Chapter 1099: The Strength of Red Moon (III)

“If we succeed this time and break the barrier in front of us, light will dawn upon our world,” Deputy Zhou said softly. “At least, it will shine over part of us. Ole Zhao... bring out whatever trump cards you have and put them all on the table. Trust the young man this once!”

“Ole Zhou, you’ve changed after your trip to Skystar City...” intoned Director General Zhao.

“I haven’t!” The deputy shook his head. “I’ve just seen some things with my own eyes and feel that we don’t need to hide or conceal ourselves any longer. Li Hao walks with extreme difficulty and also suspects that what we’ve shown isn’t our full force. He, too, wonders if this is all that Silver Moon has to offer.

“However, he never mentions any of it. He’s also a Silver Moon martial master at the end of the day and cares deeply for face. Since no one steps forward to help him, he will help himself!

“Think about it, has he ever asked for help? Apart from Yuan Shuo, has he ever asked for reinforcements from beginning to end? Even if he does ask for help, he pays an appropriate price in return. He cares deeply about his dignity—the same as any other Silver Moon martial master!

“He would want nothing more than to draw clear boundaries with everyone. He helps us, we help him. We give him ten percent, he gives us one hundred percent. We’ve been trying to change him all along in hopes that he wouldn’t be overly impacted by slaughter or hatred. Now that he’s put down his grudges and bloodthirstiness, we are unable to give him any more help. In that case, why did we not let him persist in his hatred?

“His path would not be so difficult if his target remained only Ying Hongyue from the start!” The deputy looked at Director General Zhao. “We’ve dumped our responsibilities on him. Whether it’s the four nations or New Martial traitors, what does it have to do with him? If he focuses on hunting down Ying Hongyue and gives up Stellaris, there might not be anyone who makes trouble for him then.

“You want to imitate Supreme Zhang of New Martial and raise a Human King, but have you afforded him the same protections that the Human King enjoyed? Have you done what the supreme did?”

Director General Zhao frowned ferociously.

“So... you are not the supreme and he is not the Human King. In that case, why do we burden him with all of this?”

“I haven’t,” rumbled the director general. “This is a collective responsibility, after all!”

“No, you’re wrong!” refuted the deputy. “It’s not everyone’s responsibility! You need to get one thing clear, he doesn’t wish to be king or emperor! None of this is his responsibility! He’s alive today not because of how much help you gave him, but because Yuan Shuo and Hong Yitang have been assisting him. You haven’t done much to facilitate his rise, so your thinking is wrong, Ole Zhao!”

Director General Zhao didn’t say a word.

“If you still keep your cards close to your heart and continue to play it safe, who will put their lives on the line for you next time?” Deputy Zhou asked calmly. “You will be out of chances if we fail this attempt. Even if you survive and bide your time, you will have no opportunity to turn the situation around!”

He was certain that Ole Zhao had more cards to play. After all, Silver Moon had spent too many years waiting for the second awakening! It was impossible that the province had made no other preparations.

Director General Zhao had said a long time ago that Silver Moon would be able to fight the world and those old antiques in the advent of the second awakening. So why... were they proceeding with such difficulty now?

Deputy Zhou turned an ardent stare at the director general.

“Do... you remember how I was present at the first awakening?” asked Director General Zhao.

The deputy nodded. The leaders of the three great organizations, lord of Yonder Mountain, and Director General Zhao had been present at the first awakening.

That matter was raised later on, but the director general never spoke of it. Hence, no one pressed him for details. It got to the point where Li Hao suspected Director General Zhao for a period of time and kept certain things from him.

After he learned that the director general was in contact with the ancient cities, he further avoided the man and didn’t even tell him before resurrecting General Pagoda.

“The site of the first awakening was a ruin called Jade Mountain Town!” The director general took a deep breath. “There was a mine there with a powerhouse present in its depths. His name was Earthflare and he was similar to the one in the depths of the Skystar mine. His mission was to commence the first awakening! He succeeded, the Skystar Town one failed.”

Deputy Zhou nodded with a faint frown.

“When the first awakening began, our group had some contact with the one called Earthflare.”

“Is Earthflare part of the traitors or another side?” asked the deputy.

“Another side, he was from Red Moon major world! That is how Ying Hongyue’s Red Moon organization was formed!”

“You’ve hidden this well.” Deputy Zhou’s expression changed. “You’ve never spoken of it.”

“That year, I, Ying Hongyue, and the others reached an agreement with Earthflare,” the director general said slowly. “We would not target each other before the second awakening and would jointly set it in motion. Otherwise, we would not be able to return to the outside world.”

“Were there restrictions on speaking of this before?” asked the deputy. “Is that why you didn’t say anything?”

“Some, but the consequences weren’t severe,” the director general answered softly. “After that, the three great organizations appeared in the world, then Yonder Mountain. I also began administering Silver Moon. Our policy of non-interference was in place! All of us were waiting for the second awakening to begin...”

“You guys were facilitating it, weren’t you?”

