Published: February 12, 2025
One by one, the leaders of the battle teams began to report their achievements and losses during this period. The numbers each person spoke of weren’t too large, but when combined, they formed an astounding total.
Xia Lei listened while comparing this information with the data obtained from avoidance, trying to determine if anyone was lying. Fortunately, although there were some discrepancies with the avoidance data, they weren't significant. This indicated that, at least up until now, those at Cloud Summit, including the later arrivals, had maintained their loyalty to Cloud Summit.
Originally, this was Xia Lei's biggest concern. If Ye Zhongming was still at Cloud Summit, there would naturally be no issue; no one would betray a Cloud Summit led by Ye Zhongming—not even the thought would cross their minds. But now that Ye Zhongming had gone to the skies, to his true battlefield, Xia Lei couldn’t guarantee whether these core members who had already been cultivated and had strong personalities would remain loyal.
The apocalypse was an era that birthed tyrants, where everyone’s desire for power and control over other lives would be magnified infinitely. Yet, human nature is inherently unstable and cannot withstand testing. Xia Lei’s worries weren't unfounded. If she wanted to protect the family business for her man, she couldn’t overlook any potential danger to Cloud Summit.
Now, since the people below had not concealed their battle losses and gains, it meant there were no significant issues. This wasn't about trust but merely a precaution.
Of course, the final numbers left everyone a bit shocked, followed by sighs and complex emotions. In these past few months, the number of members who had died in battle at Cloud Summit had already exceeded twenty thousand. This could be said to be an unprecedented loss since the establishment of the villa. These individuals were all high-level warriors, and a tremendous investment had been made in them—from Evolution Potions to various skill scrolls, lineage cultivation to various weapons and equipment, from nurturing their sense of belonging to solving personal issues… This series of costs were painfully high.
But money had never been an issue for Cloud Summit; what Xia Lei felt more distressed about was that these people were the backbone of Cloud Summit, the inheritors of its spirit, and they had died in various places in the national district!
The atmosphere in the room was quite gloomy. Certainly, each battle team had provided supplementary reports on their losses, and from a numerical standpoint, it even exceeded previous counts. However, the newly supplemented evolvers were not only far weaker in combat capability compared to the original Cloud Summit warriors, but there were also huge gaps in loyalty and identification. It would take a significant amount of time for them to reach the level of those who had sacrificed themselves.
In addition to the casualties, there were also warriors who had become disabled due to serious injuries and no longer met the team requirements, numbering close to twenty thousand. Arranging for these individuals also needed careful consideration.
As for the damage to equipment and the consumption of various tools, it was also a problem. With Ye Zhongming absent, the equipment needed to be resolved by those at Cloud Summit themselves, whether it was finding suitable materials or purchasing from other craftsmen; there were many issues involved.
The deaths and severe injuries of battle beasts were equally troubling. Those warriors who had lost a significant portion or all of their combat capability could still serve as psychological counselors, instructors, guards, or logistics personnel, but the battle beasts couldn’t. Furthermore, their owners were unlikely to discard or slaughter them; they would choose to keep them, leading to consumption issues. The primary concern was that warriors needed to go into battle, but these battle beasts that could no longer fight would have to stay at home—who would take care of them? Although they couldn’t fight, they still had capabilities in certain aspects, such as skills, immense strength, and size. If they lost control, they would surely cause trouble and destruction in the residential area. How could this problem be resolved?