Chapter 2389: The Final ‘Pre-War Conference’!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The trio of elders had grave and solemn expressions as they looked at w.a.n.g Chong.
They had all been alarmed by those intense s.p.a.cetime ripples. Only Heaven was capable of stirring up such powerful s.p.a.cetime ripples, so they had made their way over as quickly as possible upon sensing it.
“Master, Senior Su, Village Chief, thank you for your trouble!”
w.a.n.g Chong first greeted his master, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, and then quickly turned to Zhangchou Jianqiong’s group.
“Sir Zhangchou, gather everyone. It’s time to prepare for the final war!”
……
War drums thundered. With Heaven’s reemergence, the entire world once more entered a tense warlike atmosphere.
After three years of preparation, the fate of humanity would rest on this one war.
Whoos.h.!.+
Waves crashed on the coast of the Lingnan Circuit. A vast crowd had gathered by the harbor, and countless elders, children, women, and the infirm were constantly boarding the s.h.i.+ps every day. For many months now, one hundred thousand s.h.i.+ps had been constantly conveying them to the Promised Land.
In this war, these were the weakest and most fragile people, but they were also the vessels that carried the hope of humanity.
“Mom! Mom! I want Daddy!”
On a tower s.h.i.+p, a child that was about four or five years old was struggling on the deck, wailing as he stared at a middle-aged and armored man on the sh.o.r.e, but the middle-aged woman behind him held him tightly.
“Luo-er, be a good boy. Daddy has his duties, some things that he needs to do!”
The woman tried to soothe the boy, but tears were trickling down from her eyes, and she, too, had fixed her eyes on that man on the sh.o.r.e.
Around her, within the tower s.h.i.+p, the sound of weeping was endless.
w.a.n.g Chong had ordered all of these people to be moved to the Promised Land, but the men had to remain.
In war, transportation and logistics required many adult men. Moreover, the heavens helped those who helped themselves. All of humanity’s fate was connected to this war. Only if everyone did all in their power was there any hope at survival.
“Haaa, let’s go.”
Standing on the command s.h.i.+p, w.a.n.g Liang could only sigh at all the wailing. Hardening his heart, he ordered the fleet to set off, and countless s.h.i.+ps unfurled their sails to take these people away to the Promised Land.
……
Bongbongbong!
War drums thundered throughout the night. If one could look down from on high, one would be able to see countless soldiers converging on the heartland of the Great Tang.
Tibetans, Mengshe Zhao, Goguryeons, Turks… former enemies had all joined together. In this war, race and empire were irrelevant. Everyone was fighting for the sake of humanity.
This was an unprecedented concentration of soldiers, and even countless Arabs and Sa.s.sanids led by Gao Xianzhi, An Sishun, and Bahram were coming from the distant western world. The Tang garrison in Baghdad had also departed to return to the interior and rejoin the rest of the army.
The rumbling of marching soldiers through day and night became the theme of the entire continent.
The world was in a jittery mood. Countless steel modules were transported to the front line, where they were erected into one defense line, two defense lines, three defense lines… Countless people worked day and night to dig out trenches and set up defense lines. Farther in the rear, granaries and storerooms were rising from the ground, and defensive formations were being set up with frightening speed.
Though the supplies had yet to reach the front line, all the defenses were already set up.
Meanwhile, at the capital of the Great Tang, the skies were dark and a cold wind howled.
In Taihe Palace, all of the upper echelons of the empire—including Emperor Li Heng, w.a.n.g Chong, Bahram, Ozmish, and Yeon Gaesomun—were seated in a circle.
The civil officials had all withdrawn. Many of them had already left for the Promised Land to manage the situation.
What was happening here was not a court session, but a standard military war conference.
w.a.n.g Chong sat in the main seat. Turning to w.a.n.g Zhongsi and Dalon Trinling, he got straight to the point.
“How is the readiness of the army?”
“Ninety percent of the soldiers are ready. The remaining soldiers will arrive within three days!” w.a.n.g Zhongsi firmly said.
After a few moments of silence, Dalon Trinling sternly said, “All the reorganization is complete. Whether it’s the Tibetans, Han, or Turks… all of them will strictly follow orders on the battlefield. This might be the strongest army in human history!”
This was the first united human army. The differences between kinds of soldiers and kinds of people were very large, and on the battlefield, if they each fought in their own way, it would only lead to disaster. w.a.n.g Chong had appointed Dalon Trinling to handle the complicated reconsolidation, and the man had not let him down, successfully completing his mission.
“What is the state of the withdrawal of the ordinary citizens, the old, young, women, and infirm?” w.a.n.g Chong continued.
“It’s just about done. Moreover, when our army is fighting against Heaven, we can buy them more time, which should be more than enough!” King Song said.
