LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 457: Kean’s Quick Response
Even though Jeremy and Ritchie had been moving as fast as they possibly could, the reinforcements from military headquarters still reached Valley City before they could arrive at the capital.
The number of reinforcements sent by military headquarters wasn't particularly large, but every single one of them was exceptionally capable.
Most of them were around Level 40, meaning they were on the verge of awakening.
In fact, given how rare it was for humans to complete their awakening as Apocalypse Game players, these reinforcements represented the first echelon of the strongest forces available.
When Major Joseph of Valley City saw the reinforcements arriving, a faint smile finally appeared on his face.
"It seems military headquarters responded much faster this time. Now that reinforcements are here, I have nothing to worry about."
Wasting no time, Major Joseph led his remaining forces to meet the commander of the reinforcements.
As soon as the commander saw him, he immediately began questioning him in a direct and efficient manner.
"What's the situation? From the looks of it, Valley City has suffered massive destruction. How heavy are the civilian casualties? How many Apocalypse Game players are still left in Valley City? And how many subordinates do you have left under your command?"
The commander was a seasoned professional.
He wanted to extract the most critical information as quickly as possible.
Major Joseph responded immediately.
"The situation is extremely dire. More than half of Valley City has been completely destroyed by the monsters. Civilian casualties exceed fifty percent.
As for the remaining Apocalypse Game players… there aren't many left. I have fewer than a hundred men under my command now. And among them, only about twenty have reached Level 30 or higher."
Hearing this, the commander's face darkened slightly in disappointment.
"It seems the situation in Valley City really is as bad as I feared.
But don't worry—now that we're here, Valley City will no longer be under threat.
I'll have my troops immediately deploy across every district of the city.
You and your men only need to cooperate with my operations. We must establish a defensive stronghold over Valley City in the shortest possible time."
Without hesitation, the commander began issuing orders.
Major Joseph offered no objections, as he knew the commander's forces were far superior to his own.
Moreover, it was clear from the commander's swift and decisive orders that he was a highly experienced and professional leader.
The reinforcements dispatched by military headquarters took less than half a day to fully assess the situation in Valley City.
Under the commander's direction, the reinforcements quickly secured the city, ensuring its safety.
With that task completed, the commander was ready to have a more in-depth conversation with Major Joseph.
As the commanding officer sent by military headquarters, his responsibilities extended beyond just securing Valley City—he also needed to compile a comprehensive report detailing everything that had transpired and submit it to headquarters.
"So now, can you give me a detailed account of what exactly happened in Valley City?
Why was a city like Valley City subjected to such immense destruction?
Are you telling me that the monsters here were even stronger than the ones that attacked the capital?"
At this stage, the commander's questions were not targeted at any specific individuals.
He was merely asking key questions to grasp the bigger picture.
Major Joseph answered each of them one by one.
However, the moment Joseph mentioned Jeremy and Ritchie, the commander's expression immediately changed.
"Jeremy and Ritchie? What were they doing in Valley City?
Weren't they supposed to be in Moonlight City?"
"They were indeed supposed to be in Moonlight City, but they told me they were heading to the capital to carry out something extremely important."
Major Joseph did not hold back any of the information he knew.
Upon hearing this, the commander reacted at once.
"I see… I need to report this to headquarters immediately. Stay here for now—I'll return shortly."
With that, the commander left without another word.
He wasted no time in relaying all the intelligence he had gathered to military headquarters, making specific mention of Jeremy and Ritchie in his report.
In his assessment, Jeremy and Ritchie's presence in Valley City was highly suspicious and likely tied to the attack that had devastated the city.
Military headquarters had always kept a close eye on Jeremy's movements.
So the moment they received this information, they immediately took action.
"Jeremy has already left Valley City.
If nothing slows him down, he could arrive in the capital within two days.
We must prepare as quickly as possible.
We may not have concrete evidence linking Jeremy to the attack on the capital, but one thing is certain—he is an extremely dangerous individual."
The majority of the members in military headquarters remained wary of Jeremy.
However, at the same time, they had severely underestimated his true strength.
