The Last Sentinel

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

A high-level meeting is about to be held to discuss the ownership of the Tokyo Mech Home Port.

Zhao Donglai, the first commander of the Eastern Theater Command and captain of the battleship Kunpeng, looked at the elder in front of him with a worried expression, his eyes filled with the urge to start over.

Zhao Donglai earnestly advised, "Senior Wu, please reconsider. If you insist on going your own way, the consequences will be unimaginable! The Human Alliance is not a one-man show by the Southern Heavenly Gate. Your proposal will definitely not be approved! Whether it's the Southern Heavenly Gate, Atlantis, or the Containment Foundation, they will all vote against it!"

Wu Budu's eyes were resolute. "My mind is made up. No need for further words. Let's start the meeting! The outcome is still uncertain!"

Zhao Donglai sighed. At this moment, Old Zhao had lost all joy at winning the Tokyo campaign. He was like a man who had lost his father. He just wanted to kowtow to Wubudu and beg the old man to stop torturing him and go back to the base.

But Wu Budu wouldn't leave. The suggestion he made made Zhao Donglai feel suffocated just thinking about it.

The biggest bounty from the Tokyo battlefield—the Kawasaki base, the A+ mech home port where three mechs were born—couldn't possibly be given directly to the Sentinels! This is simply pushing the limits of the Human Alliance's reward and punishment system; there has never been a reward of this level for individual combat achievements!

Zhao Donglai and Wu Budu arrived at the high-level conference room of the Kunpeng. Only the two of them sat down at a huge desk.

Soon, behind the long desk, projected figures appeared one after another. They took their seats, their features blurred, mysterious and powerful.

In the silent atmosphere, one bigwig after another took their seats. The long conference table, which could easily accommodate thirty people, was packed to capacity, demonstrating that both Atlantis and Project Nantianmen attached great importance to this meeting, or rather, that they valued the A+ Kawasaki Mech Home Port.

Based on the current situation, Nantianmen plans to have three S-class mech home ports: [Shendu], [Nanhai], and [Polar].

Atlantis has two S-class mech homeports: Area 51 and Bermuda.

Tokyo's mech homeport is the top mech homeport below the S-class mech homeport. To put it bluntly, it's only one step away from being an S-class mech homeport!

Whether it's Atlantis or Nantianmen, whoever gets this A+ home port can quickly upgrade it to S-level!

This would cause a significant shift in the balance of power between the offensive and defensive sides.

If Nantianmen obtains (the relevant resources/key nodes), it means that Nantianmen will have four S-class mech home ports, directly control the majority of the discourse, and become the de facto dominant force in the Human Alliance, the true decision-maker.

If Atlantis acquires it, it means that Atlantis will also have three S-class mech homeports, maintaining a three-on-three balance of power with Nantianmen.

Tensions were high between the two sides. Whether in the East or the West, the atmosphere at the negotiating table was already tense even before the meeting began.

From the eastern seats, an elder said calmly, "The Sentinel became famous in one battle, and the Crimson Destroyer killed the Samurai Maru. Tokyo has come to an end! This battle was all thanks to the Sentinel. The credit belongs to the Divine Capital and to my Nantianmen."

From the western seats, a blond, blue-eyed man projected, "That being said, the West has not been without merit either. The hexagonal warrior King Arthur, the [Knights of Punishment], and even the [Alpha] mech on standby."

The elder from the East laughed, "He was just there to watch the battle, not to actually enter the battlefield. As for King Arthur, did you send him? He was part of the Sentinels' team, and he was only following orders from his boss, the Sentinels! Others may not know about the relationship between King Arthur and your Atlantis, but do you think I don't? King Arthur's hatred for you guys from the underwater city is more than just ordinary. It's not like we'd fight on sight; it's more like a love-hate relationship where we'd dig up each other's ancestral graves."

The blond, blue-eyed man slammed his hand on the table. "Ouyang! Speak clearly, stop being so sarcastic!"

Ouyang smiled faintly, "Smith, stop yelling at me. Did I lie? I can recall the Sentinels, but can you recall King Arthur?"

