Chapter 287: Chapter 287

As Su Ang left, everyone exchanged glances. Gong Qiang shrugged, "The kid got angry. You’re treating him like he’s easy to bully, trying to squeeze him dry."

"He could have refused." Ye Shi Yao was unwilling to take the blame, "Besides, it was his father’s idea to push him out in the first place, haha."

"What if we mobilize forces from other cities, and the three cities simultaneously search for dungeons while rescuing people?" Tang Weicheng, the head of the Tang Family, brought the topic back on track, "Losing some awakened warriors up front is better than continuous investments afterward, right?"

"There’s a problem with that approach." Tang Yan, the red-dress lady standing behind Tang Weicheng and heir of the Tang Family, spoke, "You can’t guarantee when we’ll find the underground dungeon, and what if during this time, the cities we withdrew forces from also experience a magic beast tide?"

"Should a magic beast tide just happen to break out..." Nangong Yan lightly tapped the meeting table and suddenly chuckled, "then it would no longer be our problem, but an issue between cities, and public opinion would sway towards the people..."

"For example..." he playful said, "if it weren’t for saving people in your city, our city wouldn’t be left without any military power to help..."

Upon hearing Nangong Yan’s words, the others around the meeting table all had their eyes light up, "Interesting, if it’s a low-level magic beast tide, we can send people to solve it and earn some reputation. If it’s an advanced magic beast tide... well, we can only say they’re unlucky."

"Haha, not a bad idea."

"It’s feasible. After all, the magic beast tide may not necessarily happen elsewhere. This way, we can confidently mobilize our forces to save the citizens of the three cities."

"Nangong, well done, better than your brother." Ye Shi Yao praised.

Nangong Yan smiled, but a cold glint flashed beneath his peach blossom eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses.

"Then we should immediately mobilize forces from temporarily stable A-level combat zones and gather a group of low-level awakened warriors," He Yao Bai said, "Send an advanced commander to hold down the low-level, and switch the low-level to be responsible for saving people in the three cities." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩

"I think it’s a good idea, what about you all?"

"Then...." Sikong Wang, who had been silent, spoke up, "What if another city experiences an underground magic beast tide? Where will we mobilize forces then?"

He looked at everyone, "The underground dungeons probably exist not just in these three cities."

"Tch..." Ye Shi Yao glared at Sikong Wang, why was he like Su Ang, bringing up the uncomfortable truth?

Didn’t he see everyone was deliberately ignoring this issue?

"It’s a matter of probability, it might not happen. One should always think positively," He Yao Bai chuckled, "If worst comes to worst, we’d reveal everything. If they could produce more S-Class warriors, wouldn’t there be nothing to fear?"

"...." Sikong Wang was speechless for a moment.

The other families were also at a loss, no wonder the He Family ended up ; the family head really lacked brains.

"Damn it, if there were more S-Class commanders, it would be great," Gong Qiang cursed quietly, "Unfortunately, S-Class commanders are nearly extinct."

Hearing this, Sikong Wang and Wei Bisheng both raised their eyebrows slightly.

"An S-Class commander..." Wei Bisheng mused, his lips curling into an enigmatic smile.

"You have a plan?" Su Xingchen’s gaze turned to Wei Bisheng.

"Haha, not really," Wei Bisheng waved his hand, nonchalantly, "I’m just a small head, but I can provide some manpower, not much else I can help with."

"Does Commander Su have a more comprehensive plan?" A black-robed elderly man, over a hundred, suddenly asked from the seat directly opposite the principal, "I believe Commander Su’s decisions might be wiser."

Su Xingchen looked at the Beast Taming Association’s head, "I have no plan. If no agreement is reached, the final decision will be made by vote."

"Usually, matters are decided by votes from the Seven Great Families. This time, though, the Three Major Associations are involved..." The black-robed elder smiled, "Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?"

Don’t think he wasn’t aware; the Seven Great Families had most likely already decided, but fearing this time public opinion backlash, they dragged the Three Major Associations into it to share the burden.

"In the Battle of the Sealed City, the three associations contributed significantly, they are qualified to participate in the vote," Su Xingchen said indifferently, not answering the elder’s question, "Let’s vote. The juniors present can also participate, not counting Su Ang who just left, there are a total of 11 people, O for transferring military forces to other cities, rescuing people while finding the dungeon, X for converting the three cities into A-level combat zones, sacrificing over 30% of the population."

Upon hearing this, everyone wrote the letter with their left hand on the paper in front of them and placed it in the box; the final result was that O received 5 votes, and X received 6 votes.

"How did it end up ?" Gong Qiang was dumbfounded, "Even if not all chose O, at most, two families would choose X, right? How come it’s 6 families choosing X?"

Tang Yan eyed Gong Qiang, "Idiot."

The humans are smart. With three cities consecutively experiencing underground dungeon magic beast tides, who can guarantee it won’t be their city next? Once military forces are moved, the city’s last defense will be lost, inevitably leading those cities to become desolate, creating countless problems not to mention all at once.

Moreover, though Nangong Yan mentioned shifting public opinion to the three major cities, they too are victims. Once the criticisms are over, ultimately, humanity’s anger would point back to the Seven Great Families, since they were the decision-makers.

Given that public criticism would eventually target the Seven Great Families, why not opt for the old "method" to quiet complaints, utilizing low-level awakened warriors to protect the high-level private armies while having the heirs of the Su family, Tang family, and Gong family rotate to help in the warzone?

After all, it’s not they who will be busy.

Indolent powerholders tend to favor decisions most beneficial to themselves. They are protective of their reputations, unwilling to waste money and manpower on ordinary people and then face complaints from them.

"Oh my, my~" Nangong Yan looked at the voting result, smiling wryly at Su Xingchen, "Looks like Uncle Su also chose X."

Sikong Wang was momentarily stunned, looking at Su Xingchen.

Su Xingchen’s eyes were calm; no one could tell what he was thinking. Wei Bisheng snorted gently, Ye Shi Yao’s eyes were thoughtful, while Gong Qiang and Tang Weicheng found it hard to believe, looking at Su Xingchen.

On careful consideration, based on everyone’s usual conduct, Sikong Wang, the Gong family, the Tang father and daughter, and the Dungeon Association would likely choose O, making it five votes, whereas the Beast Taming Association, Awakened Association, Nangong Family, Ye Family, and the He Family might choose O or perhaps choose X, but even if they all chose X, the vote would end in a tie.

The last vote, based on the usual style of the Su family, would surely be for saving the people, O, so any way you slice it, the result should’ve been O.

Yet the result was X.

Clearly, Su Xingchen himself also chose X.

"Then convert it into an A-level combat zone."

As Su Xingchen calmly announced the result, Su Ang, having finished his call with Qian Qi, pushed the door open and entered.

All eyes fell on Su Ang, filled with various sentiments, amusement, sympathy, confusion, or a detached unconcern.