They assumed that Jeremy would take at least two days to reach the capital, but in reality, he would arrive by early morning tomorrow.
Not long after military headquarters received this intelligence, Kean was informed of it through his connections within the military.
Unlike the slow reactions of the military officials, Kean responded immediately.
He quickly realized that something was off.
"So Jeremy is moving much faster than I anticipated.
Even after I sent my subordinates to interfere with his journey, he is still arriving much earlier than I expected."
In truth, Kean had a certain level of admiration for Jeremy.
He even believed that if Jeremy hadn't been his enemy, the two of them could have become the closest of friends.
After all, both of them were exceptionally gifted, possessing top-tier strength and talents.
Moreover, their performances in the Apocalypse Game had both been flawless.
But now that they stood as enemies, Jeremy had become the one person Kean most desired to eliminate—and also the most formidable opponent he had ever faced.
Kean had made extensive preparations for this confrontation.
On one hand, he had stockpiled additional weapons and artifacts.
On the other, he had enhanced the defensive formations across the pre-designated battlefield.
Originally, he had already placed a series of traps, weapons, and countermeasures specifically designed to restrain Jeremy.
But after learning that Jeremy was moving faster than expected, Kean took his preparations even further.
Now, the number of defensive formations across the battlefield had been increased to fourteen.
This was the absolute limit—any more, and the formations would begin to interfere with each other.
Aside from the defensive formations, the battlefield was also armed with twelve high-powered weapons and artifacts.
Each of these twelve weapons and tools possessed immense destructive capabilities.
The moment Jeremy stepped into the pre-designated battlefield, these traps, formations, and weapons would immediately activate, putting him under intense suppression.
Most importantly, if Jeremy used his innate ability, The King of Time and Space, during the battle, the entire battlefield's mechanisms would be triggered against him.
From Kean's perspective, as long as he could prevent Jeremy from using his awakened ability during the battle, victory was assured.
After spending a significant amount of time making preparations, Kean was convinced that his strategy was flawless.
"Even if ten Jeremys were to step into this battlefield, they wouldn't be able to defeat me.
His ability has been perfectly countered by my setup.
This battle will be the end of him—I will eliminate Jeremy completely."
With a confident smile, Kean muttered these words to himself as he surveyed the completed battlefield.
And he had every reason to feel confident.
Even an Apocalypse Game orchestrator would be astonished by the battlefield Kean had designed.
After all, Kean was one of the people who understood Jeremy best.
Every trap, formation, and mechanism he had set up was custom-tailored to restrain Jeremy specifically. Find exclusive stories on My Virtual Library Empire
With all his defenses in place, Kean returned to his residence.
He had one last task—to rest.
He needed to recover his energy and prepare his mind for the pivotal battle that was about to unfold.
However, despite Kean's swift reactions and meticulous preparations, he still hadn't done enough to guarantee Jeremy's defeat.
Because what Kean failed to anticipate was that Jeremy wasn't coming alone—he was bringing an arsenal of powerful artifacts.
Not only had Jeremy brought along the immensely powerful Permafrost Ice and Dark Core, but he had also brought something even more extraordinary—a World Tree Seed, a gift he had received from the Goddess of Life.
World Tree Seeds were incredibly rare and precious, each one containing an overwhelming amount of life energy.
But Jeremy had no intention of planting the World Tree Seed in the real world.
Because once a World Tree Seed began to sprout, it would affect the entire world.
Life energy, though powerful, was also a force of corruption in the real world.
If the real world were to be overwhelmed by such energy, every form of life would undergo drastic and unpredictable mutations.
And that was something Jeremy absolutely could not allow to happen.
After all, the Apocalypse Game had already inflicted devastating damage on the real world.
If the World Tree Seed were to further destabilize the world, the entire reality could very well collapse completely.
Thus, Jeremy had no intention of using the seed recklessly.
His sole purpose for bringing it was to harness its life energy, allowing him to sustain himself in battle for an extended period.
Jeremy knew all too well—his fight against Kean would be far from easy.
He had to prepare for prolonged suppression during the battle.
And more importantly, he had to brace himself for the possibility of suffering serious injuries at Kean's hands before the fight was over.