It took Chen Changan and his group a full month to gather everyone together.
But compared with their towering arrogance at the start, these people now hung their heads, utterly dispirited.
The Qian Family and the Xu Family had suffered relatively few losses because Chen Changan had found them early. The other factions had not been so lucky.
Losing more than half their people counted as getting off lightly. Two factions in one group had been particularly unlucky, losing fully ninety percent of their elite fighters.
"Everyone, by now, I trust you can all see what's wrong?"
"The Demon Abyss holds no secret that can make us stronger. For us, it's a grave—a grave meant to bury us."
"Su Tiandao and those so-called Guardians have all been lying to us."
"But one thing is true: the Devil Race will rise again!"
In the past, no one would have had much patience for Chen Changan. But after everything they had been through since he found them, they all knew he was the one who truly had what it took.
If they wanted to escape their present peril, they would likely have to follow Chen Changan's plans and orders.
"Elder Chen, just tell us straight. What should we do? What can we do?"
"Stand together. We can't afford any more casualties. The more people die, the more it benefits them."
"If something truly is sealed beneath this place, we'll all be in real danger once it breaks free."
"As for Su Tiandao and those Guardians, we need to deal with them too—but we can't kill them."
They couldn't kill them?
"Why? They're clearly trying to revive the Devil Race. Why can't we kill them?"
"I mean we can't kill them yet, not that we never will. If they die, could they become