Chapter 718: Chapter 534: How to Take Revenge? You Decide!

Shangjing was attacked, and all major security departments responded immediately, with rescue and aftermath work swiftly underway.

Meanwhile, Guardians like Yang Qing also received a meeting notification.

Ten minutes later, when Yang Qing arrived at the meeting venue, he happened to run into Yang Qingtian at the entrance.

"Father, what’s the theme of this meeting?"

Yang Qing glanced at the meeting room door, inside were already more than a hundred people seated, all familiar faces, with the weakest being at the Ninth Grade, and most were Kings.

"Here you are."

Yang Qingtian did not stop walking as he headed towards the meeting room, saying along the way, "Not sure about the details, but it should be related to the attack."

To Yang Qing, this answer was obviously pointless.

A sudden meeting at this time must be related to the attack, pure aftermath work wouldn’t necessitate their attendance.

Yang Qing didn’t ask more, following his father into the meeting room.

Upon seeing the arrival of the Yang family father and son, many people got up to greet them.

With Yang Qing acquiring a Nine-star Key and becoming a Double King expert, the status of the Yang Race within the Ten Great Clans of Shangjing had risen another level.

After a few brief pleasantries, Yang Qing wanted to casually find a seat until he noticed the figure of Zhan Xing.

As a Guardian of Shangjing, it’s normal for Zhan Xing to receive the meeting notification.

After not seeing him for some time, Zhan Xing no longer had the youthful exuberance he once had, looking rather desolate.

The others were grouped in threes and fours, chatting among themselves, while the seat next to him was notably empty.

The Ten Great Clans of Shangjing had now become nine, as the Zhan Race no longer existed.

To avoid discontent from Hong Tao, everyone was distancing themselves.

Yang Qing walked towards Zhan Xing, sitting next to him amid some surprised glances.

"Long time no see," Yang Qing said.

Zhan Xing looked at Yang Qing, also somewhat surprised, and despite feeling touched, he whispered, "You didn’t have to sit by me intentionally, I appreciate it, but it’s not beneficial for you."

The Yang family’s strength was formidable, with Yang Qingtian at the Peak of Martial King, just a step away from becoming a Martial Emperor, ready to break through at any moment.

And Yang Qing, having secured a Nine-star Key, as a Double King expert, was not much weaker than his father, with potential to become an Emperor in the future.

But currently, the Yang Family had no Emperor, and offending Hong Tao would only bring harm, not benefit.

Especially with the present tension, caution was essential.

Yang Qing noticed his father slightly frowning at him, the look in his eyes clear in intent.

"It’s not that bad, an Emperor wouldn’t be that petty," Yang Qing calmly said.

Regardless of whether as a friend or as his wife’s relative, he could not simply ignore Zhan Xing.

"No need, no matter how the family is, I’m still a Guardian of Shangjing."

Zhan Xing continued to persuade, not wanting to implicate Yang Qing.

Under his father’s gradually stern gaze, Yang Qing hesitated for a moment, then slowly stood up, asking, "How have you been lately?"

Zhan Xing seemed not to hear, folding his arms and closing his eyes to rest.

Yang Qing was silent for a while then left, casually finding a seat nearby.

As the three Emperors, including Hong Tao, appeared, the meeting began.

"Shangjing was attacked, as everyone knows, let’s review the video transmitted by the Guardian Divine Artifact."

The meeting was chaired by a middle-aged man, one of the Guardians of Shangjing, Chen Longtao.

A light curtain appeared in everyone’s view.

In the scene, a man in business attire, wearing glasses, with a gentlemanly demeanor, was hustling through the streets.

The man’s outfit looked no different from an average office worker.

Suddenly, his footsteps halted, his body seemed a bit stiff, his expression contorted, and he let out a painful wail.

"Ah!"

With each intense wail, the man’s abdomen kept contracting and swelling, as if something was about to burst out, and a few seconds later, amidst flying flesh and screamed silenced, the man became fragments on the ground.

Amid the cries of the bystanders, a pitch-black orb emerged, floating in mid-air.

The orb was only fist-sized but expanded visibly, within just over twenty seconds, it formed an irregular circular Space Gate over fifty meters in diameter.

As the Space Gate expanded, a large number of Demon Beasts emerged, in just over a minute, thousands of them had charged through the Space Gate, rampaging through the streets, devouring pedestrians, wreaking havoc indiscriminately.

