The Heavenly Generals, rushing in, each cast a glance at the High Sky Throne Hall before, in a panic, plunging straight down toward the Eighth Heaven after Monkey.
It was only after a long moment that General Lee hurried to the High Sky Throne Hall; as for his South Heaven Gate Fleet, they'd already caught wind of the news and, led by Nathan Young, had diverted toward the Eighth Heaven.
He strode up to the grand hall, saluted in military fashion, and said, "Your servant has arrived late to protect Your Majesty. I beg forgiveness!"
"You are forgiven... Dispense with the formalities." The Jade Emperor, as if drained, leaned back against the dragon throne. Only now did he realize he was drenched in cold sweat.
Seeing General Lee arrive, the immortals in the hall and the guards of the High Sky Throne Hall finally felt a weight lifted from their hearts and let out a sigh of relief.
Swallowing hard, the Jade Emperor glared and muttered in a low voice, "What is going on here? Two hundred Heavenly Generals besieging a single demon monkey—two hundred against one—and still you haven't captured him? Not only that, you've let him break through to the Ninth Heaven..."
General Lee was taken aback.
"General Lee, His Majesty is asking you a question! Why aren't you answering?" The immortals in the hall all stared wide-eyed at General Lee.
For a moment, General Lee didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Originally, his orders were simply to guard South Heaven Gate and prevent Monkey's escape. The siege of Monkey was supposed to be handled by Draco Jiao—so how did it suddenly sound like the whole operation was his responsibility?
Have these civil officials all been scared witless?
Sighing helplessly, General Lee replied softly, "Your Majesty, that demon monkey is extremely powerful. Though he's confined within South Heaven Gate, that's only to prevent him from joining forces with the demon army. The Heavenly Court may not match the mortal realm, but it still spans thousands of miles—it's hard to blockade him. As for pursuit... that demon monkey is incredibly fast; I fear we can't catch up."
"Can't catch up?" The Jade Emperor pointed at General Lee and rebuked, "Are you telling me that in my grand Heavenly Court, there's not a single person faster than that demon monkey?"
General Lee bowed slightly and answered, "Finding someone faster than the demon monkey isn't difficult. But those who can catch him can't defeat him—so what good is it?"
"So those who can catch him can't beat him, and those who can beat him can't catch him? Is that what you mean? Then—then..." The Jade Emperor was clearly flustered. He slammed his palm heavily on the imperial dragon desk and said, "Then you tell me—tell me—how should we handle this now? Are we just going to let this Monkey play 'hide and seek' in the Heavenly Court?"
General Lee gazed calmly at the Jade Emperor and saluted, "In my view, there are only three options left."
"Speak!"
"First, we could let the demon monkey leave South Heaven Gate."
"Absolutely not!" the Jade Emperor rejected immediately.
With half a million Heavenly Fleet troops at stake, how could he possibly let the tiger return to the mountain?