signingbooks Chapter 1310 Expanding the Camp
Chapter 1310 Expanding the Camp
Widow west stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray and took a sip of water from the glass on the table.
Her eyes narrowed slightly behind the rim of the cup, her gaze fixed on the dean, waiting for him to speak.
The dean did not answer immediately. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his hands over his stomach, stared at the ceiling, and his lips moved slightly, as if he were talking to himself or pondering something in his mind.
"It's best not to touch Apocalypse Paradise."
The dean's voice was unhurried, like someone haggling with a vendor while selecting vegetables at a market.
"There are too many people in Apocalypse Paradise, 830 people, more than the other four places combined. It's easy for you to sneak in, but what can you do in there? How many of those 830 people do you know? What can those few do? If you spread false information, people can easily find out it's fake by asking around in the group. If you create chaos, what are the chances that 830 people will actually rebel?"
The mad doctor thought for a moment, then remained silent.
"Don't even consider Holy Light Paradise," the dean continued. "The management there is too lax, so lax that you won't find a single valuable entry point. What core information could you get even if you infiltrated? You wouldn't get any core information at all. What crucial role could you play in the battle? You wouldn't play a crucial role. So what would you be doing there, having afternoon tea with those girls?"
The mad doctor's lips twitched slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Over there at the Sanctuary Paradise."
The dean tapped his fingers on the table, making a rhythmic tapping sound.
"You can't fool the cult. Those charlatans can even fool themselves, so what do you have to fool them with? You tell them you're a contractor of the Holy Land Paradise, and they make you recite the contents of Chapter 3, Section 17 of the Holy Land Canon. Can you recite it? If you can't, they'll draw their swords and attack you. Going there is nothing but suicide."
"Let's start with the Death Parks; they're the most troublesome."
King Kong leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, his rugged face etched with boredom.
He was never interested in these complicated matters; he only cared about one thing—when the fight would begin.
Widow West took another cigarette from the cigarette case on the table, put it in her mouth, but didn't light it.
She pursed her lips to her cigarette holder, her gaze sweeping back and forth across the dean's face.
Just as everyone was pondering how to infiltrate, Lin Yi tapped the table, signaling everyone to listen.
Lin Yi didn't waste any words and spoke directly.
"This time, we don't need to go for all that fancy stuff."
His voice wasn't loud, but there was an undeniable certainty in his tone.
"I now need you to begin expanding the entire camp."
The mad doctor and his companions weren't fools. Hearing Lin Yi's words, they understood that Lin Yi must have his own summoned creatures, and in considerable numbers.
They had seen too many summoning professionals. For a low-level summoner, it was already considered a big deal to bring dozens of summons out. For a mid-level summoner, it was considered an elite to bring hundreds of summons into battle. For a high-level summoner, it was considered legendary to bring thousands of summons to conquer cities and strongholds.
But Lin Yi was referring to the expansion of the camp.
The expansion meant that the existing camp was too small to accommodate what he was going to bring.
The dean looked at Lin Yi, a glint of light flashing in his cloudy eyes.
"Approximately how large an expansion is needed?"
Lin Yi smiled, a relaxed smile, as relaxed as someone saying, "I'll eat an extra bowl of rice for dinner tonight."
"It will be fine if it can accommodate 100,000 people."
The buffet restaurant was quiet for a moment, then a few gasps of surprise erupted from the crowd.
King Kong sprang up from his chair, his rugged face filled with disbelief.
His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, before he finally managed to squeeze out a single sentence.
"How many?"
"One hundred thousand."
"Summoned creature?"
"Forget it."
The dean leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, his lips moving slightly as he rapidly calculated something.
He understood better than anyone else present what 100,000 summoned creatures meant.
It's not a matter of quantity, but rather how much space is needed to house these 100,000 summoned creatures, how many resources are required to maintain them, and how powerful a command system is needed to coordinate them.
These tasks would be impossible for any summoner, even the most elite necromancer, whose limit is maintaining the daily operation of tens of thousands of summoned creatures.
