22: Chapter 22: Tens of thousands of refugees arrived?

But, after realizing this, he actually wasn't angry anymore.

Merchants chase profit; if he didn't provide enough benefits, it was only natural for this group to abandon him.

However...

He looked at Zhou Yun on the city wall and snorted coldly in his heart:

"How long can you provide them with this kind of Spiritual Qi package?"

"When the day comes that you have no more utility value, they will kick you away just the same!"

...

On the city wall.

Zhou Yun took out his phone and glanced at it.

His father, who had been silent, finally replied!

[Old Zhou: Ate, ate. You, the newly appointed City Lord, still have time to worry about me? It's only the second day, don't be negligent, try to hold on for a few more days!]

[Old Zhou: Don't be worse than your old man was back in the day!]

Followed by a meme of a "stick figure beating a dog's head with a stick".

Looking at the message on the screen, Zhou Yun smiled slightly, as if he could see Father Zhou pretending to be strict while actually caring.

His fingers tapped lightly on the screen to reply:

[Zhou Yun: Don't worry, Dad, I will definitely surpass you! And I feel that I can easily get through the novice period! Wait for me to come back and give you a surprise!]

The message was just sent, and the other side replied almost instantly.

[Old Zhou: Don't let it be a shock when the time comes! Fear # Fear #]

Zhou Yun laughed dumbly.

A shock?

Over ten thousand Professionals.

Forty thousand quasi-Professionals who hadn't undergone Awakening but had their physical fitness strengthened.

And the supplies piled full in the space...

"If I can't pass the novice period with this lineup," Zhou Yun put away his phone, shook his head and laughed, "then no one in this world can pass it."

...

On the other side.

Minister Wang Fugui finally left.

Alone, he returned to Flower City in low spirits.

In the Chamber of Commerce hall, other merchants were gathering, drinking and toasting, the atmosphere lively.

Seeing Minister Wang Fugui enter, everyone's eyes lit up, and they swarmed up.

"Yo! The Chairman is back!"

"How was it, how was it? Did you give that ignorant kid a good lesson?"

"Zhou Yun was scared to tears?"

"It didn't really come to a fight, did it?"

"Hahaha! A fight? That Zhou Yun probably got weak in the knees the moment he saw you! Our Chairman brought so many people; even one spit from each of them could drown him!"

...

Everyone laughed loudly, and the hall was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

In their view, with Minister Wang Fugui going out, it was a thunderous method.

What else could Zhou Yun, a greenhorn, do besides kneeling and begging for mercy?

However.

Facing everyone's flattery, Minister Wang Fugui kept a gloomy face, not saying a word.

He walked to the main seat and sat down with a thud, picked up the wine glass on the table, his hand still shaking slightly.

"Hmm?"

Only then did everyone notice something was wrong with the atmosphere.

Someone looked outside the door and asked suspiciously: "Chairman, where are the others? Why did you come back alone?"

"Yeah, what about those forty guards? And the thousands of servants and tenant farmers we sent?"

Minister Wang Fugui slammed the wine glass heavily on the table and replied in a muffled voice: "They are all left there working!"

The hall was quiet for a second.

Immediately after, even more enthusiastic cheers erupted.

"Working?!" A fat merchant slapped his thigh suddenly and realized: "The Chairman is still the one who acts decisively! Directly taking action, forcibly expelling those who drag their feet!"

"That's how it should be!" Another tall and thin man also gave a thumbs up, looking impressed: "Those peasants, who are not conducive to the development of the city, should be expelled early!"

"Unlike that Zhou Yun, who is simply delusional, even removing their metal rings? Even giving them food?"

"I think his brain is flooded, harming others and himself!"

"This is called 'benevolence does not command troops'! Our Chairman still has the methods!"

Listening to these harsh flatteries in his ears, looking at these self-righteous, smug faces, Minister Wang Fugui felt as if a big rock was stuck in his throat.

Forcibly expelling?

He remembered the scene where he begged his subordinates to leave just now, but no one paid him any mind.

Thinking of those peasants who were usually treated like dirt by them, now one by one eating Spiritual Qi rice that was more expensive than gold, holding divine weapons that could buy half of Flower City, their strength advancing by leaps and bounds...

Whose brain was actually flooded?

Who was actually harming others and themselves?

Minister Wang Fugui opened his mouth, unable to say a word.

What else could he say?

Say that he, the Chairman, was actually chased back?

