Chapter 547: Can the Tokyo Area Be Protected?

Tokyo Area, Seikyo.

"Is there something the matter, Your Excellency Seitenshi, that you are in such a hurry to see me here?" Lingyun looked at the Seitenshi before him and spoke slowly.

"I wonder if you have any understanding of the Stage Four Gastrea known as Aldebaran, Mr. Lingyun?" The Seitenshi sat upright, speaking to Lingyun with a grave expression.

"Stage Four, Aldebaran?" Lingyun repeated, then continued. "That was a member of the legion once belonging to the Stage Five Taurus. It possesses immense strength and the ability to secrete Varanium-corrosive fluid. One could say it is a great enemy of the Monoliths!"

"That is correct. Now, this dangerous Gastrea has appeared in the vicinity of the Tokyo Area. Last night, the Self-Defense Force stationed near Monolith No. 32 was attacked by the Gastrea and completely wiped out. In their final moments, they transmitted the footage back. Monolith No. 32 encountered its attack and was injected with Varanium-corrosive fluid." The Seitenshi's complexion turned somewhat unsightly.

"And then?" Lingyun asked.

"The construction of a new Monolith has been put on the agenda, but it will take at least nine days to complete. However, computer projections indicate that in six days' time, the entire Monolith will collapse due to erosion and bleaching. Without the obstruction of the Monolith, the Gastrea will invade the Tokyo Area in large numbers, leading to the total extinction of the Tokyo Area." The Seitenshi could not help but grip her skirt tightly.

"Wait, Your Excellency Seitenshi, I have a question I would like to ask. Does the Tokyo Area not have spare construction materials for the Monolith? Did you only start rushing to build it when things reached this point?" Lingyun interrupted the Seitenshi. "Did you not consider the dangerous possibility that the Monolith might run into trouble from the very beginning? If there were sufficient stockpiles of Monolith construction materials, it shouldn't take that long to build a new one, right!"

The Seitenshi bit her lip somewhat uneasily. Just as Lingyun said, the Tokyo Area had not considered such issues at the start. After all, the Monoliths were constructed from Varanium metal; how could they possibly run into trouble after only ten years?

"For now, please put these matters aside. The biggest problem we face is that in six days the Monolith will collapse and the Gastrea will invade the Tokyo Area, while the new Monolith will only be completed in nine days. Only by holding back the Gastrea invasion during those three days in between can the Tokyo Area be spared from disaster!" The Seitenshi steered the topic back to the main reason she had sought out Lingyun this time. "The area where the Monolith is showing signs of bleaching is constantly expanding. These two events—its collapse and the Gastrea invasion—definitely cannot be hidden for long. When that time comes, the entire Tokyo Area will face unimaginable chaos!"

"I recall that beneath the Tokyo Area, there are deep underground bunkers. These bunkers should be sufficient to withstand the Gastrea's attacks, right!"

"That is correct. The Tokyo Area does indeed have deep underground bunkers that can serve as shelters for the citizens. However, due to the limitations of the bunkers themselves, they can only accommodate thirty percent of the population, and the living supplies stored within can only sustain everyone for two months." There was a trace of sorrow in the Seitenshi's tone. "If the Gastrea truly invade the Tokyo Area, then seventy percent of the people within the Tokyo Area will become their food, and even if the remaining people survive, they will only be able to linger on for two months before ultimately heading toward extinction!"

"Facing this desperate future, the Tokyo Area can only avoid this tragedy if it can withstand the Gastrea's offensive within the three days before the new Monolith is completed. Am I right, Your Excellency Seitenshi?" Lingyun interjected.

"That is correct. Subordinate officials are also gathering capable Civil Security Officer companies to form auxiliary units, preparing to fight alongside the Self-Defense Force against the Gastrea legion in six days' time." The Seitenshi looked at Lingyun with a glimmer of hope on her face. "However, I believe that relying solely on their capabilities is not enough!"

Hearing this, Lingyun already roughly understood why the Seitenshi had invited him here. Under these circumstances, Lingyun and his companions, who possessed mysterious powers, were precisely the most powerful reinforcements the Tokyo Area could currently find.

"Now, I only want to ask you, Mr. Lingyun: can the secret weapons against Gastrea possessed by Lingyun Town, as well as the mysterious powers you possess, protect the Tokyo Area?"

Meeting the Seitenshi's hopeful gaze, Lingyun spoke slowly: "Your Excellency Seitenshi, whether Lingyun Town protects the Tokyo Area is not decided by you or me, but by the Tokyo Area itself! The choices of the people of the Tokyo Area will ultimately influence the choice of Lingyun Town!"

Hearing these words from Lingyun, an ominous premonition could not help but rise in the Seitenshi's heart.

"Then, what was the reason you fought desperately to kill the Stage Five Scorpio before?" the Seitenshi asked somewhat urgently.

"There were two reasons at the time. First, we needed to test the power of our newly developed weapons specifically for Gastrea. Second, based on the Scorpio's movement path at the time, the first place to suffer the Scorpio's impact would have been Lingyun Town. These two reasons are why we actively took action to deal with the Scorpio at that time," Lingyun said indifferently.

"H-how could it be like this?" The Seitenshi's complexion turned pale. "Is there really nothing in the Tokyo Area that you find worth protecting, Mr. Lingyun?"

"Sorry, but there really isn't. Counting it up, I have been in the Tokyo Area for a year now. In this year, the people of the Tokyo Area have given me too much disappointment. A group of people who can even lay hands on innocent children leaves me unable to find any desire to protect them!" Lingyun shook his head and said. "When the town was established, I had already seen too much of the darkness of human nature, and this darkness shows no signs of decreasing even now; instead, it shows signs of intensifying. With everyone wishing those children dead, how can you expect me to let those children protect such people?"

"But this is not what everyone thinks!" the Seitenshi said somewhat pallidly.

"But their acquiescence has only further emboldened them. Once one does something wrong, one must pay the price for one's actions, right?" Lingyun said. "The 'Gastrea Protection Law' is difficult to push forward, and calls for the 'Household Registration Deprivation Law' are growing louder by the day. Since they do not want to treat those children as human beings, then those children have no need to risk their lives for a group of people who hate them!"

"Mr. Lingyun—" There was already a hint of pleading in the Seitenshi's tone.

"I think our meeting should end here, Your Excellency Seitenshi. I will wait for the answer from the people of the Tokyo Area, and I hope they will not disappoint me!" Lingyun stood up, turned, and left the conference room.