Chapter 88: Announcing My Arrival!
Shen Hao now could even easily resolve hundreds of missile threats with a smile.
The military force that Human Civilization possessed in the past that could threaten the power he held was no longer significant.
Moreover, he was growing at an incredible speed.
Perhaps, before long, even nuclear weapons would not pose a threat to him!
Who would dare to say that Extraordinary Power is not important?
Even if the other Chosen Ones aren't as strong as him right now, they are steadily chasing after his shadow.
This world, the future of this civilization, will belong to the Chosen Ones!
General Roger even recalled the words Professor Filipo said before leaving—that from the moment the Chosen Ones appeared, the most powerful power in the world no longer belonged to them.
He and the others present, as well as some in distant places paying attention to this situation, had never realized this as clearly as they did now.
Under these circumstances, the demands made by Shen Hao started to be swiftly pushed forward.
The past power of this country was not only in the hands of one or two individuals, those who truly controlled the country were a group of exceedingly pragmatic "elites." Once they clearly recognized their need for Shen Hao and his power, their efficiency also suddenly increased.
There were countless people who wanted to send their regards to Shen Hao through General Roger in a short period of time.
However, Roger wouldn't be foolish enough to bring up these matters at this time.
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What was most important now was dealing with the Blood Demons.
Shen Hao, who remained in the base, had already unfolded the map at the earliest opportunity. Within a nearly thousand kilometers radius, every Blood Demon appeared on the map.
One could only say the situation was unfavorably as expected.
The place where they were was not the rapidly falling South but the Northern region where Humans were still holding on.
Yet the number of Blood Demons within this range was surprisingly high, with some cities even harboring extremely dense Blood Demon nests!
At a glance, there were at least three hundred thousand!
Shen Hao found it impossible to find any relatively safe transportation routes.
Certain weapons and equipment had to be transported to defending troops and Chosen Ones in each city within a short time.
If they relied on him for transportation, it would take too much time—there were at least hundreds of transport points along the way.
"These Blood Demons are prepared."
Shen Hao marked some of the Blood Demon gathering areas on the map; anyone could see that this was not a random distribution.
Almost all roads, all transfer points nearby, were crawling with Blood Demons lying in wait.
Some cities were even worse off, including several West State cities that had declared "safe." They were just as riddled with Blood Demons.
If they were to suddenly rise at a crucial moment, it would be enough to deliver a heavy blow to the logistical support in the rear.
"Have the Blood Demons here chosen a leader?" Dong Gong looked up at Roger. "This doesn't look like a scattered situation. Why didn't your intelligence reports mention this?"
"..."
Roger opened his mouth then closed it, opened and closed it again, and finally let out a sigh.
"Forget those reports," he said in a muffled voice. "Our defeat came too quickly, the pressure from the frontline coupled with the pressure from the populace hit us at once, a lot of things weren't prepared."
"That's no excuse to give up," Dong Gong's tone became more incisive. "At the very least, mobilize whatever forces can be mobilized. If it continues this way, even if the Blood Demons are eventually defeated, this place will only be left as wasteland, a pile of ruins!"
"I understand," Roger said solemnly.
"Dong Gong," Shen Hao began to give orders at this point. "Same as usual, you coordinate in the middle, pick out several transport routes for Song Qing and others to lead the transports. Since we can't avoid the Blood Demons, we must be prepared to fight a tough battle! We'll break a path through."
"Yes!" Dong Gong responded swiftly.
"As for me, I'm going here!" Shen Hao also chose his target, marking it heavily on the map.
Upon seeing the marked location on the map, Roger's face suddenly changed.
"New City? Are there many Blood Demons there?" His voice was somewhat incredulous.
"Yes, you claimed after inspection that this city only had scattered Blood Demons remaining," Shen Hao laughed coldly. "But in my perception, there are at least eighty thousand Blood Demons there!"
This was the economic center of the country.
It had a population of over eight million people.
Eighty thousand meant that one in every hundred people was a Blood Demon!
To know, once the number of Blood Demons exceeds one percent, it's akin to pressing the fast-forward button. When it goes over five percent, they could fully revolt and parasitize the entire city within days!
"After the war started, we did indeed check once, but later many people flooded into the city, and it was simply beyond control..." Roger attempted to justify, but he couldn't even finish his own words.
