The conference room was somewhat noisy at night.
Hundreds of people sat scattered around, talking in hushed tones.
Many of them still had bandages wrapped around their bodies or bruises that hadn't faded on their faces.
Although the base has various medicines and some monitors with healing abilities, it is ultimately difficult to completely cure a large number of people within half a day.
Shen Heng sat in the front seat, closing his eyes to rest.
The rest of the team sat next to him, while Zhou Xuan sat further to the outside, chatting quietly with Lü Wenrui.
Midway through, the conversation at the door quieted down.
Zhang Weijun, Li Daoyi, Zhou Zhenguo and other high-ranking officials from the base walked in one after another.
But instead of starting the meeting immediately, they sat down with somber expressions, some deep in thought, others flipping through documents, waiting for the scheduled time.
Seeing this, the crowd below started talking again.
After a long while, the sound of knuckles lightly tapping the table was clearly transmitted throughout the entire conference room through the speakers.
The scene quickly fell silent.
At this moment, Shen Heng also raised his eyes.
Above, Zhang Weijun glanced at the dense crowd below and spoke directly:
Does anyone know why the war against the Calamity Beast has dragged on to this point?
Everyone was slightly taken aback, somewhat puzzled as to why this question was being asked at this moment.
But soon enough, one of the inspectors raised his hand.
Zhang Weijun nodded in acknowledgment.
"Reporting to the Chief of Staff!" the inspector stood up, his voice clear.
"The ultimate goal of the Calamity Beast is to invade our world."
"But because the base is firmly guarded in Light Gate connecting our world, they cannot break through directly."
"Therefore, they changed their strategy, trying to stabilize the space of the Erosion Zone as quickly as possible, so that stronger Calamity Beast could descend, thereby forcing us back or even annihilating us."
He paused, then continued:
"Prior to this, we severely disrupted their plans through successful Anchor Point sabotage operations."
"Therefore, the Calamity Beast switched to a siege tactic, using a sustained offensive to keep us confined to the base, preventing us from venturing out, and attempting to deplete our manpower and will."
Zhang Weijun nodded, neither confirming nor denying.
He then posed his second question:
"Since the Calamity Beast want to trap us here to death, why should we hold out instead of withdrawing from the Erosion Zone and conserving our strength?"
The question was a bit complicated, but after a moment's thought, the inspector quickly answered:
"This is to preserve the strategic initiative and look for opportunities for a subsequent counterattack."
"At the same time, our very existence slows down and puts pressure on the invasion process of the Calamity Beast."
"If we give up completely, no one knows how fast they will advance next, and we may lose all opportunities to interfere with and disrupt their key nodes in the early stages."
"What if we don't do that?" Zhang Weijun pressed.
"If we don't do it this way, then..."
Some people were puzzled as to why the Chief of Staff was asking these questions, but they still listened quietly below.
Shen Heng sat below, listening silently, but his thoughts differed slightly from the inspector's answer...
Why did the war turn out this way?
So, does the base really want to change its current predicament?
Is this the change the Daoist priest mentioned earlier?
This reminded Shen Heng of his previous exploration trips.
But that time, it was because the Calamity Beast felt that attacking the base was useless, so they gradually stopped coming.
But now, the attacks of the Calamity Beast continue...
Zhang Weijun then asked a few more questions about tactical details, and the inspector answered them one by one, clearly and logically.
"You're Xu Yu from Cloud Ridge, right?" Zhang Weijun suddenly asked after the questioning was finished.
Upon hearing that the Chief of Staff remembered his name, Xu Yu was visibly taken aback for a moment, then a smile bloomed on his face.
"Yes, Chief of Staff!"
"Yes, that's a good answer. Sit down." Zhang Weijun nodded.
With a touch of pride, Xu Yu sat down.
Many people around glanced at Xu Yu as she sat down.
Over the past six months, a large number of inspectors have been transferred to the Erosion Zone, and because the confrontation is in the form of war, it is difficult to pay attention to other people.
Many people know very little about others, except for a few close acquaintances.
Among them, Wang Hu is arguably the most famous of the base's inspectors.
His status as the first to reach the Fifth Tier, his powerful and unique abilities, and his personality that few could truly catch his eye made him very famous in the base.
"Not bad, kid. You've made a name for yourself around the base this time!" Xu Yu's teammate nudged him with his elbow.
Xu Yu smiled, her chest unconsciously straightening slightly.
The two didn't talk much, nor was this the time for such conversation; their gazes were both fixed on the distance ahead.
After a brief Q&A session, Zhang Weijun surveyed the room and solemnly announced the first major piece of news from the meeting.
"First, I'd like to inform you of some intelligence: two bases in overseas Erosion Zone have been forced to retreat outside the Erosion Zone by the Calamity Beast."
The room fell silent as soon as he finished speaking.
Everyone looked up in astonishment at the solemn-looking base leaders on the stage.
They had considered this possibility, but they hadn't expected it to happen so quickly! How long has it been?!
Shen Heng's gaze also narrowed slightly, his attention focused upwards.
"Why?" someone in the audience couldn't help but ask in a trembling voice.
"After an attack, the Calamity Beast in those two Erosion Zone withdrew their low-level Calamity Beast and replaced them with hundreds of Fifth Tier Calamity Beast."
Upon hearing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines, as if they now understood why the two bases in the Erosion Zone had been forced to leave!
As expected, Zhang Weijun reported from above, "Due to insufficient intelligence, their weapon reserves were insufficient, and they were ultimately forced to retreat after suffering heavy casualties."
"Then... what about the Sixth Tier warriors stationed in those two Erosion Zone? Didn't they intervene?" someone else asked urgently.
"Yes," Zhang Weijun replied, "But they are tightly bound by equally powerful Sixth Tier Calamity Beast and unable to break free to support the ground battlefield."
Shen Heng lowered his eyes slightly.
In fact, if the Calamity Beast really wanted to force them out, they could simply send a few Sixth Tier Calamity Beast to attack them.
With the abilities of Sixth Tier Calamity Beast, they couldn't withstand it.
But if they did that, they might just give up and destroy the Erosion Zone.
So, is the Calamity Beast revealing an intention?
We didn't send any Sixth Tier Calamity Beast, only Fifth Tier Calamity Beast. If you're so capable, then take it back.
As if to confirm his words, someone asked:
"Won't that destroy those two Erosion Zone?"
Sure enough, Zhang Weijun said:
"According to the Joint Management Committee's assessment, it hasn't reached that point yet."
"Currently, the Joint Management Committee is urgently coordinating the resources of various countries and assembling elite forces to prepare for an attempt to re-enter those two Erosion Zone."