Just then, an elderly man with white hair and a black robe, sitting at the head of the table, spoke up, "Alright, stop arguing, Ouyang, Smith, be quiet!"

"Now, Captain Zhao Donglai, please give a battlefield report."

Captain Zhao Donglai hurriedly stood up and said, "Greetings, leaders. I'd like to give a report on the Tokyo ground battle. First of all, we would like to thank all the leaders and senior officers of the Human Alliance for their strong support in this battle. Without the full support of all the officers, there would be no victory in the Tokyo battle, and the Human Alliance would not be what it is today. On behalf of all the participants, I would like to express my gratitude to all the leaders..."

Zhao Donglai truly lived up to his reputation as the top leader of the war zone. When he spoke, his flattery was not vulgar, and his sycophancy was quite elegant. There was not a single instance of flattery in the entire piece, yet the whole thing revolved around the theme of "Long live humanity."

"That concludes my report. Do any of you officers have anything to add?"

At this moment, Ouyang raised his hand and said, "I have a question. Seven Earth-Splitting Beasts appeared at the end of the battle. Were they all from the Sentinel Team?"

Zhao Donglai replied, "Yes!"

Ouyang asked, "Besides these seven, do the Sentinels have any other potential Earth-Splitting Behemoths?"

Zhao Donglai shook his head. "I don't know. Current intelligence indicates no."

Smith said, "In this battle against the giant beasts, the Titanoboa was clearly fatally wounded. May I ask what became of it?"

Zhao Donglai shook his head. "I'm sorry, the Sentinel team hasn't reported the injuries of their members yet. I'll urge them to do so later."

At this moment, Wu Budu couldn't help but say, "Alright, now that we've covered the main topic, let's get to the core issue and discuss the ownership of the Kawasaki Mech Home Port!"

Wu Budu's words immediately turned the atmosphere in the venue tense and heavy. Both Ouyang's side and Smith's side displayed an air of determination to win.

The elderly man in black robes at the head of the group took out a document and read aloud, "Mr. Wu has a suggestion. I wonder if Ouyang and Smith would like to hear it?"

Ouyang raised his hand and said, "Alright, let's listen. Senior Wu is a senior I respect. I wonder what suggestions Senior Wu has?"

Smith said, "Mr. Wu is the greatest martial artist among Homo sapiens today, and I am willing to listen to the advice of the strong."

The old man in black robes read aloud, "Wu Budu believes that the Sentinels contributed the most to the Tokyo campaign. From the initial investigation to the subsequent battles, their contribution to the entire campaign should be at least 50%. Such a contribution sets a precedent for the Human Alliance. To commend the Sentinels and to encourage outstanding human geniuses in the future, Wu Budu suggests that the ownership of the Kawasaki Mech Home Port be given to the Sentinels as a reward for their contributions in this war!"

Upon hearing this, Ouyang and Smith both stood up.

"This is impossible! How can the mech homeport be given to an individual? Isn't that breaking the rules?"

"FUCK! This is in accordance with the rules of the China Democratic League!"

The other attendees were also displeased and began to angrily criticize Wu Budu.

"Do you know what a mech home port means? It means the continuous production capacity of mechs, which has immense strategic value!"

"If mechs are weapons of mass destruction, then mech homeports are Pandora's box for humanity. Bases of this caliber should belong to the collective, not individuals!"

"I strongly oppose this suggestion! Old Wu, have you been drinking fake alcohol? How could you come up with such a ridiculous suggestion!"

"That's right, Wu Budu, we are indeed inferior to you in martial arts, but when it comes to resource allocation, ten of you can't match us. Don't give us any random ideas; it will only cause chaos within the alliance!"

"..."

Faced with the crowd's angry outburst, Wu Budu calmly rose and paced back and forth, saying slowly and deliberately, "Rules, hehe, rules are meant to be broken! Since everyone opposes me, let's have a show of hands. Those who oppose awarding the mecha homeport to the Sentinels, please raise your hands!"

brush brush --

In the huge hall, everyone except Zhao Donglai and Wu Budu raised their hands.

Wu Budu nodded. "Very good, everyone is very honest. I like dealing with honest people! I'll say three things. If it's still the same after three sentences, then just ignore me!"

