"Fight them!" someone shouted. "How can we tolerate such humiliation?! This is our patriarch, and they actually dared to carve words on his face?!"
Some people sighed, "We've gone all out, but then what? It's easy to say we're going all out, but what about our wives and children? Who will protect them? Patriarch, how did the talks with them go?"
Li Yunshou nodded: "No one in the Li family will be enslaved."
At this moment, he took out his satellite phone and sent a message: "It's not just the Blackwater City fleet that's coming, but also Phoenix City's. I overheard their soldiers talking about how the Phoenix City fleet has arrived."
After sending the message, Li Yunshou handed the satellite phone to Li Shu beside him: "Destroy it."
Li Shu asked in a low voice, "Did you hear this from the air fortress?"
“Yes,” Li Yunshou nodded.
Many people, after experiencing the Li family under the rule of Li Xiurui, would subconsciously compare the eldest son, Li Yunshou, with this old man.
After Li Yunshou succeeded to the throne, he mostly maintained the status quo and did not expand the territory. Therefore, some people on the Internet commented that Li Yunshou was relatively mediocre among the previous Li family heads and did not have any outstanding talents.
In fact, few people know about Li Yunshou's past. He entered Qinghe University with the highest score in his year. During his university years, he kept a low profile and did not hold any student union positions. He rarely appeared in public. However, he graduated with three degrees: philosophy, political economy, and law.
After succeeding as head of the Li family, Li Yunshou worked diligently in the Privy Council, handling government affairs. However, before anyone could see any achievements, news broke that he had surrendered to the Roosevelt Kingdom.
Li Shu lowered his head and asked, "Patriarch, you don't want to surrender either, do you?"
“This matter is no longer important,” Li Yunshou patted him on the shoulder: “Look forward.”
The airship took off and flew back to City 18 after two days.
When it landed in front of Baopu Building, hundreds of Lee family members gathered on the tarmac to wait.
When Li Yunshou came out, a woman came up to him and spat at him: "Pah, traitor! We would rather be slaves, we would rather die, than accept your so-called protection."
Someone else stepped forward and spat at him: "You think you're worthy to be the head of the family? You're nowhere near as good as the old man!"
Hundreds of people took turns spitting at Li Yunshou. Li Shu and others wanted to protect Li Yunshou, but Li Yunshou stopped them, saying, "It's alright, let them spit on me."
Hundreds of people cursed for nearly an hour before leaving, exhausted from their rant.
Li Yunshou's clothes were soaked, and his body reeked of the fishy smell of saliva.
He slowly walked into Baopu Building, took off his clothes, and took a bath.
When he came out of the shower, he stopped in front of the mirror and quietly looked at himself in the mirror, as well as the tattoo on his forehead.
Li Yunshou changed his clothes and walked out of the room. He said to Li Shu outside the door, "Summon the policy advisors and military advisors of the Privy Council to prepare a strategic plan to attack the southwest."
Li Shu asked, "Don't you need to rest for a bit?"
"unnecessary."
Chapter 960, I am very satisfied with my ending.
When Li Yunshou returned, a meeting was being held in the Privy Council, and it was very quiet.
Meanwhile, the Half-Mountain Manor was in an uproar. The Li family members were all furious when they saw the tattoo on Li Yunshou's forehead!
Not only were members of the Li family discussing this matter, but even the servants went on strike and stopped working, all saying, "How could the master of the family betray the country for personal gain?"
Li Shu hurried through the hillside manor with a document in his hand. When he heard the servants discussing the matter, he wanted to object, but ultimately held back.
It was evening.
Some members of the Li family packed their valuables, organized their own convoys, and drove towards the main gate, preparing to leave the Half-Mountain Manor and head southwest.
However, when the convoy arrived at the gate, it found Li Shu blocking the way with his garrison troops.
One of Li Shu's aunts leaned out of the car and said, "What are you doing? You've already blocked the parents' meeting, are you going to block us too?"
"What, do you want us to be like Li Yunshou, with a character tattooed on our foreheads, and then become slaves to others?"