His complexion grew paler, and his expression involuntarily revealed fear.
If eight million Blood Demons suddenly appeared at the rear to the north, that would be an absolute nightmare.
Caught between enemies in front and behind, the entire country would enter a countdown to its doom!
"No matter the reason, we need a major victory!" Shen Hao turned his head to look into the distance, declaring firmly, "A victory to herald my arrival!"
Having made the decision, not a moment was wasted.
Shen Hao took out a large number of weapons, Equipment, devices, and materials here and handed them over to others responsible for loading and transporting them to various places, and then boarded his supersonic fighter alone.
New City was more than eight hundred kilometers away from here, but it would only take ten minutes to reach.
A hundred thousand Blood Demons, with this rate of spread. Clearly, there was a Matrix present, and more likely than not, more than one.
Shen Hao also wanted to test the strength of the Matrix of this country.
Meanwhile, Dong Gong swiftly established contact with the highest command of this country and began to coordinate synchronization with personnel from various departments.
The rest of the team also started preparing to transport strategic materials.
Everything moved into action quickly.
However, more attention was still focused on Shen Hao.
He was the ultimate center! New City was also a center!
...
At this moment, New City still maintained a superficial peace, seemingly no different from before the war began.
Because half a month earlier, after a series of spot checks and some localized panic, the official had declared that New City had completed its inspection, remaining Blood Demons numbered less than a thousand, and they were fleeing, so there was no need for concern.
That was just after the Eastern Country had announced its own phase victory.
The "victory" in New City had indeed given many people confidence.
Even though some did not believe it, as most people began to resume normal life and everything seemed unchanged, gradually, more and more people returned to normal.
Even as the South continued to collapse, most people did no more than complain online before immersing themselves in the victory in the Far East.
In fact, during this time, more voices were suggesting that before the Blood Demons could reach them, the East's Savior would arrive and defeat all the Blood Demons.
They believed they were lucky and safe here.
This belief further induced their indulgence, some nightclubs were still packed with people, even more than before, as if people wanted to cherish their luck twice as much.
However—
The truth was not like that. There were always those who realized the severity of the situation.
At this moment, in a deserted factory in a remote area of New City, a group of men wearing heavy jackets and carrying heavy belts entered.
They had to enter a specially arranged room one by one, endure a piercing noise for a full minute, and maintain a calm expression throughout.
After finishing everything, the group breathed a sigh of relief.
A man with a bushy beard, appearing rather thin, strode over and asked the lead man, "West, what's the haul like?"
"As expected, a gun store, seven people, all Blood Demons," West's expression was not good. "We brought back all the firearms."
"Good job," the bearded man whistled.
"But we lost two guys, didn't you notice? Karim." West's face showed anger.
Karim was taken aback and quickly said, "Sorry, I just..."
"Forget it, don't apologize. We also brought back three good recruits, all gun enthusiasts," West cut him off and then asked, "What about you, how'd it go?"
"A gas station, all Blood Demons, they almost blew up the fuel depot," Karim said with a downcast look. "I think there are more and more of those guys, the whole city's gun stores, gas stations seem to be theirs. Sometimes walking on the streets, I wonder how many humans are still around me."
"Don't lose heart, the recruits are watching you," West slapped him hard on the shoulder. "Think of your parents, this is revenge! Even if we're the only ones left in the world, we have to keep fighting! Besides, we are all Chosen Ones. If we give up, then it's even harder for the rest to hold on."
"I understand," Karim quickly composed himself, standing tall and proud.
Before this, he had been just a homebody and one of the world's top hackers.
When he received his status as a Chosen One, he was excited for a long time.
But he had never imagined that Blood Demons would appear like this, nor that at a time when all voices proclaimed that New City was safe, his parents would all become hosts to Parasites.
The nightmare began like that.
He gradually discovered that a large number of Blood Demons were hiding among the crowds! The government completely ignored his warnings, giving him perfunctory responses time and again, claiming his experiences were merely coincidental. Even when he revealed his identity as a Chosen One it was of no use, they wanted to recruit him into the military, to send him to the battlefront in the South.
Even when he shared the information online, not many were willing to believe him; some even thought he was alarmist, seeking attention and traffic.
In reality, the internet was indeed full of such fake news, intermingled with the truth but quickly proven to be just hoaxes.