Li Zhenguo fell silent for a moment, then turned his gaze once more to the glaring patches of red and the dwindling green dots on the large screen.
His fingers unconsciously tapped the console's smooth surface, making a dull "tap, tap" sound.
The entire Command Center's attention seemed to gather briefly around that faint noise.
"Bring up the video."
His voice was not loud, but it carried the force of a decision.
"Put it on the secondary screen immediately. Now!"
Soon, the video from Hongfu Tower in Helu City began playing on the secondary screen beside the main display in the underground Command Center.
When a faint azure glow appeared at Lin Yi's fingertips, a wave of hushed discussion finally broke out in the command hall.
Before long, the video ended, freezing on the exhausted yet still bright eyes of the boy, Lin Yi.
The screen went dark.
The underground Command Center sank into an almost frozen silence. Only the low hum of the computer banks remained, along with occasional bursts of suppressed static and indistinct shouts leaking through the communications channels.
The faces behind the consoles flickered in the screen's ghostly glow. Many people found themselves holding their breath.
The elderly official in charge of publicity, who had earlier dismissed the report as a rumor, leaned back in his chair and pressed his fingers hard against his brow, as if trying to squeeze away the unreal vision before him.
General Li Zhenguo stood before the main console. He stared silently at the now-black secondary screen for a full ten seconds before slowly turning around.
He let out a long breath, breaking the silence.
"Truly... heroes do emerge from the young!"
His voice carried complicated emotion. It was not loud, yet it weighed on every attendee like a rumbling thunderclap.
"We've brought together the nation's finest minds, and we've made barely ten percent progress. Meanwhile, an eighteen-year-old boy has carved out a possible path with his life."
No one answered.
Silence was the greatest agreement of all.
"Staff Department."
Li Zhenguo looked away from the screen and turned his gaze to one side.
"Present!"
A lieutenant general serving as a staff officer immediately stood.
"Send this video to the Academy of Sciences' team of academicians at once!"
"Tell them this isn't a reference—it's an answer, ready-made! Have them devote every available resource to studying the video, especially the instructional section, and speed up the compilation of the Basic Source Energy Guidance Technique."
"They don't have to master it all at once. Whatever they can understand, have them turn into the clearest, simplest teaching materials possible!"
"Yes, sir!"
The order was promptly recorded and passed along.
Li Zhenguo's instructions were not finished.
His gaze swept over the green dots flickering and even going dark on the circular screens.
"Also, issue this video in the name of General Headquarters."
"Send it to every War Zone, every group army, the Garrison Brigade, and all local Garrison Forces!"
"Mark it as follows: Preliminary assessment indicates that the video's contents have extremely high practical combat value. Each unit may decide for itself based on the situation. They are authorized to distribute any captured Guidance Technique Crystals to frontline personnel and allow them to... attempt cultivation based on the video. They need only file a report; there is no need to wait for unified approval."
The order bypassed every standard procedure. Quite a few people in the command hall showed a subtle change in expression.
A brief, dead silence followed.
A silver-haired official wearing gold-rimmed glasses took a deep breath and was about to speak. "Commander, the procedure..."
Li Zhenguo raised a hand. He was not being rough, but his decisive gesture left no room for doubt, cutting the man off immediately. "Right now, the only procedure that matters is the procedure for survival."
"Commander!"
A bespectacled, refined-looking middle-aged official exchanged glances with several people beside him. When they all remained silent, he finally could not hold back and stood to speak.
"This Source Energy Guidance Technique is of unknown origin, after all. Its principles, potential risks, and long-term effects have never been scientifically verified or tested in clinical trials. Rolling it out on such a massive scale in such haste—if there are... if there are unknown dangers, the consequences would be unthinkable! Shouldn't Professor Jiang's team verify it first, at least confirming it's safe before conducting a small-scale trial?"
He was not actually trying to oppose the order. It was simply his duty to raise the concerns that needed to be raised.
"Verification? A trial?"
Li Zhenguo spun around, his gaze sharp as lightning as he stared directly at the official.
"Director Liu, look outside, then look at this screen! Do we have any time left for verification and trials?!"
He pointed at the chaotic situation map. "Will the monsters give us that time? You're worried about dangers? The greatest danger is that we're being pushed back at every turn and can only plug the gaps with human lives!"
Li Zhenguo slammed his palm against the console. The dull "thud" made the water in several cups ripple.
"In extraordinary times, we must use extraordinary measures! I alone will bear responsibility for this. Carry it out!"
He looked around the room. Everyone his gaze passed over instinctively lowered their head or looked away.
There was no time for debate.
The iron laws of war overruled every convention in that moment.
The order was carried out swiftly and without a word.
But it was easy to imagine the commotion this directive would stir among the armies and resistance forces locked in fierce battles.
The hall fell quiet again, but the mood was even more oppressive.
Li Zhenguo returned to the main console and braced both hands on its cold surface, his deep gaze fixed on the shifting situation map, as if he meant to carve it into his mind.
After a moment, he spoke slowly.
"Now that... someone has proven through practice that the path of Source Energy cultivation contained in these crystals really works—and that it can even produce combat strength in an extremely short time—then we must immediately adjust the overall strategy we've been arguing over without reaching a decision... Staff Officer Li, tell me how things stand."
A lieutenant general in charge of analyzing the overall situation immediately stepped forward, his tone grave.
"Commander, based on intelligence from all sides, the situation is extremely grim."
"All seven of the nation's satellite launch centers and all three deep-space tracking stations have gone silent or been confirmed occupied by Abyssal Beasts from high-level nests. The outer defenses of the major nuclear power plants have been largely breached, and more than sixty percent of key military-industrial production facilities and research institutions have lost contact..."
He paused, his voice growing even more somber.
"As the power outages continue to spread, our backup energy supplies will soon be depleted as well... With ground stations being destroyed one after another, satellite signals are beginning to disappear on a massive scale. Our command efficiency, long-range strike capabilities, and intelligence-gathering capabilities are all collapsing..."
"Our forces are burning through ammunition at an alarming rate, and our stockpiles are dwindling. We've already started bringing out old, mothballed weapons. We can just barely keep our supply of light weapons going... but as for high-powered, expendable weapons like missiles, there's... almost no hope of replenishing them."
"We expect to be able to fight for no more than a week. We can't afford a prolonged war..."
Every sentence landed on the hearts of those present like a heavy hammer.
Li Zhenguo listened in silence, his fingers unconsciously tapping the console.
Only after the staff officer had finished his report did he raise his head and look around the room.
"Everyone, the reason we were previously willing to pay any price to hold or even retake those key strategic positions was that our entire established combat system depends on them! Without satellites, missiles, the air force, or logistical support, we'd be like men with empty hands, completely unable to fight back."
Li Zhenguo abruptly turned to the staff officer in charge of intelligence reports. "Staff Officer Wang, your earlier report mentioned that these Abyss Beast Nests, regardless of size, each have a relatively fixed territory?"
"Yes, Commander!"
Staff Officer Wang answered at once.
"Based on combat data from across the country since this afternoon and reports from observation posts, we can essentially confirm it. Nests of different levels produce significant differences in the ranges where Abyssal Beasts are active. Once they leave those ranges, Abyssal Beasts generally don't pursue targets over long distances, unless the target stays in their line of sight or actively attacks and provokes them."
"Good!"
Li Zhenguo struck the console hard.
"I've decided to abandon our original strategy of 'concentrating our forces on defense and fighting for key positions.'"
Before you continue