"YOU DID WHAT?!" Qiu Yue tried to pull her cheeks in case she was in a dream. The System had called Grandma Yuan, Claire, Yun, Lynn and Qiu Yue into the conference room instance whereas the System had forcefully thrown Jin into the fray.
When the Dungeon Supplier told them about Hou Fei's issue and his proposal to hold one million over people. Even the experienced Demon Exorcist Instructor could not believe that Jin made such an outrageous proposal towards the System.
"No wonder the System wanted us to check if you caught some insanity fever after your fight." Claire scoffed at the idea too.
"I am not being unrealistic! The total population of Dongguan and Huizhou is roughly 12 million. I am only asking for the funds to accommodate one million people worth of space. Besides, if we want to run the Pandapolis with full efficiency, we need that many people anyway, right? The monsters under my care cannot do all the jobs. There is definitely a limit to how many monsters the System can hold despite the increased processing capabilities."
"I understand you have far-reaching goals, but this is simply ludicrous. Jin, we do not have the potential to feed 1 million people! Even if we were able to, the capacity to do so in the long run is not viable. When we built this city, we looked to cater to approximately 200 000 citizens, customers or tourists and perhaps move our way up from that SLOWLY. One million is five times that number. Our sanitation, our infrastructure, our utilities… nothing is prepared for that!" Qiu Yue argued with reason but her head was already filled with the word impossible.
"This child needs a good wake up slap on the head." Yun did not hesitate to go towards Jin but a word from Grandma Yuan and strangely, she obeyed and stopped.
"Son, are you doubting the capabilities of our soldiers or of our demon exorcists?" Grandma Yuan asked, and Jin kept his mouth shut. He knew whatever he said, be it yes or no, would be countered almost immediately.
"No reply? Then listen to me carefully. First of all, calm yourself down. You have just been through a major battle from what I've heard, and you should take some time to rest, not jump straight into the next battle without thinking it over." Grandma Yuan said as she gently banged her stick on the ground to keep his attention.
"As a war veteran myself, I can only give you one piece of advice. Do what you can. Prepare the infrastructures as much as you deem possible, but do not overstretch yourself. You are no god. No one is expecting you to be one. You are just a person who so happens to have a special ability and can use such power for them. I am glad you are willing to help other people, but there is only this much you can do." Yuan sighed as she took a glass of water to drink and continued.
"You also have to remember that people will eventually envy you for that power and seek that power that you hold for themselves. It is partially why the System does not wish to make any noise. Don't forget what you are about to do isn't a small commitment. Basically, you agree to house them for as long as it takes. Are you sure you can handle that for that many?" Yuan commented as she saw the troubled look on Jin.
"I…" Jin laid back on his chair and took a deep breath. There were words within him wanting to argue back, but Grandma Yuan was right on the money. There was only so much he could realistically do.
His food storage could only last that long.
His space was limited.
How long before the government stepped in to aid the troubled citizens? What if the Monster Horde were indeed the same as the ones as seen all over the world recently? That could possibly mean that exterminating them would be a hassle since they would be secretly hiding in those cities.
And what if the situation was beyond their means? Would they have to kick out the refugees? Then he wouldn't be a hero but become the bad guy in this scenario. When Jin was considering all these, Lynn came towards him and placed a warm towel over his face she took out from her storage ring.
"Grandma Yuan is right, calm down," Lynn spoke in a relaxing tone. She too had seen the numbers on the screen projected by the System to justify that its User had gone crazy.
Despite the many outrageously impossible plans, both User and System had always overcome them barely up till now, yet this time the System was claiming it was too much of an obstacle.
"Say, after the fight with King Baal the System has increased its processing capabilities, right?" Lynn asked, and Jin took the face towel down to look at her.
"What are you implying, Lynn?" Qiu Yue gave Lynn the chance to voice out since she was usually the most reasonable person out of the three of them.
"I know you would like to sit this one out, but how about we prepare a counter offence?" Lynn questioned, and the rest were drawing blanks from her question.
"…What do you mean?" Jin probed for more information.
"According to all the information we've gathered… we are assuming that the Monster Horde might be under control, possession, or something of that level? What we are doing right now is relying on the Royal Battalions to do a sweep through the forested mountains and still catch all of them and maybe whoever is behind them. Either way, their last defensive line would be the Border Guards with the wall fortifications, correct?" Lynn started to sum up everything, and everyone slowly nodded their heads.
