The day after the Bureau of Gods was annihilated.
Inside the imperial palace of Town City, Nanwu Country, the first assembly of the Blue Star Federation was being held.
A huge round table carved from golden timber dominated the hall; around it sat dozens of people whose clothes and auras differed wildly.
Ye Chang occupied one seat. Although he was emperor of Nanwu, with every person present being Level Five, his role today was little more than ceremonial.
Ye Chang glanced around. The Level Fives were either resting with closed eyes or scrolling on their phones; when one occasionally noticed him, they simply nodded.
"All the Level Fives on earth gathered, plus three Level Six—under this power even the Monster Association wouldn't dare act rashly." Ye Chang's eyes sparkled; he felt utterly safe.
The previous appearance of the Centipede Emperor had nearly scared him to death; Town City was no longer absolutely safe.
"Emperor Ye, I heard the Monster Association attacked here recently and caused serious losses. How strong was this monster?" an aged voice asked beside him.
Ye Chang's face darkened. Why bring that up now?
He turned to see Doyle, president of the Ao Gang Society, regarding him with a kindly smile.
Ye Chang forced a smile. "President Doyle, you jest. The monster was suppressed by Director Wu the instant it appeared; the damage was only the normal aftermath of battle."
"It seems Director Wu may be young, but his strength is unfathomable." Doyle's old face smiled, yet his eyes were thoughtful.
He had flown here by helicopter to survey the site. Though many videos circulated online, the follow-up had been censored by Nanwu officials.
But seeing the terrifying scars in person had planted a seed of fear—the ruined district rivaled a medium-sized city in his home country of Tizi.
Clearly, Wu Yuan had not had an easy time in that invasion.
Tap, tap, tap!
As he pondered, footsteps sounded from outside.
Every Level Five turned to see Wu Yuan stride in wearing a suit, two burly old men behind him.
Li Hongping wore a stained white tank-top, black shorts, and flip-flops, his white hair loose—utterly carefree; outside he'd pass for a beggar.
He looked at the gathered Level Fives of every skin color and murmured, "Never thought I'd see the day all the world's Awakened stand together—rare indeed."
The last time the Awakened had united was when the continent unified.
Behind him stood a stern-faced old man in a Zhongshan suit, crew-cut, about six feet tall, hands clasped behind his stocky back.
Hearing Li Hongping, Zhang Zheng said grimly, "This generation is slipping—beaten by a bunch of half-human freaks. Bai Wenliang is even worse, actually defeated."
Wu Yuan ignored the old man's words, inwardly cursing: Damn geezer, keep acting tough; let's see how tough you are when you meet the Monster Association.
Previously Zhang Zheng had wanted to test Wu Yuan's ability; only after ten minutes of "negotiation" had Wu Yuan agreed to appear.
None in the hall dared answer Zhang Zheng's arrogant remark—after all, he was Level Six.
Spotting the two Level Sixes, Ye Chang's eyes lit up; he jumped up and trotted over.
"Grandpa Li, Grandpa Zhang, it's me, Xiao Chang! You once held me when I was little—now I'm emperor of Nanwu!"
Both elders had served in the previous generation's Xuanjian Division—Zhang Zheng as director, Li Hongping as a leisurely Deputy Director.
Li Hongping glanced at him, chubby face showing perfunctory amusement: "Oh, little Chang. You've made good. When you fooled around with your big brother's wife and your dad wanted to beat you, I was the one who suggested a few extra lashes."
Ye Chang's stride faltered. That incident twenty-odd years ago had been classified the moment he took the throne; almost no one knew—now Li Hongping blurted it before the entire assembly.
Ye Chang felt every eye on his back, stifled laughter rising, his imperial dignity ignored.
Thick-skinned, he pretended not to hear and looked to Zhang Zheng—who ignored him, heading straight for one of the three silver-gilt seats at the round table.
Ye Chang could only return to his own seat, face flushed with embarrassment.
Doyle watched him, eyes glinting: "A lucky pawn chosen by stronger Awakened. Without that title he wouldn't even qualify to eavesdrop at the door."
With Wu Yuan's arrival the gathered Level Fives straightened, all eyes on the trio.
Bang! The palace doors shut with a soft, heavy thud.
Wu Yuan looked at everyone present and said solemnly, "Thank you all for supporting my plan to join the Blue Star Federation and fight the Monster Association together."
