Chapter 1691: Chapter 1132: Scheming
For Shū Xiǎoyà, the most troubling thing was reporting problems, but for Honglian…
“Goodness… this time those old men will definitely jump up.”
Looking at the report from Shū Xiǎoyà in front of her, Honglian showed a bitter smile and muttered to herself.
Ordinary people might not know, but Honglian was well aware that the so-called patrol team was actually just a cover. On the surface, the patrol team was set up to protect miners from vampire attacks. But in reality, it was a tacit agreement between the Elders Council and the vampires — vampires entertained themselves by hunting the patrol team, thus refraining from a full-scale siege of Twilight City. In return, Twilight City sent out patrol teams to satisfy the vampires’ entertainment needs.
The reason was simple, just like how domestic pigs have juicier meat, yet some people still prefer hunting wild boars?
It was simple, it was all about the thrill.
This was considered a mutual understanding and balance between the Elders Council and the vampires; after all, if it really came down to a real fight, humans definitely couldn’t defeat the vampires. So, we send a few people as sacrifices to let you have your fun, and you graciously leave us a lifeline… that’s pretty much the idea.
But now… this understanding has been completely shattered.
If Shū Xiǎoyà’s report is correct, then it means that nearly thirty vampires have died at the hands of Duanmu Huai. Of course, for the vampires, thirty is not a big number, but losing thirty people in a single hunt is unprecedented, and it’s certain that the vampires will be furious. And as for the Elders Council…
Looking at the report in front of her, Honglian shrugged her shoulders.
It’s up to them to decide whether they want to live or die.
As expected, when Shū Xiǎoyà’s report was submitted, the Elders Council was in an uproar.
“Are you kidding me? How is this possible! Killing more than thirty vampires at once!”
“Such a large loss will definitely enrage the vampires, what should we do?!”
Honglian leaned back in her chair, listening idly to the elders arguing in front of her, and yawned. Well, she could certainly understand the elders’ thoughts. Initially, the Elders Council sent Duanmu Huai and others to the patrol team to test their strength, but they didn’t expect them to be so ferocious, wiping out an entire hunting team… The Elders Council is now in a difficult position.
“We should immediately contact the vampires and explain the situation…”
“Do you think the vampires are fools? They will surely think it’s a trap we’ve set! What good will explaining do?”
“I suggest we take this opportunity to organize personnel and launch a counterattack on the vampires, letting them know that humans aren’t to be trifled with!”
“Just because of a few outsiders? This is simply nonsense!”
Currently, the Elders Council is in chaos, and opinions are divided into three factions: one faction believes that since Duanmu Huai is so powerful, Twilight City should not hold back and should seize this opportunity to counterattack the vampires.
Another faction believes that Duanmu Huai and others are a pestilence, and they should be sent away as quickly as possible, affirming that those vampires were killed by underground monsters, unrelated to them.
The last faction believes that this doesn’t solve the problem at all; instead, they should hand these outsiders over to the vampires for disposal, since the mess was caused by them, not Twilight City! If we find an excuse to hand them over to the vampires, then we can clear ourselves of any involvement!
“Honglian, what do you say?”
As expected, when the three factions could not reach a conclusion, they turned to Honglian, who helplessly spread her hands.
“I don’t have much to say; I just want to remind everyone… although the opponent was merely a second-level armed vampire, the outsider killed them without a second thought. According to my subordinates’ reports, those vampires didn’t even have a chance to fight back. Also, I have already reported earlier that these outsiders are very dissatisfied with our use of Ghost Curse Weapons… so…”
At this point, Honglian spread her hands and stared at everyone.
“The other party was able to easily slaughter thirty second-level armed vampires, so I think you should seriously consider this when making your decision.”
“…………”
Hearing Honglian’s response, the previously noisy elders immediately fell silent.
Indeed, all this while they had been arguing about how to deal with this, to the point they subconsciously ignored the fact that the opponent was capable of easily wiping out thirty vampires…
Since the process was too nauseating, Shū Xiǎoyà did not describe in detail how Duanmu Huai killed those vampires in her report — just the memory made her want to vomit — she only briefly mentioned it when reporting to Honglian, which had already greatly shocked Honglian.
Strictly speaking, killing thirty vampires, though difficult, is not impossible, even for Honglian, as long as no conditions are set, she can easily kill them.
But mass slaughter is different.
Even a person facing a single wolf cannot massacre it, so what counts as mass slaughter? It’s like a person squeezing a bug any way they want; that’s mass slaughter.
