau clearly recognized that this so-called Tribunal was far more powerful than the Wei’an Government Alliance he led.

At least the Wei’an Government Alliance was incapable of concocting such audacious tactical plans, nor could it achieve an easy victory against the Beast Race.

Conversely, if the Tribunal could so easily defeat the Beast Race, did they feel any pressure dealing with the likes of us, the defeated subordinates of the Beast Race?

From a military standpoint, Praisecau was glad to have such a powerful reinforcement to help the Wei’an Alliance shoulder the pressure of the Beast Race. However, from a political perspective, the existence of a force that boasted such formidable military strength yet harbored unclear intentions made him feel uneasy.

After all, if the other party intended to cooperate with the Wei’an Alliance, they could have approached it directly. But they didn’t show any intention to collaborate with the Wei’an Government Alliance. Instead, they chose to set up camp far away from the Jasindu Plateau… This in itself was enough to explain the other party’s attitude.

“…Colonel Hoffman, what do you think?”

Praisecau looked at the military officer in front of him and asked quietly. The latter paused to think.

“I think we should cooperate with them. After all, our Light Quality Raid operation indeed needs support. Moreover, if we can obtain the support of this force known as the Tribunal, we can further reinforce Jasindu’s defense.”

“Indeed, that is correct.”

Hearing this, Praisecau gave a bitter smile. The “Light Quality Raid” that Colonel Hoffman mentioned was the current attack plan designated by the Wei’an Government Alliance against the Beast Race. In simple terms, it was similar to the Tribunal’s method. The Wei’an Government Alliance needed to send multiple elite squads deep underground to locate the Beast bases before releasing Light Quality Bombs to destroy them.

But the Wei’an Government Alliance did this not for a stroll underground like the Tribunal. They planned this out of desperation due to the overwhelming pressure from the Beast Race. Unlike the Tribunal, the Wei’an Government Alliance was in constant retreat in their battles against the Beast Race. It was to delay the Beast Race’s offensive that they resorted to this desperate strategy, attempting to curb the Beast Race’s momentum by destroying their bases.

Theoretically speaking, if they could gain the Tribunal’s support and their Ground Drilling Bombs, the operation would undoubtedly become more promising, but…

“We are simply not in a position to request their cooperation.”

Praisecau shook his head helplessly. Cooperation between two forces isn’t as simple as merely shouting slogans for the sake of humanity. The exchange of benefits can’t be avoided. But to be frank, Praisecau didn’t believe the Wei’an Government Alliance could offer anything enticing enough for the Tribunal to support their plan.

On the contrary, Praisecau felt that if he was in the Tribunal’s shoes, he would likely decline all help. After all, should the Wei’an Government Alliance perish, the Tribunal would become the undisputed rulers of this world. Besides, they possessed far greater power than the Wei’an Government in combating the Beast Race.

“Regardless, we must succeed this time.”

With this in mind, Praisecau made up his mind and suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

“Order an immediate lockdown on all information concerning the Tribunal. Proceed with the Light Quality Raid as initially planned!”

Having results in hand can boost their confidence toward negotiations. If they approached the Tribunal now, it would merely be begging the other side for help. And by then, the Wei’an Government Alliance wouldn’t hold the initiative. Thus, regardless of the potential sacrifices of some soldiers, Praisecau saw it as acceptable.

At least in this way, when he negotiates with the Tribunal, he would be more confident and in a relatively equal position, making discussions smoother. Losing the initiative means his side would have to cater to the Tribunal’s every whim. The agony of relinquishing control isn’t easy to bear; the Tribunal might even push further, leading to the Wei’an Government Alliance’s division or complete collapse!

No matter what, the Wei’an Government Alliance simply cannot be destroyed under his watch!

With this thought in mind, Praisecau clenched his fists and made a decision.

“Do as I have instructed. Order the soldiers to refrain from spreading any information about the Tribunal. Also, prohibit all propagation in Jasindu. Dismiss it as unverified rumors spread by the nomadic tribes.”

Although the majority of Jasindu’s citizens wouldn’t take such rumors seriously anyway, believing their own choices to be correct. Only the Wei’an Government Alliance could contain the Beast Race. As for the Tribunal, they had never heard of them. Sounds like pure gossip. As long as information control is maintained to a certain extent, no one will discuss it.

“…Yes, sir.”

Though dissatisfied with this decision, Colonel Hoffman silently saluted, then turned and left. Praisecau let out a sigh and turned his head to look out the window at the city.

He couldn’t tell whether this decision was right or wrong…