CHAPTER 84: CHAPTER 84: 1000 CRYSTALS

Silas frowned and disagreed, "No!"

"Alright." Ivy agreed, then paused before adding a clause, "I will collect 2000 crystals, break off your relationship with your fiancé."

Talia narrowed her eyes, her words were laced with coldness as she smiled, "No need. Just 1000 crystals, I will not meet him till you want. I won’t break off our engagement."

Ivy took a deep breath. Some things can’t be rushed, and hence she nodded before turning to leave.

Silas, who was thoroughly ignored by the two young ladies, frowned and tried to intervene, "1000 crystals is too much..."

"Shut up." Talia coldly snorted, an irritated expression appeared on her face, and it was enough to tell Silas that she had already reached her limit of tolerance today.

Seeing Ivy leaving, he had no choice but to follow her. Talia watched the pair leave before muttering under her breath,

"Why is Ivy so hellbent on letting me stay in the military compound? Is the Ravencroft family planning something? No... I can’t sit like a duck and wait for them to take action."

Call her paranoid, but she didn’t believe in Ivy. How can a girl who was blindly chasing familial love suddenly come to her senses?

Something was amiss.

Just as Talia was wondering, an announcement rang out on the military ground,

"All the captains, majors, and generals are requested to enter the meeting room."

Talia’s expression turned grim, and she arrived at the meeting room within 5 minutes. On reaching there, she saw her father, Stephen, Frank, Joseph, Silas, and a few other captains and majors.

All of them had a grim expression. The atmosphere was tense.

Maybe all of them were waiting for Talia to arrive because the moment she did so, the discussion led by Dante started.

"Refugees from other cities are flocking to Gotham City. From the current influx, if not properly arranged, a stampede may occur; the cars left on the road are causing traffic jams, while the zombie rate is increasing with each second."

All the participants’ faces turned grim when they heard Dante’s words. Dante listed the most pressing problems, which may cause upheaval among the citizens if not solved properly.

"The higher-ups have ordered us to set up a base for those refugees, as well as introduce a way of living for them." Dante’s voice echoed in the conference room.

"But General Dante, setting up base will require too much energy and manpower; most of the manpower is invested in the task of eliminating the zombies." General Conard raised his concern.

His brown hair, which at some point had turned a bit of silver, spoke volumes about his wisdom.

Dante replied to one of his most loyal subordinates patiently,

"We will reduce the manpower assigned for that task. All the possible survivors we have rescued till now are living in the makeshift base.

I got a report stating that survivors are slowly contracting typhoid fever. If this continued, all our efforts would be vain. They might transform into zombies after dying from the fever."

"General Dante, I personally feel we shouldn’t set up a base. The food supplies aren’t enough." General Miller interrupted, his black eyes sparkled with seriousness.

Though greedy, he was a patriotic man and knew his limit. Yet he felt that setting up a base was too much hassle and too many resources of the military would be tied up,

"It would be better if we focus on eliminating the zombies altogether."

Stephen shook his head and counterattacked,

"General Miller, that’s where you are wrong. Though the military of many nations has been dispatched to deal with these zombies, none of them have succeeded in doing so. Let’s focus on the base building."

"I support General Stephen." Silas chimed in, though he was only a captain, his achievements and strategic mind were praised even by the higher-ups.

"Even after 3 months of extensive missions, there seems to be no sign of zombies coming to an end. It would be better if we set up a base.

We should embrace this new reality and protect a portion of the area before making strategies on how to gain back what we have lost."

Frank frowned and raised an eyebrow,

"Captain Silas, though you are supporting the claims, do you have any method to solve the crisis related to food supplies?"

His sharp words made the entire conference room go silent. Everyone knew about the two factions in the military and the power struggle.

Frank’s words were traps; if Silas disagreed, it meant he would have to withdraw his agreement from base building. If agreed, then the Blackthorn family would have to use their personal supplies to support the base.

Silas remained unfazed and retorted,

"If that’s the case, then let’s go with General Frank’s suggestion. He can provide for the food supplies consumed by the military going forward, after all, the authorities will stop the little supply they are providing to us once they come to know about our decision to rebel."

Who doesn’t know how to dig traps? Silas was the master manipulator. In a few words, he threw Frank’s words right back at him.

Dante, Stephen, Conard, and Talia suppressed the smile rising on their face. This brat truly knows how to make one choke on their own words.

Frank’s face color alternated between blue and green before suppressing the fury and stated,

"Captain Silas, you misunderstood my word. My only concern is food supplies."

"General Frank, as much as it may seem harsh, we will have to follow the orders. What is the status of food supplies? How much is in the inventory?" Dante asked.

General Janet responded promptly,

"With current speed and growing population, it might not last for more than 6 months."

A somber atmosphere ensued. 6 months may seem long, but the real question was... after 6 months, what will happen?

They can only depend on the vegetables they grow, but...

"What is the status of vegetable growth?" Danter asked.