Gaius's voice broke the silence: "One charge cost us over ten Dragon Blood Knights, all high-tier people, but those monsters won't 'die.' We sever their necks, and new ones grow back.

We hack off their limbs, and the broken bones piece themselves together. Smash the head, and another insect corpse's brain will replace it. You kill one, it splits into three, potentially three new ones."

A young commander asked hoarsely: "What should we do then... Continue fighting them desperately? It seems useless."

Aurelian quietly watched him, the face shrouded in mist remained blurry: "So eliminating the nest is the only solution."

"To stop it, the only way is to kill the strongest nest."

A deadly silence, but no one objected.

Based on their experience, and the persuasion of the Grand Mage, they knew this was the only solution.

Duke Edmund nodded, his tone steady yet commanding: "Thank you for your intelligence."

He did not address him as "Supreme Mage" or use his name, as the other requested a simple title.

He gently waved his hand, signaling the next commander to speak: "General Rudolph, please report on the frontline specifics."

It was the Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Cold Iron Legion, an old soldier clad in ice patterned heavy armor.

He stood up, his gaze as frosty as the peak, and began with a hammer-like statement: "The strongest nest has been confirmed to be located deep within the heart of Shuangjia Mountain"

According to battlefield reports, the nest's body cannot move quickly, primarily relying on insect paths to expand outward. We detected it seems to be slowly advancing, but its main body is hidden very deep, having strong structural cover and a magic barrier.

A beheading squad composed of Extraordinary Knights attempted to approach..."

The general paused, his eye twitched.

"...but before contacting the main core, they were annihilated. No one survived."

"Their attacks didn't even leave a scratch on the nest's shell outside."

The entire conference hall suddenly became terrifyingly quiet.

A younger political advisor's Adam's apple rolled, even involuntarily swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

"Those are... Extraordinary Knights?"

"Yes." Rudolph nodded, his expression as icy as frost, "But even the tentacles weren't severed before being counter-killed. This indicates that even Peak Knights may not be able to penetrate the nest's shell."

After introducing some basic information about the nest, he sat back down, and another voice started speaking.

An elderly quartermaster draped in a faded cloak slowly stood up: "We are... exhausted."

A single sentence tightened everyone's hearts.

"Supplies are critical." He opened the scroll in his hand, fingertips trembling slightly, "One-third of the Cold Crystal Bullet stock is exhausted, and the remaining reserves are insufficient to support three full-scale engagements. The Magic Crystal Furnace can only maintain the main formation's protection for seven days, thereafter, only emergency Soul Stones can sustain some defense zones."

He looked at the Duke and Arthur, his tone as sharp as nails.

"Physical resources are nearly depleted. Arrow shafts, armor repair materials, Combat Qi Potion, Purification Rune... almost every item has fallen below the warning line. Energy resources are also plummeting steeply, seventeen magic fortresses, two are already shut down, and the remaining fifteen can only rotate operation."

"And food." He paused, glancing at the Imperial Capital officials dressed in luxurious uniforms, "With the current distribution plan, Frost Halberd City won't last fifteen days."

The air suddenly became solidified.

No more whispering, no more paper and pen flipping, only silence.

At this moment, there is no need for more data or charts, no need for long battle reports, everyone has seen and understood.

If Frost Halberd City falls...

A slowly writhing, brewing destruction and madness hell surely won't stop here.

A million dead will become its tongue and claws, the corpse tide will sweep through the entire Northern Territory like a surge, directly driving to the Empire's heart.

Not defeat, but a complete collapse of civilization.

And Frost Halberd City is the last latch standing at the gates of hell.

Everyone sitting at the table, whether nobility, officers, mages, or civil servants, at this moment felt the chill emerging from their marrow.

In the silence, it was Duke Edmund's voice that broke the frozen air.

He rose, standing like a cold iron wall in front of the table.

"Therefore," his voice was stern, with a blood-and-iron decisiveness in his words, "we must quickly solve that nest... This thing, it cannot be kept."

