Chapter 987: Chapter 987

The howling cold wind brushed past the huge, highly transparent panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows. Looking up and ahead, one could faintly see the night clouds drifting by.

Below these clouds, dense lights seemed to stretch to the end of the darkness, covering the entire land with a blanket of light.

Each of those small points of light signified an armored combat vehicle, an armored squad, or a fighter jet.

This endless expanse of flickering lights, like a surging sea of burning lava, was rolling towards this silent city, covering the sky and the ground.

So dense, they blocked every blind spot in one’s field of view.

This pure and straightforward scene was far more shocking than anything seen through a holographic projection.

Everyone standing behind the glass curtain wall fell into a brief silence at this moment.

"Mr. Lin En, sorry, I am late."

Just then, accompanied by hurried footsteps, a strong figure burst out of the elevator behind.

He Ao turned around and looked at the muscular man with scars on his face, smiling, "You are not late, you’re just in time."

Then he asked softly, "Is everything resolved at the city gate?"

Mid quickly walked up behind He Ao, speaking with a slight breathlessness.

He gazed at the elderly man in front of him with grey hair and a neatly dressed suit, meeting this "Mayor" for the first time face-to-face.

While riding the elevator up to the high wall, the Mayor had sent him a message through an officer, so after dealing with the North City Gate, he had raced up here without stopping.

And on his way up, he had imagined what this Elderly would be like—cold, arrogant, stern... However, upon truly meeting the Elderly, he felt none of what he had expected.

This Elderly, who single-handedly stabilized North City, did not project isolation and authority; his demeanor was calm and composed, offering a warmth and closeness, seemingly no different from any amiable elderly man, with only the bloodstains on his suit hinting at a solemn air.

"I have redeployed the gate control hub’s defense and raised the alert to the highest level. There shouldn’t be any problems now."

As he pondered, Mid’s words did not halt, and he continued.

He Ao nodded slightly and then continued to inquire, "Can you deal with the officers from the other four Brigades?"

North City was composed of six Brigades in total. Scott had taken away the First Brigade, and Mid directly controlled the Third Brigade, while the troops from the remaining four Brigades had not yet made a clear stance.

The elite forces from these four Brigades had also been taken by Scott, meaning their actual combat strength wasn’t considered strong. He Ao had discussed with officers from the Third Brigade on his way up, and Mid held considerable influence over those four Brigades.

Mid quickly said, "Some of the officers loyal to Scott were taken by him, and others were already subdued by you just now. The remaining officers are either neutral or supportive of us. I was about to ask you if you want the officers from those Brigades to come up here?"

"Have them all come up,"

Mid nodded his head and lifted his wrist to swiftly send a message.

At the same time, the surrounding officers made way for him to stand by He Ao’s side.

After completing the operation, Mid put down his wrist device and slowly walked to stand beside He Ao. Only then did he have the heart and energy to look out at the night fires through the massive glass curtain wall.

Then, the somewhat relaxed expression on his face slowly faded away.

"They are approaching the border of the safe zone,"

He Ao said in a calm voice nearby.

Mid nodded gently, and then lifting his head, he scrutinized the stretching lights, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, "The intelligence we had before was that Kopace Mining had brought in one Mercenary Corps, but their current military strength seems to have exceeded just one Mercenary Corps."

Accompanied by a clear elevator tone.

One officer after another walked out of the elevator, standing behind the crowd.

"They brought two Mercenary Corps."

All the officers standing there shifted their expressions.

Mid raised his head, hesitating somewhat as he looked at He Ao.

"A Mercenary Corps is openly approaching this place, while another Mercenary Corps has disguised itself as a merchant convoy, hiding in the nearby mines,"

As he spoke, the complexions of the military officers present all darkened gradually.

A young officer standing close to He Ao slightly opened his mouth, looking up at the dots of light in the darkness ahead, "Why would there be two Mercenary Corps? They’ve clearly dealt with Scott; they only need to send one Mercenary Corps as a show."

Mid sighed softly by his side, "from the very beginning, their intention was to lay siege, irrespective of whether Scott cooperates with them or not; they would still attack the city."

"If two Mercenary Corps lay siege, even with the entire North City army present, we would not be able to defend, let alone now that most of the elite forces have been..."

An officer among the crowd murmured softly, unable to contain himself.

"Don’t talk nonsense!"

