Chapter 257

"This is a tough problem." A group sat in a circle, listening to Anthony analyze the situation: "If we only use Church forces, it's manageable. But if they mobilize the Seth Empire and the Capricorn Empire, we have zero chance of victory."

"Why? We're thousands of kilometers deep in the desert—no matter how many enemies there are, getting here won't be easy, and we can still call on the elves for help," Lisa said dismissively.

Anthony smiled, didn't argue, and continued on his own: "The Prime Material Plane is humanity's plane..."

The Prime Material Plane is humanity's plane; of the seven seats on the Planar Security Council, humans hold four.

The elves hide in forests, the dwarves stay underground, the dragon clans fled overseas—why did humans seize the richest lands?

Did other species simply grow too kind, voluntarily surrendering fertile land to suffer in cold, barren places?

Only the elves might believe that—they're better adapted to forests, under the protection of the God of Life. But the dwarves and dragon clans would say "Ku Bada."

In population, all other species combined don't reach one-tenth of humanity's numbers. In production capacity, they're less than one percent of humanity's. In organizational structure, humanity is generations ahead.

The Star Republic has entered a republican system; the elves and dwarves still live as primitive tribes. The dragon clans don't even have tribes—they're just one big family.

Humanity's only flaw is disunity. On the Prime Material Plane, there are dozens of nations, and if you count the small city-states, it's hundreds.

Nations aren't at peace with each other; some are ancient enemies, constantly waging war.

The last empire's fall occurred between the ancient enemies, the Tiwan Empire and the Seth Empire, causing millions of deaths and tens of millions displaced—the ten-million-population Tiwan Empire vanished from history.

Because of disunity, sometimes their influence is weaker than the elves'. These two elf movements have thrown humanity into panic, making them fear the elves are about to launch an attack.

But that's only under normal circumstances. If the elves truly attacked, humanity would unite—and then their strength would be utterly different.

The only force capable of uniting all of humanity—or at least over half—on the entire plane is Gulliani.

"If Gulliani mobilizes human nations, let me tell you how they'll fight this war: First, economic blockade."

"Cut off Meishencheng's economic ties with the outside world—halt all supply chains, food trade, everything—and seal off the entire desert," Anthony said.

The thought of no one coming to Meishencheng for beauty treatments made Lisa anxious: "What's the point? We don't even eat! What good is a blockade?"

"You don't eat, wear, or use things—but what about your clients? The Sand People? The Fallen? A six-month blockade, and everyone starves," Anthony replied.

Ang suddenly raised his hand: "I grow. Not hungry."

"Oh, right—I forgot. With the Lord here, no one starves. But the blockade still happens—to prevent all kinds of supplies from coming in, like copper, iron, magic crystals. Seal it for half a year, then cut the rivers," Anthony said.

Negril sucked in a sharp breath: "You're ruthless..."

The two rivers feeding the Dragonfall Lake are freshwater rivers, their sources lying beyond the desert—the lake's main freshwater supply. If cut off, the people of Meishencheng will soon have no water to drink.

Compared to food, freshwater is clearly more critical.

"We have Fengshui Towers. Build a few more, and we can solve the freshwater problem," Lisa said thoughtfully.

"Fengshui Towers? What are those?" Anthony had never seen one, and even if he had, he didn't know their specs—only Negril could explain.

After learning how Fengshui Towers worked, Anthony couldn't help but praise: "This is an excellent device—it works in deserts, on ships, even in the southern wastelands. Any place with sufficient moisture but lacking surface water can use them."

He paused, then continued: "But it won't help. The third step targets moisture itself. I'll deploy thousands of mages at the source of the moisture-laden monsoons to drain the air of its water. Even without Fengshui Towers, ordinary mages can condense moisture—I'll cut it at the source."

"Drain the water from the wind? How is that even possible?" Everyone was stunned by this unimaginable tactic.

"Easy. Just find ten thousand mages. No need for strong ones—third or fourth tier will do," Anthony said casually.

"Ten thousand? Easy?" Negril stared, as if Anthony were mocking him.

But Anthony nodded seriously: "Yes, easy. When humanity mobilizes, they can deploy tens of thousands of mages. The Seth Imperial Magic Academy alone has four thousand students. There are at least ten magic academies with thousands of students each in the Seth Empire. The Capricorn Empire has fewer—seven or eight."

"And there's an even more terrifying organization—the Mage Guild. Once money is paid, they can assemble over twenty thousand mages within seven days. That's why I say: when humanity mobilizes, we have zero chance."

Everyone exchanged glances. True, Dai Sen probably couldn't muster such a massive force against Meishencheng—but the numbers still induced a crushing sense of helplessness. And this was only one or two empires. If all of humanity on the entire plane united...

While everyone was stunned, Negril noticed Ang straightening his spine.

Ang rarely sat upright. He only did so when deeply focused or when something interested him.

Negril leaned in and whispered: "Ang, what are you thinking?"

Ang tilted his head: "So many people—how much food?"

"Pfft, you're calculating this? You think you can grow enough food to feed every living thing on the entire plane?" Negril scoffed.

Knowing Ang was fixated on this absurd question, Negril ignored him and kept listening to Anthony.

"Drain the moisture, cut the rivers—in half a month, half of Meishencheng will die of thirst. The rest will flee to oases. But one oasis can't support many. If they scatter across multiple oases, they'll be picked off one by one."

"Fourth step: bombing. Griffin knights escort, wyverns and airships deliver incendiary bombs, oil bombs, wax canisters—drop them from above. Even if we have Baihou Bone Dragon Nai'ai, it won't matter—we're too few to break through the griffin knights' defense."