Li Shu patiently explained, "Everyone must stay. If you leave, the agreement reached between the patriarch and the Roosevelt Kingdom will be null and void! Don't worry, as long as you stay here, no one will become a slave!"
"Then let's fight them! Why not fight them!" someone shouted from inside the car. "Let's fight them in the Central Plains! The Li family will fight them to the bitter end!"
Li Shu was somewhat helpless: "We can't win. The Privy Council has conducted thousands of simulations. The first was an air battle, where the enemy, under the cover of an air fortress, tore through our defenses in 30 minutes with hundreds of airships. The second was when the enemy's army directly launched missiles to destroy City 18; our interceptor missiles couldn't stop those missiles with their trajectory and speed. The third was when we wanted to launch a surprise attack, but the enemy could predict the future and didn't give us any chance to launch a surprise attack at all; they even set traps to lure us in. The result was the same after that; we paid a huge price, but the enemy didn't suffer any significant losses."
With the Virtuoso's god-like perspective, it's like having the entire map open in a MOBA game; the jungler will never be able to gank anyone.
When both sides are evenly matched, and one side has access to the entire map while the other hasn't, the result will be a catastrophic crushing defeat.
"If you guys are too scared to fight yourselves, then let me take the troops and leave. I'll take the troops to the southwest to join Qingchen, and let the independent director lead us in the fight!"
"You're still Qingchen's disciple, you studied at Qiuye Courtyard back then, why can't you be as courageous as your master?"
Faced with the insults, Li Shu said, "I'm sorry everyone, you can't leave yet. Don't worry, stay at the Half-Mountain Manor. We will give you priority in providing living supplies."
“You keep saying you’re doing this to protect us, but isn’t letting us leave also a form of protection?” one woman questioned.
Li Shu shook his head: "You can't leave. Blackwater City's reconnaissance planes are already over City 18. Men, seal off the manor."
As soon as he finished speaking, the garrison troops completely sealed off the Half-Mountain Manor, and no one was allowed to enter or leave without a pass from the head of the family.
The Lee family members were desperate; they couldn't escape even if they wanted to.
In a corner of the Half Hill Manor, a servant lifted a brick, took out a satellite phone hidden underground and sealed with plastic film, and sent a message: "The Li family members have not been able to leave. Li Yunshou has sealed off the Half Hill Manor. The Privy Council meeting is still in progress, but the content of the meeting cannot be determined for the time being."
Meanwhile, on the Blackwater, there were soldiers specifically responsible for liaison. They printed out the information into paper documents and took them to the Duke of Blackwater: "The Puppeteer's message."
Duke Blackwater looked at the holographic map in front of him: "The puppeteers are not to be trusted. Let our informants send over the information to verify it. This group of people from the Li family is very important. Don't let them leave. As long as these people are here, Li Yunshou won't have any tricks up his sleeve. Also, have the vanguard arrive at City 18 within 24 hours. They are responsible for supervising the Li family's transformation of City 18 into a forward base. Don't give the Li family any opportunity to do anything underhanded."
"A message came from the royal virtuosos: the Blackwater will be attacked after arriving in City 18, but everything is still under control. At this moment, six virtuosos have locked onto us with their God's-eye view, and His Majesty the King is also watching us."
“It doesn’t matter, the Li family will completely submit. Only a slave who has been beaten into submission will willingly serve as your dog. If you give him a little kindness, he will mistakenly believe that he can regain the power,” the Duke of Blackwater said with a sneer from his command seat. “We have thousands of years of experience in ruling slaves.”
...
...
The meeting at the Li Privy Council is still ongoing.
At the meeting, a general sat on the right side of the long table: "The Western Continent now hopes that we will be used as cannon fodder to exhaust the Li family's military power. Then, we will be at their mercy."
"That's right, if we fight the Qing Clan, the Federation will be weakened on both sides. Patriarch, what bargaining chips will we have left to negotiate with the Western Continent then? In the end, we'll probably all end up as slaves!"
On the left, someone said, "Where there's life, there's hope. Now that everyone's dead, what future is there?"
