Chapter 284: Hub City's Response (Seeking Subscriptions)

"……I hope so."

Ying Dongqing could only say this in the end, and did not offer any defense or explanation for her actions of leaning toward True Monarch Zhuding.

Following this, she offered an apology and hurried away, taking the pig-faced mask to report to the Hub City, while at the same time, the city defenses were operating silently and in an orderly fashion.

Just in case, all sorts of settings were being combed through and adjusted one by one.

Du En remained where he was, waiting for the response from the Hub City.

At the same time, he was not surprised by Ying Dongqing's actions; after all, the recent reorganization by True Monarch Zhuding would inevitably bring about such effects, causing some people to lean toward his faction.

"It's just that I didn't expect to encounter them so soon. Of course, it might also be due to the positioning of the Middle City; this place is naturally inclined toward the Hegemony Faction..."

Amidst his silent contemplation, the response from the Hub City soon arrived.

Ying Dongqing came before him once again, her expression unable to hide a trace of worry.

"The Hub City's meaning is to prioritize Changle as the primary city, carrying out a main blockade along the border lines, with the seven small cities on the periphery as secondary cities, carrying out a secondary-level blockade along the border lines. The main method adopted is an unrestricted blockade."

An unrestricted blockade is an incomplete blockade; the daily activities of these eight cities will be slightly affected, but overall they can maintain their various original functions, still able to import internally and export externally.

Clearly, the Southern Hub City side judged that the severity of this incident was not yet enough to warrant an absolute blockade.

"The mask dharma treasure brought by Traveling Official Du is very valuable; it has already been transported to the Hub City, where a Great Cultivator has taken action to crack it and reverse-engineer the surveillance. Although it was too rushed to directly lock onto a specific location, they cannot escape the blockade line."

As long as they haven't escaped yet.

Du En thought silently.

However, he did not think the Fudong Immortal Sect would retreat because of this, because retreating would be useless. If they really couldn't be found here later, they would definitely be sifted out bit by bit until they were pressed to the border and dug out!

It can be said that once they were discovered and officially reported by Du En, this infiltration operation could be considered ninety percent failed!

Therefore, in order not to let their previous efforts go to waste and to preserve the remaining ten percent of the result, they would definitely not choose to flee; they would only stay to maneuver and take the opportunity to cause major destruction!

If the Hub City side had no manpower to support for the time being, this would be how it develops, unable to achieve a quick victory.

Du En thought this again.

And one could tell from Ying Dongqing's appearance that there was none.

"The Hub City cannot support us right now, because they must both guard against the escalation of the war in Fudong and, because they just finished reorganizing the Hub City, there are quite a few vacancies in terms of manpower. Therefore, at this moment, we need to handle it ourselves as much as possible."

Ying Dongqing had a massive headache over this, looking at Du En as if looking at a jinx.

He, however, only pressed on one point: "In that case, has the Hub City confirmed that there are no Nascent Soul Transformation stage individuals infiltrating this time?"

"Mm, through various emergency inspections and observations, it can basically be determined that this enemy infiltration will not have any Nascent Soul Transformation stage figures; the strength level is something the local cities can barely handle."

She is at the Nascent Soul completion stage; although she is only a top-tier elite, her strength is still quite good. With others like Zhang Qing and the inner city Nascent Soul stage cultivators, it is enough to form a not-so-bad upper-level combat force.

At the same time, Golden Core stage and Foundation Establishment stage figures are a dime a dozen in the city; if they weren't elites, they wouldn't be able to stay. So even if the number of people the Fudong Immortal Sect has infiltrated is not small and cannot be underestimated, overall, it is still within the scope of what can be handled here.

Not to mention, some city defense functions were updated recently, which can be put to good use right now.

Therefore, it is not strange that the Southern Hub City side would judge and make this kind of decision.

Although it still seems quite inactive, very much like a hands-off manager.

"I am not surprised."

Du En said bluntly.

Ying Dongqing actually had a bit of a headache too, secretly complaining in her heart about the actions of those above.

When it comes down to it, Great Cultivator Yun Yi gave a warning first this time, but those people actually didn't take it seriously. It really is...

"In any case, the Hub City side has already issued a batch of material subsidies via teleportation, and Traveling Official Du will also receive compensation, with merit granted in advance, recorded as one Ding-Upper."

"That is quite surprising."

He had no actual merit this time yet, only having just discovered the clues, killed a Golden Core stage elite, and captured a special dharma treasure. In the post-incident merit evaluation, at most it would be a Ding-Lower.

And while the Hub City seemed stingy before, they suddenly became generous this time. Well, one can only say that True Monarch Zhuding's reorganization is actually useful, allowing the Hub City to immediately make up for the lack of reward for him once they found the opportunity.

However, compared to Du En's goal of one Bing-Lower merit, he is still short two Ding-Upper merits, so he still needs to participate more and catch as many bugs as possible to earn more merit.

Looking at it this way, the Hub City not being able to spare manpower is actually a relatively better situation, facilitating Du En's participation.

"Traveling Official Du, I intend to form a special operations team after screening the personnel, and hand it over to you to command and lead, responsible for moving and acting outside, while I myself will sit in the city, responsible for overall coordination and dispatch, and at critical moments, through the link of the blockade circle, descend directly to support. This way, we can ensure there are no mishaps."

This home cannot be stolen, so Changle City needs her to guard it.

At the same time, she gave Du En face by letting him be in charge of leading the team; if the operation goes smoothly, when merits are discussed and rewards distributed, there will surely be a very heavy portion for him.

Moreover, in reality, he doesn't need to go and fight to the death with Nascent Soul stage enemies. Zhang Qing over there seems very self-aware; letting him be the deputy team leader and specifically responsible for this kind of manual labor is just perfect.

Ying Dongqing planned it very well, but the plan encountered a setback right at the start.

"No need, I will act alone."

"……That is also fine, Traveling Official Du may do as he pleases."

Ying Dongqing was subconsciously a bit unhappy; she felt she had already been good enough to let him get some easy merit.

Of course, the most critical thing was being able to lock this unstable factor within a controllable range.

As it turned out, he wasn't willing.

Fine, if he isn't willing, then it can only be this way. At most, she will need to pay extra attention and have an extra headache going forward.

However, if things go smoothly later, don't blame me if you get a smaller share of the merit.

She thought to herself, appearing relatively optimistic.

It wasn't that she was careless or taking it lightly, but that this place is the heartland of Luoyu; no matter how one looks at it, the infiltration team from Fudong has no chance of winning and will eventually be dug out.

As long as she is careful and cautious, optimistically speaking, not to mention being able to claim all the credit, by the time the Hub City can spare manpower to support, she should be able to take half, enough for her, the presiding leader, to get a Bing-Upper or Bing-Middle merit!

Of course, one cannot be too careless, and one also needs to consider the dire situation of laboring in vain...

(End of chapter)