Chapter 952: Information Relayed

You mean...?!

A heavy feeling sank into their hearts; the people sitting upright in the Meeting Room suddenly realized what Lin Zhan wanted to say.

"He Lin An has other plans?"

As soon as the words fell, Lin Zhan instinctively glanced at the speaking Fourth Rank Awakened One, nodding hesitantly.

"That's right!"

"Perhaps he's taking the opportunity to expand his reputation, or perhaps there are other deeper thoughts."

"I have to say, this move of his is indeed useful."

He opened the battle zone channel and casually swiped twice.

In the rapidly scrolling battle zone channel, there were floods of discussion and amazement.

The speed at which the information spread was extraordinarily fast; after all, in the Apocalypse, the information and battle recordings of the strong were like pre-Apocalypse headline entertainment.

Driven by survival, people crave power; regardless of age or gender, weak or strong, at this time what they most desire is power.

Spreading from the trade channel to the battle zone channel, 99% of people who couldn't afford the information listened to others' 'word-of-mouth' descriptions, becoming even more curious.

They could not imagine what kind of powerful being could easily take down a Fourth Rank Mutant.

After a few hours of fermentation, it almost caused the entire Huaxia battle zone to explode; moreover, it seemed poised to spread to other countries.

Moreover, many who heard rumors, or who recognized Lin An from other Fourth Rank individuals, proudly spread the word, as if knowing this information proved themselves... even if separated by a hundred thousand miles, they felt they had come into contact with that Fourth Rank tier.

If the information screen isn't frozen, the cascading, waterfall-like flashing information makes the text almost unreadable.

"Look."

"It's precisely because Lin An made this move, using only physical strength, that it instead lets lower-tier survivors realize his strength."

"You must know, our Huaxia battle zone has far too many low ranks, even people who aren't Awakened Ones. They can't grasp the strength differences between skills, nor deeper matters."

"But Lin An's move is exactly the most vivid illustration of how powerful a Fourth Rank Awakened One is, and that Lin An himself is the strongest among them."

"One can imagine that, after this incident, among the masses of lower-tier survivors, Lin An's image will be..."

"The recording... is far more intuitive than the global announcement a few days ago!"

After stating the analysis opinion given by the staff department, a hint of worry flashed in Lin Zhan's eyes.

This world is very realistic, even if it's the Apocalypse.

People worship the strong, pursue the strong, and desire to become strong.

There's a saying that goes well: only fame and weapons cannot be lent to others.

In their eyes, Lin An's action is nothing short of blatantly seizing something.

Fast, it's really too fast...

The development speed of some things has already far surpassed the imagination of the upper echelons.

Seeing the ever-growing number of fanatics in the chat channel, as well as large numbers of survivors spontaneously praising Lin An, Lin Zhan only felt a chill rise in his heart.

No matter what Lin An is thinking, the effect produced is developing toward the worst possible scenario!

Lin An, who started as a minor nobody that no one paid much attention to, gradually became someone they had to take seriously, until finally even he had to admit that Lin An's growth in strength was too fast—so fast that, as of now, they actually felt threatened...

It's foreseeable that this threat will only grow larger, even surpassing their imagination.

After all, in human history, there has never been a case of an individual wielding power surpassing that of a group.

And sadly, they no longer have the ability to stop it.

Nowadays, the relationship between the military and the Faction Long An is unusually 'ambiguous'; on the surface they are one entity, but those who know the inside information would never think Lin An would really let them off!

Clenching his fists silently, Lin Zhan slowly closed his eyes; the veins on his temples twitched.

All that can be said is that they once had the chance to nip Lin An in the bud, but they missed it.

If they act now, never mind whether they can kill Lin An; even if they could, it would probably be an unbearable burden.

The Meeting Room fell silent again, and a few people unconsciously looked up toward the head seat.

They understood Lin Zhan's implication, and also understood the military's concern.

But some things just can't be said outright.

Recalling Lin Zhan's earlier words, an Awakened One with arms crossed and a stern face spoke steadily:

"So, does the military want us to also display strength to dilute Lin An's influence?"

"Lin An can kill a Fourth Rank; can't we do the same?"

On the head seat, Lin Zhan gave a slight nod and looked toward the other party.

"That's right."

"From today onward, all battles hunting Fourth Rank beings will be recorded."

"Lin An can arrange people to promote himself under the guise of selling information; then we'll just go public directly!"

"If one isn't enough, send ten! We absolutely cannot let outside survivors think that only Lin An has strength in our Huaxia battle zone!"

Hearing Lin Zhan's order, the Awakened Ones present felt some hesitation.

It's not a refusal, but purely consideration of the recorded footage.

They can't do what Lin An does, nor do they have that kind of strength.

They asked tentatively:

"General Lin Zhan, if we do this too, we certainly can. But... the footage might backfire..."

The Awakened One who spoke looked somewhat embarrassed.

Everyone present are comrades; he isn't afraid of any impact. As someone who has fought Fourth Rank beings, he naturally knows what their situation is like in regular combat.

Put nicely, it's about combat tactics, carrying out tactical encirclement.

Put bluntly, it's being chased and killed by a Fourth Rank Mutant, often requiring a heavy cost just to have a chance to slay it.

Moreover, many times they are losing numbers and forced to resist.

Silent, brows furrowed, before Lin Zhan could speak, an official who looked like an observer lightly coughed twice without changing expression:

"Everyone, it cannot be said like that."

"Actually, it's the same. Look, we just need to record the final footage. Let only one person appear on camera, and we can still get roughly the same effect."

"Or we could slightly beautify it, stage it a bit—both are fine."

"Moreover, we will also arrange some personnel to appropriately guide public opinion."

"For the country and the people, propaganda—nothing stingy about it."

Listening to this person, who might be from the propaganda department or the former People's Alliance, everyone present exchanged strange glances.

Who would have thought that even in the Apocalypse, they'd still be pulling these tricks.

Although I felt some resistance in my heart, orders are still orders.

After the meeting dispersed, the crowd, feeling somewhat low-spirited, scattered and left.

Walking at the back, the Awakened Ones who had initially spoken with a clenched fist glanced at Lin Zhan leaving in the opposite direction.

After hesitating a moment, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice:

"General Lin."

"Between us and Lin An, is there really no room for reconciliation?"

"He... he's actually really strong, very promising..."

Lin Zhan's steps stalled as he walked away alone, but he did not turn back.

Wordless silence was his answer.

In the underground city of the Capital Military Region, a general wearing high-rank insignia slowly stepped into the descending passage.

A crystal-like Props was clenched tightly in his palm.

After a long while, after passing through layer after layer of checkpoints, he quickly approached the contact point where Chen Yangtian had once been, and swiftly struck the exposed stone wall.

"ID 87721, request to initiate communication!"

After a moment, a hoarse, ancient voice sounded:

"What's the matter?"

Presenting the crystal, the middle-aged man lowered his head, his pupils flickering like a lizard's:

"My lord."

"Lin An has left Heiyu and appeared in the outside world!"

"If he's out, he's out; the squad tasked with hunting him down..."

He trailed off mid-sentence.

One second later, the blurry giant face that had materialized from the wall seemed to suddenly react, jerking violently and bellowing in rage:

"What?!"