This wasn't just Jin Botao's feeling of helplessness. Nor was it Jin Botao's individual retreat when confronted with immense personal power. It was the collective resignation felt by all Federation's people, devoid of self-defense capabilities, when facing beasts. A helpless and painful retreat!

Therefore, Jin Botao's logic told him. No matter what, he had to find a way to protect Quan State City! Even if the city might suffer heavy losses due to the presence of some small Beast Clan groups within its walls. But in the final analysis, only the Martial Artists from the Military Department and the powerful noble families or financial groups were the main force protecting Quan State City from falling!

Moreover, the Beast Tide this time was far too overwhelming. So much so that the local defense forces, which Jin Botao had once prided himself on and considered his greatest support, were now struggling to even protect themselves. At the same time, the Martial Artists of the noble families or financial groups had to be deployed into battle. Faced with such an urgent and chilling situation, what choice did Jin Botao have, even if he possessed three heads and six arms?

What's more, those Martial Artists wouldn't foolishly risk their lives for the Federation when it wasn't a matter of life or death. When it truly came to a critical moment, if Jin Botao maintained the same high-pressure stance he had with Guan Shan, they would simply leave. Fortunately, Jin Botao had been operating in Quan State City for a very long time. Thus, his foundations and connections were everywhere in the city now. Otherwise, with such a colossal blunder that delayed the war effort, no matter who came—be it a person of esteemed status or someone with outstanding martial prowess—what would await him would only be the furious flames of these noble families or financial groups. And afterward, they would inevitably subject him to a brutal fate, grinding his bones to dust.

However, regardless, after Jin Botao had relented, the noble families and financial groups truly breathed a sigh of relief. Jin Botao hadn't forcibly demanded that they live or die with Quan State City. After all, although they were also people of Quan State, they were not tools of the Federation. Otherwise, if they were to abandon their own families and interests to fight to the death for the Federation, that would be utterly unimaginable.

For Martial Artists, anyone with the heart of a Martial Artist would always adhere to and strictly practice one principle: Only with a family can there be a nation!

This was one of the reasons why the current Federation, despite its immense strength, found itself in disarray when facing the Beast Clan. It was also why, in the current Federation, various inheritances were continuously passed down, and noble families held sway. Ordinary people without backing could only struggle at the bottom forever. Because this was the worst of times, but also the best of times for Martial Artists.

So, when Jin Botao allowed these individuals to first protect their own families, wealth, and power, while also preserving a fundamental freedom for them; and at such a critical moment, concerning the survival of nearly three million of their kin in Quan State City, he had managed to withstand the immense pressure of potentially sacrificing the primary safety of over three million people—and the future accountability and reckoning from the entire Federation—thereby preserving the dignity of these Martial Artists; how could these people, whose foundations were all in Quan State, not stand with Jin Botao, advancing and retreating together, and perhaps even share life and death with all of Quan State City?

Thus, after mulling it over in his mind for a few rounds, Jin Botao, who had recognized the situation with a remarkably astute gaze, immediately issued to everyone, for the first time since becoming Quan State's State Governor, a mobilization order to resist the Beast Nest, and thoroughly sounded the horn for Quan State City's war against the Beast Tide.

And so it was.

At that instant, all eyes below the stage were fixed upon him.

At that instant, the wind blew, desolate and cold.

At that instant, deep in his heart, killing intent was boiling!

Then, Jin Botao, standing on the stage, faced the crowd, fiercely raised his right hand, and pointed towards the side of Quan State's city wall facing the greatest pressure from the Beast Tide. He roared sternly, "Everyone! To protect our hope, to protect our city, to protect our present and our future! Forward! With the blood and flesh of the Beast Clan, let Quan State City earn the right to continue standing in the Federation! So, KILL! KILL! KILL!…"

KILL! KILL! KILL!…

The silent roars and their lingering echoes resounded endlessly within the State Government building. Some people, regardless of how long they had worked in the State Government, immediately felt their faces flush and their breath quicken. This wasn't just the fervor stirred by Jin Botao. It was the genuine pressure and the specter of death felt when facing a great crisis.

