Chapter 651: 651

Chapter 651: Pitched Battle! Pitched Battle!

Lu Siya’s report had already provided a simple account of the entire battle in the lair.

When Meng Chao returned, he gave more details and a large amount of evidence to Nie Chenglong in the tactical command center of the abnormal beast research center. Among them was the Vortex’s tissue.

He had also brought with him the letter requesting aid from Leprosy Village and the gangs. The piece of paper was covered in blood-red fingerprints.

Within a mere seventy-two hours, Meng Chao had managed to go on a bizarre and dangerous adventure. All the veteran investigators, including Nie Chenglong, were stunned when they heard his tale.

Meng Chao spoke for more than one hour and concluded, “Vice Director Nie, we’re forced to act because of the situation. To get rid of the negative effects brought on by Jin Wanhao’s death within the shortest amount of time and to restore the lair’s order as soon as possible, we have to gather everyone and their resources together in the Lair Reconstruction Committee’s name.

“I’m actually a person who doesn’t care about fame and profit, so I don’t want to be the committee leader at all. You should know that I’m already the club leader of Broken Star Club, one of the directors of Blue Home, and sometimes, I even have to take care of the businesses in Superstar. I have to train as well, and I have to deal with a host of problems every day!

“However, the power players in the gangs have acknowledged me as their savior. They cried and begged me to be their committee leader.

“If I don’t agree to it, the gangs will be divided. This chaos will definitely continue, and more innocent lives will be harmed. Reconstructing the lair will also be something that’ll never see the light of day.

“So, I decided to act first without consulting you and undertake this position. I didn’t… make the wrong call, right?”

Nie Chenglong remained stunned for a long time before he gave Meng Chao’s head a light tap. “The deed is already done, and you’re pretending to be innocent in front of me?” he asked.

“If we talk about legal principles, you’re not an official member of the Abnormal Beast Research Department, and the gangs are not some disciplinary force either. They’re just business groups and clubs that the citizens have formed on their own. To the government, they’re just clubs that have become united and formed a non-governmental association. It’s fine as long as they don’t do harm and break the law.”

“Of course they won’t. I have willingly picked up the task because I want to guide the gangs down the path of regularization, legalization, and industrialization so that they can contribute even better for Dragon City!”

Meng Chao stopped talking for a moment and tentatively asked, “Also, even though it sounds like complete nonsense, I did hit it off with Underground Emperor Jin Wanhao. He admired me a lot and insisted on becoming brothers with me. Before he passed away, he also gave him his divine art and plenty of his personal property. I don’t want him to die restless, so this should be fine, right?”

“Speaking of which, let me ask you something.” Nie Chenglong stared at Meng Chao and asked, “Is your report real? Did Jin Wanhao really join the fight to kill the Vortex?”

“It sure is. The battlefield is right there. The Abnormal Beast Research Department and secret police’s experts are welcome to investigate it at any time. Not only did Jin Wanhao join the fight, but he also burned his life and delivered two Celestial Tyrant’s Star Shattering Slashes at the Vortex! He was the main fighting force in the battle!” Meng Chao said. “With a warrior at the level of the Underground Emperor fighting at full force, he would have definitely left behind a lot of tracks that we can’t possibly imitate.”

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that this matter is too sensitive. After all, we’re talking about Jin Wanhao’s identity here.” Nie Chenglong sank into contemplative silence for a moment and said, “Then, how are you going to handle Jin Wanhao’s astronomical legacy?”

“I’ll do a 3:7 split, I guess.” Meng Chao had already decided on it a long time ago. “Thirty percent of it will be for my cultivation and improvement of skills. The greatest lesson I learned from the battle of the lair is that I’m still too weak. I might sound amazing as the youngest Heaven Realm superhuman in Dragon City, but when I fight enemies, no one will care whether I’m young or not.

“The other seventy percent will be invested in the new company that Big Sis Ya has created, and it will all be utilized to reconstruct the lair. I hope that the lair citizens will soon be able to live just as well as the people outside. If you or the Abnormal Beast Research Department are interested, you’re welcome to invest in this and help us change the lair!”

Compared with the secret police, the Abnormal Beast Research Department was an even more secretive and important organization.

The fees and special war budget that the Survival Committee had given to them were not enough for their expenses.

The Abnormal Beast Research Department had plenty of peripheral industries, and they would use the power that they had in exchange for profit from businesses. Next, they would use the profit to buy equipment, increase the strength of their investigators, and also cover the expenses of their operations.

Meng Chao’s Superstar had obtained the Abnormal Beast Research Department’s support and grown quickly. Within just a short year or so, it had managed to merge with a few other companies and rise to fame within the business circle in Dragon City.

Since they were working together happily, Meng Chao believed that Nie Chenglong had no reason to reject the honey-covered olive branch he just extended.

Of course, Meng Chao would not stupidly hand over all the riches and resources Jin Wanhao had given to him.

The treasures that were small but were valuable, like Hell’s Blood, were definitely for himself, Big Sis Ya, and his sister.

Nevertheless, he had plenty of items, crystals, and cultivation equipment that were large and high in spirit energy radiation. They could not be moved around easily, and it was also very easy for others to find them. It would be difficult for him to deal with them away from the public eye.

