292: aware

He glanced coldly at the young girl in the hall, then cupped his hands toward the Mermaid Goddess seated above. He then looked around and said, "In my opinion, the immediate priority is not that damned Heavenly God, but how we should deal with the wrath of the Flame Demon Clan!"

“The Flame Demon Commander holds a high status within the Flame Demon Clan. With one of them dying for nothing, the Flame Demon Clan absolutely won't choose to let the matter rest. Sooner or later, they will trace the incident back to us!"

Speaking, he looked back at the Mermaid Goddess above. "Therefore, for the safety of Holy City, I suggest that Your Ladyship immediately send these people back, and furthermore, compensate the Flame Demon Clan with a million people as Blood Food to appease their anger. Otherwise, if we provoke the Flame Demon Clan because of this, this last sanctuary we fought so hard to secure will also be turned into scorched earth!"

"The High Priest is right. Our most urgent task now is to distance ourselves from these people and prevent the Flame Demon Clan from taking their anger out on Holy City!"

"Exactly, we must send these troubles away as quickly as possible!"

As soon as the gloomy elder finished speaking, many voices in the hall immediately echoed his sentiments.

In their eyes, strange sparks of fire flickered faintly; they were all people who had obtained the power of the Flame Demon Clan.

"You all..."

Hearing these people's words, the young girl's face suddenly turned deathly pale. She never expected that the people inside the Holy City—the sanctuary in their eyes—would hold such an attitude.

They were actually trying to force them onto a path of certain death!

This was completely different from the fantasies they held before arriving.

The Holy City of their dreams should have been united against a common enemy, viewing the Flame Demon Clan as an irreconcilable mortal foe, preferring death over surrender.

The attitude of the people before her was completely contrary to the scene the young girl had imagined, entirely exceeding her expectations.

"Your Ladyship, please don't!"

Hearing that the people around them wanted to send them back into the hands of the Flame Demon Clan, the young girl in the hall turned pale with fright, her face ashen as she knelt on the ground, casting her gaze of distress toward the Mermaid Goddess above.

Seeing the young girl's pitiful, tear-streaked appearance, the rest of the people in the hall looked on with pity, and the Mermaid Goddess slowly clenched her jade hand, her fingertips unconsciously digging into her palm until waves of stinging pain arose.

Inside the main hall, the silver-armored middle-aged man who had previously guided them into the city finally couldn't help but step forward and say in a deep voice, "High Priest, these people see our Holy City as their final refuge. They endured thousands of hardships and dangers just to reach this place. Now, you want to push them out to die. How can you bear to do this?"

Hearing this, the High Priest cast a cold glance at the silver-armored man and mocked, "I never expected that a General who has long fought on the battlefield would possess such a compassionate heart. I just wonder, if we shelter these people today, who will defend us when the Flame Demon Clan attacks in the future? At that time, how many casualties will our city have to pay? Does the General intend to plunge the millions of citizens of Holy City into dire straits just for the sake of these mere ten thousand people?"

The middle-aged General clad in silver armor was immediately speechless after hearing the High Priest's three consecutive questions, and his face flushed crimson.

However, after a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Even so, it is better than living in such ignoble survival as we do now!"

"Others believe we are a Holy City, the final fortress. But everyone present knows better than anyone else that the reason we can stand here is because every year we must offer three million of our people to the Flame Demon Clan as Blood Food!"

"Only in this way can we exchange for temporary peace for this Holy City. But is this peace, obtained by betraying our own people, truly what we need?"

"If this continues, we will destroy ourselves without the Flame Demon Clan even needing to lift a finger!"

"Rather than slowly marching toward self-destruction, we should use the strength we still possess, pour out everything we have, and fight the Flame Demon Clan to the bitter end, dying without regret!"

By the end of his speech, this Iron-Blooded General's eyes were bloodshot and bulging, and the grief and indignation conveyed in his words deeply affected everyone present.

Even those who had secretly colluded with the Flame Demon Clan and gained their power were momentarily speechless.

"So that's how it is..."

Lin Yang, observing everything from the shadows, felt a slight realization after hearing the words of the Silver-Armored General.

No wonder a peculiar place like Holy City existed within the Sea of All Things, which the Flame Demon Clan had long occupied. It turned out the Flame Demon Clan had done it deliberately.

They drove all the natives to one location, keeping them penned up and stored as food.

Every so often, they would come and take a portion.

Just like crops in a field, after harvesting, new ears of grain would grow the following year, providing them with a continuous supply of food.

Judging by this, the people of Holy City were probably no different from livestock in the eyes of the Flame Demon Clan.

"How pathetic..."

Lin Yang sighed softly in his heart, and just then, he suddenly noticed something.

He shifted his gaze and saw that the Mermaid Goddess's pair of bright, limpid eyes had, at some unknown point, been fixed upon the place where he was concealed.

Her gaze made Lin Yang's heart skip a beat.

Had the Mermaid Goddess discovered him?

Lin Yang found it hard to believe.

With his Indestructible Body of the Physique Eleventh Heaven, his Essence Qi Spirit was already contained and invisible. Under deliberate concealment, even a Heavenly Immortal of the Great Perfection realm would find it hard to detect him.

Yet the Mermaid Goddess had been staring straight at him since just now.

She had clearly noticed something.

Just as Lin Yang was slightly astonished, the Mermaid Goddess gave a slight bow toward his location, and then a clear voice, like a quiet spring in an empty valley, slowly rang out.

"Your Excellency must be the Heavenly God who rescued our clansmen. Since you have arrived, why not show yourself?"