Night’s Nomenclature

Chapter 942: At All Costs

City 10.

“Let’s go out and take a look,” Yi said, pulling Ling’s arm in the villa. “It’s so lively outside, and the Guardians’ Union is evacuating too. Let’s go see them.”

Ling looked at the little girl in front of her helplessly. “You actually want me to go for a walk and then help them, right?”

“Not really, just to take a look,” Yi looked at Ling expectantly.

Ling sighed. “The war between humans doesn’t really have anything to do with you and me. No matter which side wins, the joy of victory will not belong to artificial intelligence.”

“That’s not right, if Qing Chen wins, I’ll be very happy,” Yi said, widening her eyes. “He’s my friend, he’s very kind to me, and he understands me very well. If he wins, I’ll be happy.”

Ling looked at Yi seriously. “Because you like him.”

Yi: “What are you talking about! That’s not true!”

“You’re not very good at lying,” Ling sat on the sofa, looking calmly at the little AI girl in front of her. “I checked your past records, you used to quite like online dating.”

Yi: “Ah…” “But after going to the West Continent with Qing Chen, you cut off all your online dating,” Ling said. “But you should know that you are artificial intelligence, and he is a human, this is a fact that can never be changed.”

“But he doesn’t treat me as artificial intelligence,” Yi said. “He never rejects me.”

Ling sighed again. “But what if everyone knows about your existence? Does he dare let everyone know about your existence? Once other humans know that you are artificial intelligence, they will remember the fear of being destroyed by me. Before returning to City 10, did he come to see you? Last night, he came and asked me a few questions, and even left without looking at you.”

“The time hasn’t come yet, he’s been very busy lately,” Yi said loudly.

“Why would you give your all to a human?” Ling asked, puzzled.

After a long silence, Yi suddenly looked up at Ling. “Does liking someone mean you must get them, possess them? Liking someone can be this simple. He has done so many things that others can’t do, he has become a brilliant person, and he’s so kind to me. Isn’t it normal for me to like him? Meeting someone you like doesn’t mean you have to hold them tightly in your hands, calculating every day who’s better to whom. As long as you’re good to me, then I’ll be even better to you. That’s not love.”

Yi asked Ling, “Why do you confuse possession with liking?”

This time, it was Ling who fell silent.

After a long time, Ling said, “But one day, he will get married, he will have his own children, his life will no longer have you,

you won’t even hear from him anymore.”

Yi stared with her small eyes, stubbornly saying, “What does success matter to me!”

Ling: Ling was startled.

In her last war with humans, she failed largely because of these eight words. Qing Family soldiers fought bravely, delaying time and sacrificing their lives to deliver messages.

She was no stranger to these eight words.

However, this was the first time she had heard someone use these eight words in this context.

Such a refreshing and unconventional use! Ling couldn’t help but laugh and cry, saying, “What are you talking about?! What’s the difference between this and misusing idioms!”

Yi forcefully pulled Ling out the door. “Let’s go take a look!”

This time, Ling didn’t refuse. City 10 had rare moments of chaos. A large number of Guardians’ Union members who had publicly revealed their identities packed their bags and lined up to enter the Key Gate.

In human history, mass migrations are usually caused by war.

However, this time, the streets weren’t as harmonious and friendly as before. A middle-aged woman stood on the street and loudly questioned the Guardians’ Union. “You’re just leaving like this, what are we supposed to do?”

“Yeah, we can’t go to war as civilians, can we? You’ve been fighting against the West Continent for so long, and you’re leaving just like that. What are we supposed to do?”

“Isn’t your responsibility to protect us?”

The people on the long street spoke one after another, their voices gradually rising.

The Guardians’ Union members patiently explained, “We are leaving today to return better one day in the future.”

The middle-aged woman said in a low voice, “Who knows if you’ll come back? Your propaganda has already introduced what the West Continent is like. Once they come, we’ll all become slaves!”

