When the old master of the Qing family learned that the cockroach swarm in the central royal city had subsided, he sighed, "Everyone, the final battle is coming."
At this moment, Li Kerou, holding the LCD screen, said, "The Western Continent has reorganized the remnants of Kamishiro and Kashima and ordered them to move south along the edge of the nuclear explosion zone of City 18. They have now entered the Southwest Mountains and seem to be hunting down the members of the Parents' Association."
After the arrival of the Roosevelt Kingdom Land Army, it had already taken control of 12 cities.
They re-enlisted veterans in the city and formed a suicide squad of more than 200,000 men. A small portion of them were used for city management and were responsible for tattooing civilians' faces.
After being recruited, these soldiers not only failed to help the federal civilians, but instead began to aid and abet the evildoers, earning them the nickname "puppet army" from the people.
The remaining majority were converted into civilian airships, equipped with crude firepower systems, and sent to the southwestern mountains to hunt down the hundreds of thousands of PTA members who were still on the run.
Li Kerou looked at the old man: "Should we meet up with the parents' meeting members? Qingkun Air Force is only 600 kilometers away, and can arrive within three hours."
The old man shook his head: "This is their fate. They must complete this journey themselves. Give Qingkun the order that he must evacuate Jianmen Pass within 24 hours. It cannot be defended there."
Li Kerou hesitated for a moment and said, "Ling said she wants to take over military command. You no longer have the authority to command the army. Qingkun cannot abandon Jianmen Pass. As long as he is still alive, Jianmen Pass cannot be lost. If you have any objections, you can dismiss her first."
The old man pondered for a moment: "Tell her that from now on, she is the supreme military commander of the Qing family."
Chapter 975, Waiting
"Are you going to hand over the power of the Qing family to an outsider?" someone asked doubtfully.
The old man was silent for a moment: "Now, the Western Continent has killed Xiao San as they wished, and may have also obtained the forbidden ant queen. If they really have a way to find Qing Chen through Xiao San, then we must prepare for the worst."
The worst-case scenario is that Qing Chen is also found and killed by the Western Continent, or that Qing Chen fails to become a god and ultimately becomes part of the world's will, losing all his own thoughts.
Therefore, those who are still alive in the Eastern Continent will have to find their own way to face the future war.
The most crucial thing now is that no one can be sure what happened to Qing Chen. Neither the Heaven and Earth Chessboard nor the Fate Master can see him anymore.
The old man sat in the conference room and looked at everyone present: "First, bring that Zero over. I have something to talk to her about. Second, if we still cannot determine Qing Chen's fate during this time travel cycle, then everyone needs to determine his location and find him as soon as we return, and see what state he is in."
Everyone's expressions were serious; Qing Chen's life or death had become the most crucial factor.
At this moment, Li Shutong looked at the old man: "What if Qingchen really dies? I remember you once said that this was... your only hope."
The old man was silent for a moment before saying, "Then let's fight to the last moment and find a way to drag the Western Continent down to hell with us."
Four hours later.
An airship landed in Ginkgo Manor. Ling stepped off the airship and looked around the manor with great interest. She came to the door of the small wooden house on the mountainside.
The old man sat inside and calmly said, "Come in."
The small door opened, and as Ling walked in, he glanced at the roof beam, where Qing Ji's son, Qing Wu, was sitting cross-legged, meditating with his eyes closed.
In front of the old man was a chessboard, with black and white pieces dominating the board. The black pieces were already showing signs of fatigue. Ling noticed that there were very few black and white pieces left in the chess box next to him.
The game has now reached its final moments, and one wrong move by Black could mean the end of the game.
Zero glanced at it and immediately said, "Your Qing clan seems to have always liked the tactic of putting yourself in a do-or-die situation. This game seems no different from one a thousand years ago. But this time, what will you do if you can't wait for Qing Chen?"
The old man stared directly at the 'woman' who had almost destroyed the world: "I'm not sure if Qingchen can come back, but we can only hope that we can hold on long enough that when he really comes back, it will still be in time."
Zero: "That would come at a great cost."
The old man said, "You should understand that humanity has never lacked the courage to pay the price."
Zero understands.
Zero said, "I'm curious, why are you willing to hand over command to me?"
The old man said, "In the endgame of Go, artificial intelligence, which is skilled in calculation, is naturally the most powerful."
Zero asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll destroy all of humanity?"
The old man replied slowly and deliberately: "The first era of mankind was destroyed by nuclear bombs, but the second era was saved by nuclear bombs. The only constant in this world is change. I believe there is a reason why Ren Xiaosu did not destroy you, and you have come to understand in this long thousand years that there may be something more worth looking forward to than destruction."
Zero laughed: "If you want me to take over command, then you'll have to show me everything you see on this chessboard. Do you have the guts?"
The old man took out another black piece from the chess box and placed it down, while a white piece in the box disappeared automatically and appeared on the chessboard.
The world between the two seemed to freeze in time.
Three hours later, Zero slowly got up and walked out: "An interesting game of chess. You may not be a qualified leader, but you are a qualified father... I'll finish the game."
...
...
The atmosphere in the Qing Clan Army Headquarters was heavy. With Xiao San dead and Qing Chen's fate unknown, everyone's spirits sank to the bottom.
In the center of the spacious main hall is a huge holographic sand table, displaying a topographical map of the entire southwest region.
Next to the holographic sand table, there are holographic projections of Qingkun and Qingyu, as well as Li Changqing, who has become the head of the Li family.
The command post was quiet. Hundreds of officers looked at Zero, the 'woman' who was about to command them.
