Chapter 699: Desperate Gambit

To find Mother in such a short time?

Yenir fell silent—even across thousands of kilometers, he could see the Military’s anxious gaze in the data.

Internal strife and external threats, enemies on every side—even within the Capital Military, nothing was stable. It appeared that not a single backup plan existed and that everything was expected to be straightened out by him.

But Yenir knew it wasn’t the Prime Minister’s fault, nor anyone else’s.

Frankly, neither the Prime Minister, Uncle Fang, nor any of Huaguo’s high-ranking officials ever expected him to survive.

Thus, repelling the Rebels and turning the tide was never part of the plan. In harsher terms, before Yenir’s rise, many top officials had struggled to the bitter end, desperately trying to find a solution to their internal conflicts—a pure, sacrificial duty.

Many never contemplated winning; they simply yearned to try one last time.

So this unexpected victory exceeded everyone’s predictions. It was good news, but it also meant that no one knew what to do next.

It was like a starving man suddenly discovering a granary he simply couldn’t empty fast enough.

(Can I really find her in such a short time?)

Yenir asked himself in a daze.

Before infiltrating the Rebels, he had been quite confident; even now, things seemed to be going relatively well—smoother than he had imagined.

But the more secrets he unearthed, the more uneasy he became. Unlike at the beginning, when he thought he could simply sweep through the Battle Zone and force out Mother.

Now, he wasn’t even sure he could bring down Mother.

Fourth Stage.

Those two words pressed on him like a dark demon, making it hard to breathe.

Maybe in his previous life he was just one step away from reaching Fourth Stage, and now Yenir had ascended to the pinnacle of humanity—the limit of an Awakener—even stronger than in his past life.

Yet only Yenir truly understood what Fourth Stage meant.

It appeared so close, yet it was like staring into an endless abyss.

If Mother harnessed the power of Fourth Stage—even if it wasn’t even Mother herself—Yenir wouldn’t know what to do.

(At this rate, maybe in a day or two I can control the situation, and finding Mother isn’t impossible. But…once I find her, can I really take her down?)

After a long silence, Yenir slowly closed his eyes; when he reopened them, his resolve was steadfast.

“Uncle Fang, hold on as best you can! I’ll do everything possible to find Mother!”

“At the Border, I’ll work to stop them! And if push comes to shove, we won’t hold back!”

His heart had grown merciless.

Yenir’s reluctance to hold back was born from his humanity—a deep-seated moral duty to his own kind!

Nations clashed frequently, especially after the apocalypse. Small neighboring countries were always scheming. For years, the Military, plagued by internal chaos, had no choice but to continuously back down.

But now, the situation was a dead end!

To those surrounding nations, they might have seemed like mere pawns cooperating with Huaguo’s internal factions—grabbing a few resources here and there, far short of a full-scale war.

Yet in Yenir’s eyes, a crisis at the Border was the final straw that would break the camel’s back!

This wasn’t about internal power struggles in Huaguo—it was a do-or-die battle against monsters and impending catastrophe! It wasn’t just about resetting the status quo after a win; if they lost, Huaguo would be finished! The Asia Battle Zone would fall, and all of humanity would share in the ruin!

It wasn’t out of arrogance or a belief that only he could save the world!

Yenir knew all too well that humanity had already failed in his previous life—that left him as the sole variable in the global equation. He couldn’t die, he absolutely couldn’t fail, and he couldn’t allow these idiots to drag him down!

“Yenir!? What do you mean by that!?”

Even though communication was via the System, Fang Hao—who had just rushed to the East Sea Battle Zone—suddenly froze mid-air, feeling every oppressive word that Yenir spoke!

“Nothing special.”

“Uncle Fang, if the nations mount a massive offensive on the Border that exceeds our limits, we won’t have time to hold back—it won’t be a mere squabble but a war! A life-or-death battle with no rules—a war of annihilation!”

“We cannot lose. We can’t afford to be held back! The Capital must not fall; our forces are already too few!”

“Launch the nuclear missiles! If they dare invade us, we’ll make them pay!”

“Bomb them indiscriminately. If they send in a Third-Stage mid-level fighter, we’ll drop a nuclear missile! I want to see if their high-ranking officials fear death!”

“Weren’t they threatening us with our own men? Then turn the tables! If they die, they all die. I’m eager to see if they have the guts for it!”

On the verge of madness, burdened by unimaginable pressure since his rebirth,

at that moment, Yenir finally lost control and exploded with fury!

He could only endure Huaguo’s internal disputes—those were his own people, and he had limits to what he could do!

But those monkeys from Southeast Asia and those sticks from South Korea!?

To hell with them—let them all perish! I don’t need their territories or these people! Ordinary civilians are innocent, but I have no other choice now!

If I must choose, I’d rather outsiders die than my own!

“Nuclear war!? Yenir…!? You need to calm down! War among humans can never escalate to nuclear conflict!”

Reading Yenir’s message, even Fang Hao—despite having seen grand scenarios before—felt his scalp go numb and his pupils contract in an instant.

It wasn’t that he was soft-hearted or unaware that Yenir was right.

As a fellow human, he knew full well the devastating cost nations would pay in a nuclear war!

In these apocalyptic times, even on the brink of the end, the price of a full-scale nuclear war was beyond anyone’s bearing! Apart from pollution, countless lives would be lost. Zombies, mutants, and even bizarre events would surge under the radiation. Humanity had already bled dearly over nuclear armament in its darkest hours!

Many scenes filled with endless zombie mutations were the aftermath of nuclear explosions!

If a full-scale nuclear war erupted, all of Asia would become a haunted wasteland!

“Do we even have a choice?”

Perhaps within his madness lay an extreme clarity.

Yenir sneered coldly, his gaze as chilling as frost.

“Force them to back off—we still have time for one last showdown with Mother. Hope remains. Even if a new crisis arises, it won’t occur for another six months or even a year.”

“Uncle Fang, do as I say!”

“Of course. Before we are forced into nuclear war, I’ll give them a chance. I’ll attempt to assassinate their high-ranking officials to create chaos.”

“Let them pray— they’d better pray I can find Mother.”

Communications were severed.

Yenir stared calmly into the distance, his orders spreading out like spiderwebs to nations far and wide.

He longed to see the sunrise, but he hoped it wouldn’t last for too long.