182: NATO counterattack

After Thor walked out of the conference room, he immediately summoned several key members of NATO, and they all went into another room for a meeting.

The lights in the room were dim, with only a faint, cold glow coming from overhead.

A map was displayed on the wall; most of the territory that originally belonged to NATO was gone, replaced by a cluster of connected blue light points, with Skydome City in the center.

Thor stood at the very front, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.

He didn't speak, opening a file first.

A line of text appeared on the screen: In the past twenty-four hours, seven countries have withdrawn from NATO. This includes Southern Italy, Denmark, Finland, South Vietnam, and others.

"Yesterday, we still had twenty-six member countries." His voice was not loud, but everyone heard it clearly. "Now, there are only nineteen left."

No one replied. The French representative kept their head down, tracing patterns on the table; the deity from Germany stared at the map on the wall, brows furrowed; a sigh came from the British side, sounding like they had conceded but were still unwilling to give up.

"Less than twelve hours after Yue Zhengzhong announced the new resource policy on the Blue Star Channel," Thor continued, "Shen Xiaochuan listed the perfect grade beast meat on the mall. Ten million jin, with clear purchase restrictions. Whoever joins the Alliance can buy it."

"Did they really believe it?" The Canadian representative looked up and asked.

"It's not a matter of belief." Thor sneered, "It's about evidence. Egypt distributed some meat to their Awakened, and after eating it, their combat power increased by thirty percent immediately. The video has already been leaked; who can still claim it's fake?"

"But we can't produce such things." The British representative spoke up, "We don't have a Faith Mall and can't produce these resources. They rely on this to recruit people; what are we supposed to do?"

"Then we seize the next opportunity." Thor finally moved. He took a token out from his embrace and placed it on the table.

A cyan light lit up, and a circle of runes appeared in the air. The token had ancient characters on it, with cracks along the edges, as if it had been found in ruins.

"This is the proof for an S-Rank Legacy mission," he said. "It was just activated, and the location is an ancient ruin in the Northern Wilderness no-man's-land. The System has confirmed it's real."

Everyone's eyes turned toward him.

"What is the reward?" the German representative asked.

Thor didn't answer directly. He tapped the screen, playing a clip: a glowing herb growing in a rock crevice, its leaves shaped like a pentagram, with golden threads wrapped around the roots. Next to it lay a large beast, eyes closed, but it looked very powerful.

A voiceover played: "perfect grade 'Xuanyuan Herb'. After consumption, it can cleanse the marrow and bones, extend life by one hundred years, improve the Believers' Physique, and increase Divine Power recovery speed by sixty percent."

The room was silent for a few seconds.

"If we can get this..." the French representative said softly, "our main deities can become stronger."

"You took all the technological fragments during the last mission." He suddenly looked up at Thor, "Are you planning to keep this for yourself this time too?"

Thor shook his head: "This time is different. The mission can have at most forty participants, and the slots will be allocated based on the Rank of each country's Divine Domain. All findings must be registered, and the extraction process will be supervised by a third party. I can sign an agreement to have the entire process recorded publicly."

"Really?" the Canadian representative asked, tone skeptical.

Thor continued: "The qualification must be bound to Divine Divinity authentication; it cannot be transferred or played by proxy. You must form a team to enter the core area; anyone who enters alone will be kicked out."

The German representative narrowed their eyes: "In other words, we must cooperate?"

"Yes." Thor nodded, "This isn't a question of who is stronger, but whether we can seize this opportunity. China turned things around with beast meat; why can't we make a comeback with this mission?"

"But even if we get the herb, we can't achieve a stable supply like they do." The British representative still shook their head, "They have Shen Xiaochuan, gaining +1 faith points every second; they accumulate resources too quickly. We can't compete with that."

"Then don't compete on consumption." Thor's voice raised slightly, "Compete on time. They are one step ahead, but we can get ahead in the next step. As long as we seize the opportunity, the situation can change."

He looked at everyone: "I don't expect you to trust me immediately. But I just want to say one thing—don't disperse. Don't let China laugh at us. They have blockaded us and cut off our resources. Now it's their turn to be targeted; if we collapse first, there will truly be no hope left."

The French representative was silent for a moment, then asked, "How are the slots allocated?"

"Eight for the US, five each for Germany and France, three each for the UK, Canada, and Italy, and the rest will be allocated based on the size of the Divine Domain." After stating the numbers, Thor said, "Submit the lists by noon tomorrow, and we will be teleported in together at dawn the day after tomorrow."

"Is it safe there?" the German representative asked.

"There is a guardian beast, estimated to be above Rank A. There are also thunderstorms and gravity anomaly zones." Thor said truthfully, "But we already have some topographic maps, and logistics will follow. The US will provide basic equipment, including protective runes and emergency teleportation scrolls."

"Sounds expensive." The French representative gave a bitter smile.

"It's better than having nothing at all." The Canadian representative finally spoke up, "At least it's an opportunity. I agree to participate."

"I agree too." The German representative nodded, "But we must sign a supervision agreement. Everything collected must be registered, and nothing can be kept privately."

"Agreed." Thor pressed the confirm button, and the mission status updated: Published, awaiting member confirmation.

Names began to light up one by one. France, Germany, Canada, Italy... Out of the eighteen countries, the final fifteen chose to join.

The British representative stood up last: "We will not withdraw from NATO, nor will we easily lean toward China. But that doesn't mean we will blindly take risks. For this mission, we will only send two people in, no more, no less."

Thor did not object, only nodded: "That's enough."

After everyone finished confirming, he stood up straight and gripped the token tightly.

"From now on, this operation is called 'Project Northern Dawn'." He said, "We are no longer the side that just passively takes a beating. Who says resources can only be waited for? We can go get them ourselves."

Someone repeated the name softly.

Northern Dawn.

It didn't look like a counterattack; it looked more like survival.

But they all knew this was the only thing they could do for now.

The lights in the room were still cold, but the atmosphere had changed. It was no longer the deathly stillness of impending dissolution, but rather like a taut string, ready to snap into action at any moment.

Thor checked the time: 2:47 PM.

Seven hours had passed since Shen Xiaochuan discovered this meeting.

He knew the other party must be monitoring this place, perhaps watching all of this through the global channel.

But he didn't care.

He put the token away and turned to walk toward the door.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway.

The projection behind him was still glowing. The blue light points still occupied a large area, which was uncomfortable to look at.

But this time, no one was staring at it anymore.

They all understood that the real battle had yet to begin.

Thor walked to the door and placed his hand on the handle.

He stopped and looked back at the conference room one last time.

Everyone was still in their seats; some were looking down at documents, others were whispering, and no one was in a rush to leave.

Very good.

At least for this moment, NATO was still intact.

He pushed the door open and walked out.

The metal door slowly closed, making a soft click.

The people inside were still discussing details.

The German representative pointed at the document and asked: "How is this 'Cooperative Combat Score' calculated? If I save someone, will it affect the distribution of items?"

The French representative immediately chimed in: "That's the point. Let's not have them take all the credit in the end, while we provide the manpower and effort."

The British representative wrote down a few lines, looked up, and said: "I suggest establishing a temporary arbitration group, nominated by at least three countries, to supervise behavior throughout the mission."

The discussion continued.

No one noticed that the communication light in the corner flashed red, then quickly returned to normal.

Monitoring data is being uploaded.

Target address unknown.

Transmission progress: 37%.