Chapter 192 - 149: Seeking External Help for the Safe Zone

Chapter 192: Chapter 149: Seeking External Help for the Safe Zone

Director Yan called for the maintenance team and asked, "How long will it take to fully repair and restart this equipment room?"

The captain of the maintenance team was also a Dream Descender at the Refining Stage; his Curse Object was a wrench.

He calculated carefully and said, "The bureau has plenty of spare components, but the ritual circuits connecting the Curse Objects need to be rebuilt. This requires many rare materials, some of which we are currently out of stock. To fully repair everything will probably take... twelve days."

"Twelve days?" Director Yan frowned. "No, twelve days is too long. Baijiang City can’t wait that long. I’ll give you seven days. The equipment must be repaired within seven days. As for the materials, I’ll figure something out."

The maintenance captain hesitated for a moment. "...Understood!"

But in reality, seven days was also a long time. Yan Xiangtian simply understood that demanding the rituals be rebuilt in three to five days would be asking too much.

Yet, he was also helpless. Nowadays, information about Nightmares was spreading rapidly. Even though they had realized it and deployed the control group alongside various peripheral organizations, it was incredibly difficult to curb the spread of the information. They couldn’t stop ordinary people from discussing these things in private.

However, once Nightmare information was leaked, the probability of ordinary people being haunted by Nightmares would increase ten or a hundred times over. The number of Dream Descenders in the entire Baijiang City would surge drastically.

This was not a good thing. Most people couldn’t even survive their initial Nightmare, even if they released the ’strategy tips.’

Not only that...

He thought to himself, "Once Nightmare information spreads extensively, and once ordinary people descend into dreams in massive numbers, the Present Realm Anchor Points of the entire Baijiang City will shatter into pieces. When that time comes, the Present Realm barriers of Baijiang City will be riddled with holes. Ghosts will be able to enter and exit at will, the gray fog will shroud everything, and the entirety of Baijiang will truly sink into ruin."

Right now, although there were undoubtedly still some Pseudo-Men in the city, if it weren’t for the Present Realm barrier blocking the Ghosts, the number of Pseudo-Men inside the city would probably be tens or hundreds of times higher. And once Baijiang fell, Baijiang City would no longer be part of the Present Realm. When that happened, out of the entire city’s three million residents, it would be difficult for even thirty thousand to survive.

Yan Xiangtian pondered, "Fortunately, the Book of Harmony remains undamaged, and the information on the internet has been controlled in time. However...

"In the next few days, Baijiang City’s situation will definitely become increasingly tense. As people’s discussions about Nightmares grow, Nightmare invasions will follow. Besides that, the gray fog at Baijiang’s borders will stir up tides more frequently.

"Baijiang City is massive enough that it won’t sink anytime soon."

Therefore, Yan Xiangtian set a deadline of seven days. Seven days would still be enough to ensure Baijiang City’s stability.

But he couldn’t afford to be careless. Over the next few days, the disasters within Baijiang City would only multiply day by day. They also had to guard against accidents. Completing the repairs in seven days was based on normal circumstances. What if the Pseudo-Men seized the opportunity to strike again?

Meanwhile, after figuring out the situation, Director Zhou and General Captain Wang also wore solemn expressions.

"I’m afraid we won’t be able to leave Baijiang for a while," one of them said.

In just a few short hours, Baijiang City had gone from calm and peaceful to being as precarious as a stack of eggs. A grand Present Realm city with a population in the millions could capsize in an instant.

As Extraordinary Powerhouses from the other two cities who had banded together for mutual support, they couldn’t just watch Baijiang sink into ruin.

Wang Tieshan spoke up, "Director Yan, if there’s anything you need, just say the word. We are quite familiar with dealing with gray fog tides and Nightmare invasions."

"I won’t stand on ceremony," Yan Xiangtian replied. He thought for a moment before adding, "The main concern is the next few days. When massive Nightmare invasions occur, the gray fog tides will also bring Ghost Tides. If the forces of my Countermeasures Bureau are heavily tied down in these two areas, I’m afraid the Pseudo-Men will once again seize the chance to invade, sabotage, or directly snatch the Book of Harmony!"

