76: Are you trying to steal my person?

The next day, the first rays of morning sunlight shone down, waking Xie Ning from his slumber.

He checked the time and saw many unread messages and missed calls on his phone; it took him a moment to process it.

"I guess I really was too tired; I just collapsed and fell asleep," Xie Ning said with a bitter smile, looking at the Supersonic Mantis standing motionlessly nearby. "Thank you for your hard work, keeping watch for me again."

Supersonic Mantis: "We are partners."

Xie Ning smiled and patted its body, but he couldn't help himself and gently touched the broken Golden Horn on its forehead.

Yesterday's battle with the Fallen Demon Tamer in the forest outside the North City Gate was the most thrilling and helpless battle Xie Ning had faced so far. Because of it, Xie Ning realized the difference between Bronze Rank and Gold Rank.

In this battle, if not for the Supersonic Mantis's rescues at several critical moments, he might have already become a cold corpse.

But also because of this battle, the Supersonic Mantis was the most severely injured. The most serious injury was the breaking of its Golden Horn; even after using a whole bottle of intermediate energy potion to recover from its injuries, the Golden Horn still hadn't grown back.

The Golden Horn was nearly its strongest weapon in battle and also the control device for it to activate Sound Kill. Now that it was broken, its strength was greatly diminished.

Xie Ning stroked its head and said softly, "Don't worry, I will help you become stronger."

The Supersonic Mantis nodded.

Afterward, Xie Ning looked at his disheveled appearance, gave a bitter smile, took some clean clothes from his room, and ran into the bathroom.

After a quick shower, Xie Ning picked up his phone. He first replied to messages from Lu Bingyun, Xiaoya, Lan Yu, and others, then picked a few important ones from the dense messages and missed calls to call back.

As soon as the principal's call went through, he was greeted with a flurry of concern about his injuries. Xie Ning replied briefly and then received some definite news from the principal.

Because the third subject of the Secret Realm Trial was disrupted by the Fallen Demon Tamer, the Monster Taming Alliance would provide additional comprehensive scores based on the overall performance of this operation, including Secret Realm performance, anti-Fallen Demon Tamer actions, and the city defense battle.

Hearing this news, Xie Ning also breathed a slight sigh of relief.

After a brief chat, Xie Ning hung up the phone.

Then, he called Lin Yangqiu, Bian Hu, and the Garrison Commander one by one.

Lin Yangqiu had known since last night that the Mo Sisters were safe and sound. Calling Xie Ning now was more about praising his actions. In President Lin's view, using one Li Zhi to trade for the freedom of two Breeders was the most worthwhile deal.

Of course, more importantly, these two Breeders were very dear to him.

The call back to Bian Hu didn't go through; he seemed to be busy.

Although Flower City had defeated the Fallen Demon Tamer and the beast tide's attack, every large-scale beast tide siege caused great damage to the city. The City Defense Bureau would be busy repairing the city walls and maintaining public order for a long time to come.

Finally, it was the Garrison Commander's call.

Xie Ning was holding his phone, about to dial, when it rang first. It was the Garrison Commander, Lu Yimin.

"Good morning, Uncle Lu~"

Lu Yimin's hearty laughter came from the other end, followed by, "Good morning. From your voice, it seems Young Friend Xie has recovered quite well. In that case, come to the Garrison Headquarters first; everyone is waiting for you here."

"Okay, I'll be right over."

After speaking, Xie Ning looked at the Mo Sisters' tightly closed door, ate something simple, then withdrew the Supersonic Mantis and summoned the Poison Flame White Wolf to head toward the Garrison Headquarters.

After a day of fighting and several activations of its potential, the Poison Flame White Wolf had unknowingly leveled up, reaching Bronze Rank 4.

On the way to the Garrison Headquarters, many pedestrians saw Xie Ning and cheered and shouted, giving him a start.

Seeing the crowd growing, Xie Ning quickly urged the Poison Flame White Wolf to speed up and escape.

On the way to the Garrison Headquarters, this kind of welcome frequently occurred, leaving Xie Ning somewhat bewildered. He could only nod in acknowledgment while hurrying to slip away.

Arriving at the Garrison Headquarters, he was led into the office by a Soldier.

As soon as he pushed open the door, everyone's eyes turned toward him.

The Flower City Garrison Commander, General Bian Hu of the City Defense Force, Yan Ruyu of Lingnan Academy, and others were all there, along with a few strangers.

"Young Friend Xie is here! Please sit, please sit. We were just waiting for you."

The Garrison Commander invited Xie Ning to sit, and others looked at him with curiosity or admiration.

Xie Ning greeted everyone and found a seat. Then he heard the Garrison Commander say, "The main reason I called you here today is to have you report on the specific situation yesterday."

Xie Ning nodded, not feeling surprised.

Then, Xie Ning took out his Recorder and handed it to General Bian Hu. After Bian Hu performed some operations, the images inside the Recorder were displayed.

Accompanied by the fast-forwarding images, Xie Ning briefly recounted everything he had done and seen yesterday.

When they heard that Xie Ning and the others had joined forces to kill a Silver Rank 7 Earth-Splitting Beast, everyone looked surprised. Hearing that the Lame Wang Jin led the Fallen Demon Tamers to appear and revealed the secrets of Qingyun Town from years ago, everyone was shocked and angry. Afterward, when Xie Ning fought Wang Jin and barely won, just watching the images was heart-wrenching. Then, when he saved the Soldiers and gathered three thousand examinees to fight their way out of the Secret Realm, everyone was completely stunned.

If before it was just strong individual combat awareness, this feat of being able to Command thousands with a single call was the charm of a leader or a general, and Xie Ning was still just an 18-year-old kid.

Afterward, the scene of Xie Ning returning to Flower City first, appearing with Li Zhi, and turning the tide of the battle earned great praise from everyone. Then, relying on the Wind-Listening Rabbit to find and destroy the Signal Jamming Device, finding the Magic Sound Brain Worm's location and successfully capturing it, and standing firm against Gold Rank pressure without backing down... As this series of records was played and recounted by Xie Ning, everyone's expressions changed.

If before they just wanted to understand the process in more detail, at this moment, they were truly won over by the feats of an 18-year-old youth.

Within the Bronze Rank, reversing a Gold Rank battlefield; by his own power, saving the city from crisis.

At this moment, Xie Ning first showed his brilliance, shocking the souls of the many powerhouses.

Just then, the seemingly most steady and calm General Bian Hu suddenly walked over and, using his remaining left arm, put it on Xie Ning's shoulder. "Xie Ning, your Command ability is quite good; I think highly of you. Why don't you stay in the City Defense Bureau? I'll give you a Captain position!"

As the words fell, Xie Ning's eyes widened, and he looked at General Bian Hu in disbelief.

Not just him, the Garrison Commander and others were also surprised. After all, General Bian Hu, in their impression, was someone who had walked through battlefields and crawled through mountains of corpses and seas of blood; he should have been the most steady person present. Unexpectedly... The only one who didn't show surprise was Yan Ruyu. She only said one sentence:

"Are you competing with me for him?"

A cold sword was gently placed against Bian Hu's neck.