108: Chapter 108 Unexpected Guidance, Elevated Status

After the global broadcast ended, Chen Wuwang did not leave immediately. He stood before the console, his gaze sweeping across the screen as he issued commands once more.

Outside the Dispatch Yard, the Ten-Clan Patrol Teams had already formed pairs and finished lining up.

Their footsteps were uniform, treading on the bluestone slabs and shaking the wall dust loose.

They didn't speak, only nodding to each other before splitting up to head toward the Medicinal Fields, Energy Pylons, and Signal Towers—every single one a vital point that had been tested the night before.

Chen Wuwang turned back to the console, and his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye automatically switched to global monitoring mode.

On the screen, light dots representing the ten small teams moved along preset routes with clear trajectories and a steady rhythm. The first round of the double-post System's handover officially began.

But just as the third team reached Energy Pylon No. 3, the monitoring feed suddenly jerked.

“Abnormal temperature rise,” the System prompt sounded. “+47°C, continuing to climb.”

Almost simultaneously, a raspy growl came over the emergency channel:

“I see dark shadows moving along the ground; there's an abnormal temperature at Energy Pylon No. 3! Repeat, not beasts, but humanoid heat sources—three of them, approaching from the northern ravine!”

Before the voice finished, it suddenly dropped lower: “The relief team hasn't left yet... we can flank them.”

Chen Wuwang immediately pulled up the location of the second patrol team—sure enough, they hadn't withdrawn yet and were still performing data synchronization on-site.

“Approved,” he said in a low voice, tapping his finger three times on the panel to issue an encrypted command. “Activate the ‘Leyline Resonance Array.’ Lock frequency at 3.7 Hz, control amplitude at Level 2. Do not harm our own side.”

The moment the order was given, the ground trembled slightly.

An invisible wave spread out from beneath the Dispatch Yard, surging along the pre-buried Psionic Conduits straight toward Hub No. 3.

The air in that area seemed to be stirred by an invisible hand. Several blurry figures suddenly stumbled, their Stealth Talisman light shattering inch by inch.

“Exposed!” someone shouted over the emergency channel.

Immediately following, the sound of blades unsheathing, the ignition of Explosive Talismans, and angry roars merged into a chaotic mess.

In the monitoring feed, six figures quickly closed the circle, trapping the three black-clad individuals firmly in the center of the ravine.

The opponents tried to break out, but the shockwaves disrupted their meridians, making their movements sluggish. Ultimately, one was pinned to the ground by the throat, while the other two desperately threw smoke bombs to leap into the shadows and escape.

“Don't pursue,” Chen Wuwang said, pressing the communication mute button and staring at the energy fluctuation map. “They aren't the main force; they're bait.”

Sure enough, in less than fifteen minutes, an alarm came from the southern Signal Tower: “Line cut. Not snipped—melted! Residual Talisman Poison is eroding the main network interface!”

“Composite interference,” he narrowed his eyes. “Attacking openly on one side while playing dirty on the other, trying to force us to disperse our forces.”

He didn't mobilize the reserve team but instead directly activated a preset linkage program.

Deep beneath the Dispatch Yard, a set of Spirit Arrays that had long been calibrated automatically activated, redistributing the energy flow of the three surrounding Signal Towers, cutting off the damaged lines, and enabling backup channels.

The entire process took less than seven breaths. Communication was not lost, and the monitoring feed remained online throughout.

“Notify all posts,” he ordered. “Enemy attack confirmed. Not harassment, but armed infiltration. Execute the ‘Iron Spine No. 2’ contingency plan. All key nodes enter wartime coordination status. The technical team is to update the enemy situation map in real-time, pushing updates every thirty breaths.”

As the orders were passed down, the Alliance's defensive line tightened rapidly.

Temporary shields rose around the Medicinal Fields, sensing wire meshes were laid outside the Energy Pylons, and Signal Towers were guarded by two clans jointly—one person monitoring data, the other holding a weapon on alert.

As for those three infiltrators, they ultimately failed to leave alive.

Two bodies were slain on the spot, and the last person was captured with heavy injuries and dragged back to the Dispatch Yard for detention.

Before the interrogation could begin, this person bit into a poison capsule hidden in a tooth gap and committed suicide.

But Chen Wuwang didn't care whether he spoke or not.

What he cared about was that this battle had been won.

Successive reports of victory came from the front: Energy Pylons secured, Signal Towers restored, zero fatalities, and only two patrol members lightly injured.

