Shadow Slave novel Chapter 816

Master Jet gestured to the projection.

"All of Antarctica is divided into three parts. West Antarctica, East Antarctica, and the Antarctic Center."

West Antarctica was mostly submerged in water and consisted of a scattering of islands, some of them small, some of them large. East Antarctica was one large landmass that was peppered by numerous lakes, with a prominent mountain chain in the middle of it. The Antarctic Center was a long, narrow landmass that rested between the two, occupied almost entirely by tall mountains.

Soul Reaper continued:

"West Antarctica is mostly devoid of human population, so it presents little interest to us. The Antarctic Center is an administrative and technological hub of the quadrant, while East Antarctica is the largest and most densely populated region of the continent."

She paused for a moment, and then added somberly:

"The First Evacuation Army is going to set sail in two weeks. We will reach Antarctica two, maybe three weeks after that. By that time, the Chain of Nightmares would already be starting. Local garrisons are already experiencing an increased number of manifesting Gates, but the number will explode by the end of March. After that, it will only keep growing."

Master Jet stared at the projection for a bit, and then said calmly:

"No matter how many soldiers we send, we won't be able to contain the flood of Nightmare Creatures that enter through these Gates. This… is something that had never happened in history before. Even the great wars that the First Generation fought pale in comparison to the Chain of Nightmares. Don't forget that almost all abominations back then were of the Dormant Rank. We aren't that lucky."

She sighed, then leaned back and crossed her arms.

"According to our scientists and diviners, the mass of Gates is going to be of the Second Category and Third categories. That means Awakened, Fallen, and even Corrupted Nightmare Creatures, in numbers greater than anything we had seen. Of course, something even worse can happen. So… we are not going to try and contain them."

The faces of the Master slowly grew dim. Noticing it, Soul Reaper shook her head.

"There are better ways to achieve our objective. Once the army makes landfall, it will split into three parts, with each part pursuing a distinct objective during the first phase of the operation. One of the objectives is to turn a small number of select cities into fortified evacuation centers that can withstand the siege of Nightmare Creatures for months, or even years ahead."

Master Jet pointed at several point on the map, then continued:

"The second objective is to relocate all external human population to these centers, where they will wait for their turn to board the ships… neither the relocation nor the wait are going to be a short process. Finally, the third objective is to establish and maintain the evacuation corridors for the relocating citizens. Once everyone is safely behind the established perimeter of siege strongholds, the first phase of the operation will be considered to be complete."

Sunny tentatively raised a hand.

"Yes?"