"So if the problem comes about when the Monster Horde reaches the wall, why don't we teleport in the midst of the Monster Horde and disrupt them so they would not overflow the wall when that happens? Maybe we can find the perpetrators of the act as well. Sure, we will still take Hou Fei's job to take people in for emergency evacuation but at least that way, even if we fail, they'll only have to remove the people from those districts around the border wall and not the entirety of Huizhou or Dongguan." Lynn explained.
"I was partially reminded of Jin's previous plan. He once planned to use a lure to get the Demon Rats sucked into a dungeon instance so that they couldn't escape. After which, we had planned to utilise the Demon Rats as the product for the joint training exercise between the Tigers and Snakes." Lynn revealed and that caused Qiu Yue and Yun to whisper among each other while Grandma Yuan and Claire were absolutely clueless.
"Here I thought we would not need to be too involved in this other than rescuing people." Jin thought to himself and sighed. Nevertheless, he had to agree that Lynn's solution would potentially enable them to either prevent the situation or limit the damages.
It would be great if they could supplement the defending soldiers without being seen. This was also the first time Lynn had actively decided to take reins and control the operation. (Just shows how serious she was in wanting to fight side by side with Jin.)
"A counter attack against the monster is considered as a way to rescue people too. System can generate an EMP charge blackout disguised as the enemy's attack to reduce chances of detection if User wishes to keep the whole situation at a low profile. However, the probability to appear as the perpetrator with User and his monsters would be a cause of concern too." The System spoke only to Jin as it would decrease the chances of its existence being discovered, yet simultaneously it pointed out the dangers of proceeding with this plan.
"Do we have any lures for the demons?" Jin finally caved in and asked the System openly.
"With User's unique aura, it should be enough as a lure to get the Monster Horde to chase after you instead."
"What if I use the Black Sludge Crystals to amplify my aura? Do you think it will work even better? We can use that to attract the demons into the System portal and trapping them in a dungeon instance." Jin asked, and the System replied with a resounding yes.
"But are you sure you are okay with this? You previously said you do not want to get involved with these. Now you are actively putting two feet into the deep waters." Qiu Yue wished to confirm his intentions.
"I feel too restless when I know that the lucrative business will disappear …and people cannot celebrate Chinese New Year in peace."
"Heh, that kid." Grandma Yuan was reminded of a certain someone who, when he was younger, also could never admit of just wanting to help everyone.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Qiu Yue tried to pull her cheeks in case she was in a dream. The System had called Grandma Yuan, Claire, Yun, Lynn and Qiu Yue into the conference room instance whereas the System had forcefully thrown Jin into the fray.
When the Dungeon Supplier told them about Hou Fei's issue and his proposal to hold one million over people. Even the experienced Demon Exorcist Instructor could not believe that Jin made such an outrageous proposal towards the System.
"No wonder the System wanted us to check if you caught some insanity fever after your fight." Claire scoffed at the idea too.
"I am not being unrealistic! The total population of Dongguan and Huizhou is roughly 12 million. I am only asking for the funds to accommodate one million people worth of space. Besides, if we want to run the Pandapolis with full efficiency, we need that many people anyway, right? The monsters under my care cannot do all the jobs. There is definitely a limit to how many monsters the System can hold despite the increased processing capabilities."
"I understand you have far-reaching goals, but this is simply ludicrous. Jin, we do not have the potential to feed 1 million people! Even if we were able to, the capacity to do so in the long run is not viable. When we built this city, we looked to cater to approximately 200 000 citizens, customers or tourists and perhaps move our way up from that SLOWLY. One million is five times that number. Our sanitation, our infrastructure, our utilities… nothing is prepared for that!" Qiu Yue argued with reason but her head was already filled with the word impossible.
"This child needs a good wake up slap on the head." Yun did not hesitate to go towards Jin but a word from Grandma Yuan and strangely, she obeyed and stopped.
"Son, are you doubting the capabilities of our soldiers or of our demon exorcists?" Grandma Yuan asked, and Jin kept his mouth shut. He knew whatever he said, be it yes or no, would be countered almost immediately.
"No reply? Then listen to me carefully. First of all, calm yourself down. You have just been through a major battle from what I've heard, and you should take some time to rest, not jump straight into the next battle without thinking it over." Grandma Yuan said as she gently banged her stick on the ground to keep his attention.
"As a war veteran myself, I can only give you one piece of advice. Do what you can. Prepare the infrastructures as much as you deem possible, but do not overstretch yourself. You are no god. No one is expecting you to be one. You are just a person who so happens to have a special ability and can use such power for them. I am glad you are willing to help other people, but there is only this much you can do." Yuan sighed as she took a glass of water to drink and continued.
