Chapter 675: Hesitation

Chen Ye's mind raced, countless possibilities flashing through his thoughts.

Doubt? Believe?

By his usual habits, the Silent Council was absolutely not to be trusted.

But today, they had just sealed the Haosheng Hotel, which added another layer of consideration to Chen Ye's thinking.

After these days of interaction, Chen Ye knew the Silent Council was an organization far larger than his own convoy.

This time, the Silent Council had clearly put real effort into organizing the "Return to the City Plan."

They had even brought out many Wonders or Wonder Materials to promote the Silent Gold Coin.

These past few days, the Silent Council's shops had brought out even more good stuff.

All these actions from the Silent Council clearly showed they genuinely intended to treat Xi City as humanity's first city, and also as their own first city.

Moreover, when it came to sealing the Haosheng Hotel, the Silent Council had truly pulled their weight.

In fact, during this sealing operation, the Silent Council's people had been the main force.

If the Silent Council hadn't planned to treat Xi City as a true first city for humanity, they wouldn't have bothered taking things so seriously.

But if they left this place...

In the future, Xi City would definitely have no place for the Fair Convoy.

The territory they'd just fought for would surely become someone else's meal.

Even if Xi City stabilized and the convoy made its way there, they probably wouldn't get territory like Sunset Avenue—at best, they'd be living as guests.

Whether they had territory or not was secondary.

But if they truly left the base, what were the convoy's actual odds of survival?

According to Chu Che, this sea anomaly landing would affect an extremely wide area.

And Xi City's geographical position was more like a piece of land jutting out from the continental plate into the sea.

Three sides of Xi City faced the ocean, with only the northwest side connected to the mainland.

Escaping now would be difficult.

If it were a straight-line distance, there might still be some hope.

"Squad Leader Chu, how long will this sea anomaly landing last?"

"Could be three or four days, could be five or six—hard to say. It's not just that our understanding of sea anomalies is insufficient; the Silent Council doesn't have enough data to support a solid estimate either!"

Chen Ye continued to stay silent.

Three to five days meant this sea anomaly landing was going to be extremely, extremely severe.

No one knew what kind of things lurked among the sea anomalies.

There was no escaping.

The sea anomaly landing was coming fast.

Not enough time.

If they encountered those things out in the wild, the convoy would be a hundred percent wiped out, without a single thread of hope.

Even for Superhumans, facing countless anomalies surging like ocean waves, death would be the only outcome.

Chen Ye looked up again toward the direction of the camp.

By now, over a thousand people had gathered at the camp, and the number of Superhumans had already surpassed a hundred.

These people had clearly decided to stay.

And the empty spots left by the Skeleton Convoy had already been filled.

The newcomers were none other than the Happy Family convoy.

Seeing Chen Ye look over, that chuunibyou youth waved at Chen Ye energetically with an excited expression, as if he wasn't worried at all about the impending sea anomaly landing.

Chen Ye's heart stirred slightly.

If they really couldn't dodge this, a kid like that wouldn't be a bad buffer.

And there seemed to be plenty of such buffers at the base.

That was still far better than encountering those things in the wild with no ability to fight back.

With so many people in the camp, even if the Silent Council's plan failed and chaos broke out, his chances of fishing in troubled waters would be much higher.

The others in the convoy could also slip away amid the confusion.

Encountering those sea anomalies in the camp wasn't really any different from encountering them anywhere else.

Chu Che had no idea that Chen Ye's thoughts were running toward using people as "buffers." He was just waiting for Chen Ye's answer.

If Chen Ye said leave, he would leave without hesitation.

If Chen Ye said stay, he would make arrangements without hesitation either.

The pressure of deciding the entire convoy's fate was too heavy—he needed someone to share the burden.

What Chu Che needed most right now was someone like Chen Ye, who had no bottom line.

Of course, Chu Che could never say such a thing out loud.

"Squad Leader Chu, didn't you pathfinders sense the anomaly uprising in the sea beforehand?"

Chu Che shook his head with a bitter smile: "We actually knew there were anomalies in the sea a long time ago, but our sensory abilities are affected when it comes to seawater!"

"By the time we discovered the anomaly uprising, the Silent Council had already informed us."

Chen Ye fell silent, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"Squad Leader Chu, you already have an answer in mind, don't you?"

Chen Ye looked at Chu Che's expression and let out a sigh.

"You're thinking the same as me?"

Chu Che raised his eyelids and glanced at Chen Ye.

"Indeed, it's better to keep some distance between people!"

Chen Ye and Chu Che exchanged a look, both seemingly seeing the answer in each other's hearts.

The Fair Convoy decided to stay.

Actually, the Pink-haired Girl and Ding Dong were also waiting for Chu Che and Chen Ye's decision.

Unknowingly, Chen Ye wasn't the strongest in the convoy in terms of combat power.

But his influence within the convoy had grown significantly.

Sometimes, when Chu Che couldn't make up his mind, asking for Chen Ye's opinion wasn't a bad option.

Given Chen Ye's personality of wanting to survive at all costs, following his judgment was definitely the right call.

When both Chen Ye and Chu Che decided to stay, the entire Fair Convoy instantly felt like they'd been given a reassurance pill.

Though they knew staying would still be dangerous, it was far better than making no decision at all.

There were no other emotions in the eyes of the Pink-haired Girl, Ding Dong, Gong Yong, Iron Lion, Dantai Bie, and the others.

That was the good thing about the Fair Convoy—once the captain made a decision, everyone would work unconditionally toward that goal.

Soon, Xiong Baochun from the Silent Council came over carrying a small box.

Inside the small box was a stack of Concealment Talismans.

Judging by the smoothness of the talisman runes and the quality of the talisman paper, these were far superior to the cheap goods that stingy Captain Chu had traded for before.

"Everyone, these Concealment Talismans here are the highest-grade goods from our Silent Council! Each one lasts at least three days!"

"These were personally drawn by City Lord Cha Wu and Teacher Wang—much better than the ones drawn by Black Clothes!"

"There are a full hundred of them here!"

Xiong Baochun handed the box to Chu Che.

"Three days probably won't be enough, will it?"

Facing Chen Ye's doubt, Xiong Baochun continued: "We don't have many of these high-grade goods either. After three days, if the sea anomalies haven't receded, we'll send this many more!"

Chen Ye suddenly felt that the decision to stay didn't seem so brilliant after all.

The Silent Council clearly wasn't fully prepared either.

Still, this guy Xiong Baochun was way too honest—whatever he was asked, he'd answer directly, without caring at all about exposing the Silent Council's secrets.

Xue Nan was walking back and forth through the convoy with a loudspeaker, calming the panicked survivors.

"Remember, you must hold on to the Concealment Talismans the Silent Council gave you. Don't drop them, and don't lose them!"

"This isn't your first time using these, nor your first time hearing about them..."

"Blah blah blah..."

The Silent Council had explained before—as long as the Concealment Talisman was attached to their bodies, and as long as they didn't actively seek death, those anomalies wouldn't be able to detect them.

Two hours. Usually it felt like a long time to endure, but right now, it passed in the blink of an eye.