A hush fall upon the room just as Nash ended his explanation. All of them were seemingly in thought, processing the new set of information that was provided to them.
"Wait!"
Suddenly, Kenny's exclamation brought them out of their thoughts.
"What are the chances that these anomalies are connected to the current stampede in some way?" He directly voiced out what was in his mind.
Everyone's expression changed again at his words
No matter how experienced they were, there was a limit to how much their conscience could take.
In fact, from the moment they heard Nash's words on the new anomalies, the possibility had already started to ring within their minds but they were subconsciously trying to deny it.
All of them couldn't help but look towards the seat of honor.
And their they saw Ron sitting on his seat with the same impassive face and closed eyes.
'Just how is he so calm?' They couldn't help but think to themselves.
At this moment, Ron opened his eyes to meet everyone's gaze.
Everyone flinched a little at the sudden action.
"I believe they are related." He said out of nowhere, confusing some. But they quickly made the connection.
He continued without minding the stares "My investigations included searching for clues on this new nomaly too but since I didn't had any form of confirmation, I didn't include it in my report."
"What?" Nash blurted out.
"How did you do that?" He asked in confusion.
All of the exploration units that delve into the seas were under his command. Similarliy, all of the water automobiles that can potentially be used to journey through the ocean were under his scrutiny.
He had been on high alert for sone time now and was sure no vessels were used without his knowledge.
Of course, given Ron's level of authority, he can just come and take one out without bothering to inform him; but in that case, at least his subordinates will inform him of such.
But none of that happened.
So how exactly did Ron managed to investigate the issue?
"I didn't venture into the seas. I was able to sense the Continent from land only."
"..."
Everyone was left speechless at his reply.
"A-Alright.. " Nash replied with a wry smile on his face.
He suddenly felt idiotic for bolstering about his strength in the name of discovering the Continent.
"You think they are related? The current stampede and the anomalies on the Southern Continent?" Ria asked in a questioning manner.
"As I said, I personally believe they are related. No matter how we look at it, the timing is just way too suspicious."
"But as of now, there's no evidence; so it can only be counted as a speculation." He replied in the same calm tone.
A hush fell over the room once again as Ron answered Ria's question. No one said it, but the fear of unknown and trepidation had already started to cripple into their minds.
"Anyway, coming back to the Southern Continent itself, I have some issues regarding the report that Nash made." Ryuto was the one to broke the silence as he looked at Nash intently.
"Oh, please do tell." Nash said playfully. He was more or less aware of what Ryuto was talking about.
"Hmm, do you really want me to say it out aloud?" He asked with knitted brows.
"Your report, no matter how I look at it, was a bit too optimistic." He remarked.
Everyone else too gave Nash a subtle glance. They were waiting for someone to point this out.
"As you gave your report, you also seemed to be skillfully omitting out all the dangers and uncertainties that came along with pursuing the Southern Continent."
"The sheer number of monstrous sea creatures that we will be forced to fight, and that too in their own habitat, unpredictable ocean Currents that make accurate navigation almost impossible, the scarcity of supplies that may occur on a prolonged voyage, the treacherous weather and the violent storms.... "
Ryuto elaborated. His tone becoming colder and harsher with each word. He truly wasn't liking how Nash was going about on this issue.
"Don't even get me started on the potential dangers of the Continent itself. We don't know of it's terrain, neither anything about it's inhabitants. Whether their are monsters on the land or if there's any humans settlements present over there. We not know of anything about it's conditions. It's a complete unknown to us."
"Not to mention the new anomaly that has arisen...
"I wonder if you considered all these factors before making your report.. " He finally concluded with a question.
Nash, who was just listening to his words absentmindedly, suddenly smirked as Ryuto ended his verbose.
"Come on, Ryuto. There's no need to be so harsh. I was positive that someone will point it out, so I intentionally made it as such."
He answered with a playful smirk, trying too lighten the mood of his senior but it only seemed to make Ryuto even more irritated.
And he wasn't the only one. Everyone else too were starting to feel exasperated. Nash always liked to talk in circles; never saying anything directly.
In the first place, the report he made wasn't the type one would give in a serious meeting like this because everyone would be able to point out it's flaws anyway.
It was just a waste of time.
If anything, it was of the sort one would give to the masses in order to keep the morale high.
It was puzzling. Just what exactly was he getting at?
As if knowing what everyone was thinking, Nash started speaking once again.
This time, all the traces of playfulness along with the perpetual smirk were now gone.
"Please calm down everyone. There was a reason I made the report like this."
He said in a deep voice.
"I wasn't planning on making the report like this before but decided on such after hearing everyone else's report."
He then took a deep breath and said with casual solemnity.
"Well, I believe it's high time we throw away the pretentious mask of safety that we have been doning all this while and accept our situation."
"I know all of you had already understood just how how grave our situation exactly is but just don't want to accept it, right?"
Nash said and everyone couldn't help but just close their eyes in contemplation.
Indeed, they were all making light of exactly how grave their situation was.
They were aware but was denying it subconsciously. They really didn't wanted to accept it.
Dire was an understatement to just how hopeless their current condition was.
The monsters already outnumberd them by a large margin and now, multiple Marshall ranks have been confirmed in their ranks.
