124: Chapter 124 Five-Person Squad

That afternoon, in the combat briefing room.

The complex terrain beneath Jiangcheng was displayed on a holographic sand table.

A red area within it was particularly conspicuous; this was the most likely hiding place of Beast King Dihou, as deduced by Chu Tianye.

"Although Tianshu's strike radius is not small, the reaction speed of a Rank 7 Beast King is extremely fast. We must have precision guidance."

Chu Tianye leaned his hands on the table and looked around at everyone.

"We need to set up Spatial Coordinate Locators at Earth Roar's hiding place in advance without alerting it, or else all our efforts will be in vain!"

At this point, Wang Qiao, who was standing to the side, suddenly interjected, "Regiment Commander Chu, your plan is sound, but there's a problem: Earth Roar is alive!"

He walked to the map and pointed to the location of Earth Roar's lair.

"When it's lying still, the coordinates are fixed, but once it senses danger, it could move at any time! By the time Tianshu strikes, it will only hit empty ground."

He paused.

"Unless we fire Tianshu at the exact same moment the coordinate positioning is completed..."

"However, if we do that, the personnel going in for positioning won't be able to evacuate!"

"Therefore, the most reliable method isn't to place the locator near it, but directly on its body."

Hearing this, everyone in the briefing room looked at Wang Qiao in shock.

Chu Tianye frowned. "On its body? No, the difficulty is too high; it's simply impossible!"

Wang Qiao nodded.

"But this is our only chance. Tianshu only has one launch authorization. If we miss, there won't be a second time."

The briefing room fell silent.

Everyone knew Wang Qiao was telling the truth.

Tianshu only had one chance.

If it missed, Earth Roar wouldn't give them another opportunity.

When that happened, the millions of people in Jiangcheng would all have to endure the wrath of Beast King Dihou.

But Wang Qiao's plan was clearly unreliable as well.

Setting spatial coordinates on Earth Roar's body was practically a joke.

A Rank 7 Beast King could kill everyone in this room with a single sneeze.

Would Earth Roar just watch as they attached a locator to its body?

If they truly followed Wang Qiao's plan to set the spatial locator, the probability of success would be infinitely close to zero.

Furthermore, setting aside whether the mission could be successfully completed, Wang Qiao's plan left no way out for the personnel involved.

Chu Tianye shook his head.

"The difficulty is too high. We would need to get close to Earth Roar and nail the locator onto it; it's simply impossible."

"I still believe the first plan is more reliable. If the first plan doesn't work, we can then implement the second one!"

Wang Qiao nodded and said:

"Alright then, let's use the first plan first. If it proceeds smoothly, there's no need for us to make unnecessary sacrifices!"

Seeing this, Chu Tianye's expression softened slightly. He looked up and scanned the people present.

"Good, then we will implement the first plan: set up five Spatial Coordinate Locators around Earth Roar!"

"Once they are set, we will have three minutes to evacuate. After three minutes, Tianshu will strike!"

"Now, let's discuss the five candidates for setting up the spatial locators."

Chu Tianye took a deep breath. "I will personally lead the team this time, taking one of the points!"

"Regiment Commander, you mustn't!"

His Deputy grew anxious. "You are the supreme commander..."

"Bullshit! I have the highest cultivation! If I don't go, who will?"

Chu Tianye glared, immediately silencing the opposition.

"I'll go too!"

From the corner, a cold voice rang out. Lin Mo stood up and walked to the sand table.

"No!" Chu Tianye reflexively refused.

"Lin Mo, you are a seed of Great Xia. In the eyes of the War God Temple, your life is worth more than all of Jiangcheng combined. You absolutely cannot go to your death!"

Lin Mo looked at Chu Tianye calmly. Without wasting words, he simply asked:

"Regiment Commander Chu, you said you must go because your cultivation is the highest."

"By that same logic, is there anyone in Jiangcheng stronger than me right now?"

