Chapter 715 Helpers

Chapter 715 Helpers

"Cindy, guess what the Eroding Moon people are up to these days?"

Steven asked.

It had been nearly a week since Eroding Moon disappeared after the battle at Newport City.

Back then, they had used The Grim Reaper's Sigh, knocking out the electromagnetic systems across most of Silvercrest District.

Their whereabouts had been impossible to track ever since.

But everyone knew Eroding Moon would be back.

Otherwise, why would they have risked so much to cross the sea in the first place?

Steven believed they needed to understand how Eroding Moon thought before they could properly prepare.

Cindy spoke slowly. "They lost five people in that last fight. On paper, they barely scraped a win — the Silvercrest District siege failed."

"But in terms of raw strength, it's not clear they actually came out ahead."

"Silvercrest District has deep roots. Even with Heavenly Team gone, they still have other forces to call on. Eroding Moon, on the other hand, can't easily replace their losses."

"So," she looked at Steven, her eyes flickering like stars in the dark, "my guess is that next time they come, they'll bring backup."

Steven crossed his arms. "Backup? Their allies back in Solstice?"

Intelligence suggested Eroding Moon was structured as an elite squad with no additional members.

But as a Landing Party, there were bound to be other wanderers out there who shared their goals.

Seeing how much trouble Eroding Moon had stirred up in Silvercrest District, some of them might be tempted to join in and grab a piece of the action.

Cindy shook her head. "The enemies we'll be facing next could come from just about anywhere."

"Ever since the Ice Age arrived, the world has been a completely different place."

"The Astralium Kingdom is fine — we have the strongest forces in the world, enough to hold things together. But most of the regions to the southeast are a different story. Lots of small countries, none of them strong enough to hold back the forces of nature. They've been falling apart."

"If I'm right, the southeast — including the southern seas — is already in total chaos. Private armies are everywhere."

"Any of those dangerous groups could raid our borders. And some of them might be persuaded to side with Eroding Moon."

Steven let out a sigh. "That's exactly why I hate dealing with that kind of trash. They might not pack much of a punch individually, but when there are enough of them, it just becomes a headache."

The one silver lining was that those regions were fragmented. The populations were small — some of those tiny countries combined had fewer people than Starlight City alone.

On top of that, their technology was way behind.

So the chances of high-level psychics emerging from those areas were pretty slim.

……

While Steven was thinking through the next plan to take down Eroding Moon, things were heating up beneath the surface in Blizzard City. Nobody was sitting still.

Everyone had their eyes on the Eroding Moon situation.

For ordinary people, Eroding Moon's existence was a humiliation — something that had to be answered with blood.

But for the various factions in Blizzard City, this was a power play.

Everyone understood that whoever managed to defeat Eroding Moon would earn enormous prestige in Blizzard City, giving their faction a serious boost in influence.

With that in mind, Ian called together all the senior figures in Blizzard City.

The agenda: the next operation to take down Eroding Moon.

The following day, the operations command center was unusually lively.

The turnout was massive. Every person of significance in Blizzard City had shown up.

Not just Ian and Clark — even mid-to-upper-level managers were there.

The high-level conference room at the command center was packed, with several hundred people filling the space.

A gathering of this scale was almost unheard of in Blizzard City's history.

Steven arrived with Cindy.

He wasn't particularly well-known. It was only after taking down four Eroding Moon members in the last siege that he'd started drawing any attention at all.

But when he walked into the room, hardly anyone came over to greet him warmly.

At most, a few people exchanged brief pleasantries, giving polite nods and courteous smiles.

After all, Steven's status was that of an outer-city psychic.

That label alone meant he'd likely never make it into Blizzard City's true inner circle.

Steven didn't care about any of that.

He'd never liked dealing with these people, and he was perfectly fine with them leaving him alone.

What he did notice, though, was that the room had clearly split into two distinct clusters.

One centered around Clark, the head of the Combat Division.

He was dressed in his usual military uniform, the lower half of his face always half-hidden behind his collar, giving him an air of quiet, unreadable depth.

The other cluster revolved around Bryce and his Death Team crew.

Both groups had drawn a crowd, and neither was bothering to keep their voices down as they talked about how to come out ahead from the Eroding Moon situation.

"Director, you have our full support for this operation against Eroding Moon!"

"Your abilities are clearly stronger than any of those investigation team captains. Why else would they give you the most important job — defending Blizzard City?"

"Those investigation teams just get more exposure. Surely they don't actually think they're better than you?"

"This operation carries enormous weight for Silvercrest District. As one of our top fighters, you need to step up and make sure it succeeds."

"I'll have a word with Commander Peterson."

Clark was surrounded by several of Blizzard City's senior figures — including the heads of the administrative and finance departments, both dressed sharply in suits.

Clark said little. His expression was as cold as ever, but he gave a polite nod of acknowledgment.

Over on Bryce's side, he'd brought his two lieutenants, Dallas and Freya.

His group was even larger than Clark's.

Bryce had always been good with people — approachable, never arrogant.

Among Blizzard City's lower and middle ranks, he was about as popular as it got.

The only area where he fell slightly short was with certain female admirers, who often ranked Miles just above him. Outside of that, almost no one in Blizzard City came close to his level of popularity.

"Captain Ortiz, this one's going to fall on your shoulders. We're counting on you to see it through."

"Pull this off, and it won't matter where you came from — a win like this can take you far."

"With our backing on top of that, there's no reason you couldn't work your way into the heart of Blizzard City's power structure."

Bryce looked a little uncomfortable. "You're too kind. I don't have any ambitions like that. I'm a soldier. My job is to keep Silvercrest District safe and protect its honor."

"Any enemy that comes for us — I'll wipe them out without hesitation."

When he mentioned Eroding Moon, his gaze sharpened like a blade.

The faction representatives around him were clearly pleased with what they heard, nodding with satisfied smiles.