The Eldritch Files

”Have you all gone mad?”

Inside the Qinggang Council Hall, as Mr. Xu, seated in the chair on the far left, issued several commands as a matter of course, someone with hurried footsteps quickly relayed the orders. The atmosphere became utterly oppressive.

The man in the chair on the right had lost control of his expression. He shouted, ”Why are you playing this kind of joke?”

”This all happened so long ago, and we’ve already paid such a heavy price...”

”We’ve waited a full ten years. The Tide is almost here, and at this final, critical juncture, you’re going to veto the Silence Protocol?”

...

No one in the hall answered him. There was only a suffocating silence. He even faintly sensed hateful gazes directed at him from the shadows, but when he spun around to look, everything was normal.

Everyone had lowered their eyes. They weren’t offending him directly, but they showed an abnormal resolve.

His words trailed off, and he even let out a self-deprecating sneer.

’At this point, how could I not understand?’

The aftereffects of the failed Seven Days of Divine Descent.

Originally, the Seven Days of Divine Descent was supposed to have solved the problem cleanly before anyone could react, without causing any incidents.

But because it failed and things had dragged on until now, it was inevitable that some who had lost their blood relatives would have second thoughts.

To ensure the execution of the Silence Protocol, they had a mission to monitor these people for any unusual activity.

But the surveillance continued for two years, and they found nothing out of the ordinary.

’I never imagined it. They were quiet on the surface only because someone was secretly uniting them, all to deliver a sudden, unexpected blow at the most critical moment.’

”But this...”

When his voice rang out again, it no longer questioned their reasons, but carried a deep sense of powerlessness:

”This isn’t just Qinggang’s problem! Have you thought about that?”

”Qinggang was just the one that was chosen.”

”You can’t make such an irresponsible move just because of a vote that came out of nowhere...”

His voice was filled with helpless admonishment, even a hint of pleading. He slowly swept his gaze over the people in the black chairs: ”Mr. Chi, Miss Wei, Mr. Chen, Professor Meng, General Zhou, Elder Chen, Commander Xu...”

”Are you sure you seriously considered the vote you just cast? Are you... are you sure you’ve thought about the consequences?”

...

The vote to tear up the Silence Protocol was seven in favor. Besides the Xu Family, who had laid their cards on the table, four of the red chairs had voted ’yes.’

He didn’t know who those four people were, so he questioned them all.

He still held out hope that things might turn around.

It had happened before. To save face for the black chairs, people in the red chairs would cast a ’yes’ vote or two along with them.

But he had to remind them that this exceptional result had now occurred, creating an unimaginably destructive situation. The only possible way to solve the problem now was for someone who had just voted ’yes’ to voluntarily propose overturning the result.

Besides, he couldn’t believe that four people among them would be so willing to disregard the bigger picture.

The leader of the Hidden School, the Qinggang Empress, the representative from the Administrative Hall, the technical advisor for the Abyssal Laboratory—the old monster who once taught a monster like Song Chushi—plus the Commander-in-Chief of the Qinggang Armed Forces, the liaison for the second line of reality defense, the archivist for the Disaster Management Bureau...

Every single person who could sit in a red chair held a high-ranking and pivotal position.

People like that knew the terror of the Tide; of course they would have a better understanding of the Silence Protocol’s importance.

’How could they possibly be fooling around at a time like this?’

So he hoped someone would step forward, say it was just a joke, and agree to have their vote nullified.

Of course, the result of the vote had already been declared, and some might not agree to overturn it and start over. But regardless, as long as someone spoke up, there would be room to de-escalate the situation.

But in the end, no one spoke.

”This decides whether Qinggang can be upgraded to a Level One Reality Hotbed or if it loses its strategic position in the first line of reality defense! Do you have any idea how many people’s lives and safety are at stake?”

He even shouted in fury, ”Do you have any idea how much power the Abyssal Studio wields at a time like this?”

Still, no one answered.

He finally despaired, his voice filled with powerlessness. ”Do you people even know...”

”...that with the few cards the Qinggang Council has, even if we were to go all-out against the Abyssal Studio, we would have absolutely no chance of winning?”

”They have City Slaughter Priests and taboo factories! They can easily sway a war between nations.”

”And this is just to deal with our little Qinggang?”

...

”In that case, perhaps...”

But just as he let out that final, despairing sigh, someone suddenly let out a low chuckle.

It was Mr. Xu. He slowly raised his head and looked over. ”When facing a war, isn’t the courage to face it more important than worrying about victory or defeat?”

He said this very softly, but with respect for certain people.

It didn’t matter why the Xu Family had initiated this plan. What mattered was that for the adults who had lost their children, many had indeed joined this war with just such a dauntless attitude.

The man in the chair on the right fell into utter despair:

’These lunatics... they’ve started spouting fucking platitudes. What else is there for me to say?’

...

...

In the Abyssal Laboratory, the tall, slender woman had already given the order. Armed personnel and the City Slaughter Priests had all been summoned, waiting only for the moment the reality anchor was complete to descend upon Qinggang. And yet, as the one who had given the command, she stood alone at the laboratory’s entrance, grieving silently.