As soon as he finished, a Black elder in a blue robe spoke up. "Director Wu, you're too kind. Fighting the Monster Association is now all of humanity's business."
"Exactly. No matter how much we humans quarrel among ourselves, we can't let a bunch of Monsters defeat us one by one," a young Caucasian with glasses added.
Doyle also looked at the crowd and said, "We've now gathered every Awakened One on Blue Star. It's time to take the fight to the Monster Association instead of always being on the defensive."
So much time had passed; with the Monster Association constantly stirring up trouble, Doyle felt the gray fog from back then was their doing too. His own disciples had died—now that a chance for revenge had come, he began urging everyone to strike the Monster Association first.
The people present immediately started discussing. Facing the Monster Association, they'd long wanted to come and cling to a strong ally—after all, without a Level Six around, they felt zero safety.
Knock, knock, knock! Seeing the crowd chatter below, Wu Yuan rapped on the table.
The once-noisy palace fell silent at once. Wu Yuan looked at the Level Fives present and said, "The Monster Association's strength is unclear; we should be cautious. From now on we'll use Nanwu Country as our base, gathering the world's Awakened Ones for protection. That way our forces won't be scattered across the globe, and support will be easier if anything happens."
The moment these words came out, everyone's expression changed; a middle-aged yellow-race Awakened One shot to his feet.
Staring at Wu Yuan in disbelief, he said, "Director Wu, do you mean to abandon all ordinary people outside Nanwu Country?"
Everyone looked at Wu Yuan. Blue Star had once held twelve billion people; after the Monster Association's chaos the number had fallen to about 11.9 billion—still enormous—yet Nanwu Country accounted for only 1.8 billion of them.
If they gave up the rest, they dared not imagine how horrific things would become out there.
Of course, some wore indifferent expressions—as long as they and those close to them could survive, that was enough.
Wu Yuan looked at the crowd; he had long since thought this through. Calmly he said, "I can give you a chance to bring ordinary people in. When a country has one Level Five, it may relocate three percent of its population; two Fives mean six percent. That's already Nanwu Country's limit. You may pick the elite among them—slots are limited."
Of the twenty-nine Level Fives, aside from the one remaining Zi Wen from the Xuanjian Division and two from Nanwu Country's civilian ranks, the other twenty-six were from abroad.
Under Wu Yuan's rule, a populous nation like Tizi Country could bring in several million people.
Once these words were spoken, the previously discontented people present immediately restrained themselves.
"Of course, I'm also contacting Awakened organizations that have no Level Five. For them, a Level Four may bring ten thousand people, Level Three one thousand, Level Two one hundred, and Level One can only bring their own relatives," Wu Yuan added.
Though these people weren't Level Five, their numbers were considerable and could fill the mid- and low-tier combat power.
Flanking Wu Yuan, Li Hongping and Zhang Zheng didn't care what was being discussed.
To them, if foreigners died, they died; as long as Nanwu Country's population base didn't collapse, all was well.
Wu Yuan's gaze was deep; this figure was the result calculated by the think tank behind him—about seventy million people could be accepted. Scatter them across the nation and let each state manage them, and the pressure wouldn't be too great.
In any case, he planned to transport back all the grain stored in other countries, so the biggest problem—food shortages caused by the huge population influx—could be eased.
As for ordinary people not chosen to come to Nanwu Country, and nations without a Level Five, Wu Yuan couldn't be bothered.
In another space not far behind them, Evil Eye watched the entire meeting.
Zhang Zheng turned to Wu Yuan: "Where is the Monster Association's headquarters? Rather than defend, we should take the initiative and wipe them out."
Wu Yuan's plan seemed too conservative; with him and Li Hongping around they might hold out, but once they died of old age and only Wu Yuan remained, how would they fight then?
When the Level Fives heard Zhang Zheng propose taking the offensive, everyone looked at Wu Yuan; some shared Zhang Zheng's view—now that the two Level Sixes hadn't died of old age, they were at their strongest.
Hearing this, Wu Yuan's eyes flickered. Had that foreign Level Six not died of old age, he would indeed have wanted to take the initiative.
He looked at everyone present, then finally turned to Zhang Zheng: "My strength is climbing rapidly; give me half a year. When I reach the peak of Level Six, that will be the moment we wipe out the Monster Association for good!"
He wasn't lying—his strength had always risen quickly; if they waited, victory would ultimately be theirs.
As for the Monster Association's headquarters, he also informed everyone to prevent any unlucky soul from accidentally wandering there.