Say that their servants and guards had already rebelled?

He couldn't afford to lose this face!

Just when the members of the Chamber of Commerce were still fawning over Minister Wang Fugui, fantasizing about Zhou Yun being subdued.

"Bang!"

The tightly closed door was suddenly kicked open violently, bringing in a cold wind.

Everyone was startled and turned their heads to look with dissatisfaction.

They saw General Zhang Tie sweating profusely, stumbling in.

As soon as he entered, he knelt on the ground with a thud, shouting with a crying voice:

"Chairman! Gentlemen! Something big is bad!!"

"Outside the East City Gate... a large group of people suddenly arrived outside the East City Gate, they won't listen to advice, they are determined to enter the city!"

"A large group of people?" Minister Wang Fugui heard this, his heart skipped a beat, "Is it refugees driven out by other cities again?"

"That's exactly it!" General Zhang Tie said anxiously: "A dense crowd! There are at least tens of thousands of them!"

Hearing this, the Chamber of Commerce members present suddenly exploded, the flush on their faces instantly turning into disgust.

"Tens of thousands of people?!"

"Just drove away one batch, and another one comes?"

"Why is all the garbage poured into our Flower City?"

...

"Close the city gate! What is there to report?" A pot-bellied merchant threw the wine glass in his hand and said angrily:

"We finally cooperated with the Chairman to drive away the original batch of garbage in the city. How can we let another batch of garbage in?"

Others echoed: "Exactly! Why should our Flower City accept the waste that other cities don't want?"

"Let them get out! Roll as far as they can!"

"If they dare to approach, shoot a few to death, kill the chicken to scare the monkey! Does this kind of thing need to be taught?"

...

Everyone's attitude was surprisingly unanimous.

In their eyes, these refugees were not people at all, but walking plagues, burdens that would lower the grade of Flower City.

"It won't work! Can't drive them away!" General Zhang Tie said: "It's snowing heavily outside, freezing cold. They said they don't want to die outside, they must come in to take shelter!"

"The leader said, if we don't open the gate, they will force their way in!!"

"Force their way in?!" Hearing these words, the Chamber of Commerce members were stunned, then furious.

"Rebellious! A bunch of beggars dare to force their way into the city gate?"

"Is there any law left?"

"Where is the City Guard? Where did Lei Lie die off to?"

...

A fat merchant slammed the table and roared, "Let Lei Lie take people there! Suppress this bunch of rioters for me! Kill whoever dares to break in! I don't believe we can't govern them!"

"Lei Lie is building a city outside the West City Gate with the City Guard!" Minister Wang Fugui gulped down another glass of wine.

As soon as this sentence came out, the whole hall suddenly quieted down.

Everyone's face changed, and their drunkenness faded by more than half.

Right!

Lei Lie and the others had never seen eye to eye with the Chamber of Commerce, and had long since peed in the same pants as Zhou Yun, and were currently outside the West City Gate!

And even if Lei Lie was in the city, they couldn't mobilize them!

But... if Lei Lie didn't handle it, who could?

Tens of thousands of refugees who were about to be driven to desperation were right outside the door, ready to force their way in at any time.

And among their subordinates, there were no troops to send?

"Not good! If the City Guard isn't there, with those few gatekeepers, the city gate might really be broken through!" The fat merchant's cold sweat instantly came down.

Once these tens of thousands of refugees rushed in, without the City Guard to suppress them, they, these filthy rich Chamber of Commerce members, would definitely be the first fat sheep to be slaughtered!

People's drunkenness completely faded, and a panic began to grow in their hearts.

At this moment, they almost subconsciously cast their eyes on Minister Wang Fugui sitting in the main seat.

"Chairman! It's okay! We still have the Chairman!"

Everyone swarmed up eagerly as if they had grabbed a life-saving straw.

"Chairman! Where are the thousands of people you brought? And those forty Black Iron Rank experts?"

"Quick! Quickly let them come back!"

"We can't count on the City Guard, now we can only rely on ourselves!"

"As long as your people come back, this group of refugees is not to be feared at all!"

"If you really let them break in, Flower City will be ruined again!"

...

Looking at those hopeful eyes, Minister Wang Fugui looked up at the sky speechlessly, a deep sense of powerlessness rising in his heart.

I want to too!

I want them back more than you do!

But...

Remembering the scene where he was treated as air by his subordinates just now...

Remembering the Guard Captain's words "If you want to leave, you leave, I'm not leaving"...

