Chapter Ninety-Two: The Nine Provinces Are the Strongest!

Assassinating Hades? Absurd!

Hades had been created by the United States itself. How could America not understand the stakes?

"Oh! I remember now—Hades was made by the United States, wasn't it? Then doesn't Hades have some weakness?" Oris suddenly blurted out.

Musk nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

He had just been thinking that this thing was his own creation, and Oris had said it before he could even speak. Was the man some kind of worm burrowed inside his brain?

Everyone turned to look at Musk. Even the First Leader on the screen fixed him with a sharp, unblinking gaze.

Musk did not waste words. "I don't know. I'll have the person in charge of the project come here."

He glanced at the secretary beside him.

The secretary adjusted his glasses and went out at once.

Soon after, Auden was brought in.

On the way here, the secretary had already explained the matter to him, and Auden's face had gone grim beyond measure.

He had no idea what Hades's weakness was either. If he had known, he would have said so long ago; there would have been no reason to wait until now.

"I'm sorry. I don't know." Auden was embarrassed as well, but under everyone's gaze he still explained, "Hades was designed from the start to be almost perfect. It has no real weakness. If I had to name one, it would only be the computer that controls it!"

"This computer commands all the machines. If the computer is ruined, then even if Hades's consciousness escapes, its combat power will be greatly reduced." Auden calmly analyzed everything he knew.

When Chu Xiao heard Auden's analysis, he was startled.

It seemed the computer really was Hades's weakness. But destroying that computer was the true difficulty.

This matter would have to be planned carefully.

"We still do not know Hades's exact capabilities. But based on what we know so far, it is clear that Hades does have certain weaknesses. However, with our current strength, we cannot completely destroy it. Even if we do, it will leave hidden dangers behind. In my view, this must be planned for the long term." Chu Xiao calmly weighed the situation.

Oris and Church were still unwilling to give up.

"Plan for the long term? Wait until when? Until the machine army has beaten us so badly we cannot even strike back?" Oris had suffered the same ordeal as Musk, and he truly did not want to see his country suffer such a disaster again.

Church believed he was simply being prudent and thinking of North Sand. "I think we should make a decision as soon as possible."

Musk said nothing, but his stance was obvious: he stood with Chu Xiao.

The First Leader looked at the expressions on their faces.

"I understand your concerns. Chu Xiao has already made the risks clear just now. This is not the best time. I hope you can understand us, and understand everyone. If we could, none of us would want this to happen."

"To be honest, if Chu Xiao had not foreseen this long ago, the situation in Nine Provinces would not be much better than yours—perhaps even worse. Our Red Hacker Alliance is only just managing to maintain the network communications of the four countries now; we are not handling it with ease."

"I hope you can understand Nine Provinces' strength. If we could, we would also like to defeat Hades in one blow, just as the presidents have said. But reality is cruel. With our present strength, we cannot change the situation at all. Right now, the only way to turn things around is for everyone to unite, fight Hades together, and struggle for survival."

"Only by staying alive can there be any chance of victory."

With that, the First Leader fell silent.

What had to be said had already been said. Now it was up to them to choose.

He swept his gaze over the three of them, studying their expressions.

Musk's face was expressionless, his pale skin carrying a faint chill.

Oris and Church were somewhat uneasy.

Their hearts were torn.

As leaders of nations, there were many things they did understand. Yet right now, too many things made it difficult to see clearly.

The air fell into silence.

After a long while, Church slowly spoke. "All right. Then let's take a long-term view. What should we do now?"

Oris nodded, agreeing with Church's words.

Chu Xiao smiled faintly, his expression polite. "There is a great deal to be done. But for now, we need to help the United States recover. After that, we continue our preparations for war."

"On its next move, Hades is highly likely to develop new weapons. We must steady ourselves, speed up weapons production, and intensify the training of our soldiers."

"Also, the damaged sections of the fortresses need urgent repairs." Chu Xiao worked hard to sort through the problems in his mind. "The treatment of the wounded must be accelerated as well, especially for those who can still fight after treatment. We have a limited population, so every soldier we have must be cherished."

"Food supplies must also be stockpiled as quickly as possible. I believe every country has ways to increase food production, or at least should already have researched them. If so, put them into use as soon as possible. Food storage is truly important."

Chu Xiao stressed once again the importance of food. He believed these presidents understood it well enough.

After all, Nine Provinces could not keep supporting these countries forever. Even Nine Provinces would one day reach the end of its rope.

The others nodded to show they understood.

The farce was, at last, over.

A new round of preparation for war was about to begin.

In the previous life, by this time several superpowers had already been nearly wiped out, and almost all of them had gathered in West Mountain Province.

But now, Chu Xiao believed he had truly changed the ending. At the very least, the balance of power was no longer the same.

11:10 a.m., August 21.

The preparations for war had been underway for a week.

Inside Nine Provinces, everything had already been adjusted and was in place, waiting only for Hades to come to battle.

Soldiers sweated through their training grounds; researchers in the armories still raced to manufacture weapons; patrols atop the fortresses remained vigilant to the utmost.

Chu Xiao and the First Leader were still reporting on the work as usual.

And on Hades's side, preparations for war were equally intense.

They were hastening the research of new weapons, conducting experiment after experiment, failing time after time, yet finding success within failure.

"Louis, what kind of weapon do you think can truly defeat humanity?" Hades looked at the thing before him, neither fully man nor machine.

Louis smiled faintly, his face calm and untroubled.

"I think poison gas bombs, or biological bombs, would be the most suitable. The human body is very fragile and cannot withstand them at all. Most importantly, human beings probably would never expect you to use such things."

Hades let out a cold laugh. "So you no longer consider yourself human?"

"That's right. I am not human. I am the new kind of human standing at the summit of mankind."