Reborn as an Extra Chapter 791: Serenity Before The Final Storm. Part-1.

"So you do have a plan after all; I was worried that you were plunging yourself into danger without thinking about everything properly..."

Ignoring Ashtel’s concern-filled words, Rio sipped the tea, looked into Ashtel’s eyes, and spoke.

"Although I can’t tell you the plan right now, as you know, the demon king can predict it and find out about it if I speak about it..."

"I can atleast tell you that it would be wise for the human empire and the rest of the world alliance to start preparing for a massive-scale world war..."

"I am sure you can also sense the increasing sense of foreboding... something big is likely going to happen soon; we need to be ready for this..."

Rio’s words carried a rare solemnness, and even Ashtel felt a bit shaken after hearing them.

Up until today, Rio had no genuine reason to convince Ashtel and the rest of the world alliance to start preparing for a war.

Rio knew that once the SSS-rank dungeon opens, the world will be plunged into endless chaos, death and disaster will be everywhere, and the density of miasma will increase tremendously in the entire solar system.

Demons from outer space will invade the solar system in waves; spatial cracks filled with demonic creatures will open everywhere, and chaos will spread in the entire solar system.

Humanity and the rest of the world alliance would be caught off guard if they didn’t prepare properly beforehand for this upcoming disaster.

The main reason why the descent of the SSS-rank dungeon completely shattered the world alliance in the original novel and brought immense catastrophe was also because the world alliance was caught off-guard.

If they had known that something like this was going to happen, they could have prepared beforehand, and perhaps they could have survived much longer in that circumstance.

’There’s nobody who can deal with the SSS-rank dungeon in our solar system, but they can at least hold the rest of the chaos down if they work hard and prepare for it beforehand...’

’I would have actually preferred to give more clues and suggestions, but my current position would not allow that and will raise unnecessary suspicion...’

In the eyes of the world, Rio was still just a young awakener that hadn’t fully grown up yet, and Ashtel was still the uncrowned leader of the world alliance in this day and age.

If Rio wanted to gain the power to command the entire world alliance and make them do his bidding, he had to surpass Ashtel and every single awakener in the world alliance before he could firmly sit in the position of leader.

’But of course, I am not interested in holding such a troublesome position... becoming the leader of the world alliance will indeed help out in my plans, but it will also be a shackle to me...’

’For now, I can only give subtle hints to Ashtel... Once I reach rank SS... I will have a greater say in the world alliance; that would be the moment for me to put my opinions forward...’

Maybe it was out of kindness or maybe it was out of pity; Rio didn’t want the place he had spent his past few years to be destroyed.

Rio had already traveled to several major nations of the world; he had met many good people in the past and seen many admirable dreams that pushed people forward toward their ultimate goals and destinies.

After staying in this world for so long, even Rio felt a bit attached to it, and despite barely having any emotions,

Rio wanted the world alliance to remain in existence mainly because he felt that it would be a pity if all the memories he had created in this world got destroyed in the chaotic final war.

’If not for myself... I can at least try to keep this place intact for Lia’s sake; she would be sad if her hometown got destroyed and I don’t want to see her sad...’

’Sigh... to think a day would come when I would have to do the work of a ’saviour’?...’

’Well, from the very first day I arrived in this world, I was already planning on dealing with the SSS-rank dungeon to maintain my own peaceful life; keeping the rest of the world intact is just a side quest at most in the bigger scheme of things...’

While Rio was busy contemplating in his mind whether he should even bother helping out in this chaos or not, Ashtel’s eyes became firm and solemn after hearing Rio’s words.

"Alright... I believe you, Rio. You have helped push the Demon Army back once already and have even saved my life."

"There’s no reason for me to doubt your words... I am even indebted to you for saving my life; it is only natural for me to comply with some of your advice..."

"I will convince the world alliance to start preparing for a war... no matter if it’s the demon army or the increasing miasma density; we need to prepare for it all either way-"

Before Ashtel could finish his words, Rio finished his tea, put the teacup down, and got up from his seat before speaking in his usual emotionless voice.

"That’s good... but make sure that you prepare for a defensive war, not an offensive one..."

"I know that it may sound alarming, but we clearly don’t have the capabilities to wipe out the demon race and get a clear victory at the moment in case of an offensive war..."

Rio knew that with time, miasma density would only keep increasing, and the number of demons invading this solar system would keep increasing like a snowball rolling down a hill and increasing in mass every second.

It would be stupid to confront this rolling snowball head-on, and trying to destroy all demons will only spread the defense line thinner.

The more practical approach would be to remain on the defensive, wait until the opportunity to strike back finally arrives, and take out the enemy.

"I don’t really get what you are trying to imply, but I will try my best to convince the others... but don’t hold too much hope..."

"The world alliance is called an alliance because all parties have the right to make their own choices; I can’t force others to comply..."

Hearing those words, Rio waved his hand and replied calmly,

"Letting others know about it is more than enough for now... the time hasn’t come yet, and we still have a long way to go before we can all understand the final picture of this grand event..."

"With time, things will change and people will comply with working together..."

Ashtel frowned at Rio’s words and asked back in confusion,

"Why are you so sure that everyone will eventually come together to work... that kind of thing can only happen if a great threat appears and forces everyone to work together to defeat it..."

"Don’t tell me that..."

Rio just nodded his head at those words and didn’t explain much.

The being that the world was about to face at the end of this farce was too powerful; just talking or spreading information about that ’being’ would cause unpredictable changes in the strings of destinies of the world.

It was better to not tell the world alliance about this matter until the end because it was too risky.

"Forget about the rest of the things; prepare the world alliance for a defensive war first... we are going to need everything if we want to survive..."

"I can’t tell you where I got all this knowledge from... but it’s your choice whether you believe me or not; it doesn’t really matter to me..."

With that said, Rio started to walk away as if he didn’t care whether Ashtel believed him or not.

Seeing Rio’s retreating back, Ashtel suddenly felt that the figure of the young kid that he needed to protect before had now become much bigger at some point.

Ashtel had a feeling that Rio was now much more dependable than ever before.

’How odd... I feel that I would lose if I dared to fight him right now... is this the reason why the Demon King agreed to a compromise and retreated?’

’Did he also sense this bizarreness in Rio?’

Watching the fading back of Rio, Ashtel suddenly shouted,

"I will do my best to convince the others, but I hope you will make a choice that favors your inner humanity, Rio!"

"Lia will be sad if you lose your humanity; make sure not to lose yourself to the temptations of miasma. You are a very important person not only to Lia but also to all of us who care about you!"

Hearing those words, a rare smile appeared on Rio’s emotionless face, and he waved his hand to show his acknowledgement.

Walking out of the room, Rio found himself standing in a long empty corridor.

’I have a long way to go before I can reach the point where I can decide the fate of this world with my own hands... But I feel that I am already starting to see the ’Destination’ I have been aiming for all along even if just slightly...’

With a newfound sense of confidence, Rio moved forward as he thought to himself,

’Preparing the world alliance is not enough... I need to start preparing too; I need to get ready to make my own ’choice’ too...’

’Delaying my ascension is not a good choice... I must polish my mind before the final plunge towards the higher realm...’

While Rio and Ashtel made up their minds to do great things, the spaceship slowly made its way back to the human empire smoothly.