142: mobilization

Chapter 141: Mobilization

After properly mobilizing the management.

Arthur instructed Flora to gather the other mountain folk to accompany him to mobilize another group of people.

On the way to the west side of Mist Town, Arthur checked today's intelligence.

The intelligence regarding the purchase of land and demigods remained unchanged.

Blue Intelligence (Follow-up): An aberrant zombie has appeared in Horse Tail Village.

Please deal with it before it is discovered by cultists.

Blue Intelligence: In the slums of Mist Town, there are many poor people struggling in hardship.

The power of faith can be used to guide them to join.

Green Intelligence (Enhanced): Night Mist and the Undead will launch an attack tonight.

Jean Candy will personally lead the team; killing him will cause the Undead to fall into an uncontrolled state.

White Intelligence: Olivia, the Vampire Bride, has already noticed you.

She will participate in tonight's Undead invasion.

The situation was not optimistic; everything Arthur had worried about had come to pass.

He had to use every means possible to survive this night.

This was also why his attitude had been so firm just now.

Now, he still needed to win over another group of loyal followers.

In Mist Town, besides the townspeople, there was also a group of pitiable poor people.

They either came from other parts of Qingfeng Valley or were desperate individuals from outside.

These people were the lowest stratum of existence on this land, without dignity, status, or even recognized identity.

But they longed to survive, and that alone was enough.

Barrels of cooking oil were moved from the tavern kitchen to the city wall.

The damaged gates and walls were being hastily repaired.

Wood salvaged from the doors and interior panels of abandoned houses was used to reinforce the weak points of the walls.

The listlessly fluttering flag above Mist Town was taken down and cleaned.

Louis found an old Long Night Alliance flag from somewhere—it bore the insignia of a harp, an iron gauntlet, and an oak tree.

Ismark ordered a log to be cut from one of the few trees outside the city wall to serve as a flagpole.

The repaired flagpole was fixed to the highest point of Mist Town—the Mayor's chimney.

The vitality of the Pioneer Group members was highly infectious.

Soon, the townspeople all gathered in the South District.

They received food, clean clothes, and even decent weapons.

Of course, these things were not given for free; everyone was assigned corresponding tasks.

The Pioneer Group's guards carefully screened those who still had fighting spirit and recruited them into their ranks.

For these seasoned veterans, it was a relatively easy job.

Meanwhile, followers of Mother Earth, like Randel's family, took the opportunity to instill faith in these desperate people and recount Arthur's various miracles.

They, like the guards, sought out suitable candidates, mostly widows, the elderly, women, and children.

On the other side, Jessica patrolled Mist Town, his eyes shining brightly, actively rousing the dispirited residents.

He drove the combat-ready men out of taverns and houses, forcing them to line up and listen to his lecture.

After the lecture, even the most unruly individuals were willing to stand guard on the city wall rather than endure more of his scolding.

Of course, there were also stubborn individuals.

After he finished reprimanding a group of lazy guards, one of them muttered, “If he’s so capable, why doesn’t he go find ‘Idiot’ and his gang?”

Jessica stopped the man and asked, “Hey, clarify what you just said. What about that gang?”

The person questioned clearly hadn't expected his words to be overheard and hesitated, unwilling to step forward.

“You look like a woman,” Jessica said. “Only capable of gossiping behind backs but afraid to admit it.”

At this, the man immediately grew angry and repeated what he had just said.

“Lead the way,” Jessica simply said calmly.

“Wh—what?”

“I said, take me to that group.”

The Idiot gang was in Joshua's trading company.

Although this big fellow was Joshua's nephew, everyone in Mist Town knew he was just a simple-minded fool.

Joshua kept him around merely to project an intimidating presence with his large size.

Therefore, Idiot had not been brought to justice.

A group of Joshua's supporters, who had also escaped reckoning, gathered around him like flies.

Jessica walked through the narrow alley and arrived at the trading company's entrance.

He saw those men sitting at the company's doorway, bottles of wine in hand, all heavily drunk.

The leader of the group was a burly man, seated deepest inside.

Though Jessica couldn't see his face, he could feel the other person scrutinizing him.

He was currently wearing a set of leather armor, with two handy weapons at his waist, and sturdy cowhide boots on his feet.

Over his leather armor, he wore the bear fur coat Arthur had given him.

The man spoke, “The trading company is closed. Get lost, outsiders aren't welcome here.”

Jessica's expression was calm as he placed his hands on his two weapons.

He said, “By the joint command of Mist Town and the Baron, all able-bodied individuals must go to the city wall to stand guard.”

The men burst into laughter. There were five of them, all quite sturdy, at least much stronger than the underfed, listless townspeople.

Jessica judged that at least two of these men knew how to use weapons, while the others at least knew how to throw a punch.

“Are you kidding, outsider?” one of them said with a laugh.

Jessica calmly stated, “Night Mist and the Undead will attack Mist Town tonight. No one here can remain uninvolved.”

“If I were you, outsider, you'd leave before we shove your face into the mud. Look at me.” The leader of the group walked out.

Jessica observed him but couldn't discern anything particular.

The cold sunlight illuminated the burly, pot-bellied man.

His thick, short forearms were covered in tattoos, and his hands were the size and shape of frozen chicken feet, with almost every finger adorned with rings.

But the man's shoulders and face remained hidden in shadow, as if half-covered by a curtain.

Jessica felt as if he were talking to an invisible person.

He heard the man say, “You're not welcome here. Let the Sheriff come tell us himself.”

“I am the new Sheriff,” Jessica replied.

Earlier this morning, he and Arthur had visited Grey together.

At Grey's recommendation, he had been appointed the new Sheriff of Mist Town.

The expressions of those men immediately grew serious.

“Didn't you understand? This is my territory. Don't cause trouble,” the strongman bellowed.

“Get out!” his companions echoed.

“I can't,” Jessica still responded unhurriedly.

The strongman descended the steps and slowly moved closer.

The sunlight first fell on his chest, then moved up to his neck and face.

It was an incredibly ugly face: at first glance, merely unsightly, but upon closer inspection, even more hideously deformed.

His face was covered in straight razor scars, horizontal and vertical, crisscrossing like a windowpane, all deep, white, and old wounds.

His nose bridge had been broken multiple times and never properly set.

There were also scars above his thick eyebrows, and a pair of small eyes glared fiercely at Jessica from beneath them.

He was perhaps forty years old, about five feet ten inches tall, and likely weighed over two hundred pounds.

He looked like a gladiator who had survived twenty years in an arena and never died.