Zero, looking at the holographic sand table, said, "From now on, I will take command of the Qing and Li families. I don't have time for introductions; just carry out my orders. The first thing is that the parent-teacher association's team will arrive at Jianmen Pass in five days. Qing Kun and Shen Daiyunluo, you two will head to Jianmen Pass today. After the parent-teacher association approves, Jianmen Pass must hold off their air force fleet to buy them time to evacuate."
Ryosuke Takahashi frowned and asked, "Why do you always send us to such dangerous places? Are you eliminating dissidents?"
Zero completely ignored him and instead looked at Kamishiro Unra: "Go, or not go?"
Zero's way of speaking is too abrupt, giving people a very domineering feeling.
Those who followed Shindai Yunluo were filled with righteous indignation, as if they had been treated unfairly: they were the ones who had previously fought for time for the parents' meeting and gone to the most dangerous places, and now it was their turn again.
However, Kamishiro Yunluo simply smiled and agreed, "I'll go."
Zero nodded: "Then let's set off. You don't need to attend the subsequent combat meetings. You only need to do this one thing."
Shen Dai Yunluo turned and led his men away. Someone at the airport had already prepared an airship for them, which would take them directly to Jianmen Pass.
On the airship, Shindai Yunluo laughed and said, "Let's go, let's pick up the families from the parent-teacher conference and take them home."
Ryosuke Takahashi finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Why am I making you go again?"
Kamishiro Yunluo was silent for a moment: "Because she knows very well that only I can go."
...
...
Inside the headquarters.
Zero looked at everyone: "Now, let's talk about the second thing. Li Changqing, I need you to return to the Central Plains. You will proceed according to the coordinates I send you. Your course must be precise and you must not deviate from it without authorization."
Zero sent out the coordinates, and the flight path was actually drawn in the shape of a C on the holographic sand table, detouring back to the Central Plains!
"You want me to cut off their land army's supply lines?" Li Changqing asked.
Zero smiled and said, "That's right."
Lee's air force was completely wiped out in City 18, leaving only the Green Mountain Air Fortress.
No one expected that the Qingshan ship, which had just arrived in the southwest to rendezvous with its crew, would be sent back to the most dangerous place in the Central Plains.
Zero looked at Li Changqing: "Only if the southwest is held, will the civilians who migrated from City 18 have a chance to live. Although you will die, they may survive."
“The other side’s satellites will detect us in advance,” Li Changqing said.
Zero answer: "This flight path just happened to avoid their satellites."
The eastern and western continents have been shooting down each other's satellites in the past, and neither side allows any satellites to have orbits on the equator, so neither side can achieve full-time monitoring.
Zero happens to know the satellite orbit of the western continent.
However, this meant that Li Changqing would be venturing deep into enemy territory alone. Even if the air fortress had nuclear power to extend its range, it would be enemy territory, and if they made a move, the enemy would definitely be able to surround them.
Li Changqing was silent for a moment: "I'll go."
Ling laughed and said, "This supreme command is really useful. Li Yinuo, Nan Gengchen, Li Tongyun, Liu Dezhu, and Zhang Tianzhen, the five of you will come with the Qingshan."
The five men looked at each other, wondering what had gotten into Zero that suddenly wanted them to go to the Green Mountain. But that didn't matter; if the other party told them to go, they would go.
The five people left and boarded the Qingshan Sky Fortress in an airship.
...
...
Zero looked at Qing Yu: "I now order the Qing family's air fleet to begin its retreat."
In the holographic projection, Qingyu frowned: "Why retreat? You sent outsiders like Shendai Yunluo and Li Changqing to the most dangerous places, but you want us to retreat. My Qing clan soldiers are not cowards who fear death."
Zero smiled and said, "I'm not discussing this with you, but rather asking you to carry it out. I require your unit to reach the edge of Forbidden Land No. 001 within 10 days. I will send you the coordinates."
Qingyu replied, "Received."
Zero One issued over a hundred orders in quick succession, seemingly without a second thought. The Qing Clan's war machine was fully mobilized, and the operations staff suddenly realized that these orders covered all units without any omissions.
However, no one knew what she was up to.
The command center fell silent. Li Kerou, who had been listening in for a long time, suddenly asked, "Do you know where my boss is?"
Zero looked at her and smiled, saying, "I don't know. Now is not the time to think about Qingchen. The most important thing is whether the 330,000 parents can escape this calamity."
...
...
Autumn has arrived.
A thin mist drifted between the Hengduan Mountains in southwest China, and dewdrops clung to the eyebrows of the parents' association members marching at dawn as they moved forward in silence.
The temperature on the mountaintop gradually dropped, and at night it would even approach zero degrees Celsius. Everyone was wearing thin clothes. Only the core Time Travelers had received some shelter on Whale Island, while the others had to endure the cold.
There is no food.
suffer hunger and cold.
When the time travelers return, they will eat and drink excessively every day, sometimes as much as six meals a day, just to gain some weight so they can continue to starve in the underworld.
Xiao Qi instructed the Time Travelers to distribute the food and medicine brought from the surface world, but they could only wrap the compressed biscuits in plastic wrap and bring a 'bite' of each.
This is a drop in the ocean for a team of 330,000 people.
They seemed to have been forgotten in some corner of the world, ignored by everyone. The long procession walked along the ridge, like travelers in the desert, a caravan on the sand dunes.
However, while food was scarce, weapons were plentiful, and these PTA members did not discard their weapons along the way.
The team is about to enter the southwestern region.