"Bombing and moisture drainage happen simultaneously. Then comes the ground advance. Do you know why we need to mobilize the Capricorn Empire? They breed giant desert sheep they call Capricorns—perfectly adapted to desert conditions."

"One Capricorn can pull a sand sled at high speed. One sled carries twenty soldiers. They travel a thousand li per day. Ten thousand Capricorns can deliver two hundred thousand soldiers here in two days. After being blockaded, deprived of water, and bombed for so long—what can we use to resist two hundred thousand soldiers?"

Everyone fell silent. Simply listing numbers made the suffocating helplessness palpable. No wonder Anthony said: The Prime Material Plane is humanity's plane.

After analyzing both sides' strengths, it was time to decide. All eyes turned to Ang—he alone could decide whether to fight or flee.

Ang was startled, tilting his head in confusion, as if to say: Why are you all staring at me?

"This skeleton's zoning out again," Negril sighed. "Everyone's waiting for your decision. Do we hold and fight, or retreat to the Anxi Abyss? If we retreat, Meishencheng is lost."

Negril didn't dare mention the farmland beside the Dragonfall Lake. If he did, everyone knew exactly what Ang would decide.

But Ang chose neither. He said: "Kill the Pope."

Anthony stiffened, leaping to his feet: "Brilliant idea!"

He'd just spent hours analyzing strengths and weaknesses based on raw power—but he'd overlooked our greatest advantage.

No, no—Ang's words reminded him. Anthony began pacing. He needed to reorganize his thoughts.

The others were bewildered. Sha Feiya leaned over: "What's going on?"

Lisa explained: "Anthony summarized two plans. Lord Ang rejected them and proposed a third. Anthony thinks it's better, so he's abandoning his own plan to study Lord Ang's feasibility."

Sha Feiya looked as if she'd heard a ridiculous ghost story. Ang rejected Anthony's plan? What nonsense.

Lisa also found it absurd. Even as Ang's blind follower, she'd never claim Ang was smarter than Anthony. In schemes and tricks, everyone here combined couldn't match this old trickster.

"The biggest problem now is Dai Sen and Gulliani. We don't need to kill Gulliani—just eliminate Dai Sen. The difficulty drops drastically."

"Dai Sen's greatest strength is mobilizing human forces—he has overwhelming numbers. Where's our advantage?" Anthony pointed sharply at Ang: "Here!"

"The Lord's space is our greatest advantage. We can fit everyone inside, then release them all on Dai Sen's territory in one strike and crush him."

Everyone's eyes lit up. They began pondering the plan's feasibility.

The Palace of Anxi is a divine artifact—an independent space capable of holding living beings for extended periods, something no other storage space can do.

Even if some rare storage spaces could hold living things, the energy cost would be astronomical—impossible for large-scale troop transfers.

But the Palace of Anxi can. Its energy cost is also high—putting things in or taking them out consumes Soul Flame. Calculated by Soul Flame expenditure, few could afford it, because Soul Flame is divine.

In this light, Dai Sen has been cursed by the gods.

A good plan is one that, once spoken, everyone agrees is viable. Ang's plan clearly met that standard. People immediately began adding details:

"Equip everyone with teleportation scrolls. After the mission, teleport out immediately."

"Get Xiamala's help. Her precognition can help us avoid most dangers."

"Arm Zihai and the others with better gear to boost their attack power."

"Bring Wali Gu's Magic Egg Cannon—it might be useful for breaching defenses."

"Take those drugs from Sa Wa too. When they set up camp, dump them in the drinking water—then they won't sleep at night."

"... ou mean Sa Wa's drugs—those *kind* of drugs?"

As everyone chattered over details, Ang suddenly said: "Need XXX million tons."

Negril was baffled: "What?"

"So many people—need XXX million tons. Food." As he spoke, the Scale Ring behind Ang flashed briefly.

Ku Bada—Negril was about to lose his mind. Everyone was discussing his plan, and he's calculating food quantities? Probably used the Scale Ring—he lacks the math skills himself.

Aisiduoliya sat dazed in her chair, letting Ang work. But her fingers twitched uncontrollably. No one had touched her this closely in countless years. It made her deeply uncomfortable—and yet, a strange feeling stirred inside.

As Ang's fingers brushed her eyelids, she couldn't help but stop him: "Wait—just protecting Lord Ang is truly the only condition to heal my eyes? I don't have to fight?"

Lisa hurriedly replied: "Yes, yes! No fighting needed—just protect him. Even that's optional. Just cast the Anti-Magic Field. We know your dilemma—you represent the elves. We won't make you suffer."

Aisiduoliya smiled bitterly, took a deep breath: "Go ahead. I'm ready."

She wasn't afraid of being put in a bind—she was just nervous. Using this excuse to steady herself. Ang's fingers touching her eyelids made her want to stop again—but she forced herself to endure.

To regain sight again—this wasn't just joy. There was fear too. The mix was complex. She didn't want to face it...

Ang pried open her eyelids, revealing empty sockets. He lifted a drop of Essence Worm Ash, flicked it into the necrotic tissue deep inside, then bathed it in holy light.

A pair of crystal-clear eyes slowly grew. When the first ray of light entered them, the Element Dead Zone, the Truth Mage, the powerful Anti-Magic Field user, couldn't help but weep.

Truth Mage God +1.

After Aisiduoliya joined the team, Negril went to find Lamo. After touring the Anxi Abyss, Lamo confirmed Ang's identity—the Immortal God.

Thirteen Grave Watchers offered their souls. Immortal Necromancer +13.

An unprecedentedly powerful team was assembled—and sealed inside the Palace of Anxi.