Chapter 309: Crisis on the Frontline

Bang!

A resounding explosion echoed.

In the meeting room, everyone shuddered and turned in shock.

With a face full of fury, Zhao Hongtu slammed his fist on the table. Overcome by rage—so intense that even his Third-Stage mid-level strength couldn’t hold it back—he shattered the table before him.

Pointing a single finger at Lu Tianming’s group, Zhao Hongtu immediately unleashed a torrent of curses:

“Are you out of your mind?! Did you just eat shit?!”

“While the frontline is a life-or-death battleground, you’re busy thinking about arresting people?!”

“How is it a crime to save lives? Is triggering the warning system wrong?!”

“If you won’t launch that nuclear missile, then why don’t you patch up the defense line?!”

“If you’re not reassigning troops, then why don’t you guard the city?!”

“Fang Teng! Who the hell do you think you are?! Constantly insisting everything’s fine and resigning once East Sea goes haywire—now that East Sea is in trouble, do you plan on dying?!”

“Since ancient times, a general on the field is free to disregard orders! And you don’t even understand that! What kind of war are you fighting?!”

Seething with anger, Zhao Hongtu glared menacingly at Lu Tianming’s team. His fury even hinted at the possibility of violence.

As the deputy leader of the Special Operations Group, he rarely attended meetings or interacted with the Military.

After all, his unit’s status was always awkward, being an externally deployed force.

But at this moment, even he couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

He could clearly tell that Lu Tianming’s group was scheming—and they wanted to drag Yenir down along with them.

Unlike the stiff Military protocols, the Special Operations Group was all about doing whatever it took for victory. In his eyes, results were paramount! He’d had enough of a bunch of cowards.

If they had obeyed orders, why had Huaguo suffered so many defeats over the years?

Compared to other Military units, which had grown a bit ‘sluggish’, his years of clashing with monsters had given him a completely different perspective.

In these apocalyptic times, with death all around, rules were meaningless! Only those untouchable Military ‘immortals’ clung to their precious protocols.

Moreover, in his view, Yenir was the prized asset of the Operations Group. He even expected Yenir to continue leading the team to pull off miracle after miracle!

“Minister Zhao! Watch your tone! This is a conference!”

On the dais, Li Xuanguo looked at Zhao Hongtu’s burst of anger with resigned frustration before stepping in with a firm voice. He knew that if the bickering continued any longer, things would turn violent.

Time was critical; they needed to reach a decision quickly!

Yet, his gaze swept disdainfully over Lu Tianming’s group.

Arrest people?

He didn’t agree.

Otherwise, he would have already stripped Yenir of his Guardian status from the start.

“You…”

“You!!”

His chest heaved as he endured the barrage of insults. The committee member, feeling utterly humiliated by Zhao Hongtu’s verbal onslaught, found a wave of fear welling up inside him. All his strength, amassed over the years, couldn’t compare with a killing machine like Zhao Hongtu.

To have climbed to the head of the Operations Group, Zhao Hongtu had even earned the nickname ‘Butcher’ in his day!

“Minister Zhao! Don’t push it too far!”

“Your troops disobey orders—and that’s serious business!”

“How about…”

“Enough! Stop the arguing!”

Observing the standoff, an elderly high-ranking official among the group sighed. After briefly locking eyes with Li Xuanguo’s team, he spoke in a deep, resonant tone:

“There’s no point in continuing this bickering!”

“In my opinion, we should just meet halfway!”

“Yenir’s actions might have been unauthorized, but saving lives is undeniably true!”

“We can’t deny that the early warning failure was a mistake on the Military’s part—a misjudgment on our end!”

“Wrong is wrong! Aren’t we brave enough to admit our errors? Whether or not Yenir was misinformed, his intentions were always noble!”

“Have you ever considered what the outcome would have been if Yenir hadn’t gambled everything and mobilized the troops?”

He slowly stood up.

The elder’s eyes were heavy, and for a moment, sorrow flickered within.

He had witnessed too many disasters.

Unlike some of the younger leaders, he fully understood what an A-level disaster meant…

“If we had trusted Yenir a bit more, fewer lives might have been lost. We might even have fought a magnificent battle that flawlessly averted this catastrophe!”

“This was supposed to be a morale-boosting, history-making battle for the Military—but our arrogance has led us here.”

A long sigh filled the room.

The elder looked up at the dais and shook his head slightly:

“We can’t let this chill our hearts any longer.”

