The Alliance's Joint Civilian Conference stated that in order to maximize the war potential on the continent, it would draft bills including the "War Economy Law," the "Wartime Agricultural Development and Coordination Regulations," the "Wartime Industrial Planning and Development Regulations," and the "National Mobilization Law," and submit them to the Alliance's head of state for signature...

A joint meeting of senior officers from the Alliance stated that a new military expansion plan is underway. To ensure a sufficient advantage against the Abyss, this expansion will be unprecedented in scope. Simply put, everyone, from the most senior to the most advanced, will be required to become part of the army...

“Will this scare people?”

Before he finished reading the communiqué, Lin Hai broke out in a cold sweat.

This isn't a war, it's a fight to the death. We should be fighting to the death, but telling the public about this now might cause panic...

"That's fine. Mr. Lin, we have experience with this sort of thing. Honestly, these details are shocking enough no matter when they're revealed, so it doesn't matter whether we tell them sooner or later. Besides, the sooner we tell them, the more time we have to salvage the situation even if something does go wrong. If we keep it a secret, when the day of mobilization comes, we might not have the energy to deal with the 'accidents' that are sure to happen."

Xia Junao thought for a moment, then pointed upwards and added, "If I lose again, you've already anticipated this day and even prepared a plaque."

Lin Hai looked up and found that guards were directing workers to tear down the banner above the door of the conference room, revealing a plaque that had been hung up long ago: Dawn Continent War Headquarters.

"Ahahahaha." Lin Hai couldn't help but laugh awkwardly: "This is nothing more than preparing it a little early. As you know, there are construction projects everywhere now. Carving it in advance can avoid the problem of finding workers to do it now."

"You're just worried."

Xia Junao said nonchalantly, "You keep releasing pessimistic emotions, are you really just trying to test our resolve? Actually, you've been prepared for this for a long time, just like you did the previous nine times. No matter what we do, you won't give up."

Lin Hai put away his smile, nodded, and said, "Indeed. Sometimes I deliberately tell you that you will definitely lose, not because I think we have no chance. Of course, the chance is very slim, but I have always been worried that someone will waver. We are facing a war of genocide. This war will be extremely bloody and cruel, but I believe that anyone with blood can persevere. Even a coward will become extremely determined after knowing his own fate.

What I fear is not the war itself, but the preparations for it. Four years might seem like ample time to prepare, but in reality, it also gives us ample time to overthrow ourselves. You know, a strong start can lead to weakness, followed by weakness and exhaustion...

In the next four years, anything could happen. We need to pool the resources of the entire continent. This sentence is only twelve words long, but to ordinary people, it's like we're depriving them of everything for free.

You might say that if they lose the war, they'll have nothing left, so they should give their all, including themselves. But when it comes to human nature, the uncertainty of life and death four years from now is compared to the possibility of having their rations taken away today. No one cares about what might happen to them four years from now, even if it means something dark will burst out and kill them.

Of course, our policy is to leave the people with basic necessities, but you know, those are just basic necessities. They'll have nothing else to live on. Furthermore, as you saw during the meeting, we don't have time to cleanse, optimize, and re-establish the bureaucracy. We can only rely on our existing officials, overseeing them while granting them enormous power to do things like this. I guarantee that this will spark more than a little public resentment. If we're not careful, we won't even have four years before we're overthrown by angry citizens.

I'm deeply concerned about all of this. To accomplish these things, we have to make considerable sacrifices. The most important thing is our resolve in the face of these sacrifices. "Brother Junao, if the five of us waver in even the slightest, then everything we've done will be in vain."

Lin Hai said a lot in one breath, saying out all the words that had been accumulating in his heart for a while. He knew that it was time to be honest with others. After all, if he wanted others to be firm enough, he must be honest enough.

"Mr. Lin, we are doing this for everyone."

Chen Xu behind him interjected.

"I know, you know, Xia Junao knows too, but can you guarantee that everyone on the continent knows and understands? Humans are short-sighted creatures. I believe you learned this when you were learning how to be a prince."

Lin Hai sighed and continued:

“Sometimes it’s not like he will accept something just because you’re doing it for his own good, not to mention that the way you’re doing it for his own good might even harm his current interests.

In this way, the enemy we face is not just the Abyss. In fact, it can even be said that the most dangerous enemy is not the Abyss, but ourselves."

Having said this, Lin Hai turned around and said to the leaders:

"Speaking of which, are you really not considering the Abyss plan?"

"Abyss's plan?"

"Are you saying that as long as we surrender, they will rush out of the abyss in four years, preserve our lives even at the cost of lowering our intelligence, maintain our population through advanced technology, provide us with food, and offer us a healthy living environment. The only requirement is that we provide them with biomass when we turn eighteen?

And the reason for all this is simply, 'Our biomass information is best suited to complement their organic matter code'?"

"Yes. This one allows people to live, at least live worry-free until they are eighteen."

"Mr. Lin, even farmers who raise pigs for meat wouldn't make them mentally retarded, let alone us humans. Please believe us, we haven't even discussed this, and we absolutely won't accept it. If that's the only way to survive, then dying isn't a big deal."

Upon hearing this, Lin Hai nodded but said nothing more.

Now that the decision has been made, let the swords speak, the time for discussion is over.