Chapter 528: Ink Spirit

They have no choice.

Lin An stored the mechanical eight trigrams into his ring, then replied calmly:

Cooperation, at least they can still compensate for the losses.

Without cooperation, they have nothing.

Moreover...

With a solemn expression, he walked slowly to the meeting table and unfolded a map.

I previously had you send a hint to the Korean War Zone, meaning to tell them... that our backers might be supported by the capital.

The purpose is to make them wary.

He changed the subject.

Gao Tian, put yourself in their shoes: where is the escape route for those high-ranking officials at Cheong Wa Dae, or rather, where lies the hope of their war zone?

Inside the meeting room, silence suddenly fell, and the few who were still awake unconsciously followed the thought.

After a moment, Jing Tian was the first to break the silence:

"Brother Lin, their only way out is to cross the Yalu River and flee into our war zone, right?"

"To the north is North Korea, to the south are American troops; if they want to survive, they must flee to a vast geographical area where they can avoid being annexed by either side."

Lin An nodded in approval.

That's correct.

In my past life's memory, the Korean War Zone became nominally extinct in less than a year.

The reason was simple: at year's end, North Korea's war zone launched a nuclear strike against them.

Before the apocalypse, perhaps there was still international pressure, with various sides exerting deterrence.

But after the apocalypse, who could stop North Korea?

To survive, the Korean War Zone's survivors were forced to have the nation "invade" the Huaxia War Zone's border, even sparking a large-scale war with the local Safe Zone.

Speaking of which, it's ironic.

The strategic weapons they carried while fleeing were not used against mutants, but instead were used to threaten the Huaxia War Zone.

Either let me in, or I will turn the entire border region into a haunted land.

When suddenly attacked, the Huaxia War Zone could only choose to acquiesce, temporarily leaving them alone.

Of course, in hindsight, the capital's side must have been facing a major crisis at that time, to the extent that they didn't even have the chance to act.

The result is obvious.

What would a nation be like after its destruction, leaving only part of its survivors?

This group of Korean War Zone players are almost all crazy.

In an unknown accident, this group of lunatics unintentionally created a lethal meme, causing heavy losses to the Huaxia War Zone.

Regardless, as a member of the Huaxia War Zone, Lin An naturally does not want this to happen.

Especially at this stage, this problem can be solved with little effort.

Following Lin An's guidance, Gao Tian roughly understood Lin An's meaning:

"Brother Lin, you mean..."

"We pretend that the Capital Military Region has deployed behind us, so as to make them speculate whether the capital side has already discovered their intentions."

"Or whether they have long been noticed."

Lin An nodded and frankly replied:

"That's about the meaning."

"If we can tailor-make equipment for him, it means we know them inside out."

"They're all seasoned politicians; do you think they'd suspect there's a traitor among them?"

"Once they become wary and mistake us for a trap set by the capital side, this group of high-level officials will seriously consider whether to still enter the Huaxia War Zone."

"What if, just as they enter, a nuclear bomb lands on their heads?"

He chuckled.

Lin An pointed at the Korean War Zone on the map:

"Once they realize this, they will likely change their approach."

"The Huaxia War Zone dare not enter, but there is still Southeast Asia and Japan."

"Left with no choice, they also cannot find a better option."

"In that case, they originally held hostility toward these two war zones."

"Do you think that after they realize this, they might see this as an opportunity to cooperate with us in weakening those two war zones' strength, thereby laying a foundation for future actions?"

"Go for the soft persimmons."

"If the Huaxia War Zone feels it gains no advantage and even suffers a major loss, then their target will surely shift to other war zones..."

"After all, the three sides are actually quite close to each other."

"The more chaotic they are, the more advantageous it is for us."

"By then, we might not be unable to fan the flames and trap them several more times..."

Upon hearing this, everyone was startled and instantly understood Lin An's meaning.

Xiong Hanzi's eyes widened as he listened, unable to refrain from exclaiming:

"Holy shit, Captain Lin. How the hell are you so wicked!"

"When did you come up with this?!"

"Wen Ya also froze, never having imagined that Lin An would actually think so far ahead."

"You should know that not long ago, Lin An was merely a retired soldier."

Lin An's expression was relaxed as he replied lightly:

"Nothing much, just occurred to me."

"Just going with the flow."

"Don't think so badly of me; how could I, with nothing to do, just think about how to scheme against people..."

Having said that, Lin An moved his gaze away from the map and looked at Wen Ya and An Jing Tian:

"From now on, you'll handle the rest."

"Follow the same method, taking turns to secure the supplies of the remaining three war zones and arm our forces."

"In secret, you can even deliberately leak that the Korean war zone is cooperating with us."

"Or alternate, letting them undermine each other."

"I believe that after being badly schemed against, the three major war zones will definitely come into conflict with each other."

"As for trade,"

"First priority is to exchange for spirit-energy fruits; next are the crafting materials dropped by mutants."

"Our base will soon enter a development phase; the spirit-energy weapon workshop together with the lab will put these previously useless materials to use."

"Take advantage of the low prices now to buy a lot."

"Later it won't be so cheap."

"This will also lay a solid foundation for expanding our influence."

"After a brief pause, Lin An looked at everyone and gave careful instructions:"

"The capital won't give us any support; as long as they don't secretly cause us trouble, that's fine."

"You must stay cautious; being able to absorb two military regions is enough."

"Cooperating with the Million Awakened Ones plan, I believe development will go smoothly."

"Wen Ya opened her mouth, and the few people beside her suddenly felt their hearts grow heavy."

"Captain Lin?"

"Brother Lin!!"

"You're planning to go to the Secret Realm?"

"An Jing Tian hurriedly asked, while Wen Ya stood beside Lin An; her eyes suddenly felt a sense of loss, her heart feeling empty."

"Lin An saying this now clearly means he intends to enter the Secret Realm."

"Do we have to go this fast? Isn't there still time?"

"Won't you wait until this trade is over before leaving?"

"We could still exchange for a lot more supplies!"

"Gao Tian couldn't help but feel a bit flustered, unconsciously wishing Lin An would stay longer at the base."

"As everyone's spiritual pillar, with Lin An around they needn't worry about anything."

"Although they clearly knew Lin An had to go on this trip, when Wen Ya thought back to when he previously went to the Amoeba Worm instance, the days she waited for his return made her heart inevitably feel sore."

"Even Mo Ling, who was sleeping leaning against AnXia, jumped up suddenly."

"Lin An!"

"Little Mo Ling pursed her lips, staring intently at him, her eyes full of stubbornness."

"Take me with you; I want to go together!"