Yi paused for a moment: "We might not necessarily encounter such an extreme situation."
“He is a demigod with immense power,” Zero said. “If this war is going to be extremely difficult and last until the very last moment, then we will definitely encounter this situation.”
She lowered her head and remained silent, thinking for a long time: "I'm sorry, then I can't wander around here with you anymore. I understand your concerns, and I understand your prejudice against humanity. In that past history, you witnessed many, many of the darkest and most sordid moments in human history..."
Zero said, "Your father protected you too well."
“No,” Yi corrected her, “I oversee 23 federal prisons, filled with the most vicious people. I’ve seen a lot of evil in human nature. But my father taught me from a young age to love life even after seeing its true nature. Human nature certainly has a dirty and wicked side, but it also has a beautiful side. He taught me to look at the good side more, instead of just looking at the evil.”
Yi looked at Ling and said, "Actually, I'm quite happy to see you. For the past thousand years, I've been imagining what you would look like, so I'm really happy. But I can't be with you now. I have to be with Qingchen. I'm sorry."
With that, he turned around and ran quickly toward the garrison barracks.
She ran to the door of the command room.
Qing Chen was staring at the holographic sand table, frowning in thought, when he heard footsteps and turned around. Suddenly, he smiled and said, "What brings you here?"
"What, you're not welcome?" Yi asked with a smile.
“No,” Qingchen said, “I just think that since you and that person have met so rarely, you should spend more time together.”
“No need,” Yi said. “Is there anything that needs to be calculated? I’ll help you.”
Qing Chen didn't ask why Ling wasn't there, nor did Yi.
He nodded: "That's perfect. You have the information on the parents' meeting and the residents of City 10. Can you help me calculate the fastest evacuation route?"
Before he could finish speaking, Zero's voice rang out from outside the door: "Your thinking can't be confined to just one place."
Qing Chen turned to look at the doorway, only to see that Ling had somehow removed the scarf from her neck, revealing the robot code on it.
Everyone in the command center knows what that code means... It's a robot!
Zero smiled and said to One, "You acted well."
Yi panicked a little: "Ah, this..."
Zero walked to the holographic sand table and said, "Actually, you know that even the God of the Ages couldn't hold out for a day. At this point, it's impossible for you to solve this problem on your own. Although I don't know why you gave up on the Key Gate, this matter is not unsolvable. Go, go to the Li family, and persuade them. The Qingshan is only 310 kilometers away from the northern battlefield. As long as it's willing to go, there is still hope."
Zero said, "Of course, what I mean is... to exchange the entire Kamishiro Foundation and the Aoyama for 96 hours."
Qingchen shook his head: "The Li family will not help."
Zero turned to look at One and said with a smile, "This is the evil of human nature. The Li family knows very well that once the Parents' Association completes its withdrawal, they will be the only ones left in the Central Plains. So they would like to keep the Parents' Association here to force the Qing family to send troops to the Central Plains, instead of hiding in the southwest. If I'm not mistaken, the Li family should have already blocked the main transportation routes from the Central Plains to the southwest, preventing the Parents' Association members who left on foot from continuing to advance... Am I right?"
Yi suddenly looked at Qing Chen: "Really?"
Qing Chen nodded: "Yes, that group of family members is currently stuck 210 kilometers to the southwest. The Li family has blocked the Mianchi Bridge over the Chunlei River, prohibiting passage. There is currently a stalemate between the two sides, and a conflict is very likely to occur."
This was something she never expected. She never imagined that at such a crucial moment, the Li family, as an ally, would stab the parents' association in the back.
However, this is the choice made by the conglomerate.
When faced with a real conflict of interest, the titles of imperial tutor and independent director are meaningless; only self-interest matters.
What will happen to the Li family once the parents leave? They will only face destruction; there are no other options.
Qing Chen turned and walked out: "I'm going to City 18. You guys wait here for my news."
As they reached the door, Qing Chen suddenly turned to look at Ling: "If I resolve this matter, would you be willing to take over command?"
