104: Chapter 103 Surviving Makes You a Source of Pollution

As soon as Lin Mo finished speaking, Shen Yunshang's expression changed.

"No!"

Shen Yunshang flatly refused,

"You can't go."

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"Even if you go to their base and kill everyone, the people they've positioned in the Alliance's main city will fight to the death and take everyone with them."

Shen Yunshang pointed at the red dots on the battle report,

"This is something we cannot accept."

The Alliance's bottom line is protecting civilians; this is the foundation upon which the Alliance was established and its enduring spiritual conviction.

"I'm only good at killing people, not saving them."

Lin Mo shrugged and leaned back,

"Since you're afraid of collateral damage, figure it out yourselves."

He didn't intend to forcibly intervene in this matter.

He was completely indifferent to the idea of protecting civilians.

However, it was because of the Alliance's protection of ordinary people that he had been able to grow up safely for over a decade.

He wasn't the type to bite the hand that fed him.

Shen Yunshang rubbed her brow and didn't argue.

Silence filled the room for a moment.

"Actually, there is one other way."

Shen Yunshang's gaze fell back onto the last line of the battle report.

"What way?"

"I need you to hand over those nine Fifth Class Advancement experts you captured."

Shen Yunshang said, looking at Lin Mo.

Lin Mo was taken aback: "What do you want them for?"

Shen Yunshang analyzed seriously:

"They've gone to such great lengths and used millions of civilians as bargaining chips. Their true goal couldn't possibly be just to make you and Su Xiaoli sign some non-aggression pact."

"There's a high probability they want to trade for the nine Fifth Class Advancement experts you captured alive."

"Agreements can be torn up at any time; the Noble Families aren't that naive. But Fifth Class Advancement powerhouses are irreplaceable; they definitely don't want to lose nine of them just like that."

Fifth Class Advancement powerhouses are the foundation upon which the Noble Families stand.

They are strategic deterrent weapons.

As long as these old monsters don't die, the Noble Families' legacy remains.

Shen Yunshang's eyes flickered:

"If we offer to release them as a condition for an exchange, the Noble Families will likely agree."

"After all, their goal isn't really to massacre a city, but to use the opportunity to force us to hand over the people."

"Once all the civilians have been safely evacuated..."

Shen Yunshang's voice took on a cold edge,

"...you can go to their base and kill however you like."

Lin Mo listened quietly until she finished.

Then, he smiled.

"Xiao Shen, you really are a genius."

Shen Yunshang was stunned, not understanding what he meant.

"Do you know why I specifically kept those nine old fogies alive back in King Burial Valley?"

Lin Mo's slender fingers tapped lightly on the table.

"Why?"

Lin Mo smiled, his expression clear and bright.

"After my domain reached 1000 layers, it allowed my pollutants to evolve the same Visual Pollution ability I have."

"Of course, this evolution is limited to those at the Fifth Class Advancement; anyone below that dies the moment they look at me."

Lin Mo looked Shen Yunshang directly in the eye,

"These mutated Fifth Class Advancement experts... whoever looks at them will mutate."

Shen Yunshang's eyes suddenly lit up.

An indescribable wave of excitement and shock rushed to her head.

Biological weapons!

Sending nine sources of mental pollution back to the Noble Families' headquarters like precious treasures!

This wasn't a prisoner exchange; this was clearly poisoning them!!

Lin Mo's ability was truly insidious!

"As long as those nine people appear in the Noble Families' headquarters and are seen by those people..."

Shen Yunshang swallowed hard, the excitement and joy in her eyes uncontrollable.

"The entire upper echelon of the Noble Families will be wiped out instantly."

Lin Mo stood up and praised her.

"Not bad, not bad! As expected of Xiao Shen, you truly understand my heart!"

...

The outskirts of the Southern Barrens' Third War Zone.

A giant underground fortress owned by the Ling Consortium.

The hall was magnificent, with long tables laden with delicacies prepared by high-level chefs.

Core members and spokespeople from the fifteen major Noble Families were gathered together.

Goblets clinked, making a crisp sound.

These high-ranking individuals, who stood in opposition to the Alliance, were currently holding a victory banquet.

With Ling Zhengyang captured, the current acting head of the family, Ling Tian, held up a wine glass, his face flushed with excitement.

"I said long ago that the biggest weakness of those people in the Alliance is their ridiculous moral bottom line."

Ling Tian sneered,

"As long as we hold a knife to the throats of those pigs, they'll have to bow their heads obediently."

A burst of smug laughter rang out in the hall.

Zhou Heng, the acting head of the Zhou Family, frowned, his eyes filled with a bit of worry.

"Patriarch Ling, will the Alliance really release the Ancestors? Those are nine peak Fifth Class Advancement experts."

"Patriarch Zhou, set your mind at ease."

An elder from the Helian Family next to him waved his hand dismissively,

"The Alliance wouldn't dare touch our Fifth Class Advancement powerhouses! What is there to fear!"

"Exactly! We are holding several cities and millions of lives in our hands right now."

"As long as Shen Yunshang hasn't lost her mind, she has no choice but to hand them over!"

The crowd nodded in agreement.

They didn't view the civilians as fellow human beings at all.

In their eyes, the Noble Families were transcendent, and only those fools in the Alliance were willing to treat the lower classes as their own kind.

At that moment, the giant communication crystal screen in the center of the hall suddenly lit up.

Shen Yunshang's cold face appeared on the light screen.

The originally noisy hall instantly fell silent.

Ling Tian set down his wine glass and stepped forward, his posture arrogant as he deliberately drawled his words.

"Deputy Alliance Leader Shen, have you thought it through?"

"Immediately deactivate the formations and lift the blockades on Weiguang, Chenguang, and all other cities."

Shen Yunshang's tone was extremely cold, with no nonsense,

"Otherwise, for every minute that passes, I will kill one of your Ancestors."

The image on the light screen shifted.

Nine giant cages made of refined steel appeared on camera.

The cages were tightly covered by thick black cloths, making it impossible to see the situation inside.

However, hair-raising roars, thuds, and even strange barking and eerie, frantic laughter constantly emanated from within.

Clang! Clang!

The cages were being slammed so hard they were severely deformed, and a dark red, viscous liquid was faintly seeping out from under the black cloths.

The high-ranking members of the Noble Families in the hall were all enraged.

"What have you done to the Ancestors?!"

Zhou Heng roared, his eyes bloodshot.

"That's them in a rage!"

Another elder gnashed his teeth, his face contorted,

"Damned Alliance, how dare you lock dogs in with the Ancestors! You are simply unforgivable!"

A faint, hidden smirk touched the corner of Shen Yunshang's mouth.

"Just a small punishment. Their lives are not in danger. Now, make the trade immediately."

Ling Tian sneered, believing he had seen through Shen Yunshang's feigned toughness.

"We can trade. But it must be done according to our rules!"

"We can lift the measures against the civilians, and you will open a targeted spatial teleportation array to send the Ancestors directly into our hall."

"Furthermore, your Alliance army must completely withdraw from the Southern Second Outpost!"

Shen Yunshang stared at the light screen, a tiny, hidden curve forming at the corner of her mouth.

"The outpost can be yours."

"The moment the civilians are safely out of danger, the people will be teleported over."

The back-and-forth between the two sides lasted for a full ten minutes.

Finally, after the Noble Families confirmed that the Alliance army in the civilian areas had begun to retreat and the teleportation array had been activated,

They smugly lifted all measures against the civilians.

In the eyes of the Noble Families' high-ranking members, these fools in the Alliance were actually willing to release tigers back to the mountains for the sake of millions of irrelevant ants.

It was pathetically stupid.