Life Game In Other World
Chapter 1234: Sudden Change (Clamoring for Monthly Votes)

Chapter 1234: Chapter 1234: Sudden Change (Clamoring for Monthly Votes)

Dawn City · Glorious Palace

"Mr. Christos, an urgent message from the North City."

The young guard quickly walked into the office, looking at Christos who was seated behind the desk.

"What’s the situation?"

Christos looked up at the guard.

"I don’t know. It’s encrypted intelligence, and only you are authorized to review it."

The guard handed over the document folder as he spoke quickly.

"Alright!"

Christos reached out and took the folder.

The guard saluted, then turned and left.

Christos opened the folder, extracted the documents inside, and began to quickly read through them.

As he flipped through the files, his expression grew increasingly grim.

"What’s going on?"

The silver-haired man with a ponytail standing nearby noticed Christos’s unsettling expression and asked in a low voice.

"A large mercenary army has suddenly appeared outside the North Gate. They’re attacking the city."

Christos raised his head to look at the silver-haired man, his voice hoarse.

"The North Gate?"

The man frowned slightly, "Where did this mercenary force come from? Do they have any identifying markings?"

"No,"

Christos shook his head and handed the document to the silver-haired man. "The intelligence sent from the North City indicates that this mercenary group’s uniforms carry no insignias, and any emblems on their weapons seem forcibly erased."

"Cowards hiding in the shadows,"

The silver-haired man sneered, taking the document while muttering, "The troops are at the North Gate, so they must have come from the north? Has Minte City’s defenses collapsed?"

"Unlikely,"

Christos shook his head again. "Half an hour ago, they shared their latest status update with us. The Northern Gate of the Northern Country appears secure, and the troops outside belong to the Mercenary Corps of Stars Pharma, according to intel they sent."

"Then where did this army come from?"

The silver-haired man’s gaze darkened. "They’re not part of the three known forces that were intercepted?"

"Possibly,"

Christos nodded slightly, "Likely a hidden force from one of the consortiums. They could have taken an obscure route deemed impassable. In the Extraordinary World, abilities defy natural limitations. Who’s to say some Talent doesn’t allow traversing paths thought impossible?"

"That opens up too many possibilities."

The silver-haired man sighed lightly and looked back at Christos. "Does this army have the capability to breach the North Gate?"

"Unlikely,"

Christos shook his head again, pointing at the document in the man’s hand. "Check the last two pages."

The silver-haired man quickly flipped to the last pages, scanning them briefly before asking in confusion, "Dick’s main forces aren’t stationed at the North Gate but the Northeast Gate?"

"The Northeast Gate is the farthest from the Glorious Palace,"

Christos explained hoarsely. "Dick has always stationed his forces there, projecting an image of being distanced from politics and focused on defense. He’s held the title of Minister of City Defense for many years, while the position of Mayor has changed multiple times."

"By maintaining a neutral stance, he’s secured trust from various factions."

"Stubborn on the surface, but he’s a sly old fox underneath."

The silver-haired man gave a wry comment.

"Anyone who’s climbed to any real position in this city isn’t simple."

Christos shook his head.

"Dick claims he’s en route to the North Gate with reinforcements,"

The silver-haired man looked at the intel and asked in a low voice, puzzled, "Can he make it in time?"

"The gates of Dawn City aren’t so fragile,"

Christos responded firmly. "It won’t be easy for a single army to breach them quickly."

"But if we look at Yilan City’s prior experiences,"

The silver-haired man hesitated for a moment, speaking in a measured tone, "The issue sometimes isn’t external, but internal. That’s a tried-and-true consortium strategy."

"All we can do is trust..."

Christos started to speak when—

"Urgent message from the South City!"

At that moment, the same guard rushed into the office again.

The two men in the room froze for a moment, but Christos quickly raised his hand and looked to the guard. "Let me see."

The guard handed the document to Christos, saluted, and then departed.

"What now?"

This time, the silver-haired man didn’t wait for Christos to finish reading. He leaned in and glanced at the note as Christos opened the folder.

