Chapter 102: The Nine Provinces Are Incredible!

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Meli nodded.

“Yes! That is what the reports say! Though it should be almost certainly true. After all, our intelligence has never been wrong!”

Oris slumped into his chair and muttered to himself.

“Chu Xiao simply isn’t normal! And that commander is impressive too. He’s already so old, yet he can still lead the charge into battle. If he were several decades younger, he probably wouldn’t be much weaker than Chu Xiao! The people of the Nine Provinces are dangerous!”

“For now, we’ll stay close to the people of the Nine Provinces. Once the war is over, we must find a way to protect ourselves. Otherwise, I’m afraid the Nine Provinces will swallow us whole!”

Meli reached out and pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, concealing his expression.

“Mm!”

For a time, the reputation of the Nine Provinces spread throughout the world.

The astonishing deeds of Chu Xiao traveled far and wide as well.

Yet no one knew that Chu Xiao himself had fallen into a deep coma from exhaustion.

Indeed, just as everyone was cheering for him, Chu Xiao collapsed.

He slept for a very long time.

Number One came to see him and let out a deep sigh.

“Young people really are full of vigor.”

Wang Lulu had long since dissolved into tears beside the bed, repeatedly questioning the doctor.

“Will something happen to Chu Xiao?”

“When will Chu Xiao wake up?”

“Why hasn’t Chu Xiao woken up yet?”

…

The doctor patiently answered Wang Lulu’s questions each time.

Unable to bear it, Number One offered her a few words of comfort.

“You’re Wang Lulu, aren’t you? I’ve heard Chu Xiao mention you. Don’t be sad. Chu Xiao will wake up. Besides, if you keep crying like this, Chu Xiao will only feel heartbroken when he wakes up and sees you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Number One felt a shiver of embarrassment and hastily covered it with a cough.

Wang Lulu was slightly surprised that the commander would speak to her so warmly.

“All right! Thank you for comforting me, Commander!”

“You’re welcome.”

Number One left at an unhurried pace, then headed straight for the weapons depot.

Ren Boyuan was also so anxious that he was scratching his head.

That Hades was simply too underhanded! It had increased the weapon’s range directly—and by a full thousand meters at that!

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Ren Boyuan had thought for a long time about how to extend the range, but he still had not the slightest clue.

Number One had come to find Ren Boyuan precisely because of this matter.

“Boyuan, how is it going?” Number One’s voice was gentle, giving people an instinctive sense of familiarity.

When Ren Boyuan saw Number One arrive, he hurriedly rose and saluted.

“Commander!”

Number One waved his hand.

“Don’t be so formal. I’m here to ask about the situation.”

Ren Boyuan lowered his hand, his brows tightly furrowed.

“Commander, to be honest, I have no idea at all. If we want to compete with Hades in terms of range, we’ll need a range of roughly four thousand meters. That means extending the range of our weapons by two thousand meters. The extra thousand is also necessary in case Hades increases the range of its machines again next time.”

“That much won’t be necessary. Hades won’t continue researching this,” came Chu Xiao’s cool voice from a distance.

Everyone turned around and saw Chu Xiao slowly approaching them. His face was pale, and his steps were somewhat unsteady.

“Lieutenant General Chu, why have you come?” The others hurried forward to greet him.

Chu Xiao shook his head and glanced at Ji Kaicheng. Understanding immediately, Ji Kaicheng parted the crowd and helped Chu Xiao through.

Chu Xiao came before Ren Boyuan and Number One.

“Commander, it’s good to see you. They told me that you came to visit me earlier. Thank you for your concern.”

Number One shook his head.

“It was nothing. You are a pillar of the nation; I ought to have gone to see you.”

“But you haven’t recovered yet. Why have you come out? Go back and rest at once!”

“No, there’s no need. I only came to take a look.” Chu Xiao turned his eyes toward Ren Boyuan.

Ren Boyuan naturally understood what Chu Xiao meant.

“What did you mean just now?” Ren Boyuan asked.

Chu Xiao was having difficulty standing, so he found a place to sit before slowly beginning to speak.

“Hades now understands that even if it extends the range of its weapons, it still won’t be able to defeat us completely. It might even end up being counterattacked and destroyed by us. Besides, it used a bacterial bomb this time.”

“Hades seriously wounded us last time through overwhelming firepower. This time, it will most likely focus even more on increasing the destructive power of its weapons. Extending the range is no longer useful. All we need to do now is build stronger fortifications and raise our range to the same level as Hades’s machines.”

Chu Xiao’s analysis was clear and methodical.

After hearing him, everyone felt that his reasoning was both coherent and convincing.

Ren Boyuan stared intently at Chu Xiao with his brown eyes.

“What you’ve said makes perfect sense. However, extending the range by another thousand meters will still be difficult. At least for now, I haven’t come up with a good solution.”

“It doesn’t matter. If we work together, we’ll find one eventually. Of course, that depends on everyone joining forces.”

“The commander and I will stand with you all the way.” Chu Xiao turned toward Number One.

Number One nodded slightly.

“Chu Xiao is right. I will stand with all of you, together with him. If everyone works as one, we will find a solution.”

The crowd fell silent for a long while.

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Ren Boyuan broke the silence.

His mind held only this experiment.

“Very well. Tell me your theory, and I’ll see whether it can be put into practice.”

“Uh…”

Chu Xiao was speechless. He had not had time to think about it yet.

“Let me think.”

Chu Xiao lowered his head and began to ponder. Although he did not consider himself a genius, being asked to devise a solution on the spot would naturally take some time.

The air remained silent, and Number One was likewise lost in thought.

After a long while, seeing that Chu Xiao still had not said a word, the others assumed that he had no solution either.

“Easy for you to say! Why don’t you do it yourself?”

“Exactly! You’re good at talking, but in the end you can’t do anything!”

“Come on, Lieutenant General Chu isn’t a genius. Why are we making things so difficult for him?”

“Exactly! This is such a difficult problem. Even if he thought about it for several days and nights, he might not be able to come up with anything!”

…

The others had not intended to mock Chu Xiao. But after the hopes they had placed in him fell through, they could not help feeling somewhat unwilling to accept it.

Hearing their words, Chu Xiao’s train of thought was interrupted, and discomfort welled up inside him.

“Everyone, be quiet! Give Lieutenant General Chu room to think! We have to trust him. Go back to your own work for now!” Ren Boyuan suddenly shouted.

He genuinely believed in Chu Xiao. Ever since they had met, Chu Xiao had given him far too many surprises.

Besides, even the unpolished gem that was Ren Boyuan himself had been discovered by Chu Xiao. Without Chu Xiao, he would never have had the opportunity to contribute to the nation as he did now.

Ren Boyuan then gently reassured him.

“Lieutenant General Chu, don’t rush. Take your time and think it through. I’ll think about it together with you.”

A warm current surged through Chu Xiao’s heart when he heard Ren Boyuan’s words.

“All right!”

Number One watched the scene from the side and smiled in satisfaction.

An hour later, Chu Xiao suddenly cried out.

“I’ve got it! I’ve got it! I know what we should do!”

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