life copy game

Chapter 1801 A Fog Envelops Aines (Long Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)
Winter

A petite, slender blonde girl sat on a wooden sofa, staring at the content on the huge projection screen in front of her, her brows slightly furrowed.

“Christos still made his choice,” the old man sitting in the bamboo chair opposite her picked up the milk tea on the table, lowered his head, and said in a hoarse voice, “Although it’s a bit late and the best tactical opportunity has been missed, politically speaking, the timing is still not bad.”

“Now the mercenary groups of the major conglomerates have surrounded Dawn City and cut off trade routes,” the blonde girl turned to look at the old man. “In fact, they are already besieging Dawn City and have started a civil war. At this moment, Christos, as the mayor of Dawn City, is most likely to win the sympathy of the entire Federation by making the decision to resist, thus making his resistance narrative righteous.”

She paused slightly as a blood-red butterfly landed on her shoulder. "But now Dawn City has lost its best chance to break out. Was it worth it for him to do this?"

“There’s no such thing as worth it or not worth it,” the old man said in a hoarse voice after taking a sip of milk tea. “Every choice has its advantages and disadvantages. If he had chosen to start the war earlier, he would have gained a tactical advantage in the short term, but in the long run, it would have only reinforced his reputation as the one who ‘started a civil war.’”

"After that, all of Dawn City's influence, along with the ideas he promoted, will be resisted by other neutral cities. Even his support rate within Dawn City will decrease in the long run."

"People are always full of illusions. Before the war really starts, they always think that there is still room for reconciliation. If you launch the first attack, even if it is forced, you will become the initiator of the war."

The old man turned his head and looked at the projection. “If he wants to compromise, then taking the initiative is reasonable. This will give him a temporary advantage, and he can use these advantages to negotiate with the Federation, quickly cash out his bargaining chips, and retire successfully. However, this will also make it more difficult for the laws and ideas he promotes to be promoted and recognized throughout the Federation.”

He turned to the blonde girl and said, "Villy, violence can often solve short-term problems quickly, but it often makes long-term problems more difficult to solve."

"Oh." The blonde girl nodded slightly.

“Gaining a political advantage helps solve long-term problems,” the old man continued, turning his gaze to the enormous projection. “This is why even in the history of the Great Cataclysm, wars between city-states had to seek a ‘just’ slogan.”

“If you enter a war without a politically sympathetic or recognized banner of ‘justice,’ then in the long run, the problem often becomes more difficult to solve.”

The old man raised his hand and took another sip of milk tea. "Therefore, as the old proverb says, 'War is a continuation of politics.' War is contained within politics and is the most extreme means of politics, but it cannot be separated from politics."

"So Christos chose this time because he thought it was the best time?" the blonde girl asked in a low voice.

“Perhaps that’s part of the reason,” the old man said softly, sipping his milk tea and gazing at the man in the projection, “but I think he probably struggled with this for a long time.”

"Why?" the blonde girl asked, puzzled.

“I have never met this Christos, but judging from his life experience, he is not some saint who was born knowing everything,” the old man said, holding a cup of hot milk tea. “Most of his life was spent in confusion, and it is normal for a person to be confused when faced with such a problem. If I were in his position, I would probably be much more hesitant and conflicted than he is.”

"This decision is difficult to make?" The blonde girl's eyes showed even more doubt, and the blood-red butterfly on her shoulder fluttered its wings slightly. "But the conglomerate's mercenary group has already surrounded Dawn City and forced it to this point."

"Starting a war against the conglomerates isn't difficult, and even forcing the Federal Central Committee to compromise isn't difficult either, after all, Dawn City has such a large population and such a large industrial reserve," the old man said, gazing at Christos on the projection.
"But this war is not such a simple war. Christos probably knows very well that he is standing at a crossroads in history, trying to turn a new page. This war will probably not stop easily until he is completely defeated, or until history is completely turned."

"Won't he negotiate?" the blonde girl asked thoughtfully in a low voice, "even if the Federation and the corporations make compromises?"

