Chapter 373

Chapter 373

Lorant's eyes widened in astonishment. It was the first time he had seen the cave-shaped entrance to the Lopulo Mountains.

It wasn't just him; all the members who were seeing this footage for the first time widened their eyes in shock.

A cave-shaped entrance!

This was the first entrance of its kind to have appeared in many years!

The concealment and superiority of this entrance were even greater than Yixiantian!

This cave entrance, which eliminated the threat of flying beasts above and even had the potential to be completely sealed off, was of absolute significance to the entire world.

Benficia placed his hand over the cave on the screen, his eyes gleaming as all the members present grew serious.

"Here, this is the new cave entrance we've discovered. There is still a long crystal recording after this. The Holy Warriors' squad recorded the approximate numbers and types of beasts that emerged from the cave. According to the final results, the situation isn't too bad."

"Fortunately, the number of these beasts isn't large, but even so, the Holy Warriors' squad didn't dare to venture further in."

"Therefore, how deep this cave entrance is, how high, and what the other side of the mountain range looks like are all unknown for now," Benficia said solemnly. "But fortunately, from the current situation, we can confirm that this entrance hasn't been discovered by many beasts yet. This is also the main reason it hasn't caught our attention for so many years."

"But this isn't a reason for us to neglect it. The new entrance has appeared, and countermeasures must be taken. The fact that it hasn't been discovered by many beasts, or overrun, is simply a matter of luck. It's our good fortune, and the good fortune of all intelligent races."

"But no one dares to say that a beast horde will never appear here. We must treat this entrance just like any other and enforce strict control over it!"

"Based on this, I believe we can consider some additional matters. This will be our best opportunity."

"But these are all matters for later. What we need to do first is build a fortress here and take control of this new entrance!"

"And this," he continued, "is the most pressing issue we currently face. I hope a powerful and capable organization will take control of this new entrance."

After finishing, Benficia sat down after casting a deep glance at Lorant, who was nodding along obediently with the others.

Seeing that Lorant seemed not to have grasped the underlying message as he nodded along with the person next to him, Benficia said no more.

From the Church's perspective, he indeed hoped that a reliable organization would take charge of the Lopulo entrance, given its proximity to the Church's own.

The two entrances, just a few hundred kilometers apart, would need to support each other in the long days ahead.

If a beast horde were to appear at the new entrance or something even more severe were to occur, the Church's entrance wouldn't remain unaffected.

Help from a distance wouldn't be as effective as aid from a nearby entrance.

Compared to the Adventurers' Guild or a Mage Tower, organizations that appeared unreliable and prone to problems, the Blue Star Pet Shop was undoubtedly the one that would garner the most support from the Church.

Michael stood up. Unlike the others, he didn't focus too much on Lorant.

The strongest practitioner began to speak: "Everyone now understands the situation regarding the new Lopulo entrance. With a new entrance appearing, there will inevitably be a need for new guardians. We've already had relevant discussions about this during the previous Guardians' Council meeting."

The members below immediately started whispering among themselves. Some were sharing their opinions with those next to them, while others, like Benney, had completely forgotten what was discussed in the previous council and were asking for details...

"However! The situation has changed again. Compared to when we held that meeting, the world situation has completely shifted, so I believe we need to discuss this matter again," Michael said a little louder, cutting off the discussions below. "This is the proposal I am making."

"I don't think there's any need for further discussion," someone immediately stood up to say. "In my opinion, the best option to guard the entrance is the Blue Star Pet Shop. If Blue Star is unwilling to take it on, we can give the Adventurers' Guild a try. If that doesn't pan out, we can consider whether the Mage Tower is capable."

"These are the only options. Let's be open about it."

After this candid statement, several other practitioners nodded in agreement.

The issue regarding the new guardian of the mountain pass has actually been circulating among these people for the past five months.

It’s clear that the most suitable organization to take over the Lopulo mountain pass is the emerging Blue Star organization. Although Blue Star has risen only recently, it is a leader both in terms of financial resources and the power it wields, making it the undisputed top choice among all organizations.

