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Dubhe Tower Core Area, Conference Room No. 1.
"I think the matter of the sail can be set aside for now. What we need to address first is the issue of the Sinking Sand Giant Worm," said an old man in a suit with two medals on his chest that only high-level military personnel could possibly receive. His thick fingers forcefully tapped the table. "Everyone involved in the operation is an infected person, and it’s impossible for each to have Sun Hang’s level of stealth ability. Once the Sinking Sand Giant Worms begin to hunt, what will you do?"
"General Liao, a solution to this problem has actually always existed, stored away in the archives of Dubhe Tower, but no one ever imagined that these things would come in handy one day." An old man in a dirty white coat, with gray short hair that looked like a bird’s nest, chuckled, "Though we back then did not have to face this issue, the coalition forces in the Egypt war zone cannot avoid it... After all, if the elite mobile Hunter forces get ambushed by Sinking Sand Giant Worms every time they deploy, the fall of Egypt could be greatly accelerated."
"Oh? So you’re saying they already thought of a solution back then?"
"The stealth device ’Nephthys’, developed by the Cairo Mysterious Creature Research Institute against the Sinking Sand Giant Worms, is a piece of equipment about the size of a smartphone, yet it can block the perception of Sinking Sand Giant Worms to the mysterious creature memes within a range of 500 meters." The old man in the white coat smiled broadly, "And I am confident I can improve the device, reducing its effective range from 500 meters to 300 meters, ensuring you move freely in the Desert Sea."
"So if the distance between the Sinking Sand Giant Worm and the device holder closes to within 300 meters, does that mean the device becomes useless?" Wang Xiyi suddenly asked.
"Haha, young lady, you don’t find your question humorous?" The old man in the white coat burst into laughter.
"Humorous? What do you mean?"
"With the size of a Sinking Sand Giant Worm, if you are within 300 meters of it, it doesn’t even need to notice you. Any random roll can crush you to bits — you should think about how to quickly distance yourself rather than sitting still like a mouse."
"Alright, I take back my question." Wang Xiyi crossed her arms and leaned back into her chair.
"How about you, General Liao, do you have any other questions?"
"No more." The old man called General Liao shook his head, "I’m just curious why Mr. Pei suddenly organized an elite team to go all the way over there for a mission, doesn’t he know how tense the situation is at the Federation’s border regions now?"
"Precisely because of that, I mainly relied on civilian forces to form this expedition team. Aside from the Candle Dragon, I didn’t recruit any elite Hunters from the rankings, did I?" Sun Hang said.
"That may be the case... but doesn’t the appearance of the ghost metro feel too coincidental to you?" General Liao continued, "Right when Professor Ouyang and their research hit a bottleneck, this ghost metro mysteriously appeared, conveniently solving the problem of transporting people from Xiazhou to Egypt from the ground up... doesn’t anyone else find this suspicious?"
"Suspicious, very suspicious, highly suspicious." The old man in the white coat put away his smile, "But even knowing it’s a trap, if I were in Pei Zongjun’s position, I’d still jump right in without hesitation."
"Professor Cao, you and Mr. Pei have known each other for a long time. Didn’t he ever tell you... why he’s doing this?" Another middle-aged man asked.
Sun Hang didn’t know this person, but judging by the badge on his chest, he seemed to be another high-ranking member of Dubhe Tower, possibly even more senior than the disheveled Professor Cao sitting across from him.
"I don’t know, Mr. Pei never told me." Professor Cao suddenly sat upright, changing from his previous joking tone to a very serious one, "But I trust Mr. Pei’s judgment."
"Does this need to be reported to the council... even though Dubhe Tower has significant autonomous authority,..." General Liao hadn’t finished when he realized nearly everyone’s gaze at the conference table had fallen upon him, and he suddenly realized that, except for himself, all the other attendees wore Dubhe Tower badges.
In other words — he was essentially the only ’outsider’ at this meeting.
He was only qualified to attend because he was currently the leader of the radical faction within the Federal military.
The Xiazhou Federation’s military high command was divided into two factions: the conservatives, who advocated for building defensive facilities and holding existing federal territories; and the radicals, who advocated advancing into the Surrendered Area and reclaiming lost land.
Needless to say, Dubhe Tower was naturally closer to General Liao’s radical faction.
However, even the "Expedition to the Egyptian Surrendered Area" action plan proposed just an hour ago seemed a bit too radical, even to General Liao, the leader of the radicals.
Meals must be eaten one bite at a time, and roads must be walked step by step. Even advancing into the Surrendered Area should start by familiarizing oneself with the areas surrounding the Federation, not leap across half the Earth to the African Continent out of the blue, right?
"I want to confirm something." Professor Cao suddenly turned to the holographic projection hovering at the center of the conference table.
This was an AI hologram representing the main AI, and in this hastily convened meeting, it represented Pei Zongjun’s voice.
"Please speak, Professor Cao." The hologram bowed slightly toward Professor Cao.
"Did Mr. Pei discover something groundbreaking?" Professor Cao asked gravely, "Something that could change the situation, prevent a Second Mysterious Creature War... perhaps even help us reclaim lost lands?"
"Theoretically, that could be said." The hologram nodded.
Not only Professor Cao, but a glimmer of excited astonishment also flashed across the eyes of everyone present.
Professor Cao took a deep breath and asked again, "How confident is Mr. Pei?"
The hologram shook its head and said, "Unknown."
"Unknown... so it’s still just in the clue phase, correct?" Professor Cao gave a slightly resigned look, "Of course, if such a thing truly existed, we’d pour everything into it, even at the cost of abandoning the current borders... since Mr. Pei hasn’t done so, it indicates even he’s unsure..."
Actually, Mr. Pei already placed all his bets long ago... Sun Hang silently commented in his heart, but it was not Pei Zongjun who was unsure, it was him, Sun Hang.