Chapter 1822 - 468: Decision, Honor and Disgrace (Part 2)

Chapter 1822: Chapter 468: Decision, Honor and Disgrace (Part 2)

The facade of prosperity was torn apart on a tranquil afternoon.

An urgent communication from the distant frontier was sent back to the command layer of New Star Valley with a sense of fear.

A foreign army never encountered before is sweeping the frontier defenses with unstoppable momentum.

The elite corps under Lie Zhua, equipped with Thunder Armor Type Five, went out to battle, attempting to recreate the glory of countless victories over strong enemies in the past.

But the battle unfolded as a one-sided affair.

The enemy’s individual power was suffocatingly strong. They used a higher-level Qi Blood Energy, rendering the armor of Thunder Armor like paper under such attacks, and the Energy Shield overloaded and shattered instantly.

The corps couldn’t even stall the enemy for more than half a day before almost being completely annihilated, with only a few scattered soldiers retreating back to the secondary defense line in despair.

Subsequent desperate reconnaissance returned intelligence indicating that these overwhelmingly destructive and nearly invincible enemies were merely slave soldiers.

They were tools for executing conquest orders of a more advanced ethnic group.

But the frontline corps of the Downspirit Clan couldn’t even resist the enemy’s slaves.

This news fell like a piercing cold wind, instantly freezing all the hustle and confidence of New Star Valley.

The command center fell into silence.

Lie Zhua stared fixedly at the red markers on the sand table representing the enemy army, advancing steadily inland. His fists clenched, nails deeply embedded in the metal table, leaving deep dents.

The war power he was proud of could not withstand a single blow in the face of true strength.

Despair spread like a plague.

Amidst this almost suffocating oppression, Tu Hu’s voice calmly broke out, echoing in everyone’s ears like a thunderous explosion:

"Negotiate."

He stood at the sand table, his gaze sweeping over each face, pale, angry, or despairing.

"According to the intelligence from the front line, this ethnic group has enslaved multiple ethnic groups to become tools for their territorial expansion and resource extraction... Perhaps we can try negotiating... become their tribute, paying resources, accepting their rule, in exchange for a chance to survive."

Boom!

The remark instantly ignited the pressure-laden volcano.

"Impossible!" Lie Zhua roared, suddenly turning around, his blood-red eyes fixed on Tu Hu, his voice trembling from extreme anger and humiliation:

"Mr. Hu, you are the faith of all of us, it was you who taught us never to succumb, it was you who led us out of the Blood Sea of Star Valley, and now you ask us to kneel and become slaves to other races—doesn’t that negate all our years of struggle? Blue Star teacher, Aunt Huixin... all the sacrifices of the martyrs, isn’t their blood spilled in vain? We would rather stand and die than live kneeling."

"Lie Zhua leader is right!" An old general, with white hair and beard, who had experienced the nascent era of New Star Valley, stood trembling with tears streaming down:

"Mr. Hu, our Downspirit Clan can die in battle, can face extermination, but we cannot break our backbone. Back in the Blackthorn Forest and the desert, no matter how difficult, we did not bow to anyone. Now, we’ve barely made it to New Star Valley, and you want us to willingly become slaves? This glory and persistence is etched into our bloodline by you—is it all fake?"

"Mr. Hu." The silent Jingsi also spoke up at this moment, her face pale but her eyes firm:

"Becoming a tribute means losing all autonomy, our civilization, our knowledge, our children... will all become someone else’s property. This is scarier than death. We would rather fight to the death and use blood to inspire future generations than entrust the future of civilization to the mercy of the enemy."

The crowd was furious, almost everyone stood opposed to Tu Hu.

Questions, grief, perplexity, and anger surged within the command room.

Facing this turbulent wave, Tu Hu showed no sign of wavering, his eyes carrying a sorrow heavier than despair.

He stepped forward slowly, his voice not loud yet overshadowing all the noise:

"Glory? Persistence?"

He repeated the two words, with fatigue in his tone:

"When Ah Lann charged to death for the clan back in the day, was her thought of glory or to forge you a path to survival?"

"When Ah Fen sacrificed for the escape of the new generation, did he care about the backbone or the lives of the children?"

"When we fled Star Valley back then, it was because we couldn’t defeat them, so we had to preserve the spark, not because we wanted to die a glorious death."

His gaze, like a blade, scraped over Lie Zhua, Jingsi, and every furious command member:

"Dying means losing everything, glory is for the living to remember, the dead cannot feel it!"

"Standing and dying is easy, stiffening your neck will end everything, but living, especially living with humiliation and waiting for an opportunity so slim it might not exist... that takes real bravery!"

He slammed the table abruptly, the heavy metal table let out a dull thud, shaking everyone’s hearts:

"Tell me, is your fragile pride more important, or is it more important to let the clan continue?"

"Becoming slaves allows us at least to leave seeds, knowledge, and memories behind. As long as one person remains, civilization has not truly perished!"

"If we expend the last ounce of force now, that would be a real betrayal, a betrayal of all the sacrificed martyrs and the fundamental continuation of the clan!"

He looked around at everyone, each word like a heavy hammer striking everyone’s soul:

"I am not asking you to forget hatred or abandon glory. I want you to endure this humiliation, carve it into your bones, and live with it!"

"As long as we live, there is hope. As long as the spark does not die, even in the darkest mire, we must grit our teeth and wait for the day of resurgence."