(Meanwhile, Across the other military bases of Nemo, The Righteous Army’s POV)
Leo’s message spread like wildfire within the internal security network of Planet Nemo, as the Righteous Faction Lieutenants and Captains who saw it instantly felt their blood boil in rage.
In every command room, barracks hall and monitoring station, the same video played on loop, showing their Commander Yu Zu tied to a chair, stripped of dignity, screaming for help while Leo stood calmly beside him, the whip hanging casually from his hand as if he were playing with a child’s toy rather than torturing a high-ranking officer of the Righteous Faction.
Disbelief cracked through the ranks first, then outrage, then a deep, cold dread that hollowed out their chests.
"What kind of madness is this? He has the Commander tied up like a hostage," one Lieutenant said, his voice shaking as he slammed his fist onto a metal console.
"We have to save him. We cannot let this message reach the higher-ups," another Captain said, his eyes wide as he rubbed his temples anxiously.
"If the higher ups in the Universal Government find out the Commander was alive and we did nothing to help him, we will all be court-martialed on the spot.
The lower level soldiers might escape judgement, but we at least won’t be spared..."
The Captain explained, as many in the room nodded their heads in grim acknowledgement.
If given a choice, many of them did not wish to confront such a dangerous enemy, however, with the existence of such a compromising video, they no longer had that option available.
"He is just one man... surely we can take him down together, no?" a younger officer asked, trying to sound brave, although the tremor in his voice gave him away.
"Just one man?" another snapped, pointing at the frozen image of Yu Zu on the screen.
"Look at him. That one man reduced the Commander, a Monarch tier warrior, to this state.
Naked. Cut up. Helpless.
We cannot pretend this is normal."
He pointed out, as several officers fell silent at that, their throats tightening as they watched Yu Zu’s terrified expression frame by frame.
"But even if he is strong, he cannot fight all of us, right?
I mean, the Commander said it himself, in the end he’s only a Transcendent, which means if we keep attacking him in waves, sooner or later he will tire out and succumb to his injuries....
We could potentially lose a few thousand men, but in the end, we should prevail."
A Captain said, trying to cling to logic, as he tried to judge Leo’s power by conventional standards.
However, while his words did sound convincing on the surface, another Captain instantly pointed out the flaw in his logic.
"I strongly disagree..."
The second Captain began, as he shook his head from side to side.
"The Evil Cult’s Shadow Dragon is known to be many things, but a fool is not one of them.
If he were not confident in his ability to win, he probably would not have put out this challenge."
The Captain muttered, as he rubbed his jaw with shaky fingers.
"Men like him do not bluff. If he believes he can kill us all, then he truly thinks he can kill us all."
He concluded, as his words brought with them a new gloom across the room.
"But that is madness," a senior Lieutenant argued, pacing back and forth.
"Even a Monarch cannot conquer a planet without an army. Eventually he will tire. Eventually his mana reserves will drop. Eventually... we can overwhelm him."
He argued, as mutters of fearful agreement rippled through the gathered officers, as each clung to the hope that Leo’s power had a limit.
"We have to go after him either way," the senior-most officer finally said, stepping forward as the others fell silent around him.
"We cannot abandon a Commander. And we cannot let that recording reach the upper management."
He said, as he reminded everyone that they did not have a choice in this matter anymore.
"Agreed. If that video goes public, our heads will be on the line," another added, his voice grim as he imagined the consequences.
"It is settled then," the senior most Lieutenant concluded.
"Everyone prepares for immediate mobilization. Contact every sector. All squad warriors above the amateur tier must board the carriers at once.
We march to Sector Eleven in under 20 minutes."
He said, as his orders were immediately relayed across the communication arrays.
"All units prepare for deployment."
"All battle-ready vessels report to launch bays."
"All Captains gather your squads and move immediately."
The sound of boots thundered across the base floors as soldiers scrambled into formation, while cargo carriers rolled out of their docking chambers, their engines heating up one after another until the metallic roar filled the hangars.
"We have five hundred and ninety minutes," someone muttered, checking the timer that Leo had set, as the stark numbers glowed coldly on the screen.
"So there is no time to waste..." he concluded, his voice tightening as the weight of responsibility settled on everyone present.
Even with fear gripping their hearts, they still moved.
Because whether they believed they could win or not, whether they feared Leo or not, whether they resented the Commander or not, the chain of command gave them no choice.
If they hesitated now, the shame of abandoning a senior officer would stain them for life, and the consequences awaiting them from the upper management would be far worse than any risk they faced on the battlefield.
It was either fight, or be branded as cowards who watched a Commander beg for help and did nothing.
So squads rushed into formation, officers shouted deployment orders, and soldiers strapped on armor with trembling hands.
Engines roared from every hangar as across the planet, battleships lifted into the air, their thrusters igniting with brilliant streams of fire, while the Righteous Faction soldiers steeled their trembling hearts and prepared to face the nightmare who had challenged an entire world alone.