From the formation of the Space Gate to the emergence of the Demon Beast army, it took barely over a minute, the speed was mind-bogglingly fast.

Fast enough that the Guardian Divine Artifact couldn’t react in time.

"Who is this person?"

"The person is irrelevant; I just want to know how the Space Gate appeared from inside him, and why it expanded so rapidly?"

"It was indeed too fast!"

The room buzzed with discussions and astonishment.

Although the attendees had participated in this hunt and rescue, it was their first time viewing the video.

Whether the manner of the Space Gate’s appearance or the speed of the Demon Beast army, they were all shocking.

"The man in the video is named Zhou Xinting, a Shangjing native, orphan, divorced, with a six-year-old daughter, no criminal record, superficially a marketing manager for a company, covertly likely a New World member."

"His strength is unknown, why the Space Gate appeared from his body is also unknown."

"What is certain is that for this attack on Shangjing, the Alien Race used two Nine-star grade Space Keys, one originally placed in Zhou Xinting’s body, which is the first black orb, from his expression it seems Zhou Xinting was unaware, he was just a tool used by the Alien Race for the terror attack."

"The value of the keys is self-evident, so this form of terror attack is unlikely to occur again, the Alien Race’s main intention is revenge for the King Becoming plan using the Land of Fallen Gods as a gathering point, while creating chaos and fear to disrupt social order."

Chen Longtao swiftly analyzed.

Upon hearing that such terror attacks required two Nine-star grade keys and were unlikely to happen again, there was a collective sigh of relief among the attendees.

If such attacks occurred every ten days or half a month, it would truly drive people to the brink of collapse.

That would not merely be a matter of societal unrest.

"The Alien Race’s goals have been achieved, as the internet is now rife with negative posts, the public is fearful, societal order is in turmoil, various industries affected, the King Becoming plan can no longer divert attention."

"Moreover, netizens have lost trust in the country and the World Alliance, starting to question or even mock them, in their words, ’failed to counterattack, and instead got taught a lesson by the Alien Race.’"

"We must find ways to help people overcome their fear, shift their focus back to normal work and life, and restore societal stability, because if this turmoil continues, the consequences will be severe."

"The main purpose of today’s meeting is to discuss how to respond to this terror attack and how to restore societal order, how to help people overcome their fear, and shift their focus. Feel free to express your thoughts."

With that, Chen Longtao turned off the light curtain, granting some time for contemplation.

However, no one could come up with a solution immediately, and the atmosphere became quite silent.

Until three minutes later, an elder stood up and asked, "What is the World Alliance’s reaction?"

Chen Longtao looked at the questioning elder and replied, "This attack occurred in Shangjing, our retaliation is sufficient, there’s no need for the World Alliance to respond!"

"Then we should retaliate, pay them back double for the lives lost!"

Someone suggested fiercely.

If the Alien Race could carry out suicide bombings in Shangjing, they could do the same.

And the cost would be much lower.

But this suggestion was quickly dismissed.

This kind of retaliation was pointless.

"The Alien Race is indifferent to civilian casualties, and such retaliation, if continued, would not help in stabilizing people’s minds or restoring order."

"Moreover, in the Other-dimensional Space, the Alien Race holds the advantage, and even if we retaliate, it would be self-damaging."

Chen Longtao pointed out calmly.

"Since the cost for the Alien Race to launch such an attack is high, and it won’t happen again, then let’s act as if it didn’t happen, informing the public through media which should alleviate their fear."

Unable to think of a means of retaliation, concerned that it may lead to a chain reaction, someone suggested this approach.

Chen Longtao shook his head:

"If we don’t retaliate, the Alien Race will only become more arrogant, that’s one aspect; more importantly, people’s hatred and anger can’t be vented this way, and this is not a solution either."

The atmosphere became silent again.

Retaliation was not viable, but nor was non-retaliation feasible!

What to do?

Just when no solutions were forthcoming and everyone felt helpless, a post was released on the Martial Artist Forum.

The moment the post was published, tens of millions of netizens received a notification.

As soon as netizens discovered it, they rushed to view it.

The post was being crazily shared and commented on at a frightening speed.

After only one minute of its appearance, the alarming data was noticed by the forum’s staff, and within two minutes, it had been pinned to the top of the homepage.

The title of the post was simple, just nine words:

[How to Avenge, You Decide!]

Posted by: Avengers Alliance