Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

The names of the four great war teams were quickly registered within the Privy Council, and thus were set.

The Zhendong Army's Yan Yu's Team was renamed "Zhenhai Team". Enjoy new stories from empire

It can be interpreted both as the Zhendong Army sweeping across the seas and as a nod to the Tang Dynasty's navy that ruled the eastern seven provinces of Jiangnan, fitting both contemporary and historical contexts, so the name smoothly passed the review.

The Dingbei Army's Liu Longtao's Team was renamed "Dragon Cavalry Team".

"Cavalry" implies the majestic leaping of a steed with its head held high, an emblem of power and magnificence. "Dragon Cavalry" could also be translated as "Dragon Soaring", and as for whom this "Dragon" refers to, that goes without saying. Those who understand, understand.

The Pingxi Army's Zhou Hongyu's Team was renamed "Huofeng Team".

This name was slightly more common, but upon deeper consideration, it was quite fitting. Red feathers, Huofeng, it signifies Captain Zhou's absolute dominance within the team, with a name that seems to burn with a welding flame.

The Annan Army's Li Zhaojiang's Team was renamed "Qing'an Team".

This name, proposed by Li Minghu, means "to purge the four seas and pacify the universe", matching the name of the Annan Army. Though it lacks the sharpness of more direct names, it still conveys a positive and proactive stance.

Besides these, the list of captains and vice-captains for the second batch of war teams had also been submitted for approval.

The second team from Zhendong Army was to be captained by Qiu Ze with Sun Ziyi as vice-captain. They would start recruiting members once the establishment of the team was approved by higher-ups.

The increase in the number of war team formations aimed to meet the needs of the constantly changing domestic defense situation, and of course, it would intensify internal competition.

Although past experiences indicated that the overall strength of the second batch of teams indeed fell short compared to the first batch, to be safe, one shouldn't underestimate them. Hence, Yan Yu decided, with a heavy heart and tearing eyes, to intensify the girls' training in the long-term interest and future planning.

"If you wanted to increase the training, just say it straight!" Lin Ning complained again, "No need to find such a long list of excuses!"

"Foolish!" Yan Yu rebuked her mercilessly, "Without reason to intensify your training, wouldn't you curse me to death in your hearts? Isn't it all to make you understand the good intentions of your team leader?"

So where does that confidence come from that makes you think we aren't already cursing you behind your back?

In fact, aside from the team chat that included all five members, there were also groups such as the "Take Down the Captain Group" excluding Yan Yu, the "BFF Night Talk Group" excluding Chen Lingyun, and the "What to Eat Today Group" excluding Zhao Yuanzhen...out of which the "Take Down the Captain Group" had the most curses, each in their unique way.

Zhao Yuanzhen would directly attack, such as "Yan Yu, I'm gonna fucking end you, you big idiot".

Chen Lingyun's sarcasm was peculiar, like "So being a captain means you can do whatever you want, huh? How dare you disagree with me?" and other strange remarks.

Lin Ning's complaints were quite ordinary, "Does the captain have hyperthyroidism?" "Is he sick, why is he always picking on me?" "I really want to kick him up against the wall", etc. Her aggressiveness truly paled in comparison to the first two.

Su Yunjin usually remained quiet, occasionally echoing in a lukewarm tone, "Exactly, exactly", "Right, right", but she definitely stood on the girls' side.

Of course, Yan Yu could not possibly be ignorant of this, but what of it?

As a strong person, one should thoroughly humiliate the weak!

Even a stone used for stepping at the roadside squeaks when trodden upon, right? If you bully someone and do not let them complain, that would be too harsh.

I, Yan Yu, am not someone with a narrow mind. As long as you complete the training tasks with quality and quantity, I allow you to criticize me appropriately!

This is the benevolence and magnanimity of being a team leader! Start feeling grateful and indebted to me!

After the training, the girls gathered to rest as usual, each playing with their phones in silence.

[Miss Zhao]: That thief just took a call and rushed off in a hurry—what's going on?

[Yun Jin]: I don't know, and Ling Yun didn't say, so it's probably not work-related.

[Chen Lingyun]: It's probably his private matter, then? Now that you mention it, I'm kind of curious to know.

[Ningning]: Ling Yun, don't do anything illegal!

[Chen Lingyun]: What counts as something illegal?

[Ningning]: For example, hiring someone to hack into his account and extract his chat logs—that would be a violation of his privacy and illegal.