"There’s a rebellion in the South City?"

Seeing the note’s contents, the silver-haired man frowned slightly.

"That’s not surprising,"

Christos didn’t seem too shocked. He explained in a calm voice, "Although all participants in Noan’s last insurrection were arrested, Noan had built his influence in the South City for years. His protégés and allies were deeply rooted in the City Defense Army, making a complete purge unrealistic.

"Some individuals didn’t participate in the rebellion but secretly supported Noan. These people are easily bribed by the consortium and turned into their puppets.

"When there’s no trouble, they blend in as regular officers. But once a crisis hits, their true intentions are revealed."

He put the note down and continued, "Vislo warned me about this long ago. He even identified twenty low-ranking officers likely bought off by the consortium. Unfortunately, the consortium covered their tracks so well that no charges could stick.

"This chaos is an opportunity to expose these hidden ’fish.’ Vislo had discussed this plan with me beforehand.

"Our old ally is holding off the armies advancing from the west and south, giving us the bandwidth to handle these traitors."

"You people are calculating to the core,"

The silver-haired man sighed, withdrawing his gaze to look at Christos. "So, this is just minor turbulence, right? Nothing major?"

"It seems that way,"

Christos lowered the document in his hand,

"But our position isn’t great either. Vislo’s assurance of resolving the rebellion within half an hour is overly optimistic.

"Based on my estimations, this unrest will likely spread to all the gates under the South City’s jurisdiction.

"The South Gate’s rebellion might indeed be resolved in half an hour, but for the uprisings spanning the entire South City’s walls, it’ll likely take Vislo several hours, maybe even the whole night, to quell."

"You mean?"

The silver-haired man seemed to grasp something, looking at Christos.

"The South City Defense Army might be tied up by ’their own people’ all night."

Christos didn’t hesitate and quickly shared his conclusion.

"Sounds like a conspiracy is brewing,"

The silver-haired man fell silent for a moment before speaking in a low tone. "Have you contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation? If I recall correctly, the bureau chief in Dawn City doubles as the Deputy Director of Headquarters and is B-level, isn’t he?"

"Yes,"

Christos nodded slightly. "I’ve already contacted him. He didn’t give me a clear response, but according to Federation law, conflicts between consortiums and city governments fall under their jurisdiction.

"Viktor obtained a lot of intel on this bureau chief from Smith. He’s an upright person. If a crisis truly arises, he should intervene."

He continued, "In fact, during Noan’s last rebellion, our old ally managed to bring him in to block an imminent breach in the city gates caused by the exotic beast horde."

"I remember now."

The silver-haired man nodded slowly and then looked at Christos. "Speaking of Viktor, is he still out in the wilderness? Have you heard anything new from him?"

"No."

Christos shook his head. "Since his last message about finding an opportunity to advance to B-level, I haven’t heard from him."

"That was just before the Yilan City incident, right?"

The silver-haired man’s tone turned somber. "Our old ally has become active again, six months later."

"Advancing to B-level is no easy feat. It requires extensive preparation, a safe Secret Medicine, and a complex ritual. Even then, there’s a significant risk of failure and of mutating into a warped monster,"

Christos sighed deeply. "The road of Talent Sequences only grows harder the farther you go."

"Look on the bright side,"

The silver-haired man smiled faintly. "Perhaps Viktor has already succeeded in advancing and is simply delayed by something out in the wilderness, unable to send us a message."

"Perhaps."

Christos nodded lightly.

"And you?"

The silver-haired man turned his attention back to Christos. "I may not wield much power and spend most of my time on research, but I’m not completely deaf or blind."

He paused, fixing his gaze on Christos before asking softly, "Are you preparing for advancement?"

Christos fell silent for a moment before replying hoarsely, "I’ve just started. There might be an opportunity, but first, we need to survive this crisis."

The silver-haired man opened his mouth as if to say more but ultimately chose not to.

He turned his eyes toward the night outside the window. "You seem a bit uneasy.

