Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 877: Valraven's Round Table Meeting.

Astra Militarum Nexus.

At this moment, the entire hub is broadcasting a piece of news that is quite surprising.

[Star Channel 423: A Quick Overview of Abnormal Economic Trends]

【Now Playing】

"Breaking news! The well-known abnormal fast food group [Gaizibao] announced the launch of its 21st brand remodeling plan in history——"

Screen switching:

Countless product interfaces were being melted, French fry machines, hot dog vending devices, and branded smiling reception masks were all out of power and emitting sizzling sparks;
Black liquidator robots were posting brand seals one by one in the hub, and smiling stickers engraved with the words "Build a Castle" were burning and peeling off.

The news anchor's voice trembled:

"We don't know the real reason behind this decision yet... but the 'brand wartime' label means that the entire Gaizhibao has entered an extreme cleansing phase."

——An encrypted circulation message pops up in the lower right corner of the screen:
[The latest review by the Courtyard Food Inspection Bureau: Gaizhubao Hub products have caused several incidents of psychic pollution and divine interference. ]

Cut back to the screen, the camera scans the main brand center of Gaizhibao headquarters:
Martin stood in front of hundreds of burning vending machines, wearing a shiny smiling executive uniform, but his face was only gray.

He raised his left hand and pressed the red button on the terminal.

One command passed through hundreds of sub-nodes, floating links, and satellite cloud areas. The next second, all brand voice devices sounded collectively:

"For taste, we must burn our yesterday selves."

*********
Valraven Corporation, Argol Military Starport.

Central round table conference room.

This is a closed, high-pressure meeting room.

Twelve floating metal masks slowly rotated around the table of power. Behind the masks were twelve directors of Valraven. Behind each mask was a projection of the capital will that dominated the arms, public opinion, and aircraft markets.

Except for one person.

Seat No. 9.

A young woman in a minimalist military skirt and a white prosthetic cape was sitting quietly.

Alex Reiss.

[Valraven] is the company's special envoy for external negotiations, the main coordinator of Abnormal Capital's relationship with the Kingdom of Heaven system, and the company's representative in the Ivy League War. He has met the Fourth Swordsman of the Kingdom of Heaven several times.

This is also the moment when the only concrete "physical director" exists at the round table.

The desktop projection lights up.

Martin's smiling face appeared again.

"This is not a backstab, this is a strategic transformation, all for the purpose of building a fortress."

This somewhat provocative remark was like an electric drill, piercing the nerves in the quiet round table conference room.

click!
The mask at seat No. 5 suddenly accelerated its rotation, making a mechanical sound of biting out of control.

An angry male voice burst out:

"That damn fast food rat!"

"That brand of hot dog on a stick is greasier than him! That brand of expired sauce!"

"Why did he leak the plan without permission? This is not something he can touch. Let him lick the hot dogs instead of licking the boots of the sword-wielding man."

"It took us eight years to clean up the logical noise left by the Broken God's ruins, and he just fed us into the mouth of heaven!"

Number 11 on the side spoke calmly:
"He certainly leaked too much... and chose the worst possible people to deliver it to."

Seat No. 3 asked in a deep voice:

"The problem now is that we are facing the fourth sword-wielder of the Kingdom of Heaven."

"If Abraham really steps into our experimental area in person, are we... ready?"

A moment of silence.

No. 8's tone was calm but straightforward:

"Hard fight?"

"Theoretically yes."

"The Agamemnon-type third-generation super-heavy machine is fully deployed, the Anchor Shield Network is activated, and the Psychic Blocking Tower has been deployed."

"If you are willing to spend 20,000 mercenaries and three experimental military factories, you might be able to hold him back for five minutes."

"Five minutes is enough for us to transfer the 3.5 generation experimental body. As long as you refuse to admit it..."

The conference room fell into a brief silence.

five minutes.

This is not tactical data, it is the most optimistic deduction.

Moreover, they will have to face the preparations for the enmity between the Courtyard and the Kingdom of Heaven later, so it is not worth it no matter how you look at it.

"...It's impossible to confront head-on."

Number 6 sneered:
"Let's talk about it then?"

"Whose money do we eat at this round table? Capital. Not the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Hand over some of the planning information to him, invite the courtyard to develop together - give him a name, a soldier, and a set of body modules, and we can keep this 'God's Throne Manufacturing Project'."

"It's better to talk than to die."

Number 5 angrily retorted:

"You might as well just give him the directorship!"

"Let him sit at our table and give away the company's brainpower - are you also going to give him a set of brand narrative templates?"

