90: Chapter 90: Don't Let It Down!

Lei Lie puffed out his chest!

"Reporting to City Lord! The troops on all four sides of the city walls have been deployed into position, with guards every three steps and sentries every five! The Professionals at the west city construction site can join the combat formation at any time! This humble general conservatively estimates—even if the scale of the beast tide doubles, Flower City can handle it with ease!"

Zhou Yun smiled and nodded. "With you here, I am at ease."

Lei Lie's eyes flickered slightly, and he responded loudly, "I will definitely not fail the City Lord's trust!"

He watched Zhou Yun walk into the city gate, feeling warmth in his heart.

Evening.

City Lord Mansion.

Zhou Yun sat down at his desk.

On the table still lay those "Human" characters he had written last night.

The ink had dried completely, and the edges of the paper were slightly curled.

He gathered those papers, folded them neatly, and placed them into a drawer.

Then he picked up his phone and took a look.

There were many messages in the class group chat.

Most of them were discussing tomorrow's beast tide.

Some were nervous, some were excited, and some were complaining about insufficient resources.

After scrolling through a few, his gaze stopped.

Someone had specifically tagged him.

"@Zhou Yun, regretting it now? How many people did you lose starting a war with Han City? Once the beast tide comes tomorrow, you'll be the one crying!"

"Hurting the enemy by a thousand while losing eight hundred yourself. This is retribution!"

"I told you not to be impulsive, but young people never listen to advice."

"Heh! This is what you call hurting others without benefiting yourself!"

Zhou Yun looked for two seconds.

Then he exited the class group chat interface.

He wasn't angry.

It was simply that there was nothing to reply to.

He opened his private chat with Father Zhou.

The message he had sent earlier was still there, and Father Zhou hadn't replied yet.

He thought for a moment and sent another one:

"Dad, after tomorrow, I will be able to come home!"

After sending it, he put down his phone, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling in a daze for a while.

Just when he thought there would be no reply tonight, his phone vibrated.

Zhou Yun hurriedly picked up the phone and found that Father Zhou's message only had two lines:

"It's the last day, do not relax."

"Regardless of the outcome, I am proud of you."

Zhou Yun held the phone and looked at it for a long time.

Then he smiled, pressed the phone against his forehead, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Mn."

He replied with one word softly.

Then he blew out the lamp.

The seventh day.

This was the day the beast tide would arrive.

For the citizens of Flower City, this moment was not unfamiliar.

Every seventh day after a new City Lord arrived, the beast tide and the Desolate Tide would arrive as scheduled.

Without needing Lei Lie to remind them, before dawn, everyone had already spontaneously put on their equipment.

On past beast tide days, what filled the city was fear.

The elderly would hide their children in cellars, the hands of young adults holding weapons would tremble, and the whole city was like a snail shrinking into its shell, wishing it could curl up even tighter.

But now?

On the drill ground, over fifty thousand Professionals had finished forming ranks.

The Black Iron Rank Crimson Sets reflected a cold light under the morning sun; looking at it, it was a vast, dark expanse that seemed endless.

No one was trembling.

No one was even nervous.

"Hey! Old Zhao! Let's have a competition this time and see who kills more Demonic Beasts!"

"Just you? Last time you were half a day slower than me moving stones, and you still want to compete with me?"

"Is moving stones the same as killing Demonic Beasts!"

"They both rely on strength, what's different?"

"...You brat, you're doing this on purpose, right!"

A burst of laughter came from the edge of the drill ground.

This kind of conversation was happening simultaneously all over Flower City this morning.

It wasn't optimism forced out, but genuine lack of fear.

Two hundred and ten thousand population, over fifty thousand Professionals, all equipped with Black Iron Rank Crimson Sets, physiques built by eating ten catties of Gold Rank Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat every day, plus the recently promoted "Green Wood Art" throughout the city—

This lineup, placed anywhere in the small cities of the entire City Lord World, was unimaginable!

Because such a lineup, such treatment, it simply shouldn't appear in a small city, and even less so in an F-rank small city!

So when someone shouted, "What is a beast tide? It's nothing but Demonic Beast meat delivered to our door!", what sounded around them wasn't laughter, but a chorus of agreement.

"Right! Kill as many as come!"

"City Lord feeds us meat every day, today we'll also bring back something fresh for the City Lord!"

"You say that as if Demonic Beast meat tastes better than Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig."

"...That's not true. But it's the thought that counts!"

At this point, people laughed again, and the overall atmosphere was nothing but relaxed.

It was truly calm and composed, with plenty of room to spare!

Lei Lie stood on the high platform of the drill ground, looking at the soldiers below, feeling a thousand emotions in his heart.

Seven days ago, more than half of these people were refugees who couldn't even get enough to eat.

Skin and bones, hollow-eyed, unable to even walk steadily.

Seven days.

Only seven days!

Now they stood here, armor neat, spirits high, discussing not whether they could survive the beast tide, but who would kill more!

Lei Lie took a deep breath, suppressed the surge in his heart, and spoke in a deep voice.

"All troops, listen to my command!"

The drill ground instantly went quiet.

The gazes of over fifty thousand people looked in unison toward the high platform.

"Today is the seventh day, the beast tide is coming!" Lei Lie's voice was thick and powerful, penetrating the entire drill ground. "City Lord trusts us and has placed the safety of Flower City in our hands! We—"

He said word by word.

"Must not let him down!"

"Must not let him down!!!"

The expressions of fifty thousand people immediately became extremely solemn, and they roared in unison.

The wave of sound shot into the sky, and even the flags on the city walls were shaken until they snapped in the wind.

The patrolling soldiers on the distant city walls heard this roar and turned their heads one after another to look toward the drill ground.

A young soldier couldn't help but say to his companion nearby, "I really want to go down and join them."

The companion rolled his eyes, "Your post is on the city wall."

"I know! But... what if the beast tide isn't enough to go around? What if it doesn't reach us?"

"? You think it won't reach us?"

"Don't you think so?"

The companion thought for a moment, and actually nodded seriously, "Hiss... that's true!"

Meanwhile, at the City Lord Mansion.

Zhou Yun sat in the main hall, with a topographical map of Flower City spread out in front of him.

Wan'er stood at his left hand side, holding a stack of documents in her hands.

Strategist Zhu Ge's wheelchair was parked on the right side, with a bamboo scroll on his lap.

"The troop deployment is no problem," Wan'er turned a page. "Lei Lie has doubled the manpower on the defense lines of all four city walls, and a reserve force of three thousand has been left at the west city construction site to be mobilized at any time. Provisions, medicinal materials, and arrows are all sufficient."

Zhou Yun nodded.

"Strategist, what is your take?"

Strategist Zhu Ge did not answer immediately.

He lowered his head, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest of his wheelchair.

After a few breaths, he finally spoke, his voice not loud, but very clear.

"The beast tide is not the problem."

Zhou Yun smiled, "Then what is the problem?"

Strategist Zhu Ge raised his head, looking into Zhou Yun's eyes.

"The Desolate Tide."