"Even though the consortium has sent four armies, three have been intercepted by our old ally and allies.

"Yes, the North Gate faces an attack, and the South City is in turmoil, but neither appears out of our grasp.

"Meanwhile, the Federation’s Central Army is rushing to reinforce from outside, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation seems inclined to assist within the city limits.

"From what I see, while the situation has shifted, everything still seems within your and our old ally’s control."

He looked at Christos. "Do you think there’s still a problem?"

"Strictly speaking, I can’t pinpoint anything specific,"

Christos shook his head slightly. His voice was measured. "Do you remember the intel Nolanka Group shared with us?"

"Nolanka’s second mercenary corps is heading our way?"

The silver-haired man seemed puzzled. "That should be good news, right? Their mercenaries could cooperate with us to eliminate the mercenaries to the north."

"In theory, yes,"

Christos rubbed his temples, "But that mercenary corps was specifically ’suggested’ by our old ally."

"Are you saying our old ally knows something?"

The silver-haired man spoke in a low voice. "Or maybe this mercenary corps was purposely dispatched to deal with any unforeseen enemy stragglers?"

"Possibly,"

Christos gazed out at the city lights. "But I’m more inclined to believe that our old ally has sensed something."

He paused. "After all, in this world, no one has more firsthand experience in directly confronting the consortiums than they do."

"Even with our current advantages,"

The silver-haired man pondered aloud, "What could the consortium do to..."

Before he could finish his thought, the guard rushed into the office once more.

The guard quickly handed Christos another document.

"Mr. Christos, urgent message from the North Gate."

——

A dense array of troops lined up beneath the towering gate.

Standing within the command vehicle—a veritable land fortress—Lina lifted her gaze toward the heavily barred gate ahead.

Even the gates of the Federation’s foremost city were several times larger than those of Kaye City.

Though this wasn’t her first time in Dawn City, beneath the night sky, the grandeur of the gate still left her with a sense of awe.

However, she quickly reined in her thoughts and turned to the communications officer beside her. "Any response from the walls?"

"Yes, but it’s strange."

The communications officer tapped at the console, speaking with doubt. "At first, they told us to leave. Then, the replies became fragmented and disjointed, like gibberish."

"Hmm?"

Lina raised an eyebrow.

She directed her attention to another screen nearby.

A little girl in a white dress appeared on the screen.

The girl, noticing Lina’s gaze, raised a hand and tapped on a few windows, reviewing the scrambled text within. After a brief analysis, she responded swiftly,

"Based on the nature of the fragmented messages, there’s a 70% likelihood that two hostile parties are fighting for control of the communication device. The jumbled text results from chaotic keystrokes during the struggle."

"What do you mean?"

Lina blinked, caught off guard. "The Dawn City Defense Army is... having an internal conflict?"

"That would be a plausible interpretation,"

The girl nodded slightly. "Given the current information, the probability exceeds 75%."

"Miss Lina, new message,"

The communications officer called out again. "A coherent message just came through. It says, ’We’re dealing with a revolt. Please hold on.’"

"...So there really is infighting,"

Lina’s eyebrows shot up as she quickly replied, "Something’s off. Ask if they can open the gates right now. We can assist them with the rebellion."

"Understood."

The communications officer relayed the message promptly.

Soon, a new reply arrived.

The officer projected the response onto a nearby screen.

[Of course, but the gate control hub was attacked by insurgents. Please hold on; we’re working to regain control.]

Lina: ...

The command room fell silent as everyone exchanged uncertain glances.

Moments later, when no further updates came, the communications officer’s expression suddenly changed. "New information just came in."

Everyone turned their attention to the screen.

A single new message appeared on the display.

Everyone’s expressions darkened.

BOOM—

From above the screen, at the forefront of the vast army formation, came the deafening roar of an explosion. The massive gate began to part, revealing a narrow gap.

——Five minutes earlier——

Christos opened the file and read the short, foreboding message:

[The North Gate has been breached. Enemy troops have entered the city.]