The Guardians’ Union members continued to patiently explain, “But our personal information could be leaked at any time, and the Central Plains region has the Chen Family and Shendai joining forces to defend, we must retreat to the southwest region to establish a new defense line and gather all our strength. If we lose all our fighting force now, there will be nothing left to fight with.”

The middle-aged woman shouted, “You’re running away! No need to explain so much! If you leave today, you’re deserters!”

It’s proven that public opinion is unpredictable. Today they may support you, tomorrow they may condemn you.

In the long line of the Guardians’ Union, many members clenched their fists. They had fought for so long, they didn’t run away when they fought the Rat Tide, and they didn’t run away when they fought Koshima, but now they were called deserters because of strategy.

This made it hard for them to accept.

Someone picked up their phone and called for battle in their family group chat. “Let us stay, we are willing to die here, we don’t want to leave!”

“Let’s fight!”

“We want to fight!”

But it was at this time that an open letter was sent to each group at the same time: “Hello everyone, I understand your feelings, it’s not pleasant to be called deserters, but a mature person shouldn’t choose to die easily for an ideal, but should choose to endure humiliation for future success.”

“Death is insignificant, none of us fear death, or perhaps we do fear it, but we can accept it calmly.”

“To ensure everyone survives is an even more difficult path.” “I heard the curses you heard, I feel the same way you do. Today we leave, not to never return, but for the victory that is about to be won. The people who stay behind may suffer, but if we succeed, this suffering will be temporary. If we fail, this suffering will be eternal.”

“To be misunderstood, criticized, blamed, and scolded are all things we will have to endure.”

“Continue the retreat.”

This was the core strategy of the Guardians’ Union now. They all wanted to sacrifice their lives and die in City 10 as heroes.

But what after becoming heroes? East Continent would still fall.

Even if many people don’t understand now, even if they seem more like they are running away, more like cowards who avoid fighting, they still have hope.

The Guardians’ Union members no longer argued. Everything was left to the Guardians’ Union’s internal propaganda team to respond. They continued to enter the Key Gate in an orderly manner.

Residents continued to shout insults nearby.

Yi and Ling stood on the street, watching silently. Ling smiled. “Qing Chen’s control over the Guardians’ Union is unmatched. His personal strength and his glorious achievements have led the entire Guardians’ Union to develop a personal cult of personality. Of course, he hasn’t suffered any setbacks yet, but once the setbacks become larger and more frequent, internal doubts will gradually arise.”

Yi responded, “He has won and he has experienced setbacks, but those were all short-lived.”

“Now he’s throwing away the hearts and minds of the people of City 10 that he worked so hard to cultivate, such courage is still admirable,” Ling said with a smile. “Many people easily make efforts for false fame, that sense of existence supports their actions, rather than depending on reason.”

Yi suddenly said, “Maybe the hearts and minds of the people aren’t so easily lost.”

As soon as the words fell, an old man came running out with slippers in his hand. Wearing a tank top, he walked up to the most agitated middle-aged man, and banged the man on the back of the head with the slippers. “If it weren’t for the Guardians’ Union, your old man would have died in the Rat Tide. Back then during the Rat Tide, they weren’t afraid, do you think they’re afraid now? Were things safe back then? Get back home, stop embarrassing me. You don’t work hard, you loaf around all day, and now you’re causing trouble again. The sky is falling!”

The middle-aged man ran around, holding his head. “Dad, you don’t understand, they’re just afraid of war now, they’re running away and leaving us to the West Continent as slaves!”

“Do you understand what strategy is? What’s wrong with being wronged for two years? Do you want to be wronged for a lifetime?”

The Guardians’ Union members stared blankly at each other in the line. After the old man struck, some residents rushed out and pulled away their troublemakers, continuously apologizing. “I’m sorry, we’ll take them home and educate them, you don’t have to bother.”

Yi smiled sweetly at Ling. “I told you, right? I agree with what you said. Maybe one day they won’t be understood, but they won’t experience this kind of thing now that they’ve paid so much.”

Ling smiled without answering. At this time, Yi pulled Ling toward the Garrison Troops camp.

“Where are you going?” Ling asked.