Another officer standing by quickly interrupted him.

He Ao turned to look at the group of officers behind him.

There were many more officers than before, mostly arranged in two layers. Mid and the officers from the third brigade were closest to He Ao, in the inner circle, while officers from the later four brigades were in the outer circle.

And naturally, these officers from the four outer-circle brigades formed four smaller groups.

The officer who had just spoken was one of the officers from the outer circle.

As He Ao turned to look at the group of officers, their heads were also raising, some more overtly than others, looking towards He Ao.

Compared to the third brigade officers, those in the outer circle were more obviously awestruck by He Ao.

The elite forces on the topmost floors of the North City Command Center were composed of the remaining four brigades.

Most of these officers from the remaining brigades had heard about their elite comrades being "suppressed" by He Ao. Even if they were not on the same path as those loyalists of Scott who had been killed, they couldn’t help feeling an empathic sadness and were even more cautious and wary.

And within the gaze of these people, He Ao walked through the crowd to the officer who mentioned ’not able to defend’, and asked in a low voice, "What’s your name?"

Looking at He Ao before him, the officer hesitated for a moment but then stood up straight, answering quickly and decisively, "Payne, Commander of the Third Battalion of the Second Brigade."

"Second Brigade, Third Battalion, rated B+,"

Eve’s voice resounded in He Ao’s ear.

B+, which counts as a fairly strong force in an ordinary army.

He Ao raised his head, looking at the group of officers before him, "Strictly speaking, Payne is correct,"

All the officers were drawn by his gaze, looking towards him, and Mid also raised his head, looking at him.

He Ao gazed at these officers, continuing, "The Consortium’s weapons are more advanced than ours, they have more people than we do, but,"

He turned his gaze back to Payne, his voice rising slightly, "Payne, would you therefore consider surrendering to the Consortium and giving up resistance?!"

Payne immediately straightened up, replying.

He Ao raised his voice again, with a hint of admonishment, loudly demanding, "Is it because you stand before me now, fearing me, and thus dare not express your true thoughts?!"

Payne tensed up further, his face flushing slightly, he answered loudly, "It’s because I’ve received military pay for decades! Defending North City is my duty! It’s because I grew up in North City, my neighbors, friends, and family are all behind these city gates!"

He Ao turned back, looking towards the group of officers beside him, his gaze sweeping across each officer’s face, he asked loudly, "If any of you are contemplating surrender, speak now!"

As his gaze swept over them, everyone felt the weight of that cold and authoritative oppression in that instant, like an invisible strength that tightened their nerves. Under this gaze, even Mid straightened his figure slightly.

"We do not, Commander!"

The young officer who had been standing beside He Ao straightened up, responding loudly.

"Can you speak for everyone?"

He Ao looked at the young officer.

"We have not, Commander!"

At that moment, all the officers simultaneously stood erect and answered.

"The voice is too soft."

He Ao calmly surveyed the crowd.

"We have not, Commander!"

A deafening chorus rang in He Ao’s ears.

"Now, beneath our feet lies the last barrier of this city. I believe you all know what kind of scoundrels the Consortium’s mercenaries are, and I also believe you all know what life is like under the Consortium’s rule."

He Ao lowered his head to gaze at the officers before him,

"If you let fear overcome your sense of duty, you are a coward, and then you can flee this war. But the fact that you still stand here now proves that you feel a sense of responsibility towards this city, towards this city gate, towards the people behind this city gate.

"Responsibility is the essence of heroism, and you indeed are the bravest warriors of this city.

"We have no second choice, thus we need not make one. You might not have ever experienced a war , you might feel fear in the face of the enemy’s massive strength."

He Ao’s eyes calmly swept across each person’s face,

"But I can tell you clearly that we can dig out countless records from the heaps of ancient papers before the great cataclysm to tell us—strength alone has never determined the outcome of war!

"History has proven time and again that being at a disadvantage does not mean we will fail.

"To our south, outside the South City Gate, the Evis Space System’s Mercenary Corps is engaged in battle with the South City Defense Army.

"They possess an army more advanced than Kopace’s, yet right now, they still have not breached the South City Gate, nor shaken the South City Defense Army’s defense.

"From ancient times to the present, warfare has tested not just strength!

"Hold your guns steady, stand at your posts,"

He Ao averted his gaze from the last officer’s face, "I can assure you, I will be in North City until the end of this war. I won’t let a single Consortium soldier enter the city!"