They are already low on resources and surely, more will be lost in the upcoming battle.
Most of the land had already been occupied by the monsters and to try relocating their habitats into the Northen Mountains is more or less suicidal.
They have nowhere left to run away...
It was clear what the end of humanity will look like lest they were able to change something.
'Sigh'
All of them collectively sighed within their minds.
"Since you have been rambling on and on for quite a long time now, I am assuming you have some kind of plan or something?" Ryuto asked in a annoyed tone.
Although Nash words were true, they weren't going to achieve anything by merely whining about the issue.
Nash didn't took any offense on Ryuto's words and spoke once again "Not exactly a plan, but a proposal."
"No, it's not even a proposal. It's something we have to do at all costs to ensure our survival."
The heartbeat of everyone present quickened a little as Nash spoke the next words, a purposeful smirk slowly forming upon his lips.
"It's simple. Right at this moment and without any delay, all the Generals shall join forces under the command of Marshall Ron and put out all stops to prepare for leaving the Northern Continent in order to traverse the Southern seas in hopes of reaching the Southern Continent and establishing a new stronghold over there. I believe by combining everyone's strength, it's only a matter of time before we set foot upon our new ho-"
BAMMM!!
Nash stopped abruptly as Ryuto loudly slammed his hand on the table.
He stood up, looking straight into Nash's eyes with a threatening glare.
"Nash, do you have any idea what you are talking about?"
Ryuto said while staring right into Nash's eyes, his expression cold.
Seeing Ryuto's glare, Nash didn't back down the least bit as he too stared right back into his eyes.
The light grey eyes of Ryuto met the hazel colored irises of Nash as illusory sparks seem to erupt in the surrounding.
No one stopped them as they too wanted answers. Sophie too, just looked on worriedly. Even Ron didn't do anything to stop them as he knew this matter was needed to be discussed sooner or later.
"Of course I know what I'm talking about." He replied with confidence.
"After adding our own estimations to the leftover data from the old world, we have confirmed that the Southern Continent, if exists, couldn't be any further than 2000 nautical miles measured from the south-western coast on the Northen Continent."
"We have already traversed nearly 900 nautical miles on the established route and have confirmed intel on the different territories of sea monsters that inhabit the said area."
"Only after reaching the 900 mile mark did we encounter a General rank monster."
"From the above points, we can infer that 800-1200 nautical miles is the only region where there exists the possibility of encountering Generals ranks creatures. Monsters are extremely territorial so it's unlikely we will have to confront multiple of them at the same time; and even if we did, with our strength and numbers, I am sure we will have the upper hand."
"Other than the aforementioned region, only Commander and below ranks monsters reside in the other parts. And in case we do encounter something of a higher rank, I still believe with Ron leading us, we have a high chance of taking it down."
".. Even when fighting in their own territory..."
"Coming to the problem of supplies; the voyage will, even after factoring in potential accidents and delays, will take atmost one month to complete. Although we have been rather short on supplies for some time, with our fewer numbers only a part of the emergency heap will be more than enough to last us for a month and above."
"Hehehe, as Generals, it's only natural we have some perks attached to our 'services' to..." Nash said mischievously. It's not like anyone among the public will know if the Generals decide to 'take out' some of the reserves for themselves...
"As for the navigation problems and the traitorous weather, please; trust me on this and just leave it to me."
"My years of battling the precarious seas wasn't just for show. With mana guiding us and someone like Ron among our ranks, I assure you that even the most ferocious of waves won't be able to stop us from reaching our destination."
"I myself would have feeled skeptical about my plan in case Marshall Ron decide not to embark on the voyage but with him present, it's only a matter of time until we discover the continent."
As Nash was speaking, Ron couldn't help but gave an inward smirk at his words.
'He's trying to portray me as some kind of 'hope' in order to convince everyone.' He thought in amusement.
Nash's little games and tricks were all too obvious to him.
"As for the dangers on the Southern Continent.. " Unknowing of Ron's awareness of his tricks, he continued speaking.
"Sigh, I hope everyone else will be with me on this but.. "
"I personally would rather fight for an unknown future in comparison to getting eaten alive by those fucking monsters... "
He said those last words while intense emotions seeped out of his body.
All this time, Ryuto didn't disturbed him for a single second and just listened with his head down.
"Are you done?" He asked while raising his head, locking eyes with him once more.
"Yes." Nash answered.
"Then let me ask you a question."
There was transitory silence in the room as Nash didn't reply to Ryuto's words and just waited for him to ask the question.
"You said it was necessary for our survival, right?"
"Just exactly who's survival were you talking about?"
He asked and the tension in the room finally reached its peak.
"Ah!"
Nash exclaimed in surprise and in the next moment, a smile appeared on his face.
"Ha... Hahaha, so that's what you were taking about... " He laughed in an unamused manner while covering his left eye with his hand.
But the smile on his face soon started to fade at a drastic pace as his smiling expression morphed into a cold one with hints of anger present on it.
"Are you really saying that, Ryuto?"
He asked while his head was down and arms were folded.
"You do realize that none of us look good talking about morals like that, no?"
"Atleast not after that fucking 'grand plan'."