But if Lin Yi can do that, then the landscape of this war will be completely different.
The 100,000-strong army didn't need to charge head-on or engage the enemy in direct combat; simply being stationed there was enough to intimidate them. Seeing this army of 100,000 surrounding the fall zone, would the other contractors still have the courage to charge in?
This is a question that doesn't need an answer.
The mad doctor pushed up his glasses, and a smile slowly crept onto his lips.
"Then why bother with counter-espionage? Just take them down directly."
The dean shook his head.
"What kind of flat push is this? If you send 100,000 troops straight at them, won't their 830 men just run away? Won't they run to the other three directions? Won't they wait for your army to withdraw before coming back? Can your 100,000 troops chase them across the mainland for ten days? No. So what you're doing is just pushing through thin air!"
Lin Yi placed the water glass on the table, and the bottom of the glass made a crisp sound as it hit the tabletop.
"This battle among the five major theme parks is only secondary."
His voice wasn't loud, but there was a certainty in his tone that silenced everyone present.
The mad doctor's hand, which was pushing up his glasses, stopped in mid-air, and his eyes behind the lenses narrowed slightly.
Widow West took the cigarette out of her mouth, the cigarette holder trembling slightly between her fingertips, a wisp of smoke rising from the cigarette butt and slowly drifting away into the air.
"The alien forces on the Beast Continent are the most troublesome; otherwise, why would they bother to set up some kind of headquarters?"
Widow West put the cigarette back in her mouth, took a deep drag, and exhaled smoke from her nostrils, forming two thin, white plumes in the air.
Her brows were furrowed tightly, and the vertical line between her brows became particularly noticeable at that moment.
"You mean, the Void Tree encircled the five factions' strongholds not to prevent us from fighting each other, but to prevent the alien species from breaking in?"
Lin Yi glanced at her and nodded.
"The five main bases surround the fall zone, forming a circular defensive perimeter on the map. I initially thought this layout was to prevent any one side from gaining a geographical advantage when vying for the fusion of spacetime power, but now I realize that's not the case. If it were just about fairness, the Void Tree could simply implement random teleportation, allowing everyone to compete on the continent based on their own abilities. There's no need to concentrate everyone in one area, much less designate a base location for each side."
The dean straightened up from his chair, placed his hands on the edge of the table, and interlaced his fingers. "No wonder it's arranged like this this time." The dean's voice was a few decibels lower than before, and there was no anger or surprise in his tone, only a calm that was used to such things.
Just like when someone hears bad news, they don't rush to question its veracity, but instead consider how the news will affect them.
"There are spacetime condensations in the crash zone, and there are alien species outside the crash zone. So think about it, don't the alien species outside want this thing? The five major bases surround the crash zone, which means the five major forces are blocking the alien species in front of them. If you want to go in and get the condensation, you have to get past the alien species first. If you want to find the condensation safely inside, you have to make sure that the alien species don't pour in from the outside."
"So what is our current situation? In front of us are the alien species, and behind us are the contractors from the other four parties?"
Lin Yi looked at the mad doctor without saying a word, but his silence itself was an answer.
The cafeteria fell silent for a moment, not in the sense of silence, but in the brief pause as the brain needed time to process the overwhelming amount of information.
King Kong straightened up from the back of the chair, placed his hands on the table, and left several shallow marks on the alloy tabletop with his thick fingers.
His brows were furrowed, and the corners of his mouth were turned down, making him look like a bear that had been provoked.
"Isn't this just throwing us into a fire pit?"
The dean glanced at him and shook his head.
"The Void Tree has never said it's here to help us. It's a neutral party; it doesn't help anyone. It just provides the rules and the space. If you want to come in, you have to accept its rules. If you don't want to come in, you don't have to. Nobody's forcing you."
The widow picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip. The water was already cold, but she didn't care. She tilted her head back and drank the cold water in one gulp, then wiped her mouth with her sleeve.
"Do you know how strong the alien species are?"
