Chapter 271: Emergency Countermeasure Meeting (2)
The anticipation of those seated around the round table grew even stronger.
As all eyes eagerly focused on her, Yulia began to speak.
“I have two plans in mind.”
Not one, but two strategies from a member of the Hyun family? The gazes around the table urged her to speak quickly, filled with impatience.
“The first plan is… we leave it behind.”
“Leave it behind? What do you mean?”
At Susan’s question, Yulia shrugged.
“What else could it be? The residential area, of course.”
“…What?”
“The reason Yuri Holland keeps invading the residential area is simple. It’s because we’re all gathered there.”
“……”
“His goal is ‘training.’ And we’re nothing more than tools and materials for that training. Since all those fresh materials are gathered in one place, how could he resist charging in?”
Andres, who had been quietly listening, frowned as if something about the plan didn’t sit well with him.
“So, you’re saying… we should all run away from him?”
“You could call it a strategic retreat, but essentially, yes, running away is the right term. If we leave the residential area and scatter, Yuri Holland won’t bother tracking us all down.”
“And why is that?”
“Because it’s too much of a hassle. Hiding hundreds of people across a vast area—when is he going to find the time to hunt us all down? Given Yuri Holland’s nature, he won’t bother with something so tedious.”
The northern part of the Cradle where the cadets lived was expansive.
It took hours by carriage to travel from the coastal area to the central coliseum of the island. The cadets’ current residential area was clustered around the coliseum, allowing Yuri to sweep through the entire area in a single day.
But if all the cadets scattered across the northern region, not even Yuri could track them all down.
In short, fleeing from the residential area meant escaping from Yuri’s grasp.
However.
“Hmm…”
“That’s a bit…”
Those who heard Yulia’s first plan responded with reluctance, especially the fourth- and fifth-year cadets, who openly showed their discontent.
The reason was simple.
“Abandon the residential area…?”
“That means going back to the old way of life, doesn’t it?”
Leaving the residential area meant giving up the ‘human’ life they had worked so hard to achieve.
The first- and second-year cadets were still living primitively, while the third-year cadets had just moved into tents. The fourth- and fifth-year cadets, however, had it differently.
They had houses with roofs, warm meals, and various other conveniences that they had earned after years of hardship.
Having tasted the benefits of civilization, there was no way they could return to their old way of life.
Murmurs spread among those gathered around the round table, their dissatisfaction clear.
Yulia, who had anticipated this reaction, remained calm. Just as she was about to speak again—
Knock, knock—
Goetz tapped the table, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Let’s all calm down.”
He then turned to Yulia.
“It seems no one is too thrilled with the first plan, so let’s hear the second one.”
With Goetz’s intervention, the murmuring subsided. All eyes turned back to Yulia, and for a brief moment, silence filled the room.
Then, Yulia’s lips curled into a faint smile before dropping. In a quiet voice, she spoke again.
“A direct confrontation.”
Her eyes gleamed.
“That’s my second plan.”
As soon as Yulia finished, murmurs spread through the room, eyes widening.
“A direct confrontation…?”
“You’re saying we should fight him head-on?”
The small wave of murmurs soon shifted to disappointment. Out of the two plans from a Hyun family member, one was to run away, and the other was to fight?
This wasn’t the type of grand strategy they had hoped for.
But despite sensing the atmosphere, Yulia’s expression didn’t change as she continued.
“If you don’t want to run, you have to fight.”
“Even if we fight… can we defeat that monster? If it were possible, we wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.”
If they could have defeated Yuri in a fight, there wouldn’t have been a need for this countermeasure meeting in the first place.
At Susan’s slightly fearful voice, Yulia shook her head.
“To be honest, we haven’t had a real direct confrontation yet. Yuri Holland launched surprise attacks, and we were too focused on defending ourselves. Moreover, the initiative in the fights has always been with him.”
“That’s true, but…”
“That’s why, if we’re going to have a real direct confrontation, we need to take the initiative this time.”
“Hmm…”
No one had a response to that.
On the first day, Yuri had indeed launched a surprise attack. But even after they started preparing, the results didn’t change much.
So Yulia’s idea of taking the initiative didn’t seem particularly realistic.
In the midst of the lukewarm reactions, Andres asked a question.
“And how do we do that? Do you have a concrete plan to take the initiative?”
“I do.”
With that brief response, the atmosphere in the room changed instantly. All eyes were once again focused on Yulia’s lips as her calm voice continued.
“First, we need to gather our strength.”
“Gather our strength? You mean we should band together?”
“No, not just us. I mean Yuri Holland’s enemies.”
“That sounds like the same thing.”
“It’s different. We’re not the only ones who are Yuri Holland’s enemies.”
Yulia snapped her fingers.
*Snap!*
A sharp sound echoed, and the door creaked open, revealing ten figures.
Some were wearing white epaulets, looking a bit disheveled, while others with red epaulets had tense expressions.
It was none other than the 51st and 50th cadet classes.
At their appearance, several people at the round table jumped up, pointing fingers.
“Those bastards!”
“What are the 50th cadets doing here?”
The group knew from Bluebird that this disaster had started with the 50th cadet class, so it was only natural for them to show hostility.
Just as it seemed things were about to get violent, Yulia intervened.
“Calm down. I called them here.”
