# 1883
Chapter 1876: Lure
Upon hearing these words, Jinian's expression immediately turned odd.
"You claimed it? Didn't you say…"
"I said I'd claim it, not that I'd absorb it." Lin Qiye directly cut off her train of thought. "Although the attributes are somewhat chaotic, this is a Life Origin after all… It might come in handy later."
Jinian blinked curiously. "What kind of handy?"
"You'll find out when the time comes."
Jinian: (눈_눈)
"Didn't your mother ever teach you that people get beaten up for talking in half-sentences?" Jinian stomped her foot in frustration. "How can you leave me hanging like this? I won't be able to sleep tonight if you don't tell me!"
"…What's that got to do with me?"
Lin Qiye paid no attention to Jinian's warnings. He flicked his hand gently, and a wisp of darkness wrapped around the pink light orb, swallowing it whole. The moment the darkness completely isolated it, the constantly emanating desire energy vanished without a trace.
The Darkness Origin could perfectly isolate the Life Origin's energy from leaking out. Even if Lin Qiye kept it close to his body, it wouldn't affect those around him.
With the Life Origin taken care of, the group walked directly out of the cave. At this moment, the [Divine Desire Paradise] had completely sunk to the seabed, and scattered debris still floated on the endless sea surface.
"By the way, do you want to bring [Utopia] along to Great Xia?" Lin Qiye turned to look at Jinian.
Jinian raised an eyebrow. "What? Planning to swallow our Oath Society too?"
"…You're overthinking it." Lin Qiye pointed toward the sea below. "It won't be long before this fog becomes the battlefield between Great Xia and the Cthulhu Faction. No matter how strong you are, you're only a Chief God. Can you guarantee the safety of [Utopia's] hundreds of thousands of residents in this great war?
It would be better to move [Utopia] directly to Great Xia. That way, unless Great Xia is completely destroyed, your hundreds of thousands of residents will all be safe… Of course, if it really comes to that, do you think the Cthulhu Faction gods would spare you?"
Jinian's expression grew uncharacteristically grave.
After much contemplation, she finally nodded. "What you say makes sense… But why do I keep feeling like I'm being swindled?"
"…Then forget I said anything."
Lin Qiye turned and walked toward the distance.
"Wait, hold on!" Jinian grabbed Lin Qiye's arm, hesitated for a moment, then finally gritted her teeth. "Fine, for the sake of my residents, I'll accept being swindled! Wait for me—I'll go tell them to change course and head straight to Great Xia!"
As soon as Jinian finished speaking, her figure dove hastily into the deep sea and vanished without a trace.
Seeing this, the corner of Lin Qiye's mouth lifted slightly. He turned to Charles and the others and said, "You can't fly, so take the free ride with President Jinian back to Great Xia."
After Charles and the others agreed, Lin Qiye flew directly toward the horizon.
Staring at Lin Qiye's departing figure, Charles and the others wore subtle expressions.
"Commander Lin is ruthless… President Jinian only wanted to poach one of our special squads, but he actually lured the entire Oath Society and their base back to Great Xia." A knight murmured quietly.
"But with President Jinian as a top-tier combatant, our odds of victory just increased significantly."
"Indeed… This time, Commander Lin has practically cleared out the entire fog."
"…"
Lin Qiye returned to the sky, where Nyx and the others had been waiting for quite some time.
"Who was that girl?"
Nyx had been observing the sea surface the entire time, witnessing everything that had just transpired. Now that Lin Qiye had returned, she finally couldn't hold back her question.
At the same time, Athena and Artemis's ears perked up in unison.
Seeing Nyx's expression, Lin Qiye knew she had likely misunderstood. He苦笑着开口，"就是一个朋友……"
"只是朋友？"
"当然。"
"好吧。" Nyx似乎有些遗憾，"其实，你的年纪也不小了，虽然现在局势有些紧张，但终身大事还是不能落下……实在不行，可以先生几个孩子，我帮你带着。"
Lin Qiye的脚步一顿。
他沉默片刻，
"母亲……"
"嗯？"
"我已经成婚了。"
Nyx愣在原地，一旁的雅典娜与阿尔忒弥斯也诧异的张大了嘴巴……
Nyx想问些什么，但看到Lin Qiye眼眸中的悲伤，还是没有追问，只是微微点头，轻声道："也好，成婚了就好……"
Lin Qiye嗯了一声，转头看向迷雾中的某个方向：
"该回去了……"
……
Great Xia。
Night Watch总部。
"现在，我将作为Night Watch总司令代理，发起'凛冬计划'的第六次举手表决……"
昏暗的会议室内，十余位身影围坐在圆桌旁，坐在主位上的Shen Qingzhu目光平静的扫过众人，"同意'凛冬计划'提案的，请举手。"
话音落下，在场的十余人中，有几人果断的举手赞同，剩余人员都紧皱着眉头，像是还在纠结。
Shen Qingzhu见此，神情没有丝毫改变，心平气和地说道：
"在座的各位，都是Great Xia政界，商界的核心人物，我相信Great Xia如今面临的形势不用我再多说……'凛冬计划'，是经过Night Watch内部无数次论证的提案，是Great Xia在面临最恶劣情况时的最佳方案。
当然，如果各位还有什么更好的提案，不如现在就提出来。"
短暂的沉寂之后，一个声音犹豫着响起：
"这个计划……会不会太过悲观了？真要按照这上面的方案实施，以Great Xia的人口数量，每天造成的生产力亏损都是天文数字，而且这么做，会引起极大规模的恐慌。"
"我同意这个观点。"另一道身影点头，"Great Xia至今以来，面临过无数次的灾难与危机，就连面对众多神国围攻的时候，我们都能成功把他们拦在战争关隘外，这次我们的敌人只有一个，我认为不需要这么大的阵仗。"
有人带头提议，其他人也纷纷表示赞同，原本沉寂无比的会议室顿时热闹起来。
Shen Qingzhu双眸微眯，低沉的声音再度响起：
"第一，Great Xia之所以能从众多神国围攻下安然无恙，是因为各大神国之间本就存在隔阂，真正意义上面对围攻的一战，只有Chennan Pass战役，当时参与的只有两大神国，且进攻前后存在时间差，就算如此，Great Xia也承受了有史以来最严重的战争伤亡；
第二，当年Chennan Pass战役，有Great XiaHeavenly Court坐镇，但这次不同；
第三，克苏鲁神话与地球上的任何神话都不同，祂们甚至不需要出动任何次级战力，只凭三位柱神，就能屠灭你们口中的所有神国；
第四……至今为止，成功将敌人拦在关隘之外的，不是'你们'，而是我们……这一路走来Great Xia经历了什么，又有多少人为之牺牲，对你们而言只是资料上的文字，但对我们而言，却是亲身经历的历史。
所以，请不要用你们的理所当然，来质疑我们刻骨铭心的过往。"