"From now on, we at Valraven will be renamed 'The Ninth Contractor of Heavenly Kingdom Military Industry'."

"Are you crazy, or do you think we can still reason with each other if an angel comes?"

And No. 10 whispered in the midst of the chorus of voices:

"stop fighting."

His voice was like a drop of cold water falling into the bottom of a pot - it immediately cooled the chaotic air around him.

“We’re not choosing a direction right now.”

"We are... digging the last tunnel."

He called up three light blue tactical emblems and arranged them on the three-dimensional battle map in the center of the round table:
“Three sets of plans must be made.”

"First, negotiate with the Ninth Seat as the intermediary."

"Second, the technical confidentiality system has been upgraded to completely block the Deep Fourth Generation Plan."

"Three, prepare for liquidation. If the negotiations fail, we must initiate the reverse mapping destruction protocol and use our own abnormal capital reserves of Valraven to leverage a divine hedge."

"But, what happens next?"

"We can handle an angel, a crown."

"What if Heaven sends out the first three sword bearers?"

"What if a dozen heroes and knights come to attack us?"

That one sentence was like a nail or a hammer, making the air seem thinner.

In the venue, the projection was silent.

The light flickered, and everyone slowly shifted their gaze to seat number 9 at the round table.

The only physical being, Alex Reiss.

She lowered her head, her short silver hair hanging on the side of her military-style stand-up collar, and her fingertips tapped lightly on the edge of the conference board.

"You are asking me 'should we fight?'"

"But you have not figured out a more important issue from beginning to end."

She raised her head, her silver-white pupils refracting light like cold stars, reflecting the phantom halo of an angel.

“We are not deciding whether to go to war or not.”

"We are now confirming..."

Her tone was as calm as ice, but every word was like thunder striking my mind.

"You want to delay the secularization of the Kingdom of Heaven?"

The moment these words were spoken, the round table conference room seemed to enter a vacuum state.

No one answered.

Even No. 6, who always spoke at lightning speed, shut his mouth. The light screen in front of him shook for a moment, but he didn't dare to say a word to try to "turn the situation around."

No. 7 coughed, but didn't dare to say anything substantial.

Mask No. 5 trembled slightly, as if something was rolling in his throat, but he didn't dare to spit it out.

The projections of No. 3, No. 11, and No. 12 are still suspended in the air, their masks are empty and cold, and only they themselves know - at this moment their hearts are as heavy as a stone at the bottom of a lake.

Because at that moment they finally realized.

Hugh Abraham was never a negotiating partner.

He is a door.

Once opened, behind that door lies the entire kingdom of heaven.

Finally, it was No. 4 who broke the silence first with a trembling voice, but with a rational attitude of self-preservation:
"We have not reached any 'cooperation' with the Soul Sucker Empire."

"We are just trying to get ahead of the enemy before confronting the Mind Drainer Empire in the courtyard." "We are trying to study the remaining technology of the Broken God."

Number 6 also nodded:

"The project was initially launched with the intention of being a strategic plan. Once the Soul Sucker Empire collapses, the remains of the fourth-generation aircraft will become the primary target."

"We are just preparing to lay out the plan first."

No. 8's tone was dry:
"Indeed, no psychic-drainer entity has ever been contacted."

"We just use capital to try to contact, split and analyze them without their knowledge..."

“We are researchers, not collaborators.”

"We are only……"

Number 10 interrupted them, as if putting the finishing touches on this crisis PR:
"We were just trying to prepare for the post-war world order before the war."

“…Just carrying the kingdom of heaven and the courtyard on my back.”

"It's not betrayal."

Because that was the mildest thing they could say.

And finally, among the twelve seats, the only real face stood up.

"Then I will contact Xia Xiu on your behalf."

"Have a face-to-face conversation with all of Valraven's integrity and all of his judgment."

"You just need to remember one sentence."

She walked towards the exit of the conference room, her back as slender as a knife blade. The moment the door opened, she whispered:
"The god will not tell you when he will be unsheathed."

"He will only examine whether you are qualified to kneel down."

In the conference room.

Silence enveloped the air like a concrete wall.

Just as everyone accepted the decision of "letting the Ninth Seat represent the negotiation", the ferocious metal mask of No. 5 suddenly trembled.

He spoke in a low voice, his voice filled with uncontrollable rage and unwillingness:

"We are still prepared for war."

"Our intervention forces, our asset repatriation curve, our technology control lock..."

