Anna Yang shook her head. "No, there’s nothing to say. This isn’t something he can decide, and besides, South Heaven Gate hasn’t made a move either. I don’t think they’re involved this time."
"Is that so?" Monkey blinked and said, "I believe it has nothing to do with Nezha, but I don’t believe it’s unrelated to King Virūḍhaka and King Northmore. Maybe this is their backup plan. If that’s the case, I’m the one who’s on the defensive now... I knew they wouldn’t let me dictate the situation!"
As he spoke, Monkey spat angrily.
If releasing General Lee could delay the arrival of the Heavenly Fleet by three to five years, Monkey would gladly do it. Unfortunately, that’s pure wishful thinking.
Sometimes Monkey even wondered if capturing General Lee in the first place was a complete mistake.
If he had shown weakness from the start and then fought a war of attrition with South Heaven Gate, given General Lee’s personality, he probably wouldn’t have accepted the Heavenly Fleet’s intervention so easily. And he definitely had the ability to keep them out.
Just as Elder Stillwater once said, everything has two sides—sometimes what seems like a blessing is not necessarily a good thing.
But now it’s too late to talk about any of this.
At this point, Monkey obviously couldn’t do anything to General Lee; otherwise, he’d have to face both of Heaven’s main armies at once.
South Heaven Gate might not be as powerful as the Heavenly Fleet, but it’s still an army of 180,000. At this point, Blossom Mountain can’t afford to have any more weight added to its scales.
For Marshal Tianpeng to be so aggressive in the campaign against Blossom Mountain—could it be that he’s realized something? If so, I bet they’ll go all out right from the start.
This is truly a troublesome situation.
Of course, if not for Anna Yang’s connection, he wouldn’t mind using General Lee to disgust South Heaven Gate and vent his anger—at the very least, send them a hand and a foot.
But if he did that, Anna Yang would definitely not agree...
"I just came to check on you." Anna Yang said calmly, looking at the deeply troubled Monkey. "They say you’ve been overworking yourself lately. I walked in just now and you didn’t even notice—it seems they’re right."
"Overworked? Not really. I just have a few things I can’t figure out, a bit of frustration." Monkey waved his hand. "Back when I crossed the Quicksand River, I was still mortal—no cultivation at all. I floated down the river clutching a wooden barrel, seven days and nights without sleep, crossing four times before I finally made it. If I survived that, this is nothing."
"It’s not the same." Anna Yang took a deep breath and said, "Back then, your body was exhausted. Now, it’s your mind. How much longer can you keep pushing yourself like this? No matter how high your cultivation, your energy has its limits."
"I don’t have much time left to push myself, do I?" Monkey looked at Anna Yang.
Anna Yang fell silent.
The truth was, she really had just come to check on him—she couldn’t even bring herself to try to persuade Monkey, because she couldn’t think of any reason that would work.
Time was short. The Monkey King had already slashed other plans and diverted everything toward this one.
But could this plan really achieve what the Monkey King intended?
Anna Yang unconsciously glanced at the models, nearly buried beneath a pile of bamboo slips and scrolls on the table.
Those were the prototypes for the firearms.
Anna Yang had reviewed the blueprints and had to admit: these were extraordinary, era-changing weapons—capable of ushering in a new style of warfare, if their power was great enough.
With time so tight, was the foundation that Blossom Mountain had laid over the years really enough to support a plan this massive?
In this regard, Anna Yang truly had no confidence.
The Heavenly Fleet had a total force of six hundred thousand. After subtracting logistics, their actual combat troops numbered four hundred thousand, with a hardened main force of about one hundred thousand. While maintaining control over two continents, they could still spare two hundred thousand soldiers to encircle Blossom Mountain.
On their side, Blossom Mountain currently had about one hundred twenty to one hundred thirty thousand demons. After subtracting those working in production, the effective fighting force was about fifty thousand.
And that was without factoring in equipment. If they raised the standard to match the Heavenly Fleet’s elite troops, that number would drop to ten thousand. As for how many could actually be armed with firearms by then—no one could say for sure.
In terms of commanders, Blossom Mountain had the Monkey King and the Nine-Headed Wyrm. Their individual combat power on the Traveler's Path was matched in the Heavenly Fleet only by Marshal Silver. But that was just the top tier—what about the next level down?
Cultivation on the Traveler's Path must be combined with battle, and the Heavenly Fleet is famously warlike. At the second tier, they boasted eight of the Polar Nine besides Marshal Silver, along with many newly promoted officers—a force Blossom Mountain simply could not match.
If they could opt for guerrilla tactics, perhaps things would be better. But they had no choice—they had to hold Blossom Mountain at all costs. If it fell, years of effort would go up in smoke.
Overall, this was a war with little chance of victory—as the Monkey King's recent anxiety made clear.
But since the Monkey King still persisted, there had to be hope. However slim, hope was hope.
Anna Yang always believed this.
After all these years, hadn’t it always been this way? From the very beginning, they’d been doing something nearly impossible—always snatching chestnuts from the fire.
The two simply sat in silence, looking at each other without speaking.
After a long while, the Monkey King's gaze settled on the empty floor, his brow deeply furrowed, lost in thought once again.
Anna Yang tried to find some topic to break the silence. She spoke: "That little girl—I mean Belle. I’ve started letting her refine pills on her own lately."