Chapter 1915

The allied forces had seven fronts, but only two remained silent.

All the pressure fell on Boss Situ's shoulders.

He also knew that opening the meeting would inevitably lead to this situation, so he took out He Lingchuan's handwritten letter from his bosom: "He Xiong is none other than the Nine Abysses Great Emperor—he admitted it himself."

He then passed the letter around for everyone to read.

The Prince of Beryl took it first, finished reading, and raised his eyebrows: "This scoundrel is shameless—daring to call himself the reincarnation of the Dragon God!"

The other envoys: "But on the day the Dragon God ascended to heaven, he lingered for a long time above Jielu Harbor, witnessed by countless people."

The Prince of Beryl sneered: "Illusion, nothing more! That trick might fool country bumpkins, but how could it deceive eyes like ours?"

Then someone spoke weakly: "But Miao Zhantian really did fall."

"That's only because he seized the Heaven-Greedy Art for himself!"

Boss Situ lifted his eyelids: "How do you know the Nine Abysses Great Emperor seized the Heaven-Greedy Art for himself? If it wasn't him, who killed Miao Zhantian?"

"Well..." the Prince of Beryl was at a loss for words, but the General Piyun beside him came to his rescue: "Maybe the words in this letter are false—He Xiong isn't the Nine Abysses Great Emperor at all! He's just stealing the Great Emperor's achievements."

Boss Situ said impatiently: "If He Xiong isn't the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, what confusion do you want me to resolve?"

"..."

Damn, that makes sense!

The Prince of Beryl hurriedly changed the subject: "Since He Xiong himself admitted it, let's tentatively treat him as the Nine Abysses Great Emperor. This man has mobilized the Black Armor Army to raise troops everywhere, and he bears us no goodwill! Marshal Situ, what do you propose we do?"

"Exactly, exactly—what should we do now?"

Everyone wanted to know: will the Black Armor Army attack the allied forces?

And if they do, how should the allied forces respond?

Boss Situ said: "Raise alertness, observe carefully, and hold our troops in place for now."

This clearly couldn't satisfy everyone: "But what if the Black Armor Army does come?"

"Never mind whether He Xiong will necessarily attack us—even if the Black Armor Army really does come, from which direction would they strike first?" Boss Situ's face sank like water, "Or are you hoping to strike first before he does?"

The envoy from Luoyu, who had been silent all along, muttered resentfully: "You've figured it out, haven't you? They could destroy a nation in just two days."

Everyone fell silent, stunned.

"That's the result of long-planned, unexpected action!" the Prince of Beryl protested, dissatisfied. "Don't boost others' morale while diminishing your own—these Black Armor troops are just good at making a show. If you let us attack Peng State, hey, that little place would fall with just one hand."

"He Xiong talks all about grand principles and righteousness, but it's all empty, hollow nonsense—pure baloney!" He pointed at He Lingchuan's letter and cursed: "According to his logic, every place his Black Armor Army conquers becomes 'evil'? If we don't join, we become evil too, become his targets for extermination—right? Utterly absurd!"

The Luoyu envoy once again spoke coldly: "Then what do you think we should do?"

The Luoyu envoy and Boss Situ stood together, so he spoke up for him, saying what Boss Situ found inconvenient to say.

The Prince of Beryl also knew this, pointing at Boss Situ: "Shouldn't Marshal Situ be the one to propose a countermeasure and lead us in resisting the Black Armor Army?"

As soon as he said "resist," everyone knew he felt psychologically on the defensive.

Boss Situ also darkened his face: "I've already said this isn't the time to take the offensive. The Black Armor Army hasn't even arrived—how can we talk about 'defense'?"

"This is called preparing for rain before it falls. Are we supposed to wait until they ride into our borders before we wake up from our dreams?" the Prince of Beryl sneered. "He Xiong saying he'll negotiate with you in three months? That's just stalling! Three months—hehe, by then the yellow flowers will be cold."

Boss Situ understood perfectly in his heart, but still said: "It seems you already have a plan—let's hear it."

"We've fought Bijia for over a year, our troops are exhausted, and the Black Armor Army has emerged now to pick the low-hanging fruit—this is highly disadvantageous for us." The Prince of Beryl straightened his expression. "Looking across the Jinjin Plains, only greater strength can contain them in a short time!"

Boss Situ didn't wait for him to beat around the bush and bluntly exposed: "You want to seek help from the Heavenly Gods?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Boss Situ picked up the letter on the table: "He Xiong said the Heavenly Gods are siphoning the fat and oil of Jinjin as his battle target. If we seek aid from the Heavenly Gods, we're actively pushing ourselves onto the opposing side of the Black Armor Army. Even if he originally had no intention to fight, he'll act when the time comes. Your idea—how foolish!"

"With the Heavenly Gods on our side, what do we have to fear from the Black Armor Army?"

Not a single word was wrong!

The Luoyu envoy Tong Wuhan spoke with sarcastic irony: "You killed Miao Zhantian, a major deity ranked among the top three of the Lingxu Pantheon—how do you know other Heavenly Gods could defeat the Nine Abysses Great Emperor?"

The Prince of Beryl glared at him, almost blurting out "Who said Miao Zhantian was really killed by him?" but fearing the topic would fall back into the earlier absurd loop, he suppressed his anger: "Even if he is personally formidable, his forces are weak—otherwise, why would he have needed to pretend harmlessness before, quietly expanding Yanshan's influence? Now we seek aid from the Heavenly Gods, strike at the middle forces, and prevent him from gaining momentum. Otherwise, the Black Armor Army later will be even harder to deal with."

Boss Situ stared at him: "Did you pray to the Heavenly Gods, Prince Beryl? Otherwise, how could you speak so confidently that the Heavenly Gods will certainly help?"

"..." The Prince of Beryl simply dropped the pretense: "The Heavenly Gods favoring the allied forces—that's not a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity?"

"Before, the Heavenly Gods only shone upon Ya State and Luo Dian—why would they spare a glance for such minor powers as us?"

"Everyone here understands: He Xiong and his Black Armor Army, no matter how brave, are just a fleeting bloom; in Jinjin, only the Heavenly Gods are eternal strength!" the Prince of Beryl declared sternly. "If you can't see the trend, don't drag us down into the abyss with you!"

The others said nothing, but silently accepted this.

Anyone who dares to oppose the Heavenly Gods must be a fool, no matter who they are!

"The Heavenly Gods told me to deal with He Xiong, and I made a request—let Bijia surrender." Boss Situ gave a hollow laugh. "It's been so long, and the Heavenly Gods haven't replied—do you really think they sincerely want to help us?"

The Heavenly Gods both want him to secretly scheme against He Xiong and don't want to sacrifice Bijia.

Boss Situ knew very well that the Heavenly Gods' gaze has always been on Ya State, never once turning toward him.

"Making a request of the Heavenly Gods requires at least showing sincerity." The Kan people, rarely speaking up, supported the Prince of Beryl: "First, drive the Yanshan forces out of allied territory—don't let them gather more intelligence!"

The Kan people don't hold much goodwill toward He Xiong. Initially, the Sixth Prince of Beryl and the Kan people's son-in-law Kang Lang became the garrison commander of Qingye City, receiving annual dividends from both sides. But the Kan people, after much thought, found He Xiong's distribution plan for Kang Lang problematic—our side suffered a hidden loss, and we're furious.

"At least half of our goods' supply and transport depends on Yanshan. Moreover, in our war against Bijia, part of our military grain and supplies still comes from Yanshan!" Boss Situ said heavily. "Cutting it off will take time and effort."