Chapter 451 - A Million Dead Or Injured
Chapter 451: A Million Dead Or Injured
Competition.
There was competition everywhere in the world.
There were inter-civilization competitions, but in an environment that was gradually becoming stable it was to be expected; internal competitions also occur in peaceful civilizations.
After all, resources were limited, and no matter how large the living space was, it would be filled to the brim sooner or later.
Moreover, Earth was never all that big, to begin with, but nearly 20 billion intelligent lifeforms from all over the universe were crowded into the space. Even if the Protoss were to build multiple “space dimensions,” they would still be extremely crowded.
Therefore, after the basic crisis of survival was solved, most of the natives – human beings – were squeezed out. Under the leadership of the Protoss, the biggest conflict on Earth gradually shifted from the external arena to the internal.
With each passing day, competition between the Protoss families became increasingly fiercer.
However, under the restrictions of the senior administration of the Protoss and the fact that the practitioners had the ability to cause great destruction, thus easily destroying the more fragile Earth and its ecological environment, the conflicts between the clans had always been controlled and limited to a smaller scope.
Hence, many human families, companies, and forces had become the weaker beings that could be easily pushed over. They were swallowed up one after another by the Protoss clans in recent years.
Their means were simple and violent, not much different from seizing what they wanted by force.
The “meat,” both large and small, were divided among the Protoss and picked clean. The Chen family was the last piece of “meat” that had not been devoured right before the Protoss descended into conflicts among themselves.
To the Protoss, the Chen family was a delicious piece of meat and a great temptation.
Although the Jinwu clan provided asylum for the Chen family, they collected an annual “protection fee” exceeding one trillion dollars, leading to a growth of more than 30% in terms of their interests and benefits.
But greed was something that could never be satisfied.
50% was far from enough. Only after consuming everything in their sight could they feel just a little satiated.
Moreover, the Chen family were masters of high-precision, processing technologies and controlling a huge cultural empire. They also had their “knowledge bank,” “virtual technology,” etc. which stirred the desires of the Protoss.
If they devoured the entire Chen family and “digested” all of their secrets, insider knowledge, and information, they could then strengthen their own power according to their design. It was roughly estimated that the strength of any Protoss clan would more than double after consuming the Chen family.
Yes, in the eyes of some of the top Protoss clans, the Chen family was comparable to their top clans. Therefore, the clan that absorbed the Chen family would immediately become even more powerful; their strength would skyrocket.
Of course!
The Chen family was not weak and could not be easily pushed over. Over the years, they had devoted nearly all of their spare resources towards weapons R&D and the expansion of armaments. They had also built a huge military fort in their family base with an area of more than 30,000 square kilometers. Countless weapons were stacked inside the fort.
It gave one a sense of being rather belligerent and militaristic.
Many Protoss clans had noticed the creation of the rather excessive military fort and suspected that perhaps the Chen family had succumbed to paranoia; they seemed so terrified of death knocking on their doors.
But it was precisely because of this that all the Protoss clans with only average strength had stopped thinking about devouring the Chen family.
It was also the reason why the Jinwu clan did not take any action against the Chen family immediately after they had become the asylum provider for them. The Jinwu clan was assessing the damages that would result from the forced annexation, figuring the ins and outs of the matter and formulating the most appropriate plan of action.
In the end, they decided to send eight masters from the Shenguang Order and made preparations for 30 expert destroyers from the Zhesun Jushen Order. With 90% confidence of winning this incursion, they finally made up their minds.
“The most powerful human clan, the Chen family, will soon be ours!” The senior members of the Jinwu clan exclaimed. They even prepared and agreed on a plan to divvy up the final spoils in advance.
“By the way, I want all the dozen or so of A-list female celebrities from Xing Hai Entertainment, especially Qianshan Xueye. This woman belongs to me,” an exceptionally talented young Protoss from the Jinwu family said as he licked his dry lips.
Qianshan Xueye was a major actress in Xing Hai Entertainment and had appeared in dozens of excellent film and television dramas. She was also a top-rated singer and had sung nearly a hundred songs. There were countless fans of her movies and music.
Moreover, her looks were outstanding. She was also elegant and multi-talented.
She had more than a billion fans following her on social media platforms; she was an idol worshipped by countless people.
As such, she was the cash cow of Xing Hai Entertainment, bringing in untold riches to the company every year.
Based on the heavy atmosphere and the flushed appearance of the youth from the Jinwu clan as he talked about Qianshan Xueye, there was no doubt that he was also one of her fans and worshipped her to the extreme.
He considered using the opportunity of absorbing the Chen family to realize his dream of getting the goddess’s body and heart… Though, getting her body first was not a bad thing.
Hearing his words in the main hall, the eyes of many senior members of the Jinwu family lit up.
