69: Chapter 69 Where is everyone?

Of course, this was only on the surface.

In their hearts, they were already surging with excitement!

Before coming here, they had been certain that there would be an intense siege battle!

Although they had a force of five thousand Professionals, after all, they were all on the battlefield for the first time.

Furthermore, their opponent was an E-rank city, and they were the defending side.

If they had to fight a siege, the difficulty would obviously be much higher.

Injuries were certain.

Death was also inevitable.

After all, on the battlefield, blades have no eyes!

But before they came, they had already prepared themselves to die!

This life of theirs was something they had picked up in the first place!

Being able to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives for the City Lord was not something they feared; on the contrary, it gave them a boiling sense of mission!

Until they saw the gates of Han City, they had been preparing themselves exactly like this.

They had even thought about what to shout when dying—'Long live the City Lord!'—and what pose to strike!

But who would have thought...

The City Lord didn't even let them lay siege; he just had them shout a few times, and the gates opened??

That simple?

That easy?

What about the siege battle?

Where was my intense, passionate siege battle?

Where was I supposed to use the poses and lines I had prepared?

Trash!

They looked at the City Guards who had opened the gates of Han City, their eyes showing unconcealed disdain.

Even though these City Guards had proactively opened the gates and made things convenient for them, they felt no gratitude at all.

As City Guards, instead of defending the city to the death, they had opened the gates and surrendered without even engaging in battle?

Such a thing—let alone doing it—they wouldn't even think about it!

Asking themselves and putting themselves in their shoes, if they were the City Guards, even if they encountered an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, they would defend the city to the death until the last drop of blood was shed!

On both sides of the city gate, a dozen or so City Guards of Han City knelt on the ground.

Their weapons were scattered everywhere, and a few of them were trembling like chaff.

The leader, wearing the standard leather armor of a captain, was in his thirties, his face pale, barely maintaining his composure.

"W-we surrendered by opening the city gates voluntarily."

He looked up, his voice weak, "City Lord Zhang Hao heard the city gates and has already fled."

Lei Lie did not reply.

He turned his head to look at Strategist Zhu Ge, who was being pushed in a wheelchair by two soldiers behind him.

Strategist Zhu Ge's expression was calm, and he nodded slightly.

Lei Lie immediately gave the order: "First Battalion, take control of all these people. Confiscate their weapons and detain them separately. Until the City Lord gives further orders, no one is allowed to dispose of them without authorization, but no one is allowed to leave either."

"Yes!"

The order was crisp and decisive.

A hundred elites stepped forward and surrounded the kneeling City Guards.

It was them who opened the city gates, yes.

But this was also Han City's main fighting force at the moment.

Surrender is surrender, but one must still guard against them.

After finishing this, Lei Lie turned to look at the back of the formation.

There was a group of people there who were not quite the same as the other neatly lined-up Professionals.

Their armor was the same, their weapons were the same, but their eyes were different.

Anxious.

Burning.

An eagerness that seemed like it could burn right through a person.

These were three hundred special soldiers.

They were originally people of Han City—among the one thousand refugees forced by City Lord Zhang Hao to poison the water, three hundred met the requirements and were recruited as soldiers, returning with the main army.

They had to fight the battle.

But besides that, they also urgently wanted to reunite with their loved ones.

As they entered Han City, although they didn't say anything due to military discipline, their eyes were already red!

Lei Lie understood their feelings deeply and waved his hand, saying: "Go. Groups of ten, stay safe, and report back immediately if there is any news."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three hundred people immediately dispersed into the streets and alleys of Han City like floodwaters released from a dam.

...

Immediately after, Lei Lie, Strategist Zhu Ge, Wan'er, and the main force followed Zhou Yun directly toward the City Lord's mansion.

Naturally, they did not find City Lord Zhang Hao there.

But Zhou Yun did not care about this.

Since he had arrived, City Lord Zhang Hao's fate was already sealed.

Either he ran fast enough and had already escaped through the other city gate.

Or he was still in the city, just hiding.

If it was the former, given City Lord Zhang Hao's physical condition, leaving the protection of the city and lingering outside for a long time would mean certain death!

And if it was the latter, as long as he was in the city, the 5000 soldiers under his command would soon find him, and it would still be certain death!

Therefore, compared to City Lord Zhang Hao, Zhou Yun was more concerned about those people...

The relatives of those one thousand poisoners.

The elderly, women, and children.

They were the core purpose of his trip.

However—

The results reported back by the three hundred soldiers who had dispersed were disappointing, causing him to frown deeply.

"There is no one at home! My father, my mother, they are all gone!"

"My older sister and younger sister are also gone!"

"I searched all the places they usually go, but I couldn't find them!"

"Could something have happened to them?"

"Father! Mother! Where are you?"

"Grandpa!! Hu'er is here! Hu'er is back! Come out and see Hu'er!!"

...

Watching their anxious and worried expressions, Zhou Yun's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

The families of one thousand refugees, at the very least two or three thousand people.

With so many people, it was impossible for them to vanish into thin air.

Even if they were hiding, it was impossible to hide completely; they would always leave traces.

Unless—

They were simply no longer in the city.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yun's heart sank sharply.

For three years in high school, he knew exactly what kind of person City Lord Zhang Hao was.

Insidious, selfish, and capable of ruthless acts.

Given his personality—driving people out of the city and leaving them to fend for themselves—this was something he would do.

Even, if he felt that these people were a "burden"—

Zhou Yun did not want to continue thinking about it.

"City Lord!"

Just then, a messenger ran over quickly.

"We interrogated a few long-time residents of Han City. They said that about three days ago, a squad of City Guards escorted many people—elderly, women, and children—out of the North City Gate."

"Escorted out of the city?"

Strategist Zhu Ge's expression changed.

"Three days ago." Zhou Yun repeated this time in a low voice.

Three days.

Calculating the time, from when City Lord Zhang Hao arranged for people to poison the water until now, it was exactly three days!

In other words, as soon as he arranged for the poisoning, he immediately expelled the poisoners' relatives from the city!

Upon hearing this news, those three hundred soldiers immediately broke down and cried.

"Ah!! That damned bastard!! He didn't keep his promise!! He didn't keep his promise!!"

"He promised us he would guarantee our families' food and shelter until we returned!!"

"Three days!! My mother is already 73 years old!! She has no one to look after her!! Mother!!! Ah!!!!!!!!"

...

Strategist Zhu Ge said in a deep voice: "We must find them as soon as possible! It's just... after leaving the city, which direction they went, how far they traveled, and whether they encountered any Demonic Beasts in the past few days... these are all unknown."

Lei Lie's fists clenched, cracking audibly: "Three days... two or three thousand people in the wild for three days, mostly the elderly, weak, women, and children, this..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Everyone present understood what he meant.

Zhou Yun was silent for a few seconds.

"Leave the city and search!"

His voice was not loud, but there was no hesitation.

"Lei Lie, arrange the personnel. Leave one thousand men in the city to control the situation in Han City and search for City Lord Zhang Hao. Divide the rest into four groups, set out from the North City Gate, and search separately. Report back immediately as soon as there is any news!"