“I’ve heard that the kid brought back urgently needed strategic supplies this time, pulling off a major feat.”

“He’s young and reckless; it’s only natural he wasn’t entirely thoughtful. How can we expect an eighteen-year-old to be perfect in everything?”

“Even if we keep pinning the blame on him and claim that saving lives was the Military’s achievement…”

“Do you really think such a story can fool the public?”

“Won’t the foot soldiers figure out what’s going on? Won’t those following Yenir eventually learn the truth?”

“Let’s not make any more mistakes…”

Raising the documents in his hand, the elder waved them lightly:

“There’s nothing more to discuss.”

“I propose that Yenir continues leading the defense. Let’s drop the prior accusations against him. Our immediate priority is stopping the Sea Beast!”

“If Yenir can spot problems, it means he knows more than everyone here!”

“Once he returns, we’ll ask him exactly what evidence he found.”

“If he has evidence, then seizing control in a moment of crisis is understandable!”

“As Minister Zhao rightly said: When generals are on the field, they sometimes ignore orders! We can’t have our warriors fight hard-won battles only to be rebuked by their own side upon return!”

“Now we must fully support Yenir and focus on ending this disaster!”

After the elder finished speaking, silence and contemplation fell over the room.

Indeed.

In truth, many—especially the Military’s top brass—felt a tinge of regret.

Had they not been so overconfident in their judgment and followed Yenir’s advice to evacuate immediately, the subsequent power struggle might have been avoided. Ultimately, the blame was theirs.

Yenir was simply helping them clean up a mess of their own making.

Now, with the situation spiraling out of control, recalling their earlier words filled them with shame.

Rumor had it that General Zhang from the Temporary Operations Group had already resigned.

On the dais, Li Xuanguo remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking up.

“This meeting is adjourned.”

“That being said, notify all Military Regions that the Military has classified this incident as a special situation. Everything Yenir did was in accordance with Military orders.”

“To minimize the fallout, command of the East Sea A-level Beast Tide is temporarily handed over to Yenir and the onsite high-ranking officers.”

“Once Yenir returns, if he can present key evidence proving that Fang Teng and his group were at fault, the inspection committee members will be severely punished!”

“Also, today’s events must remain confidential!”

Final word.

After Li Xuanguo delivered his final verdict, the high-ranking officials present, their faces conflicted, fell silent. It was evident that Li Xuanguo had sided with Yenir, casually brushing the matter aside.

Moreover, handing over command to Yenir was likely a setup for future propaganda.

The meeting ended and everyone dispersed.

Sitting alone on the dais, Li Xuanguo quietly organized the documents in his hand.

In the empty meeting room, only he and the Secretary General remained.

“Prime Minister, let me handle the paperwork.”

Seeing Li Xuanguo looking troubled, the Secretary General—who had served him for years—whispered:

“Prime Minister, you never intended to pursue the Yenir issue from the beginning, did you?”

“Was this meeting just meant to shut everyone up?”

Pausing his work, Li Xuanguo fixed his steady gaze on the Secretary General and remained silent for a moment.

“I suppose so.”

“After all, I bear some of the blame too.”

“High-level judgments aren’t always right. If we’re mistaken, we admit it.”

Listening to the self-reproach in the Prime Minister’s tone, the Secretary General felt a pang in his heart. Then, as if remembering something, he couldn’t help but ask the question that weighed on him most:

“Prime Minister, Yenir is undeniably talented. I can’t fathom how he managed that disaster warning.”

“But don’t you think he reminds you a lot of that guy?”

…….

East Sea Defense Line.

“I’m sorry, Yenir!”

“We had no idea! We really never imagined it would come to this!”

Their faces turned ashen.

At the frontline, several Third-Stage high-ranking officers—who had rushed in from the Battle Zone to apprehend Yenir—now stared, pale-faced, at the towering dark silhouette in the distance. Under a barrage of cannon fire, even the massive beast tide could not be stopped.

Ming Luo clutched the collar of a general one rank above him and roared:

“You dragged back the evacuees again!”

“And you had the nerve to tell them not to trust any orders and not to leave the city?! You even shoved people into air raid shelters?!”

“We had no idea! We really didn’t expect this to happen!!”

Swallowing hard, the Third-Stage Advanced officer—once so formidable—now looked like a guilt-ridden wretch, too afraid to meet Yenir’s eyes.

“We were worried you’d issue bogus orders, so we mandated that no one would command the troops for at least 24 hours…”

“We never imagined the Sea Beast would actually show up!!”