Once that happened, Baijiang City would truly be in grave danger. But this was an overt scheme.

Director Zhou said, "We can only defend the Countermeasures Bureau to the death. I’m afraid we’ll have to abandon some other places."

Because once the foundational strength of the Countermeasures Bureau was lost, the entire city would be impossible to defend. They would either lose half the city, or lose it all. Making such a decision was difficult, but Director Zhou believed that everyone in Baijiang City would—and could only—make this choice.

"No." However, Yan Xiangtian’s plan exceeded their expectations. "The Countermeasures Bureau absolutely cannot be lost, but as long as we have sufficient combat power, no place will be abandoned."

Yan Xiangtian immediately ordered his subordinates to notify the Wizard’s House and the Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall, asking the Dream Descender experts from these two factions to assist in the defense.

Director Zhou and General Captain Wang naturally recognized these two major factions. Especially the Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall; Hall Master Zhu Chenying was illustriously famous among the Nine Cities.

However, no matter how strong Hall Master Zhu was, he was still just one person, and one person could not be in two places at once. Even adding their own two Extraordinary Powerhouses, they were still severely short-handed. It wasn’t that they weren’t strong enough; it was that they didn’t have enough numbers.

"But there is still one more place," Yan Xiangtian said.

Lu Qing had already thought of that place. "Are you referring to the Safe Zone?"

Yan Xiangtian replied, "Yes, I intend to head to the Safe Zone to issue a commission, summoning Dream Descenders to assist us, and also to discuss the matter of the Pseudo-Men with the Manager."

Lu Qing offered, "Director Yan, how about I go, and you stay here to command?"

"No, I will go personally this time. Of course, I’ll leave this place in your hands. You and Bai Yu must defend it to the death; absolutely no more accidents can occur," Yan Xiangtian declared.

With that said, Yan Xiangtian headed to the warehouse to retrieve the item needed to go to the Safe Zone.

He was not a member of the Safe Zone. After all, he was the Deputy Director of the Countermeasures Bureau and directly represented the Baijiang Strategy Bureau. It would be inappropriate for him to become a member of the Safe Zone. As an Extraordinary Powerhouse, Director Yan had no use for the various facilities in the Safe Zone anyway, much less would he compete with the younger generation for them. However, Director Yan naturally had his own methods for entering the Safe Zone.

The Countermeasures Bureau had long established a partnership with the Safe Zone, and they possessed items linked and bound to the Lighthouse Camp.

He would descend into the dream and arrive at the Lighthouse Camp. Then, he would head to the Safe Zone and issue the commission, leveraging the strength of the numerous non-governmental experts there to combat the disasters of the coming days. Director Yan planned it all out.

At the same time, he ordered his subordinates to fetch a large amount of Dream Crystals, materials, treasures, and Curse Objects to serve as the collateral for issuing the commission.

Off to the side, however, Director Zhou and General Captain Wang were completely dumbfounded.

What Safe Zone? Safe what Zone?

From what Yan Xiangtian was implying, it seemed he could hire external reinforcements within this Safe Zone. Could there really be that many reinforcements? But since Yan Xiangtian planned it this way, the Safe Zone definitely had to be formidable. Was it perhaps a large faction on par with the Wizard’s House and the Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall?

The two of them were bewildered, surprised, and curious. As a result, at the request of Director Zhou and General Captain Wang, Director Yan brought them along.

The three of them bound together using a team-up item, then put on their Dream-Dropping Treasure Pearls.

A mere two and a half hours later.

SPLASH!

Like being dragged into the deep sea, the gray fog washed over the three of them like a tide, making the world spin around them.

All three were Extraordinary Powerhouses, so they remained completely unaffected and immediately raised their guard against their surroundings.

"There are no Extraordinary Ghosts," Wang Tieshan noted. Moreover, he noticed traces of Dream Descender activity nearby.

