"You alone?"

Zhao Qingcang looked at Gandalf with some astonishment.

"Could it be that your identity already has the strength to deal with the entire Sakura Country?"

Zhou Huai shook his head.

"Not really."

"I just want to send my Avatar to sneak into Sakura Country and try it out."

With that, his glowing eyes looked intently at Zhao Qingcang.

"Marshal Zhao should have channels to quietly send people into Sakura Country, right?"

Zhao Qingcang's brow furrowed into a knot.

He did not answer immediately, but instead asked in return, "What exact Level are your Avatars?"

"And how much certainty do you have?"

Zhou Huai shook his head very simply.

"There is no certainty at all."

He paused, a careless smile appearing on his face.

"However, the ones I sent over are just my Avatars."

"Even if they are discovered, it's no loss if the Avatars die."

"If we can really snatch back the Pendulum of Life, that would be a huge profit."

Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf to lean slowly back against the sofa.

"Anyway, I am not far from death."

"Rather than sit back and wait for death, it's better to fight with all one's might."

The office fell into a long, dead silence.

Zhao Qingcang looked at the young man in front of him, feeling a myriad of emotions in his heart.

He could feel the resoluteness in the other's words, that madness of finding a path to survival after being placed in a position of certain death.

This was a gambler.

A madman who used his own life and the national fortune of Great Xia Nation to gamble on a slim future.

Yet, he could afford to gamble.

Zhao Qingcang slowly stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and stood with his hands behind his back.

Outside the window were the thousands of household lights of the imperial capital, brilliant like a river of stars.

Yet his mood was as heavy as a mountain.

After a long while, he slowly turned around, his deep tiger-like eyes staring fixedly at Zhou Huai.

"If you can truly succeed, it can indeed solve the urgent crisis of Great Xia."

"My Great Xia Military Department will definitely support you with all our might."

As his voice fell, Zhao Qingcang no longer had the slightest hesitation.

He turned around and returned to the desk, picking up the special red telephone on the desk without any buttons.

The call connected.

He only said one sentence.

"Come to my office."

After speaking, he hung up the phone.

Silence returned to the office once again.

Zhou Huai did not urge, just waiting quietly.

About five minutes later.

The thick solid wood door of the office was pushed open silently.

A figure walked in.

Zhou Huai's gaze subconsciously cast over, and then he was slightly stunned.

The newcomer looked to be in his early forties, of medium build, with mediocre features, and could even be said to be somewhat ordinary.

He wore a faded old military uniform, wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses, and the gaze behind the lenses was calm and without ripples.

Zhao Qingcang pointed at the newcomer and introduced him to Zhou Huai.

"His name is Wei Liao."

"He is the general person in charge of our military department's intelligence department."

In Zhao Qingcang's tone, there was a trace of undisguised appreciation and trust.

"He has been specializing in overseas intelligence work for more than twenty years."

"You can completely trust him."

Hearing this, Wei Liao only slightly nodded toward Zhou Huai, which counted as a greeting.

Then he looked at Zhao Qingcang.

"Marshal Zhao, I wonder what arrangements you have for calling me here?"

Zhao Qingcang did not explain much, but said in a deep voice.

"Tell this young man about the current situation regarding Sakura Country that you have mastered, as well as the situation of the Pendulum of Life."

Wei Liao was somewhat puzzled.

He carefully sized up Gandalf again.

Why did the Marshal want him to report such top-secret military intelligence to him?

But he did not ask more.

As the highest person in charge of the military department's intelligence department, he had long been accustomed to obeying orders.

Wei Liao walked over to the sofa on the side and sat down, with capable movements and without any dragging.

He sorted out his thoughts and slowly began to speak.

"According to current intelligence, the Pendulum of Life has been confirmed to be kept in the Ise Grand Shrine."

Zhou Huai's consciousness was inside Gandalf, listening quietly.

The Ise Grand Shrine was the most sacred and heavily guarded place in Sakura Country.

Wanting to snatch things from there, the difficulty can be imagined.

Wei Liao pushed the black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, and a trace of playfulness flashed through the gaze behind the lenses.

"However, I now feel that the appearance of the Pendulum of Life in Sakura Country does not seem to be a bad thing for our Great Xia Nation."

As soon as these words came out, Zhou Huai raised his eyebrows.

Even Zhao Qingcang, who was as gloomy as water beside him, flashed a trace of surprise in his eyes.

Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf and asked, "What does this mean?"

Wei Liao smiled.

On that mediocre face, a sharpness that was extremely disproportionate to his appearance emerged.

"They obtained the Pendulum of Life, but they were not in a hurry to resurrect their former SSS-Class Professional."

"Instead, they stored it in the Ise Grand Shrine."

"This explains a lot."

Zhao Qingcang was, after all, a marshal who had controlled the military department for many years, and he reacted instantly.

His eyes lit up.

"You mean, their own internal faction seems somewhat unwilling to resurrect an SSS-Class?"

Wei Liao smiled and nodded.

"Marshal is wise."

He looked at Zhou Huai and continued to explain, "Resurrecting an SSS-Class is very simple, but how to deal with it after resurrection is another big problem."

"Today's Sakura Country is firmly controlled by two top families."

"They already stand at the top of Sakura Country's pyramid, enjoying supreme power."

"Resurrecting an SSS-Class at this time, isn't that equivalent to finding an Old Ancestor on top of one's head, towering above the current administrators?"

"If it were you, would you be willing?"

Hearing this, Zhou Huai understood in his heart.

The taste of power, once tasted, is very difficult to let go of again.

The people of those two families had long been accustomed to giving orders; how could they be willing to hand over the power in their hands?

Wei Liao's voice sounded again, carrying a trace of imperceptible sarcasm.

"Therefore, there is also hesitation within Sakura Country."

"I think this may also be one of the reasons why the Freedom Federation did not make a move to snatch the Pendulum of Life."

"They already have an SSS-Class overseeing them; if they resurrect another one, it will easily intensify internal conflicts and break the existing power balance."

"There is also one more point."

Wei Liao paused and threw out a more crucial piece of information.

"These two families in Sakura Country also have huge internal conflicts over the issue of exactly who to resurrect."

"What conflict?"

Zhou Huai asked further.

Wei Liao said unhurriedly, "In history, Sakura Country once had two SSS-Class Professionals."

"One was born five hundred years ago, named Kujo Naruya, SSS-Class profession 【Amaterasu】, and he founded the current Kujo Family."

"And another was born three hundred years ago, named Omiya Cangzhi, SSS-Class profession 【Susanoo】, and he also founded the Omiya Family, one of the two top families in Sakura Country today."

Zhao Qingcang's brow furrowed tightly.

"You mean, both of these families want to resurrect their own Old Ancestor?"

Wei Liao nodded again.

"That's right. If one must be resurrected, who wouldn't want to resurrect one that is beneficial to their own side."

"The Kujo Family naturally wants to resurrect Kujo Naruya, letting the Kujo Family reproduce the glory of five hundred years ago and completely suppress the Omiya Family."

"And how could the Omiya Family agree?"

"They also want to resurrect their own Old Ancestor Omiya Cangzhi, making the Omiya Family the sole ruler of Sakura Country."

"Therefore, these two families also have irreconcilable disputes over exactly which SSS-Class to resurrect."

Speaking to this point, Wei Liao actually chuckled in a low voice.

"I can even conclude that this dispute in the near future is very likely to evolve into an internal struggle sweeping across the entire Sakura Country."