Chapter 1 Only Two Things

In this conference room, many people were focused on only two things:

The series of mysteries surrounding the Demon Hunters, and where the various alien races should go from here.

Now that Hao Ren had clearly answered the first question, it was time to discuss the direction of the second.

Before the various families understood what had happened within the Demon Hunters, they didn't know what to do next. Uncertain whether their natural enemies had truly disappeared, they were divided into several factions, including the radicals in the square, the conservatives in the council hall, the investigators scouting outside the sanctuary, the tea-drinking faction lingering in the corners for refreshments, and the utterly useless faction like Hesperides. Now that the fog surrounding the Demon Hunters had finally been lifted, many of these factions' arguments had lost their foundation, and everyone could finally consider their future with a clearer head.

"The Demon Hunters haven't disappeared; they're still here," Jean Lucas pointed out the most crucial factor. "Although the hunting has ended, they're still here—that's the biggest problem. Countess, you are now the Demon Hunters'… uh, leader. What do you think the Demon Hunters will do next?"

Jean Lucas's expression twisted so much when he said the last sentence that he almost looked unrecognizable. This old vampire, who always advocated aristocratic restraint and elegant speech, could hardly maintain his composure at this moment. He had never encountered such a frustrating thing in his life: he recognized every word he said, but when combined, they sounded like the ravings of a madman…

"Honorary leader, honorary leader," Vivian waved her hand. "And legally, I'm not even as high-ranking as that husky next to me. And as you know, the Demon Hunters would never really hand over power to us, so our ability to restrain them is still approximately zero. But I can clarify the Demon Hunters' attitude: they will not continue the hunt, but will continue to maintain the 'balance' in this world—the status quo. They stopped hunting because there was no longer any reason to continue the war with the alien races, but if you actively declare war—even on humanity—they will find that reason."

"So we're still confined to these sanctuaries?" Old werewolf Hoggwulf slammed the table heavily. "Maintain the balance? Does so-called balance mean we have to hide in the gutter forever? Times have changed, Vivian Anseista. We must also change. We want honor…"

Before the old werewolf could finish, Izhaks chuckled with his arms crossed, "Honor is bullshit. You want benefits."

Who was Izhaks? He had killed… seen more people than everyone present combined, from commoners to kings to beggars; he had witnessed all aspects of life. Although he himself ultimately failed due to "human hearts," he still had a thorough grasp of human nature. The old demon lord knew very well that soldiers could fight for honor, commoners could die for honor, and even loyal ministers and good generals could bravely sacrifice themselves for honor, but only a qualified leader would ignore it.

Because behind a leader are the lives of countless people, his "honor" is to seek benefits for his people, and they only need to talk about that.

Izhaks had also shown his face quite a bit at the sanctuaries. The powerful demon king's words still carried weight. His simple and direct way of expressing himself made the family heads and power representatives present look at him. Heather Anna couldn't help but mutter, "Big guy, why do you talk so bluntly…"

"Okay, I quite like this way of speaking," Hoggwulf was actually quite happy after Izhaks interrupted him. The old werewolf twitched the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile as lethal as Izhaks. "Anyway, everyone here is sensible, and Vivian is a respected elder, so let's not play any tricks in front of her. That's right, benefits—only this can maintain the balance. To be honest, I don't agree with attacking the human world, because I know humans are not easy to deal with now, and the Demon Hunters haven't disappeared, so it would be unwise to run out and start a war. But I also don't agree with continuing to stay in the sanctuaries. Guarding these barren other-dimensional spaces has no future. We have a vast and fertile world outside. This world should have a place for us."

"The current dominant civilization on this planet is human civilization," Hao Ren tapped the table. "And you… are not even a civilization now. You almost rely on human society to survive, so you should know that counterattacking Earth is not realistic."

"Your way of speaking makes me uncomfortable," Jean Lucas shrugged. "But you're right."

"You think too highly of humans," a night demon lord who had not spoken suddenly opened her mouth, her eyes flickering with light as if containing a thunderstorm. "I understand human society. Their war machine and the overall lethality of their race are beyond doubt, but they themselves are very fragile. The destructive power they wield far exceeds their own capabilities, which means they are actually easily defeated."

Saying that, the night demon lady turned her face, staring unyieldingly into Hao Ren's eyes. "There are quite a few people who think like me. We all know humans are difficult to deal with, but we also know they are not unbeatable. As long as this 'hope' remains, there will always be restless people who want to try their luck. And more importantly… years ago, humans were just our slaves, so as long as there is even a glimmer of a chance to put these slaves back in their cages, many people will take their chances."

Compared to the young people shouting and creating momentum in the square, the night demon lady represented the truly dangerous alien races.

They were not impulsive actors, but had a certain grasp of the situation on this planet. They were a group of people who were still restless even knowing the strength of humanity and the remaining power of the Demon Hunters. This kind of group that took action after careful consideration was more troublesome.

But Hao Ren didn't care, he just spread his hands: "That's right, according to my calculations, if the timing and location are right, and the alien races can really seize every opportunity at hand, you really 'have a chance' to defeat humanity."

As soon as these words came out, a strange commotion broke out in the conference room. Even Heather Anna looked at Hao Ren curiously, wondering what he meant.

"You are the ultimate victors," Hao Ren ignored the commotion. He just tapped the data terminal and presented a set of holographic projections. The projections showed Earth after scorched earth. "You will undoubtedly gain ownership of this planet—but your population will be only two to three thousand, because only the most top-tier supernatural creatures can survive in such a war. In addition, all humans will be extinct, as will the ecosystems, as will the Demon Hunters. This is the best outcome I can imagine: you win, you rule this planet, and your last surviving two thousand people will become the masters of Earth, ruling over all the radioactive craters, mud swamps, toxic rivers, and the hot deserts of radioactive dust. You will continue to exist on this planet in a primitive form, with the main food being the rotten objects left over from the last century and the mud in the craters. The few people with the strongest survival ability will survive to the end—and then exist forever in the mud, until the next planetary life cycle restarts."

The holographic projection ended, and Hao Ren tapped the table to bring everyone back to their senses. He propped his hands on the table, his face expressionless: "You don't think that wars don't need casualties, do you? You don't think you can win a crushing victory, do you? Both sides of the war need to pay a price, and this price is much greater than the benefits you can get. Since you can't crush humanity, then you have to be prepared for mutual destruction. Believe me, that kind of victory is definitely not more comfortable than your days in the sanctuaries.

"So, since your goal is to seek greater benefits, rather than fighting humanity to the death for that ridiculous 'historical sense of honor,' then why choose such a brainless path of war?"

Perhaps the "victorious ending" he described was too shocking, or perhaps the family heads in the venue had already considered the cost of victory and defeat. In short, the scene fell into temporary silence.

A mere set of virtual images plus Hao Ren's empty words would definitely not be able to convince these old foxes, but these people were not fools themselves, and they could naturally distinguish the most reliable part of Hao Ren's words.

"Then we can only take a compromise path," Jean Lucas said, his gaze falling on Vivian. He knew that this ancient being probably already had some arrangements, and may have even reached some kind of agreement with the Demon Hunters. Now all the debates and conclusions were just paving the way for this "arrangement." "You can speak plainly."

"The alien races no longer need to continue hiding in the sanctuaries, but they cannot interfere with human civilization; the Demon Hunters and the alien races cease hostilities, and subsequent negotiations will be discussed separately; establish a regulatory organization, since the old balance and order can no longer be maintained, then we will establish a new one, and use a new organization to control those groups that leave the sanctuaries and enter human society…"

Vivian directly stated the things she had previously discussed with Hao Ren one by one.