"You also have to remember that people will eventually envy you for that power and seek that power that you hold for themselves. It is partially why the System does not wish to make any noise. Don't forget what you are about to do isn't a small commitment. Basically, you agree to house them for as long as it takes. Are you sure you can handle that for that many?" Yuan commented as she saw the troubled look on Jin.
"I…" Jin laid back on his chair and took a deep breath. There were words within him wanting to argue back, but Grandma Yuan was right on the money. There was only so much he could realistically do.
His food storage could only last that long.
His space was limited.
How long before the government stepped in to aid the troubled citizens? What if the Monster Horde were indeed the same as the ones as seen all over the world recently? That could possibly mean that exterminating them would be a hassle since they would be secretly hiding in those cities.
And what if the situation was beyond their means? Would they have to kick out the refugees? Then he wouldn't be a hero but become the bad guy in this scenario. When Jin was considering all these, Lynn came towards him and placed a warm towel over his face she took out from her storage ring.
"Grandma Yuan is right, calm down," Lynn spoke in a relaxing tone. She too had seen the numbers on the screen projected by the System to justify that its User had gone crazy.
Despite the many outrageously impossible plans, both User and System had always overcome them barely up till now, yet this time the System was claiming it was too much of an obstacle.
"Say, after the fight with King Baal the System has increased its processing capabilities, right?" Lynn asked, and Jin took the face towel down to look at her.
"What are you implying, Lynn?" Qiu Yue gave Lynn the chance to voice out since she was usually the most reasonable person out of the three of them.
"I know you would like to sit this one out, but how about we prepare a counter offence?" Lynn questioned, and the rest were drawing blanks from her question.
"…What do you mean?" Jin probed for more information.
"According to all the information we've gathered… we are assuming that the Monster Horde might be under control, possession, or something of that level? What we are doing right now is relying on the Royal Battalions to do a sweep through the forested mountains and still catch all of them and maybe whoever is behind them. Either way, their last defensive line would be the Border Guards with the wall fortifications, correct?" Lynn started to sum up everything, and everyone slowly nodded their heads.
"So if the problem comes about when the Monster Horde reaches the wall, why don't we teleport in the midst of the Monster Horde and disrupt them so they would not overflow the wall when that happens? Maybe we can find the perpetrators of the act as well. Sure, we will still take Hou Fei's job to take people in for emergency evacuation but at least that way, even if we fail, they'll only have to remove the people from those districts around the border wall and not the entirety of Huizhou or Dongguan." Lynn explained.
"I was partially reminded of Jin's previous plan. He once planned to use a lure to get the Demon Rats sucked into a dungeon instance so that they couldn't escape. After which, we had planned to utilise the Demon Rats as the product for the joint training exercise between the Tigers and Snakes." Lynn revealed and that caused Qiu Yue and Yun to whisper among each other while Grandma Yuan and Claire were absolutely clueless.
"Here I thought we would not need to be too involved in this other than rescuing people." Jin thought to himself and sighed. Nevertheless, he had to agree that Lynn's solution would potentially enable them to either prevent the situation or limit the damages.
It would be great if they could supplement the defending soldiers without being seen. This was also the first time Lynn had actively decided to take reins and control the operation. (Just shows how serious she was in wanting to fight side by side with Jin.)
"A counter attack against the monster is considered as a way to rescue people too. System can generate an EMP charge blackout disguised as the enemy's attack to reduce chances of detection if User wishes to keep the whole situation at a low profile. However, the probability to appear as the perpetrator with User and his monsters would be a cause of concern too." The System spoke only to Jin as it would decrease the chances of its existence being discovered, yet simultaneously it pointed out the dangers of proceeding with this plan.
"Do we have any lures for the demons?" Jin finally caved in and asked the System openly.
"With User's unique aura, it should be enough as a lure to get the Monster Horde to chase after you instead."
"What if I use the Black Sludge Crystals to amplify my aura? Do you think it will work even better? We can use that to attract the demons into the System portal and trapping them in a dungeon instance." Jin asked, and the System replied with a resounding yes.
"But are you sure you are okay with this? You previously said you do not want to get involved with these. Now you are actively putting two feet into the deep waters." Qiu Yue wished to confirm his intentions.
"I feel too restless when I know that the lucrative business will disappear …and people cannot celebrate Chinese New Year in peace."
"Heh, that kid." Grandma Yuan was reminded of a certain someone who, when he was younger, also could never admit of just wanting to help everyone.