“This is a war between two sides, not decided by one side,” the old man shook his head. “Haven’t you noticed that the one who started this war was not actually Christos? The real war began on the day Clementa was assassinated.”

The blonde girl turned her head to look at the projection screen. "Is it a conglomerate? Are they really going to start this war? To defeat Dawn City, they'll have to pay a huge price, right? Are they willing to pay those costs?"

“The one who truly decides the war should be someone or some interest group that can gather the power of a conglomerate,” the old man said hoarsely as he sipped his milk tea. “Compared to Christos’s hesitation, the decision-maker of that conglomerate is much more shrewd and decisive. For a conglomerate, once the seeds of an idea begin to grow, the bells of destruction have already rung.”

He paused slightly, then said in a drawn-out voice, "The power of the conglomerates is still very strong right now, making it the best time to nip everything in the bud. However, it will take immense courage and ability to drive the conglomerate alliance to act at this time."

The blonde girl stared at the projection before her, realizing the old man's meaning: "We are facing a very terrifying enemy..."

-

Irons Julia Family Building
A richly dressed man with slicked-back hair stood in front of the television, watching the live broadcast on the screen. He frowned slightly. "So, Christos really wants to go to war with the Federation?"

“That certainly seems to be the case,” another handsome man nodded and continued, “Dawn City is far from being a monolithic entity. Christos has overestimated his strength. A war against the Federation is not something he can handle.”

“But Graystone Palace must be furious right now,” a man in a tuxedo on the other side laughed. “They’re probably smashing things up right now.”

“What power can a person who becomes president by taking sides and betraying others because of the opportunities of the times?” a hoarse voice said from the corner. “His role sitting there is to take the blame for this war, but he thinks he can change history and stir up trouble.”

“Alright,” the man standing in the middle of the hall said slowly, “that person is, after all, the president, and especially when our people are seeking employment at Graystone Palace, we should not make any unwarranted comments.”

"Yes," the crowd replied.

"Dawn City is about to become a battlefield. Should we bring Selena back?" On the other side, a beautiful woman in a burgundy dress, holding a wine glass, said slowly.

“No need,” the man standing in the middle of the hall picked up a wine glass brought to him by a waiter and took a sip. “Blood and souls are what the gods crave. It’s better to leave her there.”

Just then, a young man standing at the edge of the hall suddenly spoke up: "What's that outside?"

"It's cloudy and dark, what's so strange about that? Haven't you ever seen a cloudy day before?" someone in the hall said impatiently.

"No!" the young man shouted, "It's foggy outside, black fog! And it's even reached our floor! This is over thirty floors!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was slightly taken aback.

The man standing in the middle of the hall turned around, immediately walked to the window, and looked outside.

The group of people in the hall followed and also headed out the window.

Outside the window, the once magnificent buildings, bathed in a hazy glow, were now shrouded in a vague, dark mist.

The mist seemed to rise from the earth, or fall from the clouds, like a layer of hazy cotton wool, seeping into the buildings and covering everything around it.

Amidst this haze, one can vaguely see some shimmering light, piercing the mist and outlining some kind of complex runes.

"what is this?"

Someone in the crowd looked out the window and whispered.

“The power of some kind of mystical ritual,” the beautiful woman holding the wine glass said hoarsely, “is probably the power of some deity, or some sect performing a sacrifice.”

"A sacrifice in Irons?" Someone in the crowd widened their eyes. "Where are the angels of Irons? Are they just sitting around doing nothing?!"

Snapped--

A slap landed on the speaker's face, sending several teeth flying and landing on the ground.

The man in the tuxedo withdrew his hand and said calmly, "Get your teeth fixed. Don't think the angels can't see you."

"Yes, yes," the speaker said hastily, covering his bleeding mouth.

“The angels of Ains have all left recently,” someone in the crowd whispered, changing the subject. “It seems to be because of the Dawn City incident. The only ones still in Ains are probably Mr. Boris and the former director of the FBI.”