The night’s lights fell silent once more, as everyone’s gaze converged on that aged face, observing the calm and composed expression that seemed to bring confidence to each person.

He Ao paused momentarily, looking forward, and continued to watch the crowd, "Does anyone else have objections?"

Standing beside He Ao, Payne’s face flushed red as he shouted loudly.

The group of officers immediately roared in response.

He Ao nodded, "In a moment, we’ll shuffle the defenses and rearrange the defense zones. Notifications will be sent to your wristbands. You may return to your posts now and stand by."

Everyone responded in unison, then glanced at each other and proceeded to the elevators in pairs and groups.

And He Ao walked over to Mid, sending him a document.

"Did you disperse the personnel?"

Only when the officers had mostly left did Mid finish reading the document on his wristband and asked slowly.

He Ao had changed the organization from six brigades into four defense zones, A, B, C, and D, assigning one of the brigades, excluding the third, to each. He then dispersed the third brigade among the four zones.

The core idea was using the third brigade to oversee the remaining four brigades with less loyalty; naturally, He Ao also promoted some of the more reliable officers from the original four brigades to higher positions.

For example, Payne, who had just spoken, was designated by him as the deputy commander of Defense Zone A.

From the moment Payne spoke, He Ao had marked him to get a rough understanding of his true thinking, which led to the subsequent ’questioning.’

"Could you recommend commanders for each defense zone?"

He Ao looked at Mid, smiling.

This was as good as giving Mid all the personnel authority.

Apart from Scott, Mid was probably the person who knew the most about every officer in North City.

Hearing He Ao’s words, Mid hesitated for a moment, seemingly surprised by He Ao’s trust, but eventually, he nodded lightly, "Okay."

After a while, he arranged a list and sent it to He Ao.

He Ao took a quick glance at the list, then had Eve issue the transfer orders and sent them to the corresponding officers.

And Mid himself received the appointment of ’Deputy Commander.’

"You just gave me the impression of an old soldier who’s been in the army for many years."

After setting down the bracelet, Mid paused and looked towards the troops outside the glass curtain wall, speaking softly.

"When I was younger, I served in the Central Army for a few years."

He Ao smiled and answered slowly.

"Do you really think we can hold them off?"

Staring at the overwhelming mass of lights coming from the Mercenary Corps, Mid asked in a low voice.

"What do you think? If we were to face them head-on, how long could we last?"

He Ao also looked outside and asked softly.

"No more than twenty minutes,"

Mid sighed, "If there was only one Mercenary Corps outside and if North City’s forces were still here, we might have been able to hold them off. But now, with two Mercenary Corps outside, the entire North City can’t withstand them, not to mention North City’s elite have been drawn away. Our current situation is much worse than South City."

He then paused, looking at He Ao and continued softly, "If Scott realizes there’s a problem and comes back, under the attack from both inside and outside, we might not even last ten minutes."

"So, do you have any plan?"

He Ao lowered his head, looking towards the center of the densely packed Mercenary Corps below, towards the brightest point of light.

Wilderness outside North City

The colossal land-based war fortress moved across the vast plains. High above on the fortress’s platform, a tall man with a red beard looked up into the calm night.

At the end of his field of view, the magnificent and towering wall emerged from the horizon.

"Give me a super high-powered telescope."

He held out his hand and spoke quickly.

A soldier immediately handed over a black telescope to him.

He raised his hand to take the black telescope.

Cannons for city defense and continuously rotating radars appeared in his field of view.

He then adjusted the telescope, raised it higher, and looked towards the top of the high wall.

His gaze swiftly skimmed over the top facilities on the wall, but just as he was about to retract the telescope, he paused slightly, readjusted its position, and increased the magnification.

Finally, his gaze fell upon a glass curtain wall at the top of the high wall, behind which stood an Elderly man in a blood-stained suit, looking forward.

As he looked at the Elderly man, the Elderly man also lowered his head, seemingly looking back at him.

Through the vast expanse of the night, the gazes of the two men seemed to intersect briefly.

The red-bearded man put down the telescope.

A soldier climbed up to the platform on the war fortress, "We are about to reach the boundary of the Fortress City’s safe zone."

"Send orders to the entire army,"

The red-bearded man raised his hand, "Full speed ahead."