Minister Wang Fugui's mouth twitched, and he couldn't say a word.

"What's wrong, Chairman? Speak!"

"Give the order quickly! It's an emergency!"

Facing everyone's urging, Minister Wang Fugui closed his eyes, and two lines of clear tears almost fell.

"I want to too..." His voice was hoarse, with a hint of desperate crying: "But they... are no longer my people now!"

"What?!" Everyone was shocked, before they could ask in detail.

Boom!!!

A thunderous loud noise came from the east, and even the floor of the Chamber of Commerce hall shook.

Hearing the noise, General Zhang Tie felt his legs go weak and collapsed on the ground, "It's over..."

"The city gate... has been broken through!"

...

"Boom—!!"

That loud noise not only shook the Chamber of Commerce hall, but also followed the biting cold wind all the way to the construction site outside the West Gate.

The originally bustling construction site instantly quieted down.

People stopped their movements one after another and turned their heads to look to the east.

There, the originally dark sky was now faintly revealing an ominous firelight, and the black thick smoke was twisting hideously in the snow and wind, like a black Dragon devouring life.

"Something happened." Zhou Yun frowned slightly.

Almost subconsciously, he rolled up the blueprints in his hand and started walking towards the city.

"City Lord! It is not allowed!" A burly figure suddenly took a big step across, bringing a strong wind, and blocked in front of Zhou Yun.

It was Lei Lie.

This City Guard Captain who had just been promoted to Silver Rank now had a kind of almost cold pleasure on his face.

He knelt on one knee, and although his posture was respectful, his body stood firm like an iron tower, blocking the way.

"City Lord, that is the direction of the East Gate! Looking at this movement, it should be that a large number of refugees have forcibly broken into the city!"

He raised his head, his voice loud: "Since the city is broken, it is a chaotic situation! Now the East City District must be in chaos. You are a person of noble status, how can you take risks?"

"Take risks?" Zhou Yun stopped, looked at Lei Lie, his tone calm, "Since I know it is a chaotic situation, as the City Lord, I must go to quell the chaos. Captain Lei, move aside."

"I won't move!" Lei Lie gritted his teeth fiercely, and those eyes that usually obeyed Zhou Yun now flickered with a bit of stubbornness,

"City Lord! You are kind-hearted and can't bear to see the people suffer. But you have to think clearly, who is suffering over there now?"

"It's the Chamber of Commerce! It's that bunch of vampires, Minister Wang Fugui!"

His words, every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying deep hatred,

"You didn't see the way Minister Wang Fugui looked when he left before! But I saw it! He, and the people in their Chamber of Commerce, have always regarded you as an enemy!"

"These starving refugees entering the city will look for these rich families first! This is called evil people being ground by evil people! This is called retribution!"

"Let the refugees teach them a lesson! Wait until the refugees kill and rob that group of unrighteous beasts, it won't be too late for us to clean up the mess!"

Lei Lie's words instantly resonated with everyone around.

Especially those newly awakened Professionals, most of them were suffering people who had been exploited by the Chamber of Commerce, and some were even just saved from the execution line.

Now hearing this, the long-suppressed anger was instantly ignited.

"The Captain is right! Let the refugees clean them up!"

"Those treacherous merchants deserve to die! Why should we save them?"

"Exactly! Just now Minister Wang Fugui scolded us as peasants! Now let him taste the peasants' knives!"

"City Lord, don't go! Let them die!"

...

Public indignation.

Everyone's face was full of the pleasure of revenge. In their simple values, evil people should have evil retribution.

Now that God is using the hands of refugees to punish the wicked, they are too happy to be happy, how could they go to save them?

Looking at these faces flushed with anger, listening to these shouts of killing, Zhou Yun was silent.

But he was not angry, nor did he show a disappointed expression.

He just looked at everyone quietly, his eyes still as peaceful as the ray of warm sun outside the West Gate, without any ripples.

That kind of peace made the originally noisy crowd slowly feel something wrong, and the voices gradually lowered.

Everyone looked at Zhou Yun a little at a loss.

I don't know why, facing these clear eyes that seemed to be able to reflect people's hearts, the burning fire of revenge in their hearts inexplicably felt a trace of... guilty conscience?

"Lei Lie." Zhou Yun spoke softly, his voice not loud, but clearly transmitted into everyone's ears:

"Do you think they deserve to die, right?"

...