Li Yunshou sat silently in the noisy conference room, making no attempt to conceal the tattoo on his forehead.
At this time, the Western Continent had already begun releasing videos of Li Yunshou's tattoo on the internet, causing a huge uproar on the Eastern Continent's internet, with comments like "burn Li Yunshou to death" flooding any entertainment program.
When all the holographic images were turned on, they were filled with bullet comments that obscured the program content.
At this moment, Li Yunshou looked at the generals on both sides of the long table: "I have prepared the established strategic plan. Please follow it. After the war, I will give you an explanation."
The meeting room was completely silent. Li Shu distributed a document to everyone and instructed them to carry it out as soon as possible.
The generals looked surprised after reading it: "Is it really necessary to do it this way?"
Just then, a general stood up and drew his sidearm from his waist: "Li Yunshou, you have betrayed your family, betrayed your country, I..."
However, before he could finish speaking, Li Shu had already come up behind him and pressed the muzzle of his gun.
With a bang, the bullet pierced the tabletop.
The gunshots at the Half Hill Manor signified that the Li family was also completely alienated.
Li Shu pressed the general's head firmly onto the table and said coldly to the guards outside the door, "Take him away and lock him in prison number 18."
Suddenly, the atmosphere within the Li family changed, becoming exceptionally strange.
Li Yunshou waved wearily: "Go and do your own thing."
The generals left, leaving Li Yunshou alone by the window, silently gazing at Baopu Tower not far away.
Several weeds grew in the gaps between the gray tiles, making the place no longer clean and tidy, and even the servants became much lazier.
Only the heartless copper bell tied with a red string still hangs quietly on the eaves.
Li Yunshou vaguely remembered that when the knight gave the Heartless Copper Bell to the Li family, his father, Li Xiurui, personally brought a ladder, climbed onto the roof, and tied the Heartless Copper Bell there.
Now, everything has changed.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from the conference room behind Li Yunshou, which should have been empty: "Do you regret it?"
Li Yunshou didn't turn around. He just looked out the window at Baopu Tower and said, "I've asked myself this question countless times over the past few months, but I have no answer."
"It's not too late to change your decision now."
“No,” Li Yunshou touched the tattoo on his forehead, “I am very satisfied with my ending.”
...
...
An hour later, Li's troops entered cities 18 and 10, and the first thing they did was recruit soldiers.
The first round of conscription involved recalling retired veterans to the military, distributing weapons, and reorganizing them for short-term intensive training.
The second round of conscription was forced conscription. Li began to take away all young men and women aged 16 and above to join the army. However, these people were not responsible for fighting, but for heavy labor such as building bridges and paving roads and transporting stones.
Some people were even forced to enlist with their children, and when they were working during the day, they could only carry their children on their backs or hold their hands.
The Qing family destroyed 19 bridges and 7 highways leading to the southwest, and even blew up mountains to bury roads.
When the Li family wanted to requisition civilian construction machinery, they discovered that the Qing family's secret intelligence agency had acted even faster and more covertly. The secret agents and falcons hidden in the Li family's territory had already destroyed all the civilian construction machinery.
The Li family couldn't find enough engineering machinery in time, and the Western Continent thought they were too slow, so the Li family's troops drove civilians to fill the gaps with manpower.
The second thing Li Shu did was to lead the garrison troops to suppress dissenting voices within the army. He personally arrested all the soldiers and officers who refused to submit to the family's management and imprisoned them in the prison that had been rebuilt in City 18, where they were kept under strict guard.
Before the full-scale war had even officially broken out in the Central Plains, it had already become a living hell. The once bustling city was now mostly deserted within a few days.
Some of the original landmark buildings were demolished.
A large open space has been cleared inside the airport.
The entire city is being rapidly transformed into a war fortress and forward base.
On the seventh day of their journey, a layer of dark clouds suddenly enveloped the sky above City 18.
The city's inhabitants looked up and saw an aerial fortress slowly descending like a conqueror, followed by hundreds of airships that completely sealed off the entire city.