“You did?”
Goetz asked, to which Yulia nodded.
“Yes, it’s true that this situation started with the 50th class, but they’re victims, too. They’ve been hurt for much longer than we have…”
“But…”
“They also proved their innocence by reporting the one who spread the seed of disaster.”
At Yulia’s words, Nellie, Ivan, Pana, Schleiman, and Daniel flinched.
At that moment, Clarice muttered under her breath as she looked at them.
“Those… traitors…”
The five members of the 50th class couldn’t bring themselves to meet Clarice’s eyes, swollen with anger.
‘Sorry, Clarice!’
‘We were happy because of you, but now…’
‘The incident that started with your sacrifice… will end with it!’
‘We won’t forget you!’
‘Please forgive us!’
As the five approached the round table, Goetz looked at Yulia with interest.
“These are…?”
“Yuri Holland has made many enemies with his actions. It’s only natural they would be among them.”
“So the 50th and 51st classes are joining forces… Does that mean the whole Cradle is now against him?”
“Exactly.”
Yulia’s voice carried strength.
“The reason we’ve been losing is that we haven’t united. It’s time we admit it. That monster… isn’t someone a single cadet can handle.”
One or two people couldn’t hope to stop him, and even dozens of people couldn’t defeat him.
Yulia had come prepared for her next words.
“To defeat that savage monster, all the cadets must unite.”
“……”
“Only by coming together will we be able to stand against him.”
As soon as Yulia finished speaking, silence fell over the room. The 51st, 50th, and even the 49th cadet classes nodded in agreement.
The 48th and 47th classes were reluctant but seemed to be swayed.
Only Andres seemed uncertain.
But that was only for a moment.
Pushing aside his personal feelings, Andres asked.
“…You’re saying we should unite, from the 51st to the 47th class, to fight Yuri Holland. Will that be enough to take the initiative?”
“No, it won’t be enough to take complete control.”
“It won’t be?”
“I told you, even if we unite, it will only be enough to face him head-on.”
“Hah? Aren’t you overestimating him a bit?”
“Better that than underestimating him. And right now…”
Yulia’s eyes sharpened as she looked at Andres.
“Are you saying you don’t trust my analysis?”
“……”
Andres fell silent under her piercing gaze, as if questioning whether he doubted the mind of a Hyun family member.
Yulia scoffed lightly.
“Well, whether my analysis is accurate or not… you’ll find out soon enough.”
“…Fair enough. So what else do we need to do to take full control from Yuri Holland?”
“We need to invite him to a battlefield we’ve prepared.”
“A battlefield we’ve prepared?”
“Precisely. We need to lure him into a battlefield we’ve planned and prepared. The Cradle has already agreed to provide the location.”
“The Cradle?!”
Everyone looked at Yulia in shock.
It was already surprising that the plan had progressed this far, but to hear that the Cradle itself would provide the location?
Yulia smiled as she met
their astonished gazes.
“I told you before, we need to unite Yuri Holland’s enemies. And it turns out, we’re not his only enemies.”
“You’re saying even the Cradle is against Yuri Holland?”
“Do you have any idea how much damage he’s caused to their facilities? He’s destroyed three residential areas. When we asked to fight elsewhere, they immediately offered their help.”
“Oh…”
The group nodded, finally understanding.
“In any case, the Cradle has offered the location, so all we need to do is turn it into a battlefield advantageous to us… and lure him in.”
Before Yulia even finished speaking, the 50th class expressed doubt.
“Will we be able to lure him? That guy… he’s got sharp instincts.”
“He’ll probably run the moment he senses something off.”
At their concern, Yulia shook her head.
“Don’t worry. No matter how suspicious he might be, we just need to offer bait so tempting that he can’t refuse. However…”
“This will have to be a one-shot deal.”
Goetz finished her sentence, and Yulia nodded.
“That’s right. Yuri Holland will analyze the battlefield we’ve created in a single fight, so we can’t afford to drag it out. We have to settle everything in one battle… and take what we want.”
“What do we want?”
“Freedom.”
“……”
“And to suppress Yuri Holland.”
“……!”
At Yulia’s words, the eyes of those around the round table burned with determination.
“This… actually sounds good.”
“If all the cadets join forces, and even the Cradle helps us…”
“If we design the battlefield in advance, we can’t lose!”
“Freedom… freedom!”
“Can we really seal that monster this time?”
Perhaps because they saw the potential in Yulia’s plan, hope began to fill the voices of those gathered.
But Yulia wasn’t finished yet.
“And there’s more!”
“…There’s still more?”
Andres asked in disbelief, to which Yulia responded firmly.
“We only have one chance. We need to prepare thoroughly for a decisive victory.”
“You’re very driven. I heard you were quite close to Yuri Holland?”
“……”
Yulia paused for a moment before answering.
“I’m a victim, too.”
“Is that so?”
“And he didn’t go easy on me because of our personal connection, so why should I?”
There was a chill in her words, and Andres nodded.
“I see. So, what else do we need for a decisive victory?”
At his question, Yulia let out a small sigh.
“Haa… I didn’t expect to be saying this, but…”
With all eyes on her, Yulia took a moment before speaking.
“To secure a decisive victory… we’ll need *his* cooperation.”
As soon as she finished, Goetz’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.