"You wouldn’t think that half of the Awakened are so noble, willing to risk their lives to stay and protect civilians, right? I guess if it weren’t for the restrictions of Black Death Prison, the High Tier power within the city would have already dwindled to less than one-tenth."

"I also don’t fear your ridicule, not just others, even myself, I’m not sure if I have the courage to stay hahaha."

Jiang Lingfu’s words made Chu Xiu smile bitterly and shake his head; he wasn’t thinking about this at all. However, he also realized that at this moment, despair or complaining wouldn’t change anything.

Letting out a breath, he looked up and said, "Brother Jiang, courage isn’t just empty talk during ordinary times but standing up in times of crisis. You need not belittle yourself."

"And please don’t worry about me; I’m not one to blame heaven and earth. Right now, everything hasn’t settled yet; we still have a chance!"

Chu Xiu’s words invigorated Jiang Miaoyin, who exclaimed loudly, "Brother Qin is right. If even we abandon ourselves, Peng City will utterly lose hope. It’s me whose determination faltered; I’m ashamed, ashamed."

Having said that, he pointed out a document with his wristband and said, "The Arrival of the Death Realm isn’t such a simple matter. The first thing to do is establish a completely fixed Abyssal Rift. If I’m not mistaken, this is the true purpose behind this Extreme Dao full-scale operation."

"And to accomplish this, anchor points must be set up at various positions within the city."

"People outside won’t abandon us; they’ll try every means to break through Black Death Prison. We still have many trump cards: Celestial Kings, high-yield hydrogen bombs, the ultimate weapon secretly crafted by the military, and so on! Inside the city, there are still Demigods guarding us! If we can destroy the anchor points in time and hold out long enough in Black Death Prison, we might escape!"

"And if we give up now, not only are we definitely doomed, but all the millions of citizens in Peng City will perish here, and Peng City will become the forward base for Abyss invasion! By then, the entirety of Huaxia and even human civilization will face the danger of annihilation!"

Jiang Lingfu seemed to have found a reason to fight; his eyes became firm again.

Chu Xiu also nodded solemnly.

The so-called fixed Abyssal Rift refers to a rift that can persist and exist.

Currently, only Mars and the Moon possess them, and to block the Abyss creatures continuously pouring out of these two rifts, countries all around the world annually send vast amounts of weapons and soldiers to these planets, paying a heavy price.

If a fixed Abyssal Rift were to open on Huaxia’s territory, it would mean humanity would have to face the Abyss directly, without any protective barrier; they might repeat the tragedy of a civilization’s extinction.

By then, even if he heartlessly abandoned his parents to escape alone, once the fixed Abyssal Rift fully formed and Blue Star was breached, he would become a lonely wanderer without a homeland, drifting in the Abyss.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Chu Xiu spoke no more and turned to Jiang Lingfu to ask, "What’s the government directive?"

After checking his communication wristband, Jiang Lingfu said, "Priority is protecting civilians; you should soon receive the areas needed for defense. Currently, the Investigation Bureau is trying every way to contact the Outer World, and the officials from the Law Enforcement Bureau, Supervisory Bureau, and the military have met to discuss subsequent plans."

"However, there’s good news: Black Death Prison has encompassed a military base, which holds a large amount of advanced weaponry that can help us relieve the defense pressure."

"Moreover, the government has issued a mandatory order to directly requisition all weapons and Equipment from businesses. You can temporarily call upon the weapons you need to arm yourself; your authority is high with a full million Cause and Effect Points worth of resources call-out rights! Also allocated are eighty-four thousand Cause and Effect Points directly!"

The former means he can take Equipment worth a million Cause and Effect Points, with the government footing the bill once escaped! Of course, if unable to escape, naturally, nothing more needs to be said. The latter is the government temporarily distributing the unused Cause and Effect Points within Peng City directly to Chu Xiu and others, letting them enhance their strength urgently at the last moment.

This wave of Cause and Effect Points is only granted to Awakened who have earned the government’s trust, likely due to Jiang Lingfu and Divine Power Daoist making special adjustments for him. For those Awakened who fled during the earlier battles, regardless of their strength, the government would not allocate a single point.

This somewhat reassured Chu Xiu; he said no more and immediately flew toward the centrally formed temporary base.

He also understood; the most critical thing now is to arm himself and enhance his strength as much as possible before the Outer Realm Demons launch an attack!

On his way, he swiftly slid his contact wristband. The government’s speed was astonishing, and within less than a minute, a temporary command network was set up, as if a plan for similar scenarios was always in place.

On it, he could see the war readiness situation of various areas and some emergency contacts’ connection methods.

Chu Xiu directly dialed the auction manager’s number and quickly said without wasting any time, "Please help me contact the seller of the Divine Gifted Meteorite Iron! I’ll use the government-issued million Cause and Effect Points to purchase his Artifact!"

Considering the current circumstances, the auction venue’s contact person couldn’t care less about client confidentiality and quickly connected Chu Xiu with the seller, who was fortunately still present.