Unite All Forces That Can Be United

After Jia Xianglan declared the Shelter full and began turning people away at the entrance, the remaining 270,000 humans descended into panic.

They were ordinary human NPCs in this city, their choices and actions no different from humans before the apocalypse. As Jia Xianglan's final words spread, rumors began to circulate among the crowd—that Xu Lingqu, the Chief Commander of the northern district, had her own private Shelter and was unwilling to share it with ordinary humans.

The enraged crowd surged into the northern district. At that very moment, at the northern district center, Chief Commander Xu Lingqu's doomsday address was about to begin. The angry masses surrounded the area; far more people came specifically to hear her speak than had gathered for Jia Xianglan, with nearly all 270,000 remaining humans packed into the northern district.

Xu Lingqu stood on the platform in a black trench coat and military cap, facing the crowd's hostile stares.

"This city has only one Shelter, and there will never be a second. The Zerg will arrive in two hours and fifty minutes. I have not prepared a hiding place for myself, and I will never hide." She began by addressing the rumors about a private Shelter.

"Then can you seize that Shelter? Kill those southern district officers and let us in! We'll vote for you!" Cries arose from the ordinary humans in the crowd.

"No." Xu Lingqu rejected that plan outright.

Earlier, people within Moye had also asked her why she didn't attack Qingjun first—even if she couldn't take the Shelter, she should at least make things difficult for them.

"I will never adopt the policy of 'stabilizing the interior before resisting external threats.' With doomsday imminent, what's at stake is the lives of everyone in this city. I stand here now to unite all forces that can be united." She looked up at a distant building. "Including you—the S-class Qingjun soldier currently aiming a sniper rifle at me, Cheng Xing."

Through the scope, Cheng Xing saw every trace of Xu Lingqu's cold expression. When she accurately called out his name, his heart jolted, and he immediately squeezed the trigger.

The sniper bullet did not take Xu Lingqu out as he had hoped; instead, it struck an energy shield.

Xu Lingqu was no fool—she wouldn't stand on a platform unprotected, offering herself as a target.

At the same moment, a barrage of artillery fire struck the ground around Cheng Xing's position. The floor beneath them collapsed instantly, sending the group tumbling to the next level down.

The fire wasn't aimed at them directly—it was meant to immobilize them.

Cheng Xing scrambled up, covered in dust, gritting his teeth. A golden-haired girl stood before them, shouldering a rocket launcher and staring at them coldly. She wasn't alone—several other Moye members flanked her, their gun and cannon muzzles trained on the group, though none had fired.

Xu Xiqin wished she could blast them all to pieces—they had dared to make a move against her sister. But remembering Xu Lingqu's order not to kill, she forced herself to hold back.

Outside, Xu Lingqu's address continued.

"I cannot provide you with a Shelter to hide from the Zerg. What I can do is give you weapons." She gave a slight wave of her hand, and over ten thousand drones, mechs, and mechanical dogs, all loaded with weapons and equipment, surged into the crowd.

"I cannot single-handedly be everyone's savior, nor can the hundred northern district soldiers with me. To truly overcome doomsday, every one of you must take up arms."

One person alone can't do it. A hundred can't do it. But 270,000 just might.

Xu Lingqu intended to lead these ordinary human NPCs and ninety-nine Moye students against the impending Zerg swarm.

"Are you kidding? I'm just an ordinary person. You expect me to fight those terrifying bugs?" Protests erupted from the crowd.

Xu Lingqu showed no emotional reaction to the challenge. "When the Zerg slaughter, they don't check whether you're ordinary or not."

She looked at the crowd. "I don't force every one of you to take up arms. There are still two and a half hours before the Zerg arrive. Those who feel they can't fight may leave now and find a place to hide—but you cannot take weapons with you. Your hiding places won't be as safe as the Shelter, but during the Zerg invasion, we will defend your lives to the best of our ability, at all costs."

As her words trailed off, people began to trickle away, choosing not to pick up weapons but to seek hiding spots.

Tens of thousands left. But far more stayed. In this city of Hope, 210,000 NPCs were willing to take up arms and defend their home.

"...She actually intends to fight the Zerg with these NPCs." Professor Zhuang didn't know how many times Xu Lingqu's actions in the simulation had startled him. "She... but is this scenario's mechanism even possible to overcome?"

"Maybe we should ask instead: Is the mechanism truly unbeatable?" Senior Colonel Ren stared at Xu Lingqu's figure on the platform. "I don't know what Sky Network intended with this scenario—to make Moye and Qingjun reach a consensus and shake hands in the Shelter? Or to have them fight over it? None of that matters now, because Xu Lingqu has offered a solution outside the designer's imagination..."

"Xu Lingqu is never one to sit and wait. She always takes the initiative, seizing the seeds of victory in her own hands. That's true against every opponent, and true against this scenario's mechanism." Lieutenant Quan's eyes gleamed with excitement. "It's exactly this kind of person who inspires others to charge forward, vowing to follow her to the death."

"You're right. When those ordinary NPCs actually picked up weapons, I got goosebumps. Doomsday is all of humanity's doomsday; to fight it, all of humanity must join the struggle. And those ten Qingjun soldiers... Moye actually let them go." Teacher Chang shook his head. "That tells you everything. It really tells you everything."

[Damn, I'm actually getting pumped. If I were an NPC in there, I'd rather follow Moye and fight to the end.]

[Same here, but my reason's simpler—if Lingqu shows up in front of me and tells me to do anything, I'd do it. Even die. Sorry, but refusing her is just impossible for me.]

[She didn't even target Jia Xianglan once. Qingjun sent people to snipe her, and in the end, she still let them go. This is what 'uniting all forces that can be united' means. Damn.]

[I owe Moye and Xu Lingqu an apology for my old stereotypes. I always thought she was the type to choose destruction over salvation without hesitation...]

[Is Jia Xianglan going to stir up trouble now?]

[No way. If he jumps out now and makes a clown of himself, wouldn't all his earlier theatrics be wasted?]