# 1801
Chapter 1801: Deception
Night Watch Headquarters.
Conference Room.
"Three days have passed since the Gold Coast attack... The public opinion situation outside is very unfavorable." Public Relations Director Zhong Xianzhi spoke with a heavy tone. "The disappearance of thousands of people—disasters of this scale cannot be suppressed. The relatives of the missing have all filed police reports, creating quite a storm.
Although we've claimed it was a tsunami, the rest of the ocean that day was completely calm. Only a two or three kilometer stretch of coastline experienced the tsunami, yet it swept away so many people—this simply doesn't add up.
Now public opinion has shifted toward conspiracy theories. Although we've been controlling comments online, the victims' families have gathered on their own, ***protesting, demanding the authorities immediately organize teams to go out to sea and give them an explanation."
"The local Night Watch team has also reported that many civilian organizations have crossed the Gold Coast blockade line to conduct private investigations, but none of them found anything." Chen Han nodded and said.
Logistics Director Yue Jiulin continued, "We've already cleaned up all traces of Poseidon in advance. There's no way they could find anything."
"What I mean is, they take this matter very seriously..."
Fate Monk sat in the center of the conference table, brows slightly furrowed, listening calmly to the other seven senior officials' statements.
Only when everyone else had finished speaking did Fate Monk slowly open his mouth:
"Continue suppressing the social impact of this incident."
Fate Monk was economical with his words. After saying this, he showed no intention of speaking further. The many senior officials exchanged glances, all seeing helplessness in each other's eyes.
"Are we really not going to take measures against Olympus?" Chen Han couldn't help but ask.
"We will, but not now."
"But those ordinary people are at Olympus—who knows what might happen to them? If we send someone a day earlier to rescue them, perhaps we can avoid more casualties."
"I agree with Chen Han's viewpoint." Shao Pingge nodded. "Great Xia is no longer the Great Xia of the past, and Olympus is no longer the Olympus of old. In terms of combat power, we're not inferior to them... We should rescue those ordinary people early to avoid unnecessary complications."
"I said, now is not the time." Fate Monk stood up, his gaze sweeping calmly over everyone. "If there's nothing else, let's end the meeting."
He picked up the documents on the table and was about to walk toward the door, leaving the seven senior officials looking at each other in bewilderment.
Squeak——
Just then, the conference room door was pushed open, and a crimson figure stood outside.
"Commander Lin?!" Seeing that figure, Chen Han's eyes lit up.
Fate Monk looked at Lin Qiye standing outside the door and said calmly, "It's over? Did Yuzuri Takishiro succeed?"
"He's not finished yet... I received a call from Min Junliang and came over immediately." Lin Qiye glanced at everyone in the conference room and said to Fate Monk, "Let's talk in the office."
The two returned to the office. Lin Qiye closed the door and immediately said:
"Why aren't we going to rescue them?"
"The risk is too great." Fate Monk didn't beat around the bush and answered frankly. "Although we're not inferior to Olympus in terms of combat power now, they're in the Mist after all, and it's their own home territory."
Lin Qiye pondered thoughtfully, "You're planning to wait for Teacher to emerge from seclusion before launching an attack on Olympus, as originally planned?"
"Once Zhou Ping achieves Supreme God status, Great Xia will have an extra layer of insurance. That would naturally be the most stable approach."
"But it should still be three days until he emerges from seclusion..." Lin Qiye said with a heavy voice. "Three days is too long for ordinary people. Can they really hold on at Olympus until we arrive?"
Fate Monk gazed at him for a moment. "So what? Are you planning to risk all of Great Xia's top fighters for a few thousand people?"
"Sacrificing ordinary citizens to preserve our strength goes against Night Watch's original purpose." Lin Qiye spoke resolutely. "When Great Xia only had five Human Apex, when the foreign gods invaded, didn't they charge to the front lines despite knowing they might die? Did they worry about their own survival?
Great Xia today is dozens of times stronger than back then. Are you telling me that now, with all this strength, you want us to watch ordinary citizens be tortured to death by foreign gods while preserving our strength?
If that's the case, then what was the point of us fighting so hard to become stronger?"
Fate Monk showed no sign of being moved by Lin Qiye's words. He said coldly:
"It's precisely because this strength was hard-won that we must preserve our existing combat power... Our enemies are not just Olympus."
The two stood in the office staring at each other. For a moment, they were at a stalemate.
After an unknown period, Lin Qiye took a Coat of Arms from his怀中 and placed it on the desk, saying in a heavy voice:
"If the night must come, I shall stand before millions, raising my blade toward the abyss, staining the heavens with blood... If I, Lin Qiye, cannot fulfill what is written in this oath, then I am unworthy of being this Commander-in-Chief."
After the words fell, Lin Qiye placed one hand on the Straight Blade at his waist and turned to walk out of the office.
Fate Monk watched that crimson figure departing, his brow slightly furrowing...
"Wait." He suddenly said.
Lin Qiye's footsteps halted.
"You're determined to go?"
"Yes." Lin Qiye didn't hesitate in the slightest. "If anything goes wrong... I'll bear the consequences alone."
Fate Monk's expression was complicated. He hesitated for a moment before finally speaking:
"I'm sorry."
Lin Qiye frowned and turned his head in confusion. "Why are you sorry?"
"I deceived all of you." Fate Monk spoke slowly. "When I told the Night Watch senior officials that those ordinary citizens were still alive, I was trying to stabilize morale... Actually, last night, out of those 6,400-plus people, only about 200 remained.
The rest wouldn't survive another hour. Even if you rushed to Olympus now, you couldn't save them."
Hearing these words, Lin Qiye's mind felt like lightning had struck. He stood frozen in place.
"If you don't believe me, see for yourself."
Fate Monk handed the list on the desk to Lin Qiye. On that dense list of victims, strands of karmic threads extended into the distant void... Following those strands of karma, the other ends showed no signs of life at all. The mere two hundred or so remaining were like flickering candle flames, barely clinging to survival.
Fate Monk stared at the grim-faced Lin Qiye and spoke word by word:
"Now... are you still going to risk the living for these corpses?"