-Approximately 1 hour later, back at the military base, specialized closed combat training grounds.
As the training of the armed and evolved army continued progressing as usual and without any problems, Kang Lan finally opened her eyes after having kept them tightly closed to get a better focus on the task at hand.
She observed the people around her and noticed one person who was previously not there.
"Jingyi, you're here."
Cai Jingyi smiled slightly and nodded in response, "Yeah. On my side, I finished to do what Shangguan Bing Xue instructed me to do and-"
Just as she was speaking, her words were interrupted by the voice of the leader of the First Battalion of the First Brigade whose name was Lin Tao, a powerful First Order soul evolver who had been saved from the clutches of two First Order beasts by Bai Zemin some time ago and thus was totally loyal to him coming out of the military radio inside her bag:
"Legion Leader Cai, the two teams attached to the First Battalion have succeeded in the complete suppression of all rebels within the range you ordered us formerly. At this precise moment the troops are patrolling the area and making sure that no more disturbances happen."
A similar message followed seconds later but this time sent by the leader of the Second Battalion of the First Brigade of the Blood Spear Legion.
But this was but the prelude to a series of reports as immediately afterward the military radio of Fu Xuefeng was turned on and the two leaders of the two battalions of the Second Brigade reported to him something similar to the reports Cai Jingyi had received seconds before.
"... Judging from the fact that both Fu Xuefeng and Cai Jingyi received reports at practically the same time, I think it's not wrong to assume that the troops of the Blood Sword Legion Commander and the troops of the Blood Whip Legion Commander are probably close to complete their task by now if they haven't already finished." Evangeline analyzed as everyone was silent for a moment.
The Commander of the Blood Sword Legion was none other than Zhong De while the Commander of the Blood Whip Legion was naturally Chen He, who had helped tremendously with the mobilization of the survivors from the Beginner Village to the Baiquan Camp.
For this operation and for the sake of ending any kind of plague as quickly as possible, Shangguan Bing Xue obtained special permission from Bai Zemin which allowed her to mobilize the entire three legions of the faction in full. While it was impossible to use every single member of the three legions for this operation as many men were still required to maintain defenses, scout, observe the surroundings, etc; it was more than enough considering that about 1000 soul evolvers and about 2500 armed troops and policemen had been mobilized.
Approximately two hours later, a large table full of food was served in the main villa under the careful work of the beautiful maids.
The food that had been prepared by the chefs with the most evolved Cooking skill of the entire faction did not lose at all to the most exquisite delicacies of the five-star hotels of the past. Not only thanks to the Cooking skill, which greatly increased the cooking knowledge and proficiency of those who learned it, but also thanks to the valuable ingredients that had been used.
The lowest quality meat was meat that belonged to an Iron Horned Deer whose level was 33 while the most valuable meat could be considered a treasure as it belonged to the Surprisingly Strong Archaic Bear of the Second Order. There were even several vegetables that were discovered and studied by the biology and botany teams whose flavors made a mockery of all the best and most carefully cultivated vegetables grown by the real experts of the pre-apocalypse Earth.
Such type of food was of such high quality that only a handful of people who could be counted with the fingers of two hands could afford it in the entire faction. However, considering who were the people gathered around this table, it was not an impossibility.
Seated on the right side of the table in the following order: Shangguan Bing Xue, Wu Yijun, Chen He, Zhong De, Cai Jingyi, Fu Xuefeng, Kang Lan, Evangeline, Nangong Yi, and finally Fu Qigang.
The leaders and vice leaders of the two brigades of the Blood Spear Legion were just below Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijin as the first one was the second in command when Bai Zemin was not present while the second one possessed the ability to interfere with Shangguan Bing Xue's orders if at any time she considered that the first one was not capable of leading.
Meanwhile, Chen He and Zhong De were the Commanders of the Blood Whip Legion and Blood Sword Legion respectively so their positions were the closest to the main seat after Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun.
Sitting on the left side were people such as Xiao Ming, Lu Yan, Lu Xiaoyao, and the rest of the leaders of each Battalion of the three legions.
"Big brother Bai still hasn't come out of his room?" Luo Ning, who was sitting on the left side of the table, asked with a frown.
Although she was only nine years old and in the past she was very innocent, she was gradually maturing enough to realize when something was not right. Therefore, she was beginning to see through the lie that Shangguan Bing Xue had told her before about Bai Zemin being busy with the spoils of war obtained during the purge on the Eastern Dragon's Back.
No one said anything to the question asked by Luo Ning and the eyes of everyone automatically focused on Shangguan Bing Xue's body. In fact, everyone was asking the same question and many feared the worst since Bai Zemin had locked himself up immediately after returning from the battle on the bridge.