With a resounding CRASH, everyone stood up, their gazes profound, all fixed on Jin Botao. Then, turning towards Jin Botao, they saluted! Only then did they turn and depart.

Among them were retired servicemen from the Military Department. Although they had ultimately chosen their own families, and had silently placed the Federation second, it was starting with this open-minded and resolute Jin Botao before them that they finally realized their sense of mission had not completely vanished; it had merely lain dormant in their hearts. Then, under certain conditions, it was directly activated. Because this Federation was the Federation of the Federation's people, and it also belonged to all of them.

Just like now! Just as in this moment! As members of the Federation, regardless of whether they were military personnel, regardless of whether they bore the mission of their family or the cycle of their lineage, in short, at this moment, with the sudden arrival of this Beast Tide, which had consequently led to a situation where even the Military Department's Stationed Troops found it difficult to cope, they would all fight for themselves, fight for their families, and fight for Quan State!

This was both a subtle, transformative process and a somewhat indistinct belief, hidden behind the scenes. Therefore, at this moment, they had rediscovered their definition of the Federation. Although it was highly probable that they would return to their former lives in the future, they would surely remember that Martial Artists were not just beings suspected by the Federation, slandered by Officials, and kept at a distance by commoners. They too were members of the Federation!

And behind them, Jin Botao's eyes were incredibly profound, his gaze fixed on their departing figures. His mind suddenly recalled the extraordinary years of his youth, when the Federation was newly established. He suddenly felt… How uncannily familiar this scene was! Yes! The backs of these people… were actually so similar to those who had forsaken everything, who then set out alone, ultimately only to establish a perfect and fair Federation. How alike they were!

Therefore, at least in this moment, Jin Botao realized that the tide of history might have once again entered a repetitive cycle. He just didn't know if this cycle was limited to Quan State City or if it would spread to the entire Federation. But Jin Botao believed that this mutual suspicion, this wariness between the Federation and the Martial Artists, noble families, and financial groups, would surely find a path where different routes lead to the same destination!

Of course, for both Jin Botao and those Martial Artists, a tacit understanding had formed from the moment Jin Botao said the students should go first, and then concluded with the defense of Quan State City. Privately, people already had a mutual understanding and were well aware of certain things. For instance, why didn't Jin Botao prioritize protecting the seeds of the Martial Artists first, and only then protect those students, the vast majority of whom were destined to be ordinary people?

In the final analysis, it was because the earliest Martial Artists did not rely on so-called Talent. The unique bloodline talent inherent in the Human Race, and their uniquely favorable conditions, were the fundamental reasons the Human Race could transform from mortal flesh into the unparalleled power of the Martial Artist path! And these things existed in almost all human bodies, differing only slightly at most. In other words, one shouldn't assume that among those students, the vast majority would become ordinary people in the future. But who could truly be certain that, once danger truly descended, and after those students had undergone trial after trial, hardship after hardship, that within that vast number, one or two wouldn't suddenly appear, spontaneously awakening as Martial Artists due to the stimulation?

Adults whose physiques had already set, though, had no hope or possibility of this. But for those young students, their bodies, not yet fully formed, and their conditions still tending towards their innate state, were enough to prove the special position they truly occupied. They were all seeds of the future! They were the true foundation of humanity and also where the future of the Federation lay.

However, Jin Botao was currently pressed for time. He didn't have much leisure to consider this matter. For instance, how to handle Tian Qi's particular case was, in essence, a problem! One should know, no one knew the past or origins of the eight Grandmasters Tian Qi had brought. Therefore, since they could become rats in the Underground City and had long lost their legitimate, Federation-recognized identities on the surface, this was enough to prove that they were not ordinary and definitely not as benevolent as they appeared on the surface.

So, when everyone else had already departed and Tian Qi was about to follow, Jin Botao immediately stopped him. "Wait a moment, young brother, your name is Tian Qi, is it not…"

「Meanwhile, throughout Quan State City,」 everyone was gripped by unease due to this powerful Beast Tide. Even all the students had no choice but to be trapped within their schools out of helplessness. Yet, some students of varying ages, right under the noses of the constantly patrolling Teachers, gradually began to gather. They were furtively glancing around, and it was unknown what mischievous deeds they were planning next.

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