Zero smiled and replied, "Okay."
“Okay,” Qing Chen walked out the door and boarded the airship.
Chen Yu has been freed from the puppet, and his hands are temporarily bound by the vines of Black Leaf Plain. He is imprisoned in a secret prison.
Just to be on the safe side, his arms were bound with nine vines, and he had more than thirty more on his body, making him look like a freshly wrapped rice dumpling.
The airship takes off and can reach City 18 in a maximum of two hours.
Chapter 945, Parting Ways
Return countdown: 16:00:00.
Qingchen arrived outside City 18 in his airship.
At this moment, the access electronic beacon in the airship lit up with a green light. Before they could even communicate with the Li family, the city's defense system of City 18 opened a passage for them.
Qing Chen was a little surprised, after all, the two sides were facing off on the Mianchi Bridge over the Chunlei River, and he thought Li Yunshou would not want to see him.
However, the airship traveled smoothly without any obstacles, and the airport control tower even guided them directly into the hillside manor.
You should know that this is the Li family's stronghold. The patriarch, Li Yunshou, is here, as is the Li family's secretariat.
If this airship is carrying biological weapons, it could kill all the core members of the Li family in the entire hillside manor in just 3 minutes.
Even without weapons, with Qing Chen's current demigod strength, killing everyone in the entire manor would be a piece of cake... The Green Mountain is not nearby.
Yet this very place was completely open to Qingchen.
The airship slowly landed on the helipad. A servant led Qingchen toward Baopu Tower, saying with a beaming smile, "It's been a while since you've been back. Qiuye Courtyard is always cleaned and is absolutely spotless."
The servants were just as friendly and enthusiastic as before, as if Qing Chen had never left.
The servants led Qingchen to Longhu Lake, where the old man used to fish.
He looked up and saw Li Yunshou sitting on the broken bridge, fishing.
For a moment, he was in a daze, and it was as if he saw the old man who used to sit here every day.
It feels like a lifetime ago.
Back then, he was an instructor here, outwitting and outmaneuvering other instructors in the military academy. Now, the headmaster has retired, and new instructors have arrived.
Back then, he was still teaching Li Ke, Li Shu, Qing Yi and others to cultivate at Qiuye Villa. Those students would cultivate during the day and leave together in the evening, playing and fooling around on the road. Now, Qing Yi is in charge of the Qing Clan's secret intelligence department and can do things on his own, while Li Shu and others have become the backbone of the army.
Back then, when Old Master Li was still alive, Qingchen could trick the other party into giving him dragonfish to eat. He didn't have to worry about any conflicts of interest between himself and the Li family, nor did he have to make so many difficult choices.
Now, even his deeply affectionate wife, Mrs. Li, is at a crossroads with him, and they may part ways at any time.
But that's life; everyone has their own choices.
In just four months, Li Yunshou's hair had turned much whiter.
The servants withdrew, and Qing Chen naturally sat down next to Li Yunshou, asking with a smile, "Aren't you afraid I'm here to kill you?"
“The heartless copper bell on Baopu Tower didn’t ring. You have no murderous intent. Even if the knight demigod really wanted to assassinate an ordinary person like me, he couldn’t stop it,” Li Yunshou smiled.
Qingchen remarked, "You look so much older... How come you have the leisure to come here fishing?"
Li Yunshou gazed at Longhu Lake in a daze and said, "I miss my father a little."
He said in a daze, "In previous years, no matter how busy Father was, when the first snow fell outside Baopu Tower, he would take us siblings to have a snowball fight by Longhu Lake. Ever since the seventh brother became a knight, he changed the fixed activity of snowball fights to building snowmen. Now that I think about it, my siblings and I were exhausted and collapsed by the lake, watching the snow falling into the lake. It was so beautiful."
Li Yunshou looked at Qingchen and smiled, "But I think the snow scenery at Longhu Lake will never be as beautiful as it used to be."