The enemy suffered three dead and one escaped, leaving behind two broken weapons and an unexploded Talisman Mine.

Inside the Dispatch Yard, the atmosphere changed.

It was no longer the oppressive suspicion of last night, but a heavy sense of security.

The deacons walked with a spring in their step, their eyes bright, and even the volume of their reports rose a few notches.

Chen Wuwang stood before the large screen, pulling up all the emergency channel recordings.

“I want to go home.”

“I'm afraid to die, but I can't retreat.”

“I promised my child I'd return safely.”

“The women of the Liu Clan are still waiting for me to bring back Spiritual Plants to make soup.”

“The He Clan Old Ancestor said if we hold out this time, we'll truly be part of the game.”

Snippet after snippet of voices played—unpolished, without slogans, all of them the honest truths recorded by the patrol members before they went into battle.

Some were trembling, some were choking back tears, and some were short and sharp.

The hall gradually fell silent.

Those representatives who had once questioned whether “following the Chen family would bring trouble upon themselves” lowered their heads one by one.

They could tell that these voices belonged to their own clansmen.

Chen Wuwang turned off the recording without saying another word.

He just looked at the light screen and said calmly, “You kept the rules, and you also kept yourselves safe.”

Then he turned and walked toward a side room.

As he entered the door, he left behind a sentence: “Tomorrow's shifts as usual. Whoever is on the roster, goes on duty.”

The door closed, and no one spoke again.

But everyone understood—from this day forward, Chen Wuwang was not just the family head who proposed the ‘trial alliance covenant.’

He was the man who had truly led them to survival.

As the night deepened, the Alliance Plaza lit up instead.

No one summoned them, and no one gave an order, but representatives from various clans walked out one after another.

They didn't form ranks or divide by clan; they just scattered across the plaza, sitting or standing, talking in low voices.

“I saw the lights in the Dispatch Yard; they haven't gone out all night,” a young deacon from the Beipo Liu Clan said. “He’s been sitting inside the whole time, staring at the screen.”

“Three years ago when the Zerg slaughtered the village, a child from my clan was buried under the ruins.”

An elder from the Dongling Wen Family suddenly spoke up. “He dug them out with his own hands, covered in blood, and even bandaged the child's wounds. Back then, the Chen family itself could barely hold on.”

“If he hadn't set up the double posts in advance tonight, Energy Pylon No. 3 would have exploded long ago,” a young man from the Nanqiu He Clan joined in. “I saw that Talisman Mine stuck to the pylon base with my own eyes; it was only three inches away from the core array eye.”

“He doesn't believe in fate,” another person whispered. “Nor does he believe in Bloodline talent. He said time can be reclaimed and rules can be established—now I see that he did it.”

The crowd fell silent for a moment.

Then, someone was the first to look up toward the lit window of the Dispatch Yard.

Then, more people looked up.

No one shouted slogans, and no one swore oaths. But a silent recognition quietly coalesced in the night.

Suddenly, that young deacon from the Dongling Wen Family took a step forward and shouted loudly, “We follow Head of the Chen Family!”

As the voice fell, the banners of the nine clans actually rose at the same moment, suspended in the night sky.

They weren't raised by people, but were automatically deployed by the mechs left behind by each clan, fluttering in the wind.

There was no contract, no Jade Covenant, and no ceremony.

But everyone knew—this Alliance now had a backbone.

Inside the side room of the Dispatch Yard, Chen Wuwang had not gone to sleep.

He sat before the console, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye still scanning the border data streams.

His silver hair was draped over his shoulders, and the three claw marks on his face flickered faintly in the dim light.

His left hand rested on the edge of the table, while his right hand held a dagger, his thumb repeatedly stroking the new scratches on the hilt.

Outside the window, the clamor of the plaza had dispersed.

He knew what was happening out there.

But he didn't go out, nor did he respond.

A leader's status is not built on cheers.

It is forged through choice after choice, and by holding the line time and again.

He pulled up the post-battle review report, his gaze scanning every detail: enemy action rhythm, infiltration paths, interference frequencies... all entered into the database and marked as the “First Direct Confrontation Sample.”

The future would only get harder.

But for now, they had at least survived the first wave.

He closed his eyes, then opened them again.

In the bottom right corner of the screen, the safety index updated: Defense coverage 98.6%, resource surplus stable, patrol progress normal.

Everything was as it should be.