"First and foremost! The Human Alliance is a human supremacist alliance, and behind human supremacy lies power supremacy!"

In short, Homo sapiens worships the strong, especially the top strong, whom they worship and are loyal to to the greatest extent.

"Currently, the Human Alliance's top combat force is its mechs, and the combat power of the mechs represents the pinnacle of the Human Alliance's combat power."

"You should have seen the performance of the Crimson Destroyer in Tokyo today, right? It has completely overwhelmed all the current S-class mechs, creating an unimaginable gap in combat power with other S-class mechs!"

"In other words, Ye Feng's individual combat strength has reached the top of the human combat strength ranking. Ye Feng is invincible in his mecha piloting state. No matter which S-class mecha from the Human Alliance it is, unless all the S-class mechas gang up on Ye Feng, he is undefeated!"

"When an individual becomes the strongest fighter in the tribe, their needs will become the tribe's primary focus for fulfilling. After all, if the tribe won't give it to them, they can take it back through their own strength!"

"Therefore, I advise everyone not to provoke a strong person for a little bit of petty gain, especially an invincible mecha pilot who has just joined and become the number one on the combat power list. After all, there is still a long time ahead, and the new generation will eventually be washed away by the old generation."

After Wu Budu finished speaking, a small number of people who had raised their hands wavered and lowered their hands.

Wu Budu continued, "Secondly, Ye Feng can control seven Earth-Splitting Beasts in battle. We don't know how many Radiation Beasts are supporting him. Perhaps the number of Radiation Beasts is even greater than the number of members of the Human Alliance. Ye Feng is now like the Neo-Homo sapiens who recruited dogs. If the mech homeport doesn't belong to him, he might not be angry, but his dogs might seek revenge on the Sentinels. None of you want to wake up one day to find Earth-Splitting Beasts city-walking in your city, do you?"

After the second sentence, a large number of people who had raised their hands put them down.

Compared to the Sentinel's public revenge, people are more afraid of his underhanded tactics. After all, with a genius of this caliber and invincible power, plus the dogs he has recruited, you could really be killed by him without even knowing why.

However, some people in the audience still raised their hands, maintaining a strong stance of opposition.

Since resorting to force, whether overt or covert, won't work, then we must reason with them.

Wu Budu said, "The third thing the Sentinel told me is that he has mastered a new mecha technology called Mecha Soul! He told me that as long as a mecha has a Mecha Soul, the difficulty of operating the mecha will drop exponentially. It doesn't require S+ intelligence or mental strength support, and you don't even need to understand the mecha manual. The Mecha Soul can fight for you, and it will report all the stats. You just need to enjoy the battle."

Upon hearing this, everyone present stood up. "How could that be?"

Does the concept of a "machine soul" truly exist?

"So, according to you, piloting a mecha will be as simple as driving a car in the future?"

Wu Budu said, "To be clear, piloting a mecha will be simpler than driving a car in the future, because the Mecha Soul is a new generation of life, a completely new individual. It can learn, has extremely high intelligence, and is much stronger than AI simulation systems! Moreover, the Sentinel has promised me that, to show his sincerity, he is willing to produce the first Mecha Soul mecha sample within a month to prove the maturity and stability of this technology, with a minimum quality of A+!"

"Okay, I've finished speaking!"

"Those who disagree can continue to raise their hands!"

"I promise to tell every single person who raised their hand to the sentry."

"Don't look at me like that, everyone! My brother isn't threatening you! I'm just an honest person, and I always speak the truth. After all, there are too many people who want to pilot mechs, and when it comes to queuing up, it's all about connections, factions, and favoritism. Unlike me, I'm number one right away. The Sentinel's new mech was prepared just for me. I'm not afraid to tell you, my mech's name has already been decided: Titan-class [Martial Blade]!"

"Wow, what a nice name!"

Old Wu's words echoed in the conference room. In the huge conference room, the last person who raised his hand also put it down helplessly.

The old man in black robes watched this scene and said, "It seems no one objects to rewarding the Sentinels with the mech home port! Does anyone agree to give the mech home port to the Sentinels? Those who agree, please raise your hands."

