Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 691

Elder Miao asked, "Then... what do we do?"

Old Xu picked up the teacup on the table, lowered his head and took a sip of tea before slowly saying, "What can we do?"

Do you think we have a choice?

Old Xu said with some emotion, "Don't treat us like the old shelter leaders."

"Find your place."

"We are actually not much different from the masses, from the ants on the ground."

“If we had surrendered voluntarily back then, we would still have a place in the new system.”

"But we were attacked on our doorstep and had no choice but to admit defeat."

"At this point, it's already quite good that Qiu Tu is still willing to keep our positions."

"Besides... who is Qiu Tu?"

"But it is a super-level cataclysm who slays a seventh-level evil god and enslaves a sixth-level evil god."

"In addition, his high-ranking position gave him an invincible shield, making it impossible for him to even use nuclear weapons."

"So, when we face him, it's like 'fish on a chopping board'. There's nothing we can do."

At this point, Old Xu paused, then concluded, "If you ask me, no matter what happens this afternoon, we shouldn't offer any opinions."

"This time, we'll only bring our ears, not our mouths..."

Upon hearing Elder Xu's sincere suggestion, Elder Miao's face showed a thoughtful expression, and then he nodded thoughtfully.

......

Meanwhile.

Shelter No. 7. The Wei family.

As one of the original three giants of the 7th Sanctuary.

Despite experiencing three major events—the founding of the 7th Shelter, the Partridge Terrace Incident, and the Qiu Lin Coup—the Wei family still stands at the very top of power within the 7th Shelter.

Of the original four founders of the 7th Shelter, only Wei Zhengze, the head of the Wei family, remains. Over the decades, the four major families have experienced many changes, but only the Wei family has remained consistent.

This also shows the Wei family's astute judgment and shrewdness.

Meanwhile, in the main house of the Wei residence.

After listening to the report from the head of the Wei family's intelligence system, Wei Zhengze, the helmsman of the Wei family, looked serious and tapped his fingers lightly on the table, lost in thought.

After a moment, he came to his senses and looked at the person in charge of the emotional system, confirming, "So, you mean... Qiu Tu has reached an agreement with the Third Shelter."

"The Third Shelter helped him secure positions at other shelters, and then actively promoted him, making him the number one shelter in our shelter?"

"And once Qiu Tu seizes power, will he agree to a series of unequal treaties?"

"This even includes the possibility that the Third Shelter could establish offices and station troops in the states of the Seventh Shelter?"

Upon hearing Wei Zhengze's words, the intelligence chief nodded slightly and then affirmed, "Yes."

Wei Zhengze's face showed a hint of anger, "What is Qiu Tu doing? Isn't this turning the 7th Shelter into a semi-colony?!"

Upon hearing Wei Zhengze's words, the intelligence chief coughed and whispered a reminder, "Patriarch, be careful what you say."

Upon hearing the intelligence chief's reminder, Wei Zhengze realized that he had spoken out of turn.

So he quickly picked up the teacup to cover up his mistake and took a sip of tea.

He took a full three or four seconds to drink that sip of tea.

Three or four seconds later, he composed himself, put down his tea, and said with an expressionless face, "Does Lin Xi know about this news?"

Lin Xi is the Princess Consort of Xi.

The intelligence chief lowered his head and said in a low voice, "They must have known all along."

Wei Zheng tapped his fingers lightly on the table, lost in thought.

After a moment, he finally spoke, "Although I don't know what kind of agreement Qiu Tu and Lin Xi reached."

"But if I'm not mistaken, there must be conditions regarding how the benefits of Shelter No. 7 will be distributed."

"Now, Qiu Tu has not only sold the 7th shelter, making it a semi-colony of the 3rd shelter, but he is also preparing to oust her in less than a month."

"If I were her, I definitely wouldn't hand over power so easily."

Upon hearing the analysis of the policy, the head of the intelligence agency hesitated and nodded slightly. "I suppose so."

"During this period of time, we worked with Lin Xi and conducted a rough personality assessment of her."

"This woman is extremely vengeful. Moreover, she is deep-thinking and intelligent."

"If Qiu Tu dares to plot against her like this, she will definitely not let him off the hook."

"Therefore, my suggestion is that we wait and see, neither taking sides, and then sit back and watch the two tigers fight."

"After all... if these two sides fight, we're actually the ones who benefit..."

Upon hearing what the intelligence chief said, Wei Zhengze's face also showed a hint of understanding.

He analyzed, "We are the largest surrender faction in the 7th Shelter, and we surrendered directly to Qiu Tu. We can almost be said to be Qiu Tu's direct force in the 7th Shelter."

"Although Princess Xi is Qiu Tu's partner, their interests are now in conflict. Therefore, Qiu Tu will inevitably support another force to counterbalance Princess Xi."

"That means it's us!"

Upon hearing Wei Zhengze's analysis, the intelligence chief looked at Wei Zhengze with a smile in his eyes, then nodded and said, "Yes."

"In fact, this trend has already become apparent over this period of time."

"After Qiu Tu took over the sanctuary, he purged the Senate. But those he purged were all families that were aligned with the Zhao and Han families."

"Qiu Tu has hardly touched any factions that are close to our Wei family."

"This has allowed us to preserve our strength to a great extent."

"Even if Princess Xi gains the moral high ground after taking the throne, she can only compromise with us."

This intelligence chief is clearly a strategist for the Wei family.

Many of the Wei family's previous decisions were likely proposed or modified by him.