[Chen Lingyun]: I see. Then if I directly ask the service provider to voluntarily provide Yan Yu's chat logs, that wouldn't be illegal, right?

[Ningning]: It might not be against the law, but that's even scarier!

Let's leave the girls' chat aside for the moment and say that Yan Yu left the training ground in a hurry and picked up the phone again.

"What's the matter, Anna?" he asked in a low voice.

There was no answer, just heavy, trembling breathing from the other end.

"Take it easy, international long-distance calls are expensive," Yan Yu said earnestly, "It's better to send a private message with the news..."

"Yan Yu," the voice from the other end said in a daze, "I've killed someone."

"Oh," Yan Yu's tone grew slightly more serious, "How many did you kill?"

"Is that even the question here?" Anna burst out, unable to contain herself anymore, "It's a human life! I have blood on my hands now! I've become a murderer!"

"Alright, alright, I got it, don't get too worked up," Yan Yu moved the receiver a bit further from his ear, "So you didn't throw up on the spot, did you?"

"I didn't throw up," Anna said after a moment of silence, "I just feel a bit sick."

"That's normal," Yan Yu reassured her patiently, "If it gets too much, have a drink and sleep it off, and you'll be fine."

"... Yan Yu, have you ever killed anyone?"

"Why would you ask that kind of question?"

"It's nothing, forget I asked," Anna fell silent again for a moment before starting to talk about the situation on her end.

After the riots started to break out in the city, she had been holed up in her apartment room with her father, sustaining themselves on stored food and water, unaware of what was happening outside.

It wasn't until the Luo Sha officials finally reacted and deployed the military that order was restored, followed by soldiers going door-to-door, checking and registering the status of the residents.

Seeing tanks rumbling past their windows, citizens gradually mustered the courage to go out and shop for various necessities for life, and Anna was no exception.

Then, an unexpected event occurred.

Who started the rebellion in Amur City, how it was organized, and how it ultimately erupted were things that the Luo Sha military clearly didn't fully understand, so they entered the city to suppress the rebellion due to political pressure.

This was a typical characteristic of the era following the Spiritual Energy Resurgence: Former rulers held complete technological, intelligence, and information dominance, making grassroots uprisings nearly impossible; but with the resurgence of Spiritual Energy and all sorts of unheard-of Transcendent powers emerging like bamboo shoots after a rain, maintaining absolute information superiority had become impossible.

After the military entered the city, a kind of Transcendent secret substance, through some unknown means of propagation, spread rapidly among these soldiers.

When they returned to their camps outside the city, they brought the unknown back with them.

It was too late for the commanders to organize a counterattack by the time a large number of werewolves emerged in the camps — these werewolves had extremely strong vitality, capable of withstanding gunfire, and ran as swiftly as the wind, so human soldiers had to rely on pre-built defensive lines, large caliber machine guns, and long-range bombardment for suppression.

Once the lines were breached by the werewolves, and everyone was fighting independently, formal defeat was merely a matter of time.

The smooth suppression inside the city was just a plot by the Transcendents behind the scenes. Their initial target was not just Amur City, but the subsequent military forces that entered to quell the rebellion were also calculated into their scheme.

After a whole night of chaotic fighting outside the city, numerous units were disbanded due to lost organization. Some deserters returned to the city, bringing the dreadful news to the citizens.

Hence, an even greater chaos began to spread again within the city.

On her way back from shopping, Anna killed several strangers who tried to attack them and rob their supplies to protect her father's safety—then she made this call to Yan Yu.

"So where are you and your father now?" Yan Yu asked.

"We're hiding under a bridge," Anna said in a hushed voice, "Father's scared out of his wits. I lied to him, saying I'm seeking help from my aunt."

"You don't need to lie," Yan Yu said, "Give your aunt a call, see if she can help."

"My aunt..." Anna said, lost and bewildered, "Can she really help? I don't want to get her involved in danger, too."

"How will you know if you don't ask?" Yan Yu said gravely.

He actually couldn't remember when Anna's aunt became a vampiric Transcendent.

But looking back at the Eclipse Queen's life in his past life, the first and most crucial turning point was getting help and guidance from her aunt... otherwise, she would have died in the sewers of Amur City just like her father.

"Okay," Anna said, reassured by Yan Yu, her tone quickly becoming firm, "I'll call her right away."

"Hmm." Yan Yu fell silent for a moment, "There's one more thing."

"What is it?"

"Try to survive, Anna..." Yan Yu's voice paused for a moment.

"Even if you must kill, always remember,"

"Your life is more important than theirs."