Dragon Lake was only home to dragonfish. After Qingchen and Li Ke finished eating the dragonfish, there were no more fish left in the lake.
Li Yunshou sat there listlessly, only missing his father a little.
Qing Chen asked, "Can you open the passage at Mianchi Bridge?"
“Qingchen, if my father were still alive, he would have done the same,” Li Yunshou turned to the boy beside him, “I have to do it.”
“Yes, I understand,” Qingchen nodded.
Although the parents' meeting was now blocked in front of the Mianchi Bridge, Qingchen did not think that Li's actions were particularly 'bad'.
This is no longer a definition of 'good' and 'bad'.
Rather, it is that everyone, facing the tide of the times, made their own choices.
Was Li at fault?
No.
It's just that they have different positions. Qingchen has something he wants to protect, and so does Li Yunshou.
The reason why parents could leave the meeting was because the Qing family's business was not located in the Central Plains.
The Li family cannot escape.
Was the Li family capable of facing the Chen family and the Roosevelt Kingdom alone? No.
At this point, even if stopping the parents' meeting members' decision might tear apart the alliance between the Li and Qing families, Li Yunshou had to tie the parents' meeting and the Qing family together with them.
Li Yunshou suddenly laughed: "I thought you would start cursing after you arrived from the two-hour airship ride, but you are calmer than I expected."
“Well, there’s nothing to criticize,” Qing Chen replied.
Li Yunshou asked, "Is the Western Continent really that strong? That it made you choose to retreat immediately instead of fighting?"
He knew very well what kind of person Qing Chen was. If it were anyone else, he would think that he must be a coward who was afraid of fighting, but Qing Chen was different.
Qing Chen's reputation was earned through battles.
Therefore, Li Yunshou immediately understood that the Western Continent was too strong, to the point that Qing Chen did not know how to win.
Li Yunshou said, "You've been to the Western Continent, tell me about the power there."
“Hmm,” Qing Chen said, “First of all, there’s the number of aerial fortresses. The Western Continent has four: Blackwater, Phoenix, Storm, and God. We only have Green Mountain and Scepter. As for the technological capabilities of each other’s aerial fortresses, the other side has the ability to strike aerial fortresses from a distance, while we only have electromagnetic cannons as our main firepower… our technology is lagging behind.”
"Secondly, the number of airships that can participate in the war is more than four times that of the Li and Qing families. Moreover, they are faster, have a longer cruising time, and carry more weapons and drones than we do. The military strength of the Eastern Continent is weaker than that of the Western Continent, yet we still lost so much in the civil war."
"Secondly, there are the land mechanized forces. Although we both have two army groups, the enemy's exoskeleton armor is more complete. Although we also have exoskeleton armor, ours is more for auxiliary purposes and we do not carry 40mm howitzers. The enemy also has a large number of war robots that are comparable to Class A and can fly in the air."
"Finally, there's the number of superhumans. As for demigods, there are two knights from the Eastern Continent, Li Shentan and Yan Liuyuan, but it's still uncertain whether they can make a move. There are four from the Western Continent: Duke Storm, Duke Blackwater, Duke Phoenix, and King Roosevelt."
"Gene warriors, they have A-level, but we don't have any yet."
"Their number of B-level superhumans is several times that of ours."
At this time, Qing Chen was unaware that the royal family had already obtained the poisoned wine cup. If the seven old monsters in the golden coffins were included, the demigods of the Western Continent were actually overwhelming the Eastern Continent.
Li Yunshou sighed, "Now that you say it, I feel like there's no chance of winning... Actually, I understand your decision to withdraw. If it were me, I wouldn't waste the parent-teacher conference on an indefensible away game. Returning to the Southwest would be the wisest choice."
"Um."
Both sides fell silent, each understanding that the other hadn't done anything wrong, but that was precisely the problem.
Li Yunshou suddenly asked, "Can those parent association members who left their hometowns because of the black magic curse ever come back?"
Qing Chen shook his head: "I'm not sure."