Chapter 144: Chapter 138: Crisis
Zeke replied, his voice tense, "It was. I don’t know why this is happening all of a sudden."
Cass leaned forward urgently and asked, "Bro, do you realise what this means?"
Zeke frowned in confusion and asked back, "What are you talking about?"
Cass pointed frantically at the trembling cocoons that filled the massive cavern. His hand was shaking slightly. "There are almost 250 million cocoons here. Two hundred and fifty million! Where are we gonna place all of them once they emerge?"
Zeke tried to stay calm and answered, "Here, in Aurevion. That was always the plan."
Cass, however, looked more panicked than ever. He pressed on, "But what about the kids? The ones who aren’t even ten years old yet? Do we have the manpower to take care of that many infants and children at once? And what about the rest—the ones who are supposed to go through their Ascension Trials? They can’t do that here. We told Uncle Dean we had years to prepare. YEARS! Do you realise what it means if a quarter billion Neo-Nephilim suddenly appear out of nowhere? The entire world will go into chaos!"
Zeke took a deep breath. He could feel Cass’s panic rising by the second. And while he agreed that the situation was extremely serious, panicking wouldn’t help anyone. They needed clear heads if they were going to manage this mess.
"Cass, calm down," Zeke said firmly, grabbing his brother’s shoulder. "We’ll figure it out. One step at a time. Right now, we need to deal with the immediate problems first."
Turning to Damon, he barked orders, "Damon, get back to the residence immediately. Find Grandpa. Brief him about the situation. Tell him we need clothes—tons of them. All sizes. And we’ll need baby formula too. And bottles, diapers, everything!"
He paused for a moment, grimacing as a new problem dawned on him. "Shit... I just realised something. What about the pregnant women? They definitely can’t give birth in the bodies of ten-year-old children. Damn it. This is getting worse by the second. Sigh... Never mind. One thing at a time. Damon, go!"
Zeke opened a shimmering blue portal with a swift wave of his hand. Without hesitation, Damon nodded and sprinted through it, vanishing from sight.
At the residence, Leonel was enjoying a rare and much-needed break. For once, he had allowed himself to relax, spending the afternoon playing with the babies who had recently been born into their strange and complicated world. Laughter filled the room, pure and unburdened.
That peace was shattered when Damon burst into the room like a storm, startling the babies into tears. Leonel glared sharply at him but immediately noticed the worried expression plastered across Damon’s face.
Leonel sighed heavily. "What did Zeke do now?" he asked, already bracing himself for bad news.
"Huh?" Damon replied, caught off guard.
Leonel leaned back, crossing his arms. "Well, I’m assuming Zeke did something reckless again, and Cass sent you here to drag me into it."
Damon shook his head and said, "Close, but not quite. Zeke didn’t actually do anything this time. The people from Murim... they’re about to emerge from their cocoons."
Leonel stiffened. "What?"
Damon continued, his words spilling out quickly, "He sent me to tell you we need a massive amount of clothes, baby formula, and mashed food. He said you’d know what to do."
Leonel cursed under his breath. "Shit."
He rubbed his temples, forcing himself to focus. This was bad. Very bad.
"I’ll handle it," Leonel said, standing up. "You stay here and keep an eye on the little ones. Try not to scare them anymore, okay?"
Damon, still looking slightly lost, sat down on a nearby couch as Leonel strode from the room, pulling out a small, hidden device from his pocket. It was one of their most secure communication methods, only to be used in emergencies—the same level as the space pearls he had once given Zeke.
Leonel activated the device, and a few moments later, a portal swirled open in front of him. Dean stepped through, looking mildly annoyed.
"What did Zeke do now?" Dean asked immediately.
Leonel shook his head. "Not Zeke this time. It’s the people from Murim—the ones who were supposed to transform years from now. They’re about to hatch. No warning. No prep."
Dean blinked, staring at him as if he hadn’t heard correctly. "What did you say?!"
Leonel repeated slowly, "I said: they’re about to emerge. Right now."
Dean swore violently. "Fuck my life."
Without wasting another second, he pulled out his communicator and began making a series of urgent calls. Barking rapid orders, coordinating resources, pulling favors. After several tense minutes, he hung up and turned to Leonel.
"We’ll have the supplies we need in a few hours. Clothing, food, everything," Dean said. "But that’s just the start. We still need to figure out where we’re going to house them. Originally, I planned to negotiate with the Four Emperors. We’d need their support to make sure every Neo-Nephilim can awaken under ideal conditions."
He paused, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But if we just dump a quarter billion people into their territories without any warning? It’ll cause absolute chaos. Worst-case scenario, we spark a civil war."
Leonel swore under his breath. "We don’t have a choice anymore. Just... don’t antagonize them like last time, alright? Be diplomatic."
Dean nodded grimly. "Yeah. No promises, but I’ll try."
He knew that Zeke, Cass, Damon, and the others weren’t ready to learn the full, ugly truth about what was happening. They were too young, too idealistic still. So Dean made the quick decision to spin a half-truth—a plausible story that could buy them enough time.
He composed a message to the Emperors, stressing that it was an emergency situation and requesting a formal audience. He also made sure to mention that he would open a portal for them to meet, rather than just summoning them by force like he had done before.
A few moments later, responses began to come in. Surprisingly, they seemed almost relieved that Dean had chosen a more respectful approach this time. No one liked being yanked from their thrones without warning, after all.
At least, Dean thought grimly, this part was going better than expected.
But deep down, they all knew: this was just the beginning.