Lin Yi recalled the contents of the world introduction and quickly went through the words in his mind.
"Physical fitness S+, extraordinary ability S+, population size C. This is the comprehensive assessment of the alien species."
Widow West's lips twitched; she knew all too well what those rating letters meant.
A physical fitness score of S+ means that the average physical fitness of the alien species is very high.
It's not about a particular species, it's about the average.
If you randomly encounter a different species on the continent, its strength, agility, and stamina are all above the average level of the Beast Continent.
These are just ordinary mutants. The elites and leaders among those mutants may have already broken through the sixth-order limit and reached the seventh-order level in terms of physical fitness.
A superpower rating of S+ means that the superpower of the alien species is not just for show or decoration, but a real combat ability.
Their extraordinary abilities may not be as varied as those of spellcasters, but each strike is deadly enough.
The size of the population, C, is an elusive assessment.
C might not seem like much, but in the world of alien species, C could mean millions.
"What are the weaknesses of the alien species? Is that mentioned in the world introduction?"
Lin Yi shook his head. The world introduction contained too little information about the alien species. There were only a few lines of general descriptions, without mentioning the specific types of alien species, their fighting style, or their weaknesses.
This is a world that has not been fully explored; they have to discover everything for themselves.
"Then we can only take it one step at a time."
The mad doctor leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms behind his head, and tilted his head to look at the ceiling.
His lips moved slightly, as if he were talking to himself or plotting something in his mind.
King Kong grinned and slammed his hand on the table, making the water glasses on the table jump.
"Who cares about any kind of alien species? If they come, we fight. If we can't win, we run. If we can't run, we die. Why think so much? It's giving me a headache."
The dean glanced at King Kong, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
His expression was neither one of helplessness nor disdain, but he didn't say anything. He simply looked away and turned his gaze back to his interlaced fingers.
The mad doctor stood up from his chair, walked to the bar in the cafeteria, picked up an unopened bottle of whiskey, unscrewed the cap, and poured himself a glass.
The amber-colored liquor swirls in the glass, while ice cubes clink against the glass.
He walked back to his seat with his wine glass, took a big gulp, and then put the glass on the table.
"Doctor, how powerful are your 100,000 summoned creatures?"
This question silenced everyone present.
Lin Yi held the water glass, his fingers lightly stroking the inside. He thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Their individual combat capabilities are not strong, roughly equivalent to a fifth-tier contractor. But the advantage is that you don't need to worry about that; they are all intelligent summoned creatures. Or rather, you can treat them as Servants with their own consciousness."
One hundred thousand followers.
This news was truly shocking.
The mad doctor tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table, making a rhythmic tapping sound.
His eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses, his gaze fixed on Lin Yi's face, as if he were calculating something.
What about group operations?
"The ability to fight as a group is much stronger than that of a single individual. They have a complete tactical system, with long-range and close-range capabilities, fire support, and logistical support."
The dean's eyes lit up for a moment, a glint that flashed in his pupils before quickly receding. But he sat up a few notches straighter than before.
"What about its defense? Can it withstand an attack from a sixth-tier contractor?"
"It depends on the situation. Some elite-level ones should be able to withstand it, and you might not even be able to defeat them. But most of them are ordinary people, probably only at the fourth or fifth level. However, you don't need to worry about their combat power. You'll understand why I said that once they're summoned."
King Kong leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, his expression shifting from solemn to impatient.
He was never interested in these strategic and tactical things; he only cared about one thing—when to fight, who to fight, and how to fight.
"So, after all this talk, when are we actually going to start?"
The dean glanced at him, his lips twitching slightly, as if to say, "You're asking a question that doesn't need an answer."
"Once the camp expansion is complete, and the Mad Doctor has infiltrated the enemy to gather enough intelligence and has a clear enough assessment of the battlefield situation, then we can proceed."
King Kong frowned, his rugged face filled with displeasure.
"When will that be?"
"Wait until the time is right." (End of Chapter)