Chapter 372: Plans for Beast City.

Upon stepping inside the security room, the first thing Zyra saw was the holographic projection of the Grand Elder’s face. The old man let out a huge, dramatic sigh of relief, the deep lines of worry on his forehead smoothing out.

My granddaughter-in-law! " the Grand Elder gasped, wiping a tear from his eye. "I am so happy to see you are all still breathing. You have no idea how worried I have been. If something had happened to you, I would have been buried along with you." He pointed to his head. "See my hair, it has all gone grey within minutes. My blood pressure is through the roof. Only a cute little grandchild can cure me."

Zyra’s jaw dropped.

Hunter rolled his eyes. The old man was a better actor than he was! "Grandpa, focus."

Achilles let out a quick, frustrated snort. "Well, I don’t know how long we’ll be breathing for, so put great grandchildren on pause. If Trinity actually takes over the Wildlands, do you realize what that means? We lose our main factories! We lose the packaging warehouses in Rosewater! And we lose the frozen fruit Wild lands plus the farms. That is a big chuck of our financial resources."

Hunter turned his head slowly, staring at Achilles like he was looking at an absolute lunatic. "That is what you’re sweating about right now?! The frozen fruit land?!" He threw his hands up in the air. "I’m sitting here losing sleep over Zyra and I losing our marital home and everything she built with her blood, sweat, and tears, and you’re worried about your source of income!"

[And I’m worried about the poor beasts!] Beauty’s voice suddenly echoed directly inside Zyra’s brain, sniffling loudly. [They love it here! They made friends! They have families! What if their skins get turned into leather boots?!]

To Zyra’s annoyance, the system launched into tears! The sound caused pain in her mind and caused her ears to itch.

"And I am worried about where my great grandchild will live. The air in Beast valley is cleaner than the rest of the world." The grand elder chimed in. "And Denea. What will she do if she is forced back here, only to be chained up like a dog?"

"We can’t hunt freely in the city." Elfy complained.

"Everyone stop and calm down." Zyra shouted, rubbing her throbbing temples. "Look, at this point, every single one of us has something to lose. We all agree that we cannot let Trinity have the Wildlands. First off, people already live here. Second, if Trinity gets her greedy hands on this territory, her power will skyrocket, and she’ll be even more unstoppable."

The Grand Elder sighed, rubbing his chin. "My original plan has failed. I didn’t expect those useless world leaders not to take my blackmailing letters seriously...I am going to expose their secrets tonight."

"Which is exactly why my backup plan kicks in, Grandpa, let them think they have won." Zyra smirked. She tapped her chin and whispered in her mind, Beauty, hand over a bottle of Oath Sap.

A glowing, plastic bottle materialized out of thin air right onto the central table.

Achilles jumped back a full foot, his jaw hitting the floor. "What the_?! Where did that come from!? Did you just pull a bottle out of space?"

Hunter patted Achilles on the shoulder, looking dead serious. "Rule number one of staying sane around Zyra: do not ask."

Zyra ignored them, tapped the bottle, and introduced the magical Oath Sap, laying out her entire sneaky counter-plan step-by-step. By the time she finished, the room went dead silent.

"Well?" Zyra asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It’s_ perfect," Achilles admitted, scratching his head. "Not like we had a better idea anyway."

"Glad we’re all on the same page," Zyra grinned, pointing a finger straight at Achilles. "You, my friend, are in charge of phase one."

Achilles immediately puffed out his chest, stepping forward like a warrior. "In that case, I should get going right now! Time is money!" He whirled around and made a dash for the door.

Hunter snatched Achilles by the back of his collar, yanked him back, and stared at him blankly. "Are you going to carry out an Oath Sap plan... without the Oath Sap?"

Achilles folded his lips awkwardly, coughing into his hand. "I... uh... I figured you kept it in the general supply stores?"

Zyra rolled her eyes. "Right. Because I always store top-secret, truth telling sap in the open supermarket next to the canned sauces. Achilles, you are too clumsy maybe Arrow should do this. I do not want mistakes!"

Achilles shook his head, a hand placed to his chest. "You offend me sister. I got this."

DING!A sharp chime beeped inside Zyra’s mind.

[Host! Emergency! There are thousands of starving beasts and refugees piling up outside the valley perimeter!]

Zyra quickly swiped her hand across the control desk, adjusting the security screens to show the outside borders.

Hunter whistled softly. "Holy crap. The head count out there just jumped by at least a thousand people in the last thirty minutes."

[And double the beasts!] Beauty added frantically.

Zyra pressed her palm against her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Even if my heart bleeds for them especially the children, we can’t fit that many people inside our current walls unless I kick out all the humans and only keep the animals! Neil is bringing his people and beasts as well!"

[Host, hello?! You have the Beast City!] Beauty suddenly squeaked in her mind.

Zyra’s eyes lit up like fireworks. The Beast City! She quickly asked in her head, Beauty, how many people can one Beast City hold?

[At least five million humans and beasts combined!] Beauty proudly chimed.

Zyra slapped the table. She looked around the room with broad smile. "I have solved the problem to the overcrowding outside. I have a Beast City!" She quickly explained the everything to the group, mixing lies and truth.

Hunter scratched his nose, looking thoughtful. "That sounds brilliant, but... we don’t know these outside refugees. Vetting five million strangers to make sure we do not bring in the wrong crew."

"Simple," the Grand Elder chimed in from the screen. "Dump everyone into a single place together for now. Keep them safe first. Once this Trinity mess is over, we can vet them properly and distribute them to other safe zones."

Zyra chewed on her thumb nail, her mind racing miles ahead. "The Wildlands are packed with rare herbs and hidden dungeons. I’m not letting Trinity claim a single leaf_ especially in the southern region and Frozen wild lands."

System! Zyra called out internally. "I’m preparing for war. I am going to need evolution pills and beast cores. I have to prepare, not just for this fight, but against Orakuns too. My team is too weak."

[Understood, host. I will generate a list of recommended weapons and armor and pills. You prepare the money.]

She typed into her link band. A massive blue holographic blueprint popped up on the main screen, illuminating the semi-dark room. "This is what the beast city will look like. Share opinions before it goes into construction mode."

Achilles raised a hand.

Zyra wagged her finger. "Don’t ask about how it will be built, or who will build it."

The men stared at the layout, speechless. The city wasn’t just big, it was a planned paradise! It had sprawling forests, big beast-proof housing, beast medical centers, running water, and gigantic underground nuclear-grade bunkers and proper human residences. It even had designated shops and malls for business.

Hunter and Achilles shared their opinions. They re-arranged defensive towers, increased high security checkpoints, and restricted central access zones.

"We should surround the wall with Warden trees." Hunter suggested.

Achilles was practically bouncing on his toes like a kid in a cake shop. "We need a cool name! How about Dragon-Slayer Fortress? No, wait! Beastgrove!"

In Zyra’s mind, Beauty screamed: [Don’t you dare say yes. Only two names are allowed. Beast Valley or Beast Paradise.]