“There are indeed plenty of celebrities and beauties in Xing Hai Entertainment. Once the Chen family is eliminated, those dozens of stars…”
“Haha, let’s have a celebratory feast in a few days and call all the celebrities over to serve us drinks.”
“Nephew, Qianshan Xueye is my ideal wife. It’s quite inappropriate to have her all to yourself. It is better for me, as an elder, to take care of her for a period of time, and then introduce her to you later.” There was even an elder Protoss who turned his sight towards the female celebrities as his mind was occupied by various lecherous and devilish thoughts.
“No! Qianshan Xueye is mine, no one can have her!” The young Protoss was so mad he nearly exploded. He released a boundless and forceful aura, feeling so aggravated that he could kill someone on the spot.
In the midst of the uproar, many senior members of the Jinwu family had, unconsciously, began to breathe heavily with their eyes full of anticipation.
…
Through a tiny spy device that could hardly be detected by the naked eye, Chen Jin knew every move made by the members of the Jinwu clan.
He could not help clenching fist with a very angry expression on his face.
“Does every single one of you treat the Chen family like a fat sheep going to the slaughterhouse?”
He looked at another screen.
Another event was taking place almost simultaneously. The representatives of the Tonghuang clan and the Mugu clan held a meeting in a mysterious hall. They agreed that each of them would provide half of the master practitioners needed and rush into the Chen family. They would strive to slaughter the entire Chen family in the shortest possible time and to destroy or take those science and tech results and materials with them.
Moreover, they had to be fast and ruthless!
Even if they couldn’t get their hands on the advanced technologies of the Chen family, they must not let the Jinwu clan gain any unfair advantage from the situation. They had to stop them by force!
Chen Jin’s frowned.
The purpose of the Jinwu clan was to “gobble up” the Chen family. They would break up the resistance of the Chen family, and “digest” their resources. They would not necessarily kill many people in the process.
The Tonghuang clan and the Mugu clan were purely about destruction. They had no intention of leaving anyone alive, starting from their very first attack. It was an intense military strategy. They were not considering holding back; their potential destructive power was huge.
If Chen Jin had a choice, he would not want to face the joint efforts of the Tonghuang and Mugu clans.
However, the Tonghuang and Mugu clans were planning to make their move three days later.
There were many factions in the Jinwu clan, and their quarrels over the distribution of interests and benefits were rather serious. The Jinwu clan intended to make their move against the Chen family within the next couple of days, but they might not be able to resolve their differences in time and act as planned.
Currently, it was impossible to judge who would be the first to take action.
As for Chen Jin, who possessed the key information, what was he going to do next?
He returned to Haierfa to discuss the matter with Nuwa and Alice.
…
“Nuwa, there are, at most, two or three days left, what should I do regarding the issues on Earth?”
Chen Jin grabbed his head. He felt rather conflicted and was at a loss of what to do.
“Master, you have to make the first move if you don’t want to suffer any damages. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the Chen family fortress to withstand the attacks,” Nuwa said.
“I know.” Chen Jin nodded. At this point in time, his only choice was to strike first and gain the upper hand. “Which clan should I strike first in order to solve the crisis that the family is facing?”
He had a few options at this juncture.
One option was to launch a crackdown on the Jinwu clan by inflicting serious damage or even to eliminate the entire clan. While he was eliminating this threat, he would also shift the focus of the other two clans at the same time.
The second option was to launch a crackdown on the Tonghuang and Mugu clans by inflicting serious damage or to eliminate both. While he was eliminating this threat, he would also shift the focus of the Jinwu clan at the same time.
The third option was to attack all three Protoss clans at the same time. He would eliminate all clans harboring ill intentions against the Chen family.
Chen Jin first ruled out the second option.
“Even if the Tonghuang and Mugu clans have been hit hard, thus shifting the attention of the Jinwu clan towards them. This change in their focus would only last a few days. After this, the Jinwu clan will still carry out their previous plan to swallow up the Chen family. This option would only delay things for a short period of time.”
On the other hand, after the second and third most powerful clans were hit hard, the Jinwu clan would probably become even stronger and more difficult to resist.
Chen Jin thought about the remaining two options and ruled out the third.
“We could eliminate three threats by striking three clans at the same time. However, after an investigation by the Protoss’ senior administration, they will coincidentally discover that these three clans have recently been plotting against the Chen family. But they were also attacked at the same time. The biggest suspect can be easily inferred.”
And when that moment arrived, the Chen family would be facing the full force of all the Protoss on Earth; they would be facing the oppression of countless Protoss from all sides.
Even though the aces he had up his sleeves were strong, it was impossible to fight against billions of Protoss.
Once such an incident occurred, the Chen family would be done for. He could only escape to Haierfa to avoid the fallout and he would never dare to return to Earth again.
Then, this was the only option left – to take action against the Jinwu clan.
