106: Chapter 106 A Warm Welcome, Lord City Lord!

In just one minute, the previously empty entrance to the City Lord's Mansion was packed with people.

They had imagined many things to say when they met again, but when they opened their mouths, they found their throats felt as if stuffed with branding irons, unable to make a sound.

Until... that golden figure bathed in sunlight smiled at them, and with a slightly trembling voice, spoke the first sentence to them:

"I have returned, everyone."

Bang!

Those six simple words were like a heavy hammer, shattering the already fragile ice into pieces!

"Ugh!" A female Priest burst into tears instantly, her knees giving way as she knelt on the ground, covering her mouth tightly, tears flooding uncontrollably through her fingers.

A warrior tried their best to force a smile, but their features twisted uncontrollably, clearly forming a face of broken-down sobbing.

An Archer desperately opened their eyes wide, not wanting tears to fall, but their vision was instantly completely flooded by an ocean of tears.

"City Lord, he is alright..."

"It is not a new City Lord! This is truly great!"

"It is our City Lord! It is the living, breathing City Lord!!"

Wan'er fiercely wiped the mud and tears from her face, folded her hands, bowed deeply, and said with a voice torn by hoarseness: "Welcome, City Lord!"

"Bang!" Lei Lie, clad in full plate armor, smashed onto one knee with a boom, his eyes red, and roared while looking up: "Welcome, City Lord!"

Minister Wang Fugui, with his face that had just taken a tumble and was covered in dust, snot and tears streaming down, pulled at his raspy throat and screamed with all his might: "Welcome, City Lord!!"

Immediately after, Strategist Zhu Ge, Tieshan, Nuan Nuan... the warriors, assassins, mages, and civilians in the square...

The voices of two hundred thousand people, carrying the exhaustion and fervor of surviving a disaster, finally converged together:

"Welcome! City Lord!!"

Zhou Yun stood on the steps, enveloped by this wave of sound.

When the sound wave gradually subsided, he spoke, his tone as gentle as before: "Everyone, rise."

Then he turned to Wan'er, his voice lowered slightly, carrying a smile: "Wan'er, look up."

Wan'er straightened her back and quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

Her face indeed did not look good—the scar was flushed, her eye sockets were even redder, and the tip of her nose was red as well.

But she forced herself to compose her expression, stepped back half a step, and stood straight: "Subordinate... has lost composure."

"Mm." Zhou Yun nodded, said nothing more, and turned to Lei Lie.

After standing up, Lei Lie did not step back far; he stood half a step to the right of Zhou Yun, his gaze never leaving him.

Zhou Yun's gaze lingered on him for a moment, then turned to the crowd.

He shook his head and laughed, saying: "I was only gone for three days, yet you all act as if I had been gone for three years."

The people in the front row laughed first.

Then the laughter spread layer by layer to the back, turning into scattered cheers, until finally, no specific words could be heard, just two hundred thousand people rejoicing together.

Zhou Yun waited for a while, seeing everyone still staring straight at him, and couldn't help but wave his hand helplessly, "Everyone, go back to your own business. I am here, and I am not going anywhere."

The crowd burst into laughter again, then slowly dispersed.

As they left, some people would turn back to look, confirming that the City Lord was truly standing there, and only then would they turn around with peace of mind.

Nuan Nuan, however, did not leave. She came before Zhou Yun, gripping the corners of her clothes with both hands, her knuckles turning white.

Zhou Yun looked at her with a smile, "Nuan Nuan."

She looked up, her eyes still red, her mouth opened, but the sound was stuck in her throat.

She swallowed hard and forced out a sentence: "The City Lord's Mansion... I have been cleaning it every day..."

"Thank you." Zhou Yun said softly.

Council Hall.

Wan'er composed her emotions and reported on the city affairs of these three days—the progress of the new city project, material consumption, and population dynamics.

Tieshan added a few details regarding the construction.

Minister Wang Fugui wiped his face clean and began to report the accounts.

Nuan Nuan sat in the corner taking notes, as meticulous as ever.

Everything returned to normal, as if the City Lord had never left.

Lei Lie left first to patrol the city.

Tieshan left, saying there was still work at the construction site.

Minister Wang Fugui left, saying the inventory needed to be checked.

Wan'er left, leaving behind a stack of organized documents. After finishing her notes, Nuan Nuan also retreated.

In the end, only Strategist Zhu Ge remained.

His wheelchair did not move, stopping in the middle of the Council Hall.

Zhou Yun sat in the main seat, flipping through the documents Wan'er had left, noticing from the corner of his eye that he hadn't left yet.

"Is there anything else?"

Strategist Zhu Ge pushed his wheelchair forward a little.

"Two things." His voice was as steady as usual, with no discernible emotional fluctuation, "First—after Old Dao led five hundred men to intercept the beast tide, they did not return to the city."

After a few seconds of silence, Zhou Yun nodded without comment.

"Second." Strategist Zhu Ge looked up at Zhou Yun. "The deadline for the declaration of war has six days remaining."

The next day.

Tieshan came to find Zhou Yun only after eating breakfast, but judging by his restless appearance, he had likely woken up before dawn.

"City Lord, the new city side... is almost finished." He stood at the door of the study, rubbing his hands, his voice lowered very much as if afraid of disturbing something, "It just lacks the final brick. Everyone's intention is to invite you over to personally..."

He paused, scratching the back of his head.

Zhou Yun put down the document in his hand and smiled: "Personally what with it?"

"It's, it's just to place it." Tieshan held it in for a long time, his face turning bright red, "Everyone said, this last brick must be placed by the City Lord. I also think... it is only right."

When he said the three words "it is only right," his voice suddenly became heavy, and his eye sockets turned red.

This old craftsman, who never hesitated to yell at people on the construction site, looked like a student handing in homework, his tension revealing a clumsy solemnity.

Zhou Yun looked at him and nodded: "Let's go."

It is not far from Flower City to the new city, a walk of less than half an hour.

Before Zhou Yun had even reached the city gate, he could already see people.

Not in twos and threes, but a dark, dense mass.

On the city walls of the new city, at the city gate, and even on the open ground at the foot of the city wall, it was full of people.

There were craftsmen wearing coarse short hemp clothes, Professionals who had just taken off their patrol armor, women holding children, and old people leaning on canes.

Seeing Zhou Yun's figure appear at the end of the road, the crowd was quiet for a moment, then boiled over like boiling water. Some waved, some shouted "The City Lord is here," while more people simply stood on tiptoe to look over, their expressions a mix of excitement and nervousness.

Tieshan walked in front to clear the way, muttering: "Move aside, everyone move aside, the City Lord is coming over—I say, why are you blocking the city gate? Not working early in the morning?"

No one paid attention to him.

Everyone's gaze followed Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun walked up the stone steps along the side of the city wall.