Honglian could easily kill a second-level vampire, but mass slaughter is impossible. A second-level armed vampire is still a vampire, and if you play too freely, you might get yourself killed by them.
So what to do?
Keep having meetings, of course.
Duanmu Huai, however, was indifferent, and after returning, he ate and drank as usual until the next day, when Shū Xiǎoyà came again, carrying orders from Honglian.
“Now we really have trouble.”
But unlike before, this time Shū Xiǎoyà couldn’t muster a smile.
“The Elders Council has issued an order, planning to send us to recover White Stone Outpost.”
“Oh? So what?”
“White Stone Outpost used to be the boundary point between humans and vampires. As long as we block White Stone Outpost, vampires can’t come over, so its geographic location is very important to us.”
This is quite normal; we’re underground, not on the surface. A blockade of a major route could represent a large area of territory – after all, there’s no flipping mountains underground, and it’s hard to dig tunnels, right?
“And then?”
Duanmu Huai stroked the small quilt dozing on his knee like a cat, and calmly inquired.
“As you would imagine, we eventually didn’t hold White Stone Outpost.”
Regarding this topic, Shū Xiǎoyà seemed unwilling to talk much.
“So now we need to reclaim it… Are there many vampires stationed there?”
“Quite a few.”
Shū Xiǎoyà shook her head.
“Although we don’t have specific intelligence, based on estimates, there are probably over a hundred vampires stationed at White Stone Outpost.”
“Is it just us going?”
“There’s another team to cooperate with. I’m not too clear on the specifics; it’s said that we’ll operate separately…”
Shū Xiǎoyà’s expression was somewhat heavy; being sharp and clever, she felt something was amiss about this operation. Although the Elders Council issued the orders, claiming it was because they had severely crushed the vampires’ arrogance and defeated their scheme to further hunt humans, so they needed to act swiftly to reclaim White Stone Outpost… she felt something was off.
First, the scale.
Though the Elders Council spoke grandly, they actually acted stingily. With at least a hundred vampires stationed at White Stone Outpost, even though Duanmu Huai previously demonstrated formidable power, using him as the vanguard, only sending one team in support seemed too strange.
After all, the Elders Council stated that this action inflicted a heavy blow on the vampires’ atrocities, and combined with the reclamation of White Stone Outpost, which concerned the future fate of Twilight City, according to Shū Xiǎoyà’s understanding, several teams should have been dispatched to act together.
Yet ultimately, there are only two teams, including ours?
It’s like someone generously waves their hand and says “Today’s lunch is on me, eat whatever you want,” then turns around and adds, “But only within ten dollars.”
It feels awkward no matter how you look at it.
Secondly, Honglian’s attitude when issuing orders was odd, particularly asking them to be cautious… Of course, it’s definitely a mission that requires caution, but with Honglian’s personality, Shū Xiǎoyà didn’t think he would nag about such trivial matters.
“I think there’s something abnormal about this mission.”
After hesitating for a moment, Shū Xiǎoyà still voiced the doubts in her heart.
“You all aren’t residents of Twilight City, so perhaps you don’t understand this point; originally, considering the scale and importance of White Stone Outpost, at least ten teams should’ve been dispatched to coordinate… After all, the terrain there is treacherous; it can only be attacked directly, not bypassed. But it’s just us…”
“It demonstrates our capabilities.”
Compared to Shū Xiǎoyà, Duanmu Huai appeared very calm, casually waved his hand.
“When to set off?”
“Tomorrow… Are you really going?”
“Of course, heretics must be eradicated, without exception.”
Duanmu Huai shook his head.
“No matter what you think, for the Tribunal, there’s only one task at hand.”
For Duanmu Huai, once the identity and camp of the vampires were confirmed, the next steps became simple. He initially worried that the locals might be so concerned about causing a big stir that they’d confine them to the city and not let them out. But now, it seemed no matter what others thought, at least they wouldn’t obstruct his tasks, which was enough.
Unfortunately, vampires don’t count as aliens, and exterminating them doesn’t contribute to the Catastrophe progress.
What bothers Duanmu Huai is this – in this world, vampires, in his view, are merely subhumans, and specifically heretics, not the aliens required by the Catastrophe progress… Alas, regardless, the work needs to be done, right? Like being a police officer, everyone wants to crack a major case, but you can’t ignore the petty thieves and street thugs…
Being a Judge means loving and being dedicated to the job; be it Alien or heretic, all need to be exterminated.
In this regard, Duanmu Huai is quite responsible.