“Indeed, we proceeded according to our agreement and set events in motion for the second awakening. Whether it was the three great organizations or Silver Moon, we targeted the nine ministries and royal family to force them to release their grip on the mine.”

“And now? Get to the point. Is your trump card this Earthflare?”

“What are you in a rush for?” laughed the director general. “The situation now is that the agreement is null and void because the second awakening is impossible to secure. Everyone is thinking of a way out, but Earthflare is indeed my trump card...

“He represents Red Moon major world, not the traitors! He once said that if the second awakening is at hand, he would take action against those from the eight main cities. Well, he didn’t put it that clearly. I surmised his meaning.

“Therefore, I remain unconcerned despite there being many ruins within Silver Moon. Earthflare has revitalized to a large degree and will hunt the ancients down when the second awakening begins!”

“You made a deal with a demon!” frowned the deputy.

“Yes!” Director General Zhao nodded. “That’s precisely what I’ve done. I used to think a lot and wanted to use Martial Alliance to hunt down Earthflare. They can balance out each other this way. I’d like to wait for the second awakening to begin first and use Earthflare to kill large sums of ancients, then ambush Earthflare so Martial Alliance can kill him. They can go down together!

“Red Moon major world and New Martial are natural enemies with each other! Of course, this course of action has us walking on a tightrope, but it doesn’t matter. When the second awakening begins, how are we to survive if we do not take risks?”

“Then this trump card... isn’t that useful!” sighed Deputy Zhou. Ole Zhao was pinning his hopes on a Red Moon powerhouse? What kind of ace up his sleeve was this? The deputy was quite resigned by the situation!

“In the forty years that I’ve held down the fort in Silver Moon, I’ve expelled the three great organizations so that Ying Hongyue and his ilk cannot enter.” Director General Zhao shook his head. “I held sway over the Jade Mountain ruins, making it so that Earthflare has come in contact with only me during these years. Do you understand?

“It’s been twenty-one years since the first awakening. Earthflare hasn’t seen Ying Hongyue since. The only thing he can do is extend some mental strength to create a scarlet cloak and follow Ying Hongyue’s side so they can remain in contact. I permitted that to happen, but Ying Hongyue and the others killed the scarlet cloak a while ago...”

Deputy Zhou looked at his colleague, a light dancing in his eyes. Twenty-one years! Had Ole Zhao created a deeper partnership with that Earthflare over this time?

“I’ve had my ideas over this period of time and executed them, but Earthflare is not easy to manage,” Director General Zhao said softly. “Although we’ve been in contact many times over these years, I could not fully convince him or persuade him to my side...

“That is, until Ying Hongyue killed the scarlet cloak and severed communications,” laughed the old man. “He has no other hope and can only rely on me. I have to thank Ying Hongyue for this!

“I prevented whatever Ying Hongyue wanted to do in Jade Mountain Town over those couple of days. Meanwhile, I did only one thing.”

“Can you speak frankly already?” sighed Deputy Zhou.

“I said that I can become his eyes and arms,” smiled the director general. “I can be the second scarlet cloak, the second Ying Hongyue! It’s not out of the question for me to utilize my trump card... I can go to him right now and use his Saint-level strength to force my dao meridians open.

“That will modify my body into one most suitable for his possession and prepare for his emergence from the ruins. The greatest drawback from this course of action, however, is that I might lose myself.

“The powerhouses of Red Moon major world are slightly horrifying in that they will slowly magnify your desires. They don’t possess your body outright, but slowly develop your desires and change you until you become part of them. Any of the traitors must have had contact on a deep level with them!

“He will be overjoyed if I accept his modification, brainwashing, and thoughts to open more dao meridians,” sighed Director General Zhao. “The scarlet cloak is dead, Ying Hongyue has betrayed him, he’s stuck in the ruins for now... He’ll be very happy that I become his spokesperson.”

“Forget it, let’s not create another Ying Hongyue unless we have to,” murmured a repulsed Deputy Zhou. “I thought you had something great up your sleeves after so many years, but... this was it?”

He was rather disappointed. This was not a good trump card at all.

This is all you have after twenty-one years? It’s... nothing! You should’ve told me earlier, I might’ve been able to come up with something else.

“Of course not,” laughed the director general. “Wouldn’t I have wasted twenty-one years if this is all I have? Am I such a fool as to turn myself into a second Ying Hongyue?

“I’ve been thinking day and night for the past twenty-one years on how to prevent myself from becoming a second Ying Hongyue,” the old man explained proudly. “I’ve been researching how to stand strong against his influence and avoid becoming his puppet. I finally had a breakthrough a few years ago!

“I have Ying Hongyue to thank for it, he really does have some skill to his name! He was able to shrug off their influence and take the reins instead. It has much to do with his seizure of the eight family bloodlines. Red Moon major world’s influence is very strong, but with a stronger entity being a leverage point, one can avoid their effects.

“Do you understand? Ying Hongyue utilized the eight families to withstand that influence. He wouldn’t have been able to betray Earthflare otherwise.”

“And you?” The deputy raised an eyebrow.