Lord of Prayer

Chapter 471: Chapter 298: Glimpse of a Phantasm (2)

"What do you want me to do?" Xing Wu asked calmly. He had black hair, black eyes, and a weathered face.

"Be the bait. Lure away the Government Tier Four guarding the [Return Ball]," the Plague Doctor said bluntly. Among the Tier Fours present, only Xing Wu had the ability to enter the lab undetected. But once he infiltrated, he would inevitably be discovered by the Government Tier Four, and a fight would surely break out between them.

Xing Wu considered it for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. But are you confident you can annihilate the Government Army’s military headquarters?"

"I am," the Plague Doctor replied confidently.

"What gives you that confidence?" Xing Wu pressed.

"The Poisonous Sore Gang has 2,500 combatants, including eighty-five Ascenders. We also have two Hand of the Empire squads equipped with Dashing Pegasus Armor."

"That’s not enough." Xing Wu already knew the Poisonous Sore Gang had a new member named "Siegfried" whose Extraordinary Ability was brainwashing, so he wasn’t surprised by their current state. "A single military headquarters has at least six thousand soldiers stationed there. Even with more Ascenders and the Hand of the Empire at your disposal, it will be very difficult to take it down."

"But we have Andre, don’t we?" The Plague Doctor spread his hands.

Andre...

Xing Wu paused, then couldn’t help but chuckle. "Well, that should be enough then."

Andre was in the top echelon of Tier Three Ascenders; his strength was undeniable. He also commanded twenty-six other Ascenders and a legion of two thousand, which included two hundred formidable Nanometer Warriors.

If they could brainwash these people and deploy them to attack the military headquarters together, the chances of success would be at least ninety percent.

’But...’ Xing Wu glanced at Zhou Chen. "Can you handle it?"

"I don’t need to brainwash everyone. Just Andre and the other key figures," Zhou Chen replied.

In that brief moment, he had already formulated a plan.

After identifying the two major destabilizing factors in the Southern War Zone, the intelligence officers shifted their focus to the Northern War Zone, providing a detailed breakdown. Finally, after some discussion, the Salvation Army’s high command drafted the next phase of their attack plan.

It was getting late. After the meeting, Zhou Chen was shown to a room to rest.

He didn’t rest right away. Instead, he found the Plague Doctor to discuss the details of their two missions. Once they had established a general outline, he asked, "The Salvation Army... just how many Tier Fours do you have?"

"Five," the Plague Doctor answered truthfully.

Zhou Chen sucked in a sharp breath. ’That many?’ he thought. ’The North Carolina Government only has two Tier Fours.’

From that perspective, if the North Carolina Government didn’t have a Crowned King, the Salvation Army would have overthrown them long ago.

It was a pity Havier wasn’t the one who ascended to Crowned King during that life-and-death battle back then. Otherwise, North Carolina would surely be a different place today.

"The Chief and Senior Xing Wu were promoted while following Havier as he conquered his territory. Bruce and the other two seniors were promoted later."

The Plague Doctor continued, "During the meeting, that old man sitting at the very back of the conference room is one of the later Tier Fours. He’s the head of the Salvation Army’s food supply department. He was a farmer his whole life and awakened at fifty. His Ability is to make crops mature rapidly. Havier later got him a lot of resources to help him advance to Tier Three, and a few years ago, he broke through on his own while farming.

"All these years, the Rebel Army has never lacked food while hiding in Peach Blossom Spring because he can ripen crops over a large area. When the full-scale war begins, our forces across various locations will exceed one hundred thousand. Normally, our food supply wouldn’t be able to keep up, but with him, it won’t be a problem."

’The Salvation Army is way too lucky...’ Zhou Chen couldn’t help but marvel.

That was a Tier Four Uncrowned who could ripen crops. Even though he hadn’t advanced to Tier Five yet, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him an "Agricultural God." He alone could solve the food problem for hundreds of thousands of people.

Feeding a population is one of the world’s most difficult problems. A small country like North Carolina has little farmland and needs to import most of its grain. The upper class takes the lion’s share, and what’s left flows into the Poverty Cities, only to be divided up again by the rich. In the end, the poor only get a tiny fraction, leading to widespread hunger. This is how "delicacies" of the lower class, like roasted rats, came to be.

