457: Wartime command center

"Report! The civilians outside the South Gate are rioting and are currently charging our city gates!" a guard rushed in to report.

"How bold! Daring to charge the city gates, do they have a death wish?" Zhu Zhiyong roared, standing up.

Recently, large numbers of civilians have been gathering outside every city gate, requesting to enter Southern Yue City. Most of these people come from smaller Level 3 or 4 bases, and the vast majority of them belong to certain Families. Only people like this have the capability to travel to Southern Yue City at this time to apply for refuge.

Because too many people came, Southern Yue City felt significant pressure after accepting a portion of them. Consequently, they suspended admissions under the pretext of entering a state of combat readiness, causing the number of civilians gathered outside to grow larger and larger. With so many people, conflicts naturally became inevitable...

As news of the Sea Race's imminent arrival continued to spread, these people outside the city began to grow anxious, so it was not surprising that they attempted to charge the city gates today.

"It was people from several small Families who banded together to lead the charge. The situation at the South Gate is currently very intense, and we are worried that people at other gates will follow suit once they receive the news," the guard said anxiously.

"Hmph, hold the line for me! Anyone who dares to lead this charge is to be executed without mercy!!!" Zhu Zhiyong bellowed fiercely.

"What? Executed without mercy?!" The guard asked, startled and taken aback.

"That's right! This is what they call killing the chicken to scare the monkey. Once the ringleaders are slaughtered, the others won't dare to cause trouble again!" Zhu Zhiyong said bluntly.

"Nonsense!" A voice suddenly rang out. Zhu Zhiyong looked up and realized it was Zhu Nan. He quickly suppressed his rising temper and said with a grin, "Steward Zhu, what wind blew you here today?"

Zhu Nan waved his hand with a cold face and scoffed, "And what happens after you kill those ringleaders? Will the civilians outside just retreat?"

"This... probably not!" Zhu Zhiyong hesitated.

"Exactly! They are here to seek refuge. Retreating means death, while entering doesn't necessarily mean death. Naturally, they will continue to charge. The death of those ringleaders will only stir up their shared hatred, and the situation will likely become even harder to control by then!" Zhu Nan said.

Zhu Zhiyong's face darkened like water as he listened. He asked, "Then what should we do? If this sets a precedent, everyone else will come flooding over. How can Southern Yue City accommodate so many people?"

"Go out of the city, organize them all, and train them in the Ten Thousand Soldiers Gathering Profound Formation on the spot!" Zhu Nan said slowly.

"What? Will that work?" Zhu Zhiyong was stunned.

"Of course it will work! Most of these people brought their own Xuan weapons, and many of them are Xuan Practitioners. As long as they are organized well, forming a Formation and unleashing combat power won't be a problem. By then, they can help us defend against the Sea Race, and might even be sent out to help those small coastal cities!" Zhu Nan said.

"But, the training time for this Formation takes at least a month, and we haven't even mastered our own Ten Thousand Soldiers Gathering Profound Formation yet!" Zhu Zhiyong said skeptically.

"Your training method is wrong! The Young Lord just said that the Tiangong Group's Gathering Profound Formation can actually be broken down for training. First, divide it into smaller units for training, and when needed, these small units can combine to form larger units. Each combat unit can unleash a certain amount of combat power, and the larger the unit, the higher the level of the joint strike. But you have been trying to train with large units from the very beginning. Not only is the comprehension speed too slow, but the results are actually poor!" Zhu Nan explained.

Zhu Zhiyong's eyes lit up as he listened, and he said excitedly, "The Young Lord said this? Is he back?"

"The Young Lord will be here very soon. He will be in charge of the defense of our entire Nanyue Base! You must immediately follow the Young Lord's instructions, go and pacify the civilians, and get them to settle down and participate in the training!" Zhu Nan said.

"That's great! At least the Young Lord is finally here to take charge of this mess. If he didn't come soon, I would have been about to break down!" Zhu Zhiyong said bluntly.

Zhu Nan shook his head as he watched them leave. If Long Yuan didn't arrive soon, he would have been about to break down too!

Right now, the entire Nanyue Base is in chaos. People from various small coastal cities are fleeing their homes and flooding into Southern Yue City, with some even fleeing further to Yingtian Prefecture and Shuntian Prefecture to seek shelter. The authorities simply cannot contain them. If this situation continues to develop, I'm afraid Nanyue Base will collapse before the Sea Race even arrives.

Similar situations exist in other peripheral bases. After all, there are currently many combat videos circulating in secret, showing the Sea Race attacking countries like Snow Eagle Country, War Bear Country, and Flying Lion Country. Some were transmitted from foreign networks, and some were leaked by cultists. Many civilians were scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering after watching them. They simply do not believe their small cities can hold out, so fleeing the small cities to seek refuge in the big cities has become the best path forward!

Facing such a situation, it is naturally impossible for people like Zhu Zhiyong and Zhu Zhiquan to solve it. Even if Prince Fu were to step in personally, it would be useless. In the end, they must rely on Long Yuan to take charge.

Right now, Long Yuan's reputation in Nanyue Base is much louder than Prince Fu's. Many officers and soldiers only recognize Long Yuan and no one else. This is one of the reasons why Long Yuan was in such a hurry to rush back.

Zhu Nan was pacing back and forth when he suddenly felt something behind him. He turned his head and couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise and joy on his face, saying, "Young Lord! You've finally returned!"

Long Yuan smiled and said, "I told you I would come back as soon as possible!"

Zhu Nan hurriedly reported the recent situation in Nanyue Base to Long Yuan, and added, "General Yong just went to the South Gate to suppress the unrest, and General Quan has been leading the troops in training the Ten Thousand Soldiers Gathering Profound Formation..."

Long Yuan nodded. He glanced at the mountain of letters piled up on Zhu Zhiyong's desk and cast out his Divine Sense to read through them one by one. Before long, he had finished reading them all. Zhu Nan stood by, unfazed, waiting respectfully, and even brewed a pot of tea for Long Yuan.

"The war preparation plans for these small cities are too sloppy! No wonder so many people are fleeing the small cities and flooding into the big ones..." Long Yuan frowned and said.

Zhu Nan's face fell as he listened, and he sighed, "Young Lord, actually, we in Southern Yue City don't know how to prepare for war either. After all, we have absolutely no experience in dealing with the Sea Race..."

Long Yuan nodded slightly. This was indeed the truth. Nanyue Base was already weak in strength and lacked experience in large-scale warfare. Expecting them to come up with a perfect defense plan was indeed making things difficult for them.

Fortunately, the Sea Race in the southeast coastal area this time shouldn't be too strong, so there is still time to prepare properly.

He thought for a moment and said, "Arrange for the personnel from the communications squad to come here. I want to send instructions to the city lords of all the small coastal cities immediately!"

"Yes!" Zhu Nan replied and immediately walked out...

Not long after, about fifty people from the communications squad set up shop at the central command tent. A massive topographical map slowly unfurled. It was created by Long Yuan based on the terrain information collected by the Heavenly Eye, and it was incredibly detailed and accurate. A wartime command center was officially established...