“Master, the reason why the Tonghuang and Mugu clans want to deal with the Chen family is because the strength of the Jinwu clan has been increasing at an unprecedented rate for the past two years. Hence, they felt threatened. They can only re-balance the power between the three clans by taking action against the Chen family.”
“However, if we attack the Jinwu clan and inflict heavy damages on them, the Tonghuang and Mugu clans would have no reason to do any more checks and balances against the Jinwu clan. There would be no need for them to unite against the Chen family.”
“After the Jinwu clan has been hit hard, their benefits and interests will be up for grabs and this will trigger large-scale chaos. The Tonghuang and Mugu clans will definitely join in the fight for the loot. This will at least buy us a few months.”
“A few months later, the Tonghuang and Mugu clans will probably, once again, think about swallowing up the Chen family. However, there’s no possibility of the two families joining forces. They will independently target the Chen family to maximize their own interests… It’s better to have the treasure all to themselves than to split it between two forces.”
“But when that time comes, our family would have made adequate preparations in all aspects. Even if we could not hold off the practitioners of the Shenguang Order, I am confident that the Chen family’s fortress would be able to kill or injure practitioners from less powerful Orders. Forces that plan to take action against us must be prepared to suffer losses.”
“Of course, the best choice would be to take the initiative to win over the Tonghuang and Mugu clans. We’ll share some of the benefits to temporarily appease them. At the same time, we will have to display our ability to defend ourselves so that they would have second thoughts about attacking us.”
“If the above measures turn out to be ineffective, and there remain forces determined to eliminate the Chen family, then we would have no choice but to have a showdown, use all the aces and try our best to kill all the Protoss.”
However, Chen Jin did not want the situation to deteriorate into that critical stage.
“All right, this is the only way.”
Chen Jin nodded and a murderous glint flickered across his eyes. “Let the Jinwu clan have a taste of the full force of our aces.”
…
The next day, at 4:00 a.m.
Even the Protoss were sleeping deeply.
At this moment, just off the East China Sea and at a depth of 10,000 meters in the Mariana Trench, a huge submarine with a length of more than 200 meters seemed to have awakened from a deep sleep. It suddenly activated the water spouts around its body, drilling out from the seabed sludge.
The stirring in the deep sea caused the water around the submarine to turn muddy and foul.
Five kilometers… four kilometers… three kilometers…
The mysterious submarine was rising towards the surface without stopping at all. It was like a shadowy mass, like a large beast from ancient times as it moved towards the surface.
Glug glug glug
Many air bubbles were generated on the surface of the submarine, which was made of a special material.
One kilometer… eight hundred meters… five hundred meters…
It reduced its speed as it approached the surface, the water pump at its tail started up. The submarine began to adjust its attitude and direction to maintain a relative balance.
Three hundred meters… two hundred meters… one hundred meters.
The submarine fixed its position.
Immediately, several mechanical sounds could be heard inside the fully automated cockpit.
“Receiving target’s position parameters…”
“Parameters entered successfully. Activating missile and warhead, opening missile launch lid…”
“Ready to launch!”
“Start launching!”
Boom boom boom
Glug glug glug
After the missile launch lid was opened, a thick missile covered in a large amount of spray and bubbles rushed towards the surface of the water with the aid of the ejector.
Within a few seconds, a water column rushed out of the calm sea. Then the motor ignited, and the thick missile was dragging a dazzling flame on its tail. It first shot straight into the sky before turning towards the northwest direction according to the position parameters on the homing system.
It was accelerating.
It gained an increasingly higher altitude and quickly entered outer space.
Then, it re-entered the atmosphere with ever-increasing speed.
Five Mach… Ten Mach… Twenty Mach.
The missile took only five minutes to arrive at the spot where it would launch its attack; it was a distance of nearly two thousand kilometers.
…
At the headquarters of the Jinwu clan.
It was a free city covering more than 50,000 square kilometers.
The Jinwu clan occupied the most central zone in the area. They had built a shrine-like city that was also surrounded by nine other cities.
The essence of the entire free city was concentrated in this zone.
Most of the master practitioners in the Jinwu clan, the clan’s vast resources, and the entrance to an “alternate space” were all concentrated inside a radius of 100 kilometers.
But at this very moment, a beam of light reminiscent of a meteor flare lit up the southeastern horizon. The beam of light was moving straight towards the central area.
Just as the beam was approaching the area, causing heart palpitations, the resplendent meteor flare suddenly split into ten offshoots, corresponding to the central shrine and the nine acropoleis; depicting the red colored trajectories. The missiles reached the air above the ten targets.
Subsequently, the black was dyed a pure white.
Ten suns suddenly appeared in the night sky.
Multiple ring-shaped shock waves destroyed everything on the surface.
…
The next day, early morning.
A piece of news hit the solar system at the speed of light.
The Jinwu clan had suffered a mysterious attack in which ten cities were turned into ruins and countless powerful practitioners were dead. In addition, more than one million innocent Protoss were dead or injured.