Chapter 77: Suchen Trembles!

Inside the Supreme Command Center of the Suchen Refuge, the atmosphere was extremely solemn.

Only three people were seated at the huge round-table meeting.

Seated in the chief position was the Supreme Responsible Person of the Suchen Refuge, Zhao Weiguo.

He was over fifty, his temples streaked with white, his face etched with deep furrows— the marks left by years in high office and painstaking deliberation.

At this moment, he rubbed his aching temples, his brows knotted into a tight furrow.

"Come on, tell me— what exactly is the situation now?"

His voice was hoarse, revealing deep fatigue, as his gaze swept over the other two faces.

Sitting to his left was an obese man wearing a custom-made silk Tang suit, a rarity even before the apocalypse.

His name was Qian Wanjin, once a famous wealthy merchant in Suchen.

After the apocalypse, he used his vast wealth to unite a group of rich merchants, founding the Heavenly God Group refuge, and secured a foothold in Suchen.

On Qian Wanjin's oily, bloated face, a pair of small eyes glittered with a shrewdness utterly disproportionate to his physique.

He didn't rush to speak, merely lifting the steaming cup of top-grade Da Hong Pao before him, taking a slow sip and savoring the ultimate luxury of this apocalypse.

And to Zhao Weiguo's right sat a haughty middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looking refined and scholarly.

His name was Sun Ba, chief scientist of the Deep Blue Matrix, and the actual power holder of the refuge formed by top technical talents.

"Situation?"

Sun Ba snorted coldly, pushed up his glasses, and the eyes behind the lenses flashed with near‑fanatical light.

He pointed to the massive hologram at the center of the table; the screen showed the towering, sky‑obscuring form of the Black Tortoise.

"The situation is that Hangcheng has suddenly appeared something we cannot comprehend—a super‑lifeform over 1,500 meters long! Commander Zhao, I need an explanation: where did this thing come from? Why did your official monitoring systems give no advance warning?!"

His questions came rapid‑fire, loaded with hostility.

Zhao Weiguo wearily lifted his eyelids, glanced at him, and his voice carried a hint of anger:

"Chief Sun, now is not the time to assign blame. I called you here to discuss countermeasures!"

"Countermeasures?"

Qian Wanjin finally set down his tea cup, a strange smile spreading across his fat face,

"I think this isn't necessarily a crisis; it might… be a tremendous opportunity."

"An opportunity?"

Sun Ba seemed to have heard some huge joke,

"Boss Qian, besides money, can't you fit anything else in your head? That thing could easily destroy our three refuges if it so much as twitchs—and you call that an opportunity?"

"Chief Sun, your words are mistaken."

Qian Wanjin chuckled, wiggling his plump finger,

"As the saying goes, the greater the risk, the greater the profit. Think about it— how much energy does a colossus like that consume each day? How hard must its material be? Even a scrap of its hide could serve as top‑grade armor. If I could make use of it… tsk tsk, its value would be immeasurable!"

He said this, his eyes shining, as if he could already see endless wealth beckoning to him.

Listening to their argument, Zhao Weiguo felt his headache worsen.

He slammed the table and growled:

"Shut up, all of you!"

When this iron‑blooded commander, who had fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, flew into a rage, the temperature in the meeting room seemed to drop several degrees.

Qian Wanjin and Sun Ba exchanged a glance, each seeing contempt in the other's eyes, but they ultimately fell silent.

"What I need now is a solution!"

Zhao Weiguo looked at them both and said, word by word,

"Not your daydreams and mutual recriminations!"

Sun Ba adjusted his glasses, regained his haughty demeanor, and said coldly:

"My suggestion is simple: just use the East Wind and fire a shot at it. I don't believe any creature can withstand a direct hit from a tactical missile. Even if it doesn't die, we'll at least see what this monster is made of."

"I object!"

Zhao Weiguo rejected it outright without a moment's thought,

"Before we know the other side's intentions and strength, any proactive attack could invite devastating retaliation! Can you bear that responsibility?!"

"Women's kindness!"

Sun Ba retorted without hesitation,

"Commander Zhao, this is the apocalypse—not the peaceful era of decades past! Following the Dark Forest Law is the only way to survive! Any unknown entity must be assumed to be the highest‑level threat and eliminated! This is the most basic scientific literacy!"

"Shut your fucking mouth!"

Qian Wanjin couldn't hold back either; he jumped to his feet, pointed at Sun Ba's nose, and shouted,

"You scientific lunatic! If you piss it off, one kick will crush us all into meat paste— even as a ghost I won't let you off!"

"Better than sitting here waiting to die!"

"You…"

Just as the three were about to argue again, the alloy door of the Command Center was suddenly shoved open from outside.

A young military officer in charge of intelligence analysis came rushing in, stumbling and crawling, his face filled with uncontrollable shock and fervor, his voice altered by extreme excitement.

"Commander! Two… two chiefs! The latest… latest reconnaissance footage! The drone… the drone has reached the target!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the arguing ceased abruptly.

The three of them turned their gazes in unison toward the young officer.

"Quick! Hook it up!"

Zhao Weiguo shot to his feet and barked an order.

"Yes!"

The young officer jerked, frantically tapping the console a few times.

The next second, the holographic projection at the center of the conference room flickered, switching to the drone's first-person view.

The view shook violently; one can imagine how tense the drone pilot must feel right now.

In the image, the Black Tortoise's massive shell, stretching like a mountain range, filled the entire screen, delivering an unparalleled visual impact.

However, as the drone rose, the entire Command Center instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Zhao Weiguo stared blankly.

Qian Wanjin's smile froze on his chubby face.

Sun Ba's hand, which had been adjusting his glasses, froze mid-air.

What did they see?

They saw that atop the giant turtle's back lay a city!

A city, neatly planned and brimming with vitality!

Flat roads crisscrossed, and rows of two-story buildings made of unknown material were scattered in an orderly fashion.

Even more astonishing, tens of thousands of square meters of fertile farmland had been opened up on one side of the city!

Lush crops thrived, golden wheat waves rippled in the wind, clear streams meandered between the fields, nourishing this miraculous land.

They even saw… thin wisps of cooking smoke!

Rising from the chimneys of the little houses, it gathered in the air, filled with the scent of everyday life.

"How… how is this possible!"

Qian Wanjin cried out in shock, his voice trembling.

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