Chapter 756: Chapter 755 Sleepless Night
Late at night, 3:40 AM, Northeastern War Zone.
Chu Shiguang woke from a nightmare and, in pain, rubbed his forehead before lighting a cigarette and walking to the window.
The window had high-strength bulletproof glass, and the sealant was excellent, providing great sound insulation; still, Chu Shiguang could faintly hear the harsh wind outside.
Being a seasoned Martial Artist and veteran, Chu Shiguang had long adapted to harsh conditions, but having been stationed in the Central Battle Zone in recent years, he still had an innate resistance and aversion to this hostile environment.
After the split happened, Chu Shiguang hadn’t expected the situation to turn out as it had.
The Qin Family’s supporters were far more numerous than he had anticipated.
But that was not the issue in his eyes. As long as they had the support of those powerful individuals from the Hidden Sect, it wouldn’t take long to erase all influential figures from the Qin side from this world. Then, the other three major battle zones would be headless dragons, easily taken over by them.
What he never expected was that, at this crucial moment, Zhuge Cang, Duanmu Wuwang, and others would abandon them and return to the Hidden Sect World.
When he learned of this, Chu Shiguang and others were dumbfounded.
Damn it.
Did they think this was child’s play, to be taken so lightly?
This was a major event, inciting a split in the war.
At such a critical juncture, instead of pursuing their victory and eliminating the dissenters, they all ran back to the Hidden Sect, creating a deadlock in the Divine Continent. Was this some kind of joke?
Chu Shiguang and other leaders of his faction were dumbfounded on the spot, and lately, they’d been contemplating death.
The assessments on various media platforms were unbearable to read.
Endless curses, calling them national disasters and national criminals, every conceivable label of crime was affixed to them.
Of course, they were not afraid of being cursed behind their backs, and even if they were labeled as national criminals in the history books in the future, they could be indifferent.
All they wanted was the ultimate victory.
However, with the loss of the covert support from the powerful forces of the Hidden Sect, they discovered that under this stand-off condition, they had no chance of winning.
Especially since Qin Yanyang now held the upper hand in public opinion, making their situation extremely passive.
Most importantly, without the protection of those super powerful individuals from the Hidden Sect, facing Qin Yanyang and the elite forces of the Military Department under her control, all their top-level figures, including himself, were restless and afraid of being beheaded, such that almost all their top leadership had been moved to military strongholds.
Could Chu Shiguang not see that this was a losing move?
Yet he had no choice.
According to reliable intelligence, not long after they moved to the military strongholds, Qin Yanyang had led an elite group secretly into Imperial City.
That woman was indeed as resolute as they had predicted, carrying out a plan to behead them.
Although it was very risky for her, she went through with it.
And their side, indeed anticipating this, did not make the decision to strike back, but instead went into hiding.
They had lost the initiative.
Soon, Chu Shiguang finished his cigarette.
He looked up at the window. Outside it was pitch black, without a trace of light.
This couldn’t go on any longer.
With the continuous escalation of public opinion and as Qin Yanyang’s team stayed longer in Imperial City, many people and events could be influenced by her. Although their own mid and high-level executives were safe, if their grassroots foundation were to be breached, then no matter how grand the edifice, it would collapse in an instant.
The more he thought about it, the more Chu Shiguang found himself unable to sleep.
After pondering for a moment, he walked over to the bedside, picked up the internal phone.
He dialed a series of numbers. The phone rang for a long time, but nobody answered.
Chu Shiguang slightly frowned.
Though it wasn’t the right time to make a call, as a military man and Martial Artist at such a crucial moment of life and death, the person couldn’t possibly be sleeping that deeply.
He dialed again.
Still, no one answered.
After some thought, Chu Shiguang dialed another number.
This is that person’s mobile number.
If you say this person isn’t in the room and didn’t receive the call, then shouldn’t the mobile be with them?
Indeed, after a few rings, a deep voice came from the other end, "Brother Shiguang, you’re still not sleeping at this hour?"
"I slept for a while earlier but woke up again because I couldn’t sleep," Chu Shiguang said bluntly.
"Is there something you needed to call about?" asked the voice on the phone.
Thinking about the two previous calls that went unanswered, Chu Shiguang asked, "Aren’t you in your room?"
"Hmm, I couldn’t sleep either, just walking around outside."
"Where are you? I’ll come to you. There’s something we need to discuss face to face," Chu Shiguang said.
On the other end of the phone, a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and large eyes and a square face was holding the phone and slightly furrowed his brow.
Although the man was middle-aged, he was robust and tall, dressed in military attire, with an exceptional aura, especially his vigor, which many men in their twenties and thirties couldn’t match. He looked vigorous and imposing, a truly manly type of man.
His name was Ning Shucheng, the youngest of the five children of Old Man Ning. Yet in the second generation of the Ning Family, Ning Shucheng was the most excellent, recognized as the leader among them.
At that moment, Ning Shucheng was in a modified special vehicle, speeding away from the military base.
He was going to meet someone.
He hadn’t expected Chu Shiguang to call him at this time and even ask to meet him.
With one hand holding the phone, he lifted his wrist with the other to check the time.
"In forty minutes, I must leave for a surprise inspection of the camp, does it have to be discussed face to face?" Ning Shucheng asked.
"Forty minutes will be enough," said Chu Shiguang.
Ning Shucheng patted the driver’s seatback and when the driver turned to look, he gestured to turn around.
Understanding, the driver immediately turned the car around.
"Alright, come to the east side of the training field," Ning Shucheng said before hanging up the phone.
The identity of the person he was about to meet was special; if Chu Shiguang knew, he would certainly become suspicious during this sensitive period.
Since it wouldn’t take long for Chu Shiguang to arrive, he decided to meet him first.
Thinking this, to be safe, Ning Shucheng composed a text message and sent it out to avoid receiving calls from the other party while he was still with Chu Shiguang.
Soon, he arrived ahead of time at the guardhouse on the east side of the training field.
After a few minutes, Chu Shiguang also arrived.
Outside, the cold wind was howling. Though both men were martial artists who feared neither the cold nor the heat, the sound of the wind was still affecting their conversation, so Ning Shucheng said, "Let’s talk in the car."
Hearing this, the driver stepped out, leaving Chu Shiguang and Ning Shucheng alone in the car to talk.
"What’s it about?" Ning Shucheng asked in his typical straightforward manner.
Chu Shiguang said, "We can no longer continue to wait; it’s too passive, and it’s easy for the enemy to break through our mid and lower defense lines. Once we lose the support of the people, it will be difficult for us to recover in the future."
Ning Shucheng nodded and said, "I know, but right now, apart from starting a direct war, we have no better way to turn around the situation. From the moment those people from the Hidden Sect left, we have been at a disadvantage, unless we dare to take a huge risk and start a war directly."
Chu Shiguang frowned and said, "Even if we start a war directly, we don’t have a chance of winning."
Ning Shucheng remained silent.
It was an undeniable fact.
Neither of them had expected the Qin Family’s ability to mobilize support to be so strong as to have control over all three major battle zones.
The key issue was that they had never planned to start a full-scale war from the beginning.
Even if they won such a war, all they would get was a Divine Continent in need of regeneration, and facing the current international rivals, the Divine Continent couldn’t afford to fall back anymore; otherwise, the future would be even more dangerous.
"I’m really disappointed with those people from the Hidden Sect!" Ning Shucheng couldn’t help but complain.
Chu Shiguang, who deeply shared the sentiment, nodded and said, "Although that’s the case, if we want to turn things around, we still have to rely on them."
"What do you want to do?" asked Ning Shucheng.
Chu Shiguang said, "Go find them."