No one had expected the Fire Thief Cult to move so quickly. Before the day of the decapitation operation was even over, they had already launched a counterattack.
The relevant personnel urgently gathered in the war room to discuss countermeasures. Besides some Suoloma officers and senior officials, the team leaders of each nation's Action Teams were also present.
Even though the previous decapitation operation had not gone smoothly and the various nations harbored doubts toward Suoloma, external conflicts ultimately outweighed internal ones. The Fire Thief Cult was the common enemy they needed to face together.
Suoloma had sent a new Lieutenant General to preside over the meeting. As soon as he arrived, he declared, "This attack was not an impulsive counterattack. It must have been a plan the cultists had prepared long ago!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. They all thought the same.
An impulsive attack could never have been this efficient.
Li Meng spoke up. "I heard those cultists used the power of Scarlet Fear to break through your border defenses. How exactly did they do that? Weren't the cultists themselves affected?"
Suoloma, and even the UHC, had not guarded against this possibility because the Fire Thief Cult's believers were all human. Since they were human, Scarlet Fear's power should have affected them as well.
The Lieutenant General said gravely, "Eliminate the impossible, and whatever remains is the truth. The truth is that those wearing black robes were not necessarily cultists."
Another team leader was horrified. "Lieutenant General, are you saying that a large number of parasites put on black robes and impersonated cultists?!"
The Lieutenant General nodded heavily. "That's right. Considering that the Fire Thief Cult and the parasites have long been colluding, this is not impossible."
"This..."
Although everyone was shocked, it did make sense upon calm consideration.