"No matter how strong he is, he is just a crown, an individual...If we give in now, what will happen next?"

"What will Heaven think? What will other capitals think of us?"

"This is giving up! This is..."

"enough."

No. 2 interrupted him, his voice no longer having its usual high-pitched elegance, but instead sounding as heavy as rust.

"We are not holding a board vote."

"We are facing a being who can define the shape of war."

"You want to fight, but who will fight you? Which board of directors will use their prosthetic bodies to stop the 'Lever of Heaven'?"

"You want to defend Valraven?"

"Then tell me first - how many military factories, mercenaries, and capital are you prepared to throw away?"

He smiled coldly:
"You don't even dare to say a word about 'winning rate', and you want to drag us down with you?"

After saying this, he said no more and simply turned off his projection slowly.

The other masks also went out, and traces of light from people exiting the meeting flashed across the black round table.

Finally, only No. 9 - Alex Reiss, and the No. 5 mask that was still vibrating were left.

She didn't say another word, just turned and left.

Outside the conference hall, the wind was as cold as a blade.

*********
Seventeen minutes later.

Argor Starport, the main combat hub of the Valraven Corporation.

A high priority alarm suddenly flashed across all channels.

[Courtyard Communication Number: TKF-4 / Sword Bearer Communication Channel - Gold Power Channel - Direct]

An encrypted message landed on the boardroom communications tower, and the Eden logo appeared on every channel pane.

The communication was extremely short and contained the following:
--------

Sender: Hugh Abraham (Fourth Sword Bearer of Heaven/Lord of the Courtyard)

【Arrival Tips】

I have arrived at the military hub area outside Valraven.

Requesting access to Argol Starport.

Purpose of this visit: Routine inspection of Astra Militarum training conditions.

——Article 378 of the Courtyard Execution Supervision is in effect.

--------

In the Agor Military Starport, Alex, the abnormal representative of [Valraven], stood in front of the main control platform. Her short silver hair gently shook off a slight electric current, and the soft light of the Mark of Eden flashed in her pupils.

She didn't ask "when will it arrive".

She only said:
"Everyone switch to Plan A."

The dispatch center behind him suddenly moved like thunder.

Hundreds of tactical dispatchers launched their own command chain.

The high-orbit fleet entered alert standby mode.

All routes of the Star Army training ground have been adjusted to the outer ring road

"Cancel the bugle call parade and switch to a tactical marching display."

"Pause the bridge briefing, have the simulated combat team clear the background noise, and shut down all performance segments."

"Remember, he's not here to watch the show."

Alex walked quickly towards his own armor cabin, took off his military cape, and gave a cold order:
"All aircraft security checks are suspended."

"I want to wear my own armor."

The tactical adjutant next to him whispered:

"...Ms. Reiss, are you going to pick him up in your armor?"

While putting on the prosthetic lock ring, she answered:

"I'm not going to pick him up."

"I am going to meet someone who will decide our fate."

*********
Starport orbital layer, south circular platform.

A streamlined silver-black ship was easily pushed into the berth area.

There was no announcement, no authorization, and no opening broadcast from the ship.

It just appeared above the platform without any warning.

This is the ship of the Fourth Sword Bearer of Heaven. The moment the hatch opened, a silent pressure surged out like water waves.

Alex had not yet arrived at the scene, but hundreds of on-site node instruments had already begun automatic frequency hopping.

A mark appeared on the screens of the spiritual pressure detector, the divine conversion instrument, and the logic recognition network:
[Crown Status Critical——]

[Critical Person: The Fourth Sword Bearer Hugh Abraham - Arrival at the Port]

A tall and slender figure stepped out of the cabin.

Xia Xiu stood on the metal walkway at the edge of the starport.

Without even raising his head, he casually pressed the scepter in his hand to the ground.

Click.

next moment.

The entire port area

Bang!
Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap—bang!

A series of flashes of light and shadows exploded like chain arcs, scattered in every corner of the port.

The high-altitude trajectory tracking tower ignited with overload sparks and collapsed like a sick tree; the sensors embedded in the side walls of the hull exploded into light mist; the behavior recognition camera core melted directly; and the ground logic monitoring runes collapsed into scattered ether fragments.

The only thing was that there was a surveillance ball floating behind a metal frame in the distance.

It trembled and flashed a dark red recording light.

There was no explosion.

It was left to it by Xia Xiu.

He finally looked up and his eyes met with the only "eye" that still existed.

The corners of his mouth curved slightly, as if he was smiling.

"It seems."

"You have already made your choice internally."