If the Salvation Army didn’t have this Tier Four, food would undoubtedly be their biggest problem, and it might have even shaken the very foundations of their organization.

Ideals don’t stand a chance against reality. What’s the point of fighting a war fueled by passion if you can’t even fill your own stomach? Who would have the strength to fight?

Only with a full stomach can you have the strength to talk about ideals. That’s a very practical problem.

In Zhou Chen’s view, the Salvation Army’s ability to survive in Peach Blossom Spring for so long was all thanks to Havier’s foresight in deliberately cultivating such an Ascender as a fallback plan.

"The other one is Louis, the woman sitting behind Bruce. Her Extraordinary Ability is Water Control. She can create drinking water and purify water sources. Havier also promoted her back in the day."

’So they don’t have to worry about food or drink. No wonder the Salvation Army could hide out and develop in secret in Peach Blossom Spring for so long...’ Zhou Chen thought.

"It’s late. You should go back and rest, too. We have to set off early tomorrow morning." The Plague Doctor was showing him the door. He was a bit tired and needed to rest early.

Back in his room, Zhou Chen made his Clone fall asleep.

In reality, this meant withdrawing most of his consciousness, creating the appearance of sleep.

Meanwhile, his real body was nestled on the sofa with Li Xiye and Erin, watching a movie and continuously tossing popcorn into his mouth.

BZZZ... The sound of a chainsaw erupted from the movie, accompanied by blood-curdling screams. A chainsaw-wielding Killing Maniac let out a delighted laugh as he mercilessly dismembered his victim. Blood sprayed everywhere in a brutal and gory scene.

Erin was very uncomfortable with this kind of scene and edged a little closer to Zhou Chen, seeking a sense of security.

Immediately after, Erin froze. Zhou Chen had slumped to the side, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Zhou... Zhou Chen?" Erin cautiously turned her head to see Zhou Chen with his eyes closed, seemingly fast asleep.

"Hm?" Li Xiye leaned in to take a closer look, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"He fell asleep?"

’He can fall asleep through this?’

In a daze, a brilliant light shone everywhere.

Zhou Chen saw a gigantic, burning Fireball.

It was a magnificent star, a vast and scorching Sun.

The searing heat nearly cooked him alive. Its solemn majesty made his spirit tremble, and its awesome light forced his eyes shut. He could only vaguely make out a figure within the burning Sun.

’Who... is that?’

Zhou Chen woke with a start. Seeing his familiar surroundings, he confirmed he was at Jinzhu’s house.

He glanced at the time—it was already eight in the morning.

"Something’s not right..." He remembered that he had just been watching a third-rate horror movie with Li Xiye and Erin. How had several hours passed in an instant?

"That dream..."

Zhou Chen rubbed the bridge of his nose. He remembered seeing a blazing Sun with what seemed to be a person inside it.

’Very strange...’

Because in the dream, it felt like only a few seconds had passed, but in reality, several hours had gone by.

Before Zhou Chen could think too much about it, he suddenly remembered he had things to do back in North Carolina. He immediately strengthened his connection with his Clone, and just then, he heard a knock on the door.

"Siegfried, are you awake?" the Plague Doctor’s voice came from outside.

"I’m awake." Zhou Chen got out of bed and opened the door. "Sorry, I’ve been exhausted lately and overslept a bit."

"No problem, we still have time. Get ready quickly. I’ll wait for you outside."

"Wait."

Zhou Chen suddenly stopped the Plague Doctor. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Who was the person who gave Havier Forbidden Object B-005·Peach Blossom Spring all those years ago?"

He didn’t think he had conjured that intensely realistic, strange dream on his own. He must have come into contact with something, triggering an Essence Resonance that inexplicably pulled him into that bizarre dreamscape. The first thing that came to his mind was this place—Forbidden Object B-005·Peach Blossom Spring.

"You should have heard the name."

The Plague Doctor’s expression turned serious.

"——Sun King Noah."