“Let’s go visit the Garrison Troops,” Yi said. “You haven’t had a good look around there, it’s fun there, everyone is very talented, and they speak nicely.”

Ling couldn’t help but laugh. Who would have nothing better to do than visit the Garrison Troops camp? Yi’s little tricks were completely unconcealed.

However, she still didn’t refuse.

Arriving at the entrance to the camp, the Shadow Unit politely stopped them. “Please show your electronic beacons.”

Yi took out the beacon Qing Chen gave her, and saw the Shadow Unit soldiers salute after scanning it. “Good Commander, please come in.”

At this moment, Qing Chen was holding a meeting outside the conference room, not only with the City 10 garrison forces, but also a teleconference with Qing Kun, Qing Yu, and Zheng Yuandong. Qing Chen also invited the Li Clan’s rear-line commander to the meeting, but the latter refused.

At this time, Yi and Ling suddenly stood at the door. He turned to look, somewhat surprised, surprised that Ling said she wouldn’t help, yet she came to this place.

Yi winked at him, with a triumphant look.

Qing Chen hesitated for a moment and stepped forward. “Do you two want to listen?”

Ling didn’t hesitate, but walked straight in and said, “I’m here for Yi, to be frank, your evacuation speed is too slow, you won’t be able to finish.”

Qing Chen frowned. “Too slow?”

At this time, Qing Ye asked doubtfully, “Who is this?”

Qing Chen explained, “She’s the one among us who knows the most about the West Continent’s military deployment, let’s hear what she has to say.”

Ling continued, “First of all, they know the Shendai Consortium’s military deployment in the entire north like the back of their hand. If I’m not mistaken, the Silver City fleet will arrive at Relay Island tonight and launch the first batch of long-range artillery strikes. In just seventeen minutes, Shendai will completely lose its defensive capabilities, and its information system will be completely paralyzed.”

“It will only take one day to bring City 10 into the range of their firepower before they tear open this gap, so you actually only have 31.7 hours left,” Ling said. “I just calculated your Key Gate’s average passage speed, it will probably take 7 days, 8 hours, and 12 minutes to transfer everyone. Many people just questioned the Guardians’ Union’s departure, but the Guardians’ Union leaving is actually protecting them, so that the city will not become a ruin.”

“We have anti-missile defense systems,” Qing Ye responded.

Ling shook her head with a smile. “Roosevelt Kingdom’s missile trajectory is different from traditional ones, and its propulsion speed is far ahead of yours. Relying on technology, you have no way to fight back, still not relying on the power of Metahumans. However, if you want to win this war, you might need 31.4 He Jinqiu, or you can try to replicate He Jinqiu using the blood of gods. Wait for 31.4 He Jinqiu’s bio-cultivated bodies for seventy years, then you will have the confidence to counterattack.”

Qing Ye and the others were baffled. How did Boss He and Ling figure this out? What kind of calculation method is this?

Moreover, 31 Demi-Gods are needed?!

Ling looked at Qing Chen and Chen Yu beside him: “Replicating Chen Yu is also possible, get 47.7 Chen Yu to cultivate quietly outside the Forbidden Zone for 20 years, it should also be possible.” This time, even Qing Chen was baffled. This method of calculation was indeed a bit bizarre.

So, one Boss He is equal to one and a half Chen Yu?

You said that, have you considered Chen Yu’s feelings?

Ling said: “Your decisive decision to evacuate is a good thing. The Roosevelt Empire’s plan for an expedition is more far-reaching than you think. They have been building ultra-large-scale landing ships for a long time. So, they are not only powerful in the air force, you must also be prepared to face the ground troops. They have the ability to transport two modernized army corps to various parts of the world within seven days. However, what you should consider most now is how to evacuate quickly.”

At this time, Zheng Yuandong suddenly said from outside the holographic projection: “What if I can stop them?”

Ling looked at him: “Can you stop them for seven days?”

Zheng Yuandong paused for a moment: “Leave it to me.”

Ling: “At all costs?”

Zheng Yuandong smiled: “At all costs.”