Yan Xiangtian said, "Mhm, we didn’t descend into the wrong place. Follow me."

Their descent point wasn’t inside the camp, but it wasn’t far from it either. Yan Xiangtian held a compass to guide the way, and soon, a signpost standing by the roadside appeared in their line of sight.

[Lighthouse Camp, Turn Left.]

[800 meters to the Camp.]

Passing through an abandoned highway and a few unfinished buildings, the Fire Radiance Stone Mine appeared before their eyes. In the center of the mine was the illustrious Lighthouse Camp.

The Lighthouse stood tall, casting a soft glow.

After Yan Xiangtian explained his intentions, Chen Jianghuai led them toward the true gateway leading to the Safe Zone.

Only then did Director Zhou and General Captain Wang realize the truth: Chen Jianghuai wasn’t guarding the camp; he was guarding the door to the Safe Zone. An Extraordinary Realm expert, acting as a mere gatekeeper?

Director Yan, however, wasn’t in the mood to give them an introduction. He walked straight to the front desk, stated his identity, and issued the mission.

"You are Director Yan?" Yang Lina was astonished.

This was a major figure standing at the absolute pinnacle of Baijiang City’s power circles, yet he was actually being polite to her right now? Yang Lina understood why, but what shocked her even more was the news. "Baijiang City is actually in grave danger??!"

She immediately said, "I understand. However, a mission of this level requires the Manager’s approval. I will instantly notify Miss Zhuo Ling to contact the Manager."

Soon, in just a few dozen seconds, she received a reply. The authorization had been granted. She promptly processed the paperwork for Director Yan, collected the deposit for the reward, and filled out the mission details before publishing and pinning it to the top.

When she published the commission, Yang Lina’s hands trembled slightly. This was going to be the largest, highest-level, and most generously rewarded mission in history. It far exceeded the past expeditions of the mine, as well as the even earlier expeditions of the Ancient Village.

At this moment, because many non-governmental Dream Descenders spent their days soaking in the Training Grounds and libraries, or were out exploring and raiding, they were still unaware of the crisis in Baijiang City. That was until the large-scale mission was published, and all the members received a notification.

"Another large-scale mission! Awesome!"

"Wait, something’s not right. What’s going on? Our great Baijiang is in danger?"

"I heard about the Pseudo-Men before. That’s fine. This time, we finally have the strength to protect Baijiang City."

Some members muttered among themselves. Most of them were notifying each other, looking for teammates, or rushing back from outside.

Director Yan said, "It’s done. Next, I just need to find a chance to discuss things with the Manager."

Director Zhou and General Captain Wang: "???"

"That’s it? Just like that?"

It had been less than three minutes since Yan Xiangtian walked in, right? He seriously just issued a commission? They had assumed he was going to ask the Manager to lend them some people, and then they would negotiate interests, rewards, and the like.

Instead, it was remarkably simple. So simple, in fact, that it felt unreliable.

"Is this... really reliable? You can just hire a batch of reinforcements like this?" Director Zhou weighed his words before asking.

Yan Xiangtian replied, "Of course. When fighting disasters, what we lack most aren’t Extraordinary Powerhouses like us, but rather the core forces like those at the Refining Stage."

"But the Refining Stage..."

To them, such cultivators were indeed nothing to write home about; they were indeed just core forces. However, within the Dream Descender circles, Refining Stage experts were considered true powerhouses. Out of a hundred Dream Descenders, not even one might reach the Refining Stage. Refining Stage powerhouses weren’t cabbages you could buy anywhere.

With such a rudimentary commission, how many people could he actually summon?

"Miss Lina, I’m here to accept the commission."

"Miss Lina, we are accepting the commission on behalf of our captain."

"Count me in too!"

"Me too!"

In just a few moments, a long queue formed at the front desk. The line grew longer and longer. And these queuing Dream Descenders seemed to be...

"They can’t *all* be at the Refining Stage, can they?"