Shock, confusion, vigilance, unease... Complex emotions churned in everyone's hearts.
Yet no one dared voice a challenge.
Xu Tiandi had long commanded immense authority, and now that he had become a Deity, his decisions carried absolute weight amid the Federation's current crisis.
Besides, Lu Jun's own strength had long been proven terrifying through one continent-shaking event after another.
Xu Tiandi offered no explanation for Lu Jun taking a seat, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
He merely gave Lu Jun a calm glance, and the latter returned one just as indifferent and unreadable.
Seated there, Lu Jun casually swept his gaze over the familiar and unfamiliar faces below, sensing the bewilderment, wariness, and even concealed hostility in their eyes.
An amused thought rose in his mind:
What if I suddenly made a move and killed Xu Tiandi beside me right now...
Would the Federation's seemingly united upper echelon immediately crumble into a disorganized mess, stripped of its backbone and torn apart by mutual suspicion and conflicting interests?
Tsk.
The thought passed in an instant.
That was also one reason he did not want to kill Xu Tiandi. He had no desire to take over and clean up a mess.
Xu Tiandi seemed not to have noticed Lu Jun's fleeting thought, or perhaps he simply did not care.
He cleared his throat and drew everyone's attention back.
"Silence."
His voice rang out again, carrying an unquestionable decisiveness:
"Based on the latest intelligence in our possession, as well as the consensus reached between Lu Jun and myself."
His gaze sharpened like a blade as it swept across every military leader and internal security official present:
"I now declare the Federation's core strategic objective for the next phase—"
"Mobilize all our strength and spare no cost to completely