So, after listening to what the intelligence chief had to say, Wei Zheng nodded in satisfaction and agreed, "That's right. That's exactly it."

He directly determined the approach for the upcoming elders' meeting: "In that case, I will remain silent during the afternoon meeting, no matter what happens."

The intelligence chief nodded slightly, which was taken as agreement.

.....

Meanwhile, at the Sixth Shelter, the Central Command.

With a loud bang, the study door was pushed open from the outside, giving the wall a solid kiss.

As the door opened, Kou Yu strode in angrily.

Kou Xuan, who was sitting behind his desk signing his name, looked up at his younger brother and then gestured to the sofa next to him, "Sit."

After saying that, Kou Xuan continued to write the document.

Upon hearing Kou Xuan's words, Kou Yu stormed over to the sofa. Then he plopped down on it.

"Brother, aren't you worried at all?"

"I know everything. Qiu Tu has betrayed us!"

Upon hearing Kou Yu's words, Kou Xuan smiled slightly and continued to review a document.

After finishing revising the documents at hand, Kou Xuan slowly put down his pen.

Instead of directly answering his younger brother's question, he suddenly brought up something completely unrelated.

"Commander Li Feng of the 4th Shelter contacted me on behalf of the 2nd Shelter."

Kou Yu was stunned for a moment, then looked at Kou Xuan with a surprised expression.

Kou Xuan leaned back in his chair and slowly said, "She said that after years of observation, she felt that after Qiu Tu left, the Kou family was actually the most suitable force to become the ruler of the 'Northwest Region.'"

“If we are willing to cooperate with her, then the second shelter will support our shelter in the same way that the third shelter was supported.”

"This will not only help us get rid of the possibility of being a semi-colony, but also enable us to achieve great development."

Hearing his brother's words, Kou Yu was shocked. He said, "Commander Li Feng actually has such a status?"

Kou Xuan pointed to his eyes and said, "To some extent, the experts from the Second Shelter can't reach the 'Fringe Area,' so they need an agent to observe and assess the changing situation there."

“And Commander Li Feng is clearly that agent.”

Kou Xuan paused for a moment, "And according to Commander Li Feng's observations and summary, the various bizarre operations of the Third Shelter were simply too crazy."

"Therefore, one third shelter is enough; she doesn't want the entire human camp to be led astray."

"That's why she chose our Kou family."

At this moment, Kou Yu didn't really care who the agent was. What he cared about more was whether Kou Xuan had agreed or not.

So he couldn't help but ask, "Brother, did you agree?"

Upon hearing this, Kou Xuan indeed steered the conversation back on track. He shook his head slightly and said, "No. I haven't given her a definite answer yet."

"I told her to wait two days and then tell her the result."

At this point, Kou Xuan paused for a moment, then said, "I still want to see the situation at the 7th Shelter settled first."

"Let's see what Lin Xi chooses..."

......

Soon, in the blink of an eye, the morning had passed quietly.

1 p.m. The council chamber of the Senate in the 7th Sanctuary.

At this moment, the long table on both sides of the council hall was already filled with elders. Not a single chair was empty.

Over the years, the 7th shelter had a total of 32-37 elders. However, with the purge of the Han and Zhao families, although their direct followers were not arrested or killed, most of them were demoted and removed from their elder positions.

This has resulted in the fact that there are now only 23 veterans in Shelter 7.

Perhaps because this was the first time that Qiu Tu, the uncrowned king of the "Northwest Region," had convened a meeting of elders, all 23 elders were present.

Moreover... they were all waiting in the conference hall early.

Several elders who were further away were drenched in sweat even when they sat down; their clothes were soaked through. Clearly, the rush and immense pressure had taken their toll.

This also demonstrates Qiu Tu's current prestige within the 7th Shelter in the entire "Northwest Region"...

Soon, as the clock hands pointed to "1", Qiu Tu and Princess Xi entered from outside one after the other.

As soon as the two appeared, the entire conference hall fell silent, and all the elders stood up to greet them.

However, it was precisely because of this high-level welcome that the elders present keenly sensed something was amiss.

Because... when Qiu Tu walked in from outside, he had a faint smile on his face. In contrast, Princess Xi's face was expressionless, as if someone owed her millions.

This made the elders present feel a chill run down their spines, sensing that today's meeting might not be as simple as it seemed...

He walked to the main seat and the secondary seat, where Qiu Tu and Princess Xi sat down. Only then did the elders nervously follow suit.

Amidst a cacophony of chairs being dragged around, the entire conference room gradually quieted down.

Seeing that the entire conference hall had returned to order, Princess Xi, who was still in Shelter No. 1, coldly surveyed everyone present and then said authoritatively, "The main purpose of this meeting of elders is to discuss a major matter."

Upon hearing Princess Xi's words, the elders present exchanged glances, then quickly adjusted their postures and looked at Princess Xi, thinking to themselves, "She's here."

Princess Xi noticed that all eyes were on her, and her expression softened slightly.

But thinking about what she was about to say, her expression became more serious.

She paused for two seconds, then spoke slowly, "I've seen all the criticisms I've received from other shelters these past two days."

"To be honest, I'm very disappointed."

"I never expected to be misunderstood like this."

"The reason I led my troops back to Sanctuary No. 7 is because I discovered that the Han and Zhao families have betrayed humanity. If we continue to let them take control of our sanctuary, then what awaits us is only an abyss."

"So, I returned to Shelter 7 entirely to make it a better place, not for revenge!"

"Furthermore, they also said that I simply could not possibly build the 7th shelter!"