As the supreme commander of the Northern Territory, Duke Edmund acted decisively and began issuing instructions:

"Phase one, the Frost Halberd City's magic defense line will fully unleash Frost Crystal Storm, in conjunction with catapults and Chain Burst Magic Crystal, to continuously weaken the outer insect tide. The goal is to clear the attack path and create a penetration window."

"Yes!" The city defense officer of Frost Halberd City immediately rose, responding firmly to the order.

"Second phase, the Dragon Blood Legion and the Cold Iron Legion will launch the 'Core-breaking Squad' plan."

This time, it was Arthur who personally nodded.

"Ten beheading squads, each team with ten people, all composed of high-tier Extraordinary Knights, led by me, Gaius, and the Duke, personally leading the groups, storming the nest's core, destroying the consciousness core and regeneration core—we gamble everything."

The conference hall erupted into a faint sound of intaking breath.

Three Peak Knights personally on expedition, this represents one of the strongest combat forces the Empire can mobilize.

Yet Gaius Calvin stood up, brow tightly furrowed, voice low: "Theoretically possible... but we tried before."

He glanced around, his tone carrying rare hesitation: "The nest's defense far exceeds common sense. Once three Extraordinary Knights coordinated an assault, exhausting their Fighting Energy, even its shell wasn't torn in the slightest... that wasn't a shell, but a living fortress.

Moreover, it can continually emit black mist, reassemble corpses, regenerate itself, and even corrode Fighting Energy itself."

He solemnly concluded, his eyes reflecting heaviness: "To put it plainly... even Peak Knights might struggle to inflict substantial harm. We can't even penetrate its shell."

The air once again entered suffocating stagnation.

Around the conference table, faces became shadowed by the flickering lamplight.

No one spoke, as if even breathing was compressed into this heavy stone hall.

Finally, someone spoke: "Given the current resource situation, we could try a three-stage catapult strike... first launch Cold Crystal Bullets, freeze the outer insect tide, then use Explosive Stones to tear gaps, finally strike with Shaving Heavy Hammer, concentrating on the nest shell's weak points."

The speaker was a staff officer, cautiously pointing at the attack route drawn on the scroll. His plan was somewhat complete, tactically tight, and utilized Frost Halberd City's existing firepower resources.

But soon another tactical officer from the Dragon Blood Legion shook his head:

"Effective, but useless."

He tapped the stone table with his calloused fingers, his voice deep: "Those reassembled insect corpses aren't afraid of impacts, the nest doesn't move at all, you merely destroy the outermost layer of shell, it will grow another."

Another tactical officer from the Imperial Capital stood up: "Can it be lured into movement? To make it expose its central structure?"

"Lure?" Gaius sneered, "What do you intend to use as bait?"

The tactical officer's voice immediately stifled.

The next ten minutes were chaotic.

Someone proposed constructing a deep mine explosion array, using rivet blast pipes to penetrate the underground insect nest.

Someone suggested fusing the remaining Cold Crystals to create a 'penetrating cone,' attempting a direct hit into the core.

There was even a proposal to dismantle and reverse detonate the Magic Core Furnace in Frost Halberd City, creating a Magic Energy Collapse.

These proposals were raised one after another, then each one was rejected.

None were realistic, either lacking resources, execution conditions too stringent, or simply unable to approach the target core.

"Shell can't be penetrated, everything is just theory."

"Not enough manpower, not enough windows, even available tactical mechanisms are dwindling."

"Unless—stack human lives." The voice came from a senior strategist from Frost Halberd City.

His hair was grayed, but his tone did not tremble, merely calm like a dry, cracked ancient well.

"We have only one choice. Let the strongest ten squads distract attention, open the path. The remaining knights, carrying explosives, all-out assault, exchanging for the nest's death."

This wasn't a suggestion, but a suicidal calculation.

The venue suddenly fell silent. Those high-seated Imperial Capital political advisors stopped speaking at that moment as well, either frowned, bowed their heads, or murmured words they intended to say.

Those were terms even they were unwilling to touch.

"Stack human lives..."

These words in peacetime are sins; but now, as the nest is about to hatch hell, it is the last card.

Then, amid silence, a youthful voice sounded from the corner.

"Why not, try my method?"

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