“That old director hasn’t shown up for quite some time now. It’s said that the new president went to look for him several times but couldn’t find him,” another voice chimed in. “He may have left Irons to avoid the new president.”

“With only Mr. Boris as an angel, there will inevitably be oversights,” someone in the crowd still said.

"But what do we do now?" the beautiful woman leaning against the window said slowly. "A sacrifice that can cover this much area is probably not something that ordinary people like us can withstand."

All eyes turned to the slicked-back-haired man standing in the middle of the crowd after hearing those words.

The man in the tuxedo stood to the side and behind the man with the slicked-back hair.

The man with the slicked-back hair, holding his wine glass, looked down at the clouds outside the window and calmly said, "This isn't black fog, it's purple."

Then he turned around, downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, and looked at everyone, "Let's open the family palace."

-

Old factory

He Ao raised his head and looked at the mist that was spreading from all directions, his brows furrowing slightly.

The clouds and sun on the horizon were already obscured by thick clouds, and the pervasive fog almost instantly swallowed up one building after another.

"What happened?" Medara stood in the factory ruins, looked up at the surrounding mist, her eyes somewhat blank.

"It's like the power created by some kind of sacrificial ritual." A purple radiance flashed in He Ao's pupils, and the dark mist shone with a purple light in his vision, along with layers of deathly aura that seemed as silent as death itself.

ga-

A bird fell from the sky and crashed to the ground.

He Ao turned his gaze toward the direction of the birds and saw more birds swaying in the sky.

The birds flew swiftly through the mist, seemingly unaware of its existence, yet their lives and souls were rapidly fading with time.

quack-

As He Ao watched, several more birds fell from the sky and crashed to the ground with a thud.

Medara, standing next to Heo, also noticed this scene. Looking at the surrounding mist, she frowned and asked, "Is this mist poisonous?"

“Someone is trying to drain the lives of everyone in Irons,” Heo’s furrowed brows lifted slightly, “to carry out a grand sacrifice.”

He gazed at the hazy purple glow in the mist in his field of vision, "I'm afraid it's the Church of Death."

“The Church of Death?” Medara’s eyes widened suddenly. “Weren’t they working with Rockwell Energy Group? How did they end up in Irons?”

“If it weren’t for their partnership with Rockwell Energy,” Heo shook his head, “they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do this kind of thing in Irons.”

At this point, he frowned slightly. "But how did these guys manage to set up a magic circle in Ains?"

Those angels shouldn't have been gone long. How could they have set up a magic array covering the entire city in such a short time? Those angels are gone, but Boris is still here. And those ancient families' angel-level artifacts aren't just for show. Why didn't they find anything?
Surely the Church of Death can't have bribed everyone?
"Didn't Mr. Boris notice these problems?" Medara, who was standing to the side, watched the fog that had spread around them. She seemed to feel some kind of discomfort, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "No, we have to leave here. I know a place that can protect us."

She looked at He Ao and smiled, "Handsome old man, this time you'll have to come with me."

"Do you want to go back to the Ellison family and rely on their high-ranking assets for protection?" He Ao glanced at her and asked slowly.

"You don't want to come back with me?" Medara said gently, "but we have no other choice now."

“Then it’s not a question of whether we want to or not, but whether we can,” He Ao shook his head slightly. He raised his head and took out a storage chip. “Listen to the recording in here. The recording has been optimized and amplified to make the voices clearer. It may not sound very real, but the content is real.”

"What do you mean?" Medara was slightly taken aback, but still took the chip and connected it to her bracelet.

He Ao raised his head and looked at the increasingly dark mist around him.

He's now curious about what those ancient families will do.

This sacrifice looks powerful, but even if Boris is held back, those ancient families could easily disrupt the ritual if they were willing to use angelic artifacts to join forces.

As He Ao pondered, deep within his vision, in the realm of super memory, a blurry radiance was rapidly rising.

Those were extraordinary items of a high rank, and the direction they were pointing seemed to be the direction of the Ellison family.

The dungeon is almost finished, please vote at the beginning of the month.