Could it be... Could it be that the Leader really had been severely wounded?
As such a question began to grow, the weight on the hearts of everyone present suddenly became unimaginably great; so much so that the atmosphere seemed to freeze for a moment.
Shangguan Bing Xue slowly opened her eyes and carefully observed the expressions on the faces of everyone present. She, who had observed and understood the darker emotions that humans tried to hide, was confident in seeing beyond what their exteriors showed.
However, Shangguan Bing Xue only noticed real concern and even a bit of fear in the eyes of those present when the idea of Bai Zemin facing grave problems, which was perfectly normal considering that after having advanced so far they were all in the same boat; a boat which could easily sink if it lost its captain as many would try to take control over the rudder that Bai Zemin had built.
She turned her face to look at the empty seat at the head of the table for several seconds and as she looked at that place where the true leader was supposed to be, her soft, melodious voice broke the silence:
"There is nothing to worry about. I know that many if not all of you are wondering why Bai Zemin has not appeared for the past three days. Being completely honest, while Bai Zemin came out of the war against the zombie race and the beast race physically unscathed as his Health stat is so monstrous that all his wounds healed in a matter of seconds, the same cannot be said regarding his soul."
"Soul trouble again?" Wu Yijun whispered and a flash of worry appeared in her beautiful big eyes.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion as this was the first time they had heard about someone's soul being damaged. However, for someone who was able to reconnect an arm which had been severed and who was able to survive and regenerate a fist-sized hole that pierced his body from side to side to not be able to leave his room for three days in a row... the matter should be very serious.
Shangguan Bing Xue shook her head and continued, "Everything related to the soul is too far away from people like us and will probably stay that way for a long time so let's not think about matters that are beyond our reach. All you need to know is that Bai Zemin is not in danger by any means and will probably wake up soon as just before sitting at this table with all of you I went to check on his condition, and judging by his aura he will probably wake up in one or maybe two more days, I am not sure when but definitely soon."
About 1 hour ago, Shangguan Bing Xue had gone to Bai Zemin's room to see how things were progressing. There, she found Lilith sitting beside him and tenderly stroking his hair. While the sight was not particularly pleasing to Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes, she simply inquired about Bai Zemin's current condition and after getting the information she wanted she left the room for fear of losing her mind and destroying the entire villa.
"That's good." Xiao Ming nodded upon hearing Shangguan Bing Xue's words and slapped his chest as if relieved as he said with lingering anger, "Fortunately and all of us here are trustworthy people or if some little bastard gets wind of this information they might try to cause trouble. You saw what happened when that backstabbing dog Yang Tu tried to take advantage of the Leader's injuries."
Silence reigned after those words left Xiao Ming's mouth and he noticed several people looking at him with weird eyes.
"I say, Xiao Ming. Could you be a little more careful with your mouth?" Nangong Yi looked at the man on the other side of the table not knowing whether he should laugh or cry.
"More careful?" Xiao Ming looked at him in confusion. However, as if suddenly thinking of something, he looked to his right and noticed how Lu Xiaoyao was biting her lips and how Lu Yan was clenching his fists tightly.
"Ah."
Was all Xiao Ming could say when he realized what was happening. He coughed awkwardly and apologized, "Lu Yan, Lu Xiaoyao, I'm sorry about that.... Actually, I didn't mean to offend anyone."
"It's okay," Lu Yan forced a smile and shook his head, "After all, your words weren't particularly false either."
Xiao Ming was a man who spoke his mind straight out and hated petty machinations, therefore, he completely despised Yang Tu's behavior; this coupled with his practically blind loyalty to Bai Zemin only served to help him hate this man who had once been his ally even now that he was dead. Therefore, he did not measure his words when it came to speaking and forgot that Lu Yan and Lu Xiaoyao were basically Yang Tu's relatives.
Shangguan Bing Xue shook her head secretly before cutting off the conversation in an indifferent voice: "Let's start the meeting once and for all. First, I want a detailed report on the extent of damage the base suffered once the announcement about the large-scale mobilization to the south was made public. Second, the number of innocent people injured or killed. Lastly, the number of vandals who were killed."
And so, the meeting officially began. It was not only about reports but also about fine-tuning small details for the big mobilization. After all, moving more than thirty thousand humans was not easy at all.
Meanwhile, on the top floor of the villa, the person who should be in the main seat and taking the reins of the meeting finally woke up. However, judging by the message that flashed in his retina the moment he opened his eyes, he probably wouldn't have time to go down to the main floor.
* * * * * * * Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3

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