With the Abnormal Beast Research Department endorsing him, it would be much easier for him to publicly deal with those items.

Just as he had expected, Nie Chenglong thought about things for a while and said, “Underground Emperor Jin Wanhao might be neither good nor bad and there are mixed public opinions about him, but overall, he’s still a citizen who protected the lair for decades. He still kept a few hundred thousand citizens safe during Dragon City’s most dangerous times so that they could stay away from the threat of blood and destruction. He contributed greatly to the city and our entire civilization.

“His character and the many problems of the lair are natural byproducts of the city’s special period in history. We struggled our way out of the bloody era where zombies roamed free and monsters terrorized us after all, and it has just been a few decades since then. It’s impossible for us to ask those people who were born into a lawless apocalypse, where order had collapsed and only the law of the jungle applied, to instantly become gentle and polite noble people. That’s not practical.

“In any case, I believe that the Survival Committee will give Jin Wanhao a fair appraisal when they give the final verdict. They will give him the honor and power he deserves. No one will go against his wish when he was alive and manage his legacy rashly without taking into consideration the overall situation. If they do that, they will just disappoint all of the powerful fighters and make everyone behave selfishly as well as hide their resources.

“So, just be at ease, Meng Chao. As long as the evidence you’ve provided is true, clear, and effective, the Abnormal Beast Research Department will definitely support you. They’ll be willing to reconstruct the lair so that all of the lair citizens can bask in the light that should belong to them!”

Nie Chenglong’s firm promise caused Meng Chao to finally feel at ease after seventy-two long hours.

When he saw how relieved Meng Chao looked, Nie Chenglong asked what he and Lu Siya intended to do next. He had risked his life and achieved great things. Both of them had the right to receive the best treatment and rest. All they needed to do was to gather their strength to receive flowers, cheers, medals, and rewards.

Yet, Meng Chao just waved his hand and said that while the battle of the lair had ended, the flames of war within and outside Dragon City had yet to be extinguished. Even if they stared at the core of the main city area, they could still hear deafening artillery fire constantly, sense the never-ending tremors from the ground, and detect the thick smell of gunpowder.

This chapter is scrapped from readlightnovel.org

He really wanted to know how the pitched battle at the borders was going on.

“It’s bad.” Speaking of that, Nie Chenglong’s slightly relieved expression became grave once more, and he said, “Initial estimations showed that the head-on clash alone has cost us more than five thousand casualties within the first twenty-four hours.”

“What?!”

Both Meng Chao and Lu Siya were shocked.

There were only a total of several dozen million people in Dragon City.

If five thousand people were injured among several dozen million people, that was the same as fifty thousand people among a few hundred million people being injured.

Besides, that was just the first day of the pitched battle.

All Dragon Citizens were soldiers, and the way humans fought monsters was different from how humans waged war on Earth, which meant that they could not rigidly measure things according to the standards of war damages on Earth. However, it did not matter what standards they used to measure their number of casualties. It was still a rather devastating number.

It was no wonder why the frontlines could not mobilize a sufficient number of powerful fighters to provide reinforcements to the lair.

All the fighters were fighting using different methods on various battlefields, and some of them had even died!

Nie Chenglong showed some pictures and short videos to Meng Chao and Lu Siya.

They had all been recorded on the frontlines, and the videos and pictures had been transmitted to the rear while the spirit energy magnetic field interference was not too bad.

The first picture showed a forward operating base being taken down by a monster horde.

Its super alloy defense walls were five meters high, and they were covered in the carcasses of large insect-type monsters. Their torn limbs formed a slope that allowed the monsters behind them to be able to step on it and climb into the forward operating base.

The forward operating base was covered in scorch marks that had been left behind by explosions and flames. Plus, the bodies of humans and large insect-type monsters were burnt to a crisp. Even so, they were still bound tightly together, as though they wanted to drive their teeth, claws, and fists deep into the other’s bodies.

Blood coagulated into a red bacterial lawn, and there were also intersecting, sloppy claw marks all over the place as if it was a suicide note from humans stating that they would fight to the end. Even though the “words” were ugly, they contained their firm and unbreakable will. As such, Meng Chao and Lu Siya felt respect for them.

The second thing they saw was a short video. It should have been recorded during the final moments of the warriors who had defended the forward operating base, and they had transmitted it to the rear.

At that time, the spirit energy magnetic field interference was already pretty bad. Their filming equipment had been affected, and the images were blurry and distorted.

They could hear human shouts mixed together with monster roars. It was soul-stirring, like a rock song that pierced the heavens.

“Die, you monsters!”

“Come on, friggin’ climb up here!”

“Long live Dragon City! Long live Earth! Long live humanity!”

In the face of the monster horde that was charging at them like an avalanche, countless normal soldiers and pathfinders awakened to supernatural abilities. Their bodies shone with the light of life before they lifted heavy weapons that were thicker than their thighs and fired.

By the time they finished firing the bullets, the recoil had already destroyed their organs. Most of the monster horde had also perished under their hands. Then, the humans laughed, tied grenades and crystal bombs on their bodies, and jumped at what was left of the monster horde.