Upon hearing this, Old Man Wu frowned, his eyes filled with anger and hatred: What the hell!

If no one objects, doesn't that mean it's passed unanimously?

What are you saying now about voting in favor? Aren't you setting me up and getting me into trouble?

The entire room fell silent. No one raised their hand in agreement. The combination of the threat of force and the lure of benefits had made everyone outwardly compliant but inwardly resentful and unwilling to accept defeat.

Wu Budu raised his hand and said, "I agree!"

Zhao Donglai was the second to chime in, "Me too, I agree!"

Immediately following, a weathered old voice said, "【Fenglangjuxu】Agreed."

Another voice said, "【Great Wall Watch】agrees."

"Ouyang Zancheng!"

"Dongfang agrees!"

"Zhurong approves!"

"On behalf of myself and the Great Boss Haotian, Dugu expresses his approval!"

"..."

The Eastern camp unanimously approved, while only a handful of Western members raised their hands.

For Nantianmen, giving the mech home port to the Sentinels is equivalent to giving it to the Eastern Nantianmen, isn't it?

It doesn't matter who gets it; we shouldn't let the good stuff go to outsiders!

The West was unwilling and could only remain mostly silent. The few who raised their hands were mostly Olympian Platinum people, who had a good relationship with King Arthur and were already considering taking sides.

At this moment, the old man in black robes said calmly, "The resolution has been passed. The resolution to donate the Kawasaki mecha home port to the Sentinels has been passed."

At this point, the black-robed elder paused, his beard trembling as he angrily rebuked, "However, I personally strongly oppose this resolution. This is an act of surrender by the Human Alliance's higher-ups to the powerful humans! Back in the Earth Alliance era, when has humanity ever bowed down to a powerful individual? Even during the 1999 War, the will of the higher-ups determined everything; no matter how powerful an individual was, they were still just a person. This resolution is utterly absurd!"

Old Wu jumped to his feet, his anger flaring. Pointing at the black-robed elder's nose, he yelled, "What do you mean, Dr. Hughes? You have a problem with the Sentinels? Come on, tell me specifically! Are you questioning the Sentinels' combat abilities, their six-dimensional talent, or their loyalty to the Human Alliance? If you don't give me a clear answer today, I'll come find you for tea right now!"

Faced with the old man's violent threats, Dr. Hughes, the black-robed elder, was somewhat intimidated, but still stubbornly insisted, "I'm just stating the facts. I think it's a bad thing for individual will to override the will of the group!"

"Bullshit!" Old Man Wu said. "Without sentries, who the hell would fight the [Samurai Maru]? Who would fight the Yamata no Orochi? Rely on the will of the masses? Rely on a few big leaders' speeches, and the monsters and heretics will retreat and commit suicide? What rubbish! It's about force, chainsaw swords, mechs, and the recruited Earthshattering Beasts!"

The old man in black robes gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Wu, have you forgotten the last case where an individual's will superseded the collective? Captain Hattori Senjun of the [Yukikaze]! During the Earth Alliance era, in the Battle of Xuanxiao Star Gate, Captain Hattori Senjun of the [Yukikaze] forcibly changed the marching route due to his personal will, leading to the defeat of the battle. From then on, the Earth Alliance began its decline..."

Wu Budu said, "Whether Hattori Sengun was a traitor or not, the court didn't clarify it back then. It's even said that when the Earth Alliance ended, who the traitor was was still uncertain. Don't keep calling him a traitor. The case from back then hasn't been investigated yet!"

"Enough!" Ouyang from the East couldn't take it anymore and stood up, saying, "The Earth Alliance is a thing of the past; now it's the Human Alliance. Let's stop with this nonsense!"

The black-robed elder, Hughes, stubbornly insisted, "Hattori Sengun is a traitor, and the sentries could become traitors as well. Giving too many resources to individuals is an extremely dangerous decision. I cannot agree with this decision, nor do I have a positive outlook on it. Goodbye."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hughes disappeared.

The atmosphere in the venue became eerie and cold.

Many bigwigs stood up and the meeting ended unhappily.