However, when faced with the allure of guarding the mountain pass, Blue Star’s attitude has been rather ambiguous.

In the face of the council’s temptation, they haven’t clearly stated their position outwardly, as if they couldn’t care less about the matter.

Although Lorant, upon learning of the situation, visited several Lopulo fortresses, which hints that Blue Star doesn’t seem entirely indifferent to the prospect of guarding the pass.

But they’ve never publicly stated a clear position, leaving everyone confused.

This Guardians' Council meeting was supposed to happen months ago, but at this critical moment, Lorant, the key figure of the meeting, went to the outskirts of the Lopulo mountains with Jacqueline.

This made his stance even more unclear.

"You're absolutely right, I agree with your view. Since the store manager of Blue Star is also here, why don’t we straightforwardly ask for his thoughts?" A bearded dwarf, his voice deep and rumbling, chimed in.

His low voice echoed throughout the room for a long time after he finished speaking.

"What stance should we take?" Before Lorant had a chance to react, Jacqueline slammed her hand on the table and shot back coldly, "Has the council already decided to give the Lopulo pass to Blue Star, or is there a new proposal we can consider?"

"Or are you suggesting that Blue Star should formally take over?"

"With nothing decided, what stance do you expect Blue Star to take?"

Jacqueline, with a contemptuous glance around the room, looked fierce like an angry lioness.

Her words clearly annoyed many council members.

Putting pressure on the pet shop, from various angles, and ideally getting the pet shop to propose guarding the mountain pass themselves, would be the most beneficial choice for the Guardians' Council.

Some of the members present were tacitly putting pressure on Blue Star, while others simply didn’t care.

At this moment, Jacqueline standing up clearly in support of the pet shop swayed many members.

The connection between the Beast Tower and Blue Star appeared to run deeper than they had imagined.

This obviously tipped the scales in Blue Star’s favor.

It gave Lorant more initiative and swayed many neutral members to lean more towards Blue Star.

The second member to speak, unexpectedly to Lorant, was a formidable warrior from the orc race that he had not seen before.

The lion tribe member next to Benny nodded in agreement and said, "Mage Jacqueline is right, so I hereby propose that Blue Star Pet Shop take over the new mountain pass and be fully responsible for its defense, contributing to the civilization of the continent."

"To show our support, the Fire Lion Tribe is willing to provide assistance for the new mountain pass. The resources and warriors of the Fire Lion Tribe can help with the defense during the renovation period of the new fortress!"

The Fire Lion Tribe member’s statement caused a buzz of quiet discussion among the people in the hall.

Lorant gratefully looked toward the strong warrior, showing his appreciation.

Regardless of anything else, being the first to stand up and express support in such a situation was enough to demonstrate the friendship between the Fire Lion Tribe and Blue Star. It seemed that the long-discussed Floating Giant Duck route could finally begin preparations!

The seemingly innocent store manager, who hadn’t done much on the surface but had quietly manipulated the situation behind the scenes, looked at the strong warrior of the Fire Lion Tribe with pure gratitude.

The two individuals, each with their own agenda, smiled at each other, and the atmosphere between them was quite pleasant.

The legendary warriors, who stood above racial distinctions, didn't notice anything unusual. In their eyes, the fire lion tribe had simply taken the first step in compromising, expressing their willingness to contribute their strength to help.

This was an inevitable outcome. After failing to get Blue Star to make the first move, following the normal procedure, all of this was expected to happen.

It was just a question of which side would take the first step.

Whether the fire lion tribe or the Beast Tower took the first step, it didn’t matter.

The final outcome would not change.

This meant that in this issue, Blue Star had begun to take the initiative.

However, the formidable warriors still bound by racial loyalties all had a change of expression.

That cunning fire lion! To shamelessly suck up to Blue Star in such a place!

Several warriors who had recently been in discussions with the Beast Pet Shop for various uninitiated collaborations also began to grow anxious. Were they not aware? That fire lion was absolutely ingratiating himself with Blue Star for the sake of his own tribal interests!