Kill one monster, stack one poison, and I alone will poison my way across the world!

"So, Takayama City is just bait? Or rather, just an insignificant one among their many experimental sites?"

Su Chen's fingers stopped tapping.

"No, based on the energy scale analysis, the scale of the several rituals is not much different."

"If you hadn't forcibly shattered that wall of flesh and blood and interrupted their ritual, the situation in Takayama City wouldn't have been much better than those three places."

Falcon looked at Su Chen, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes.

That was reverence.

"The combat data you brought back, along with the Chimera Beast samples we restocked, have been sent to the military's highest academy of sciences overnight."

"Although the Doomsday Cult's experiment was successful, they didn't expect that we would bring out so many chimera samples. What you did was very meaningful."

Falcon sat up straight, his tone becoming official and serious.

"This data will become an important cornerstone for humanity's fight against the Chimera Beasts."

Su Chen did not respond.

What is its significance? What is its foundation?

Such high-sounding words appear extremely pale in the face of the grim reality of more than ten million deaths.

"I have said before that the military never mistreats those who have made contributions."

Falcon opened the black briefcase he carried with him and took out a crystal card with a dark gold luster and a medal engraved with the sword and shield emblem.

She pushed the two items in front of Su Chen.

"This anonymous crystal card contains ten million gold coins in cash. It's the military's reward for this special operation."

"With this medal, you can exchange it for one million academic credits at the academy."

"..."

Su Chen glanced at the things on the table.

Ten million gold coins.

One million credits.

The military is really generous.

Ten million gold coins are enough to make an ordinary professional instantly wealthy.

They'll never have to worry about food or drink again.

For the average college student, one million credits is an unimaginable astronomical figure.

Without any hesitation, Su Chen reached out and took the card and medal, then casually stuffed them into his pocket.

"I won't bother with formalities; it's only right to do things for money."

His tone was flat.

After putting his things away, he raised his eyelids and looked at the falcon.

A brief silence fell over the room.

Su Chen's fingers traced across the table.

"There's one more question."

Su Chen's voice was calm. "When we first entered the village, the villager said that the village's grain was forcibly requisitioned by the military."

He stared at the falcon's bloodshot eyes.

"Were they really recruited by the military?"

The falcon remained indifferent and did not answer immediately.

"So, what happened to the grain?"

Su Chen pressed for an answer.

The air in the lounge seemed to freeze.

The exhaust fan emitted a monotonous "humming" sound.

A full minute passed.

"They were collected by the military's Third Logistics Division."

Falcon finally raised his head, his voice a little hoarse, "Takayama City is located on the border of the war zone and has been fighting with the demons for many years. The front line is under pressure, and in addition, the space teleportation array has temporarily malfunctioned and is unusable."

"In order to ensure the supply of the troops stationed at the front, they issued an order to forcibly requisition materials within a 30-kilometer radius."

The falcon paused for a moment, its eyes flickering slightly.

"After the recruitment... the intelligence department predicted that the cultists would carry out large-scale infiltration, sabotage and contamination of the front-line supply lines."

"That grain depot was identified as an extremely high-risk target because it was too close to the front line."

"To prevent the food from falling into the hands of doomsday cultists, or from becoming a source of plague due to large-scale contamination by the abyss's aura..."

Falcon took a deep breath and continued:

"The higher-ups issued the order for scorched earth."

"All the requisitioned grain was poured with gasoline and burned before it reached the front lines."

Su Chen: "..."

Su Chen remained silent.

They collected food rations from the common people.

Then, because the prediction was risky, they simply burned it down.

Is this what they call battlefield micro-management?

Was he afraid of being robbed, so he burned it himself first?

What about the people in the village?

Do they deserve to starve to death?

They deserve to be gnawed on rotten flesh covered in tumors, eventually becoming petri dishes for monsters?

Su Chen didn't even know where to begin complaining.

"I know what you're thinking."

The falcon's voice remained calm.

She was a soldier, and she knew better than anyone how many lives were at stake behind this order.

"There are hundreds of thousands of troops at the front line. If we don't burn them, this grain will become food for the demons."

"This world is too vast; every day, tens of thousands of battle reports pile up on the command center's desk."

"Military troop movements are inevitably prone to oversights."

"But their sacrifice was meaningful, and the country will remember their contributions."

"..."

Su Chen did not respond.

He is not some kind of savior.

In this world of strict hierarchy, where strength reigns supreme, and even lives can be calculated as casualties, individuals who are not strong enough will only become cannon fodder under those cold orders.

The deaths of ten million people, the destruction of an entire village... are nothing more than statistics.

To live comfortably in this world of cerebral hemorrhage...

Su Chen touched the dark gold crystal card in his pocket.

We must keep getting stronger.

He must be strong enough that no one dares to risk his life to fill those nonsensical strategic considerations.

After a moment of silence in the room, Falcon changed the subject, saying, "Are you going back to school? The military has given Dean Chu a brief battle report; he's waiting for you at the academy."

"No rush, I have some things to do in Takayama City. By the way, I need to ask you about someone."

Su Chen asked, "I heard that Master Jiang Buyu is in Gaoshan City?"

Hayabusa looked at him with some surprise: "Your information network is quite good. Master Takumi Buyu is indeed in Takayama City recently."

She made a few moves on the tactical terminal. "I've sent you the coordinates. But I have to warn you, he has a very strange temper and doesn't see outsiders. The military has tried to invite him several times, but he's been turned away each time."

Thanks.

Su Chen glanced at the coordinates on the terminal and felt a little better.

Finally, I have a weapon that I can use!