A deathly silence fell over the briefing room. Rank 3 Level 9, soloing a Rank 5 Peak. Stronger than Lin Mo?

The officers present looked at each other and lowered their heads in shame.

Chu Tianye opened his mouth, but found himself speechless.

"Fine, you're in. But you must follow my command. If any unexpected situation arises, you must evacuate immediately!"

Lin Mo nodded, signifying his agreement.

"Good, that's me and Lin Mo. We still need three more people."

Chu Tianye's gaze swept over his subordinates.

"Old Liu, Zhang Feng, you're both at the early stage of Rank 5 and have been through life and death with me for years. Do you dare to take this trip?"

The captain addressed as Old Liu, Scarface, leaned back lazily in his chair and said:

"What's there to be afraid of? Since when has Old Liu ever feared death?"

The man named Zhang Feng was younger and appeared a bit nervous, but after hesitating for less than a second, he stood up and gave a standard military salute.

"I will complete the mission even if it costs my life!"

"Good brother!"

Chu Tianye nodded, then his brow furrowed.

"But the positioning requires five points in total. We're still missing one person... Should we pick one from the Rank 4 Peak Awakeners?"

"Reporting!" the Deputy suddenly spoke up.

"Regiment Commander, among the local Civilian Awakeners in Jiangcheng, there are three Rank 5 experts. One is at the middle stage of Rank 5, and two are at the early stage. Should we conscript them?"

"Invite them here immediately!" Chu Tianye's eyes lit up.

This operation was of great importance; it would be best if it was executed entirely by Rank 5 Awakeners.

Half an hour later, three Jiangcheng Awakeners dressed in various styles were brought into the briefing room.

After hearing Chu Tianye's plan, the expressions of all three changed simultaneously.

"Regiment Commander Chu, you're not joking, are you? Placing coordinates right above Earth Roar's lair? That's a Rank 7 Beast King!"

The middle-aged man at the middle stage of Rank 5 instantly turned pale.

"I'm sorry, I have hundreds of brothers in my guild to feed. I can't go to my death. I hope Regiment Commander Chu understands!"

"I... I suffered an internal injury a while ago and haven't fully recovered yet."

The other Rank 5 early-stage Awakener also backed away repeatedly.

Great Xia's Civilian Awakeners were not strictly bound by military orders. Although they could be forcibly conscripted, there were explicit regulations stating that conscripts could not be forced to perform dangerous missions; usually, they only assisted in tasks like defending the city.

Furthermore, this mission was critical. It was hard to say if those forcibly conscripted would hold up when it mattered most.

If they abandoned their posts at a critical moment, it would ruin everything.

Chu Tianye's face turned ashen, and his fists clenched until they cracked, but he didn't lash out.

The entire briefing room fell into a deathly stalemate.

Just then.

"Pah!"

A highly discordant sound of spitting broke the suffocating silence.

The remaining Awakener, who hadn't spoken the entire time, spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the floor.

This was a middle-aged man who looked extremely down-and-out.

"Damn it, a bunch of cowards! You've practiced martial arts for decades, and it's all gone to the dogs!"

The middle-aged man cursed in a coarse voice.

"If Jiangcheng is razed to the ground, do you think you can fucking hide from the beast tide army?"

"Regiment Commander Chu! Count me in! Isn't it just about planting a hunk of iron? My life is worthless anyway. I'm going all in today—if I die, I die!"

At this moment, the entire briefing room was silent.

The two Rank 5 Awakeners who had backed down turned red with shame, wishing they could crawl into a hole and disappear.

Chu Tianye's eyes were red. All the officers behind him stood up simultaneously and gave the most solemn military salute to this low-level man in the worn-out jacket.

"Good! A true man!"

Chu Tianye slammed his fist onto the edge of the sand table, the murderous intent in his eyes erupting like something physical.

"In that case, the candidates are settled!"

"Everyone, go back and prepare. There's no time to lose. We leave in two hours!"

...