This was an unprecedented operation, and he had been entrusted with an extremely important duty.
“What of the kerosene and the Nine Cauldron Division?”
“It is all done. The Nine Cauldron Division’s training is complete, and the amount of kerosene exceeds the target we set three years ago!” Zhangchou Jianqiong sternly said. He was responsible for this matter.
“Very good!”
w.a.n.g Chong nodded.
When everybody gathered fuel, the fire would burn higher. Their progress was much better than he had initially envisioned.
One person alone would not be able to deal with Heaven. He had to bring together the strength of everyone. This was something he had understood long ago.
And all of their strategies also circled around this point.
w.a.n.g Chong paused before looking toward Young Master Qingyang, seated nearby.
“How is the Behemoth Army doing?”
The hall instantly fell quiet. Everyone, including the enthroned Li Heng, also looked at Young Master Qingyang.
Everyone understood that, three years ago, Essence Supreme had gathered a large number of animal embryos to create another Behemoth Army.
The Behemoth Creation Art was the Celestial G.o.d Organization’s, and the Behemoths created by them would be far stronger and more frightening than the Arabian Behemoth Army.
Only Behemoths could fight back against Behemoths!
When the Arabian Empire fell, while the Behemoth Creation Art had been regarded as a taboo that could not be revealed, it had not been destroyed. Rather, it had been left in w.a.n.g Chong’s hands.
Since then, that group related to the Behemoth Creation Art had vanished deep into the mountains.
But everyone knew that w.a.n.g Chong had been conducting experiments with the Behemoth Creation Art all this time.
Of course, to be more precise, Young Master Qingyang was responsible for this group.
Young Master Qingyang bowed and said, “Your Highness, as you ordered, all the experiments are complete, and the goal you set has been reached. When the war begins, our Behemoth Army can enter the battlefield at any time.”
While he was responsible for the Behemoth Army, he was merely the executor. Three years ago, w.a.n.g Chong had long ago laid out the methods for creating the Behemoths.
The more he understood, the more awe and respect Young Master Qingyang felt for w.a.n.g Chong.
In his heart, no one was more inspired and intelligent than w.a.n.g Chong.
Those frightening creation methods…
Only w.a.n.g Chong was capable of dealing with them.
“Very good!”
w.a.n.g Chong nodded. After three years, everything was ripe and ready. He no longer needed to fight alone as he had in his last life.
And Heaven probably had no idea what sort of opponent was waiting for him!
“There’s one other matter. Why did Heaven place the decisive battle one month from now?” Li Heng said from his throne.
Everyone instantly turned pensive.
In truth, all of them had this question. Heaven was the strongest existence in human history. Given his personality, he would have never scheduled the battle for one month from now for no reason. If he was able to swiftly deal a destructive blow to them, he would not miss out on the chance.
“Your Majesty, our men have discovered that a ma.s.sive altar is being constructed in the north,” Old Eagle suddenly said. “Heaven must be preparing some formation, intending to destroy the continent and the world’s foundation!”
Everyone was aghast at this report, their faces uneasy.
Old Eagle glanced at w.a.n.g Chong. It was only after reporting this matter to w.a.n.g Chong that he had learned what was truly going on, and he had originally not intended to tell anyone else to prevent panic. But now… there was no need to keep hiding things.
“What?!”
No one was more shocked than Li Heng.
Heaven’s actions all had a profound meaning. For this man who would mercilessly destroy human civilization, compa.s.sion simply didn’t exist. He had remained quiet for three years only because he was still sealed and needed three years to break out.
And now, he had given a month because he needed to construct that giant altar and formation so that he could better destroy the world and human civilization.
Heaven had already built a ma.s.sive seal that spanned the world. Trying to destroy that altar would be no easy task.
The hall was quiet, the mood heavy. But Li Heng quickly stood up and broke the silence.
“Everyone, the fate of all the world’s civilizations rests in your hands. It all depends on you,” Li Heng solemnly said.
“Your Majesty, be at ease. We will do everything in our power!”
Everyone stood up and bowed.
A few moments later, the discussion concluded, and everyone filed out of the hall.
Once w.a.n.g Chong and Li Heng were left alone, Li Heng stepped forward and spoke gravely, his eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with hope and expectation. “w.a.n.g Chong, you must win, no matter what!”
w.a.n.g Chong firmly nodded.
The two of them shared a tacit understanding, and there were many things that they did not need to express to each other through words.
Several days later…
Thunderous war drums pounded. The continent’s army, led by w.a.n.g Chong, began to move like a giant war machine toward the Turkic steppe.
This was a decisive war for civilization, and there was no such thing as retreat.