It doesn't matter what the lord is.

After Lid and Felita rode the ice elephant back to Yuxi City, Alayya, He Yue, Fang Shisan and others who had been waiting in Yuxi City for many days finally breathed a sigh of relief. Once the feeling of relief came, everyone suddenly fell into the quagmire of sleepiness, so Lid gave the entire Yuxi City a day off that day. Except for the people from the Anbu and the patrol team who still stayed at key positions, most people went back to sleep for a day.

After learning that the demons would not attack in the short term, the people of Yuxi City, who had been on guard for a long time, all rejoiced and many shed tears. On the one hand, they felt grateful for surviving the disaster, and on the other hand, they felt deeply sad for those soldiers who would never return.

The next day, Lid summoned He Yue, Fang Shisan and Shuang to his room, asked Xi Luo to be on guard outside, and then said to the three of them seriously:

"Don't be afraid of what I'm about to say."

He Yue and the other two looked at each other, and finally He Yue spoke:

"We won't be afraid."

Lid took a deep breath, put his hands on the table, and said:

"I just made a deal with the King of the East, Snake Eye..."

Reed told the three people the details of what happened, but he skipped all the steps of solving the problem with force. He only said that he wanted to summon Snake Eyes. A demon general took him to the royal palace, where he successfully persuaded the King of the East, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Tribe, and reached a deal with him about food. From then on, there was no need to worry about food in Yuxi City for the time being.

"I heard that when we were defending the city, the Internal Affairs Department gathered all the surplus food in the city and made unified arrangements, and wrote IOUs to every household. Now that the war is over, this batch of food must be returned. We will use the money to buy part of it from Yunhai first, and the other part will be supplemented when the first batch of food from the demon tribe arrives. In addition, ask the people how much interest is usually charged for borrowing food, and we will give them double the amount when the time comes."

Lid said it lightly, but He Yue was secretly shocked. However, she was very smart after all. After confirming that there were no omissions in the transaction between Lid and She Tong, she nodded and said:

"This is a good thing. The reason why Yuxi City was able to be defended this time was largely due to the contributions of the people. They should also be rewarded. Otherwise, there won't be so many people willing to help us next time the situation is critical. Six hundred miles of good farmland, half of which is three hundred miles. If we plant our improved crops, the amount of food and grass we get will be very considerable. Giving some of the food to the people can gain their loyalty and confidence. But the problem is..."

Li De seemed to know what He Yue wanted to say and interrupted in advance:

"Don't tell the people about the deal with the demons."

He Yue sighed softly and said:

"But thanks to your bravery in the demon tribe, you were able to earn this deal that is beneficial to both parties. If you make it public, the people will surely be grateful to you, and this loyalty will be easily earned."

Lid smiled and said to her:

"No need. Rather than letting them remember me, I hope they remember the atrocities committed by the demons on this land. Twenty-one years ago, there were still many strong people in this city, but unfortunately they were all killed by the demons. The remaining people have lived in shame for twenty years, and it will not be possible to cheer up in a day or two. This time we held on, which is a huge boost to their morale. We help them overcome this psychological barrier, and they will naturally stand up on their own. There is no soft persimmon in the world that can be bullied by anyone. Everyone has a little blood in their hearts. As long as it can be stimulated, one day, some of them can form an invincible army and rush to the demon territory."

Having said that, Lid picked up the teacup and took a sip, then concluded:

"But people are worried. If they knew that they could make such huge profits by doing business with the demons, the bloodiness in their hearts would be gone. But they don't know that all transactions in the world must be based on the balance of power between the two parties. If the gap between the strong and the weak remains so large, such transactions cannot be maintained for too long. We have used science to develop anti-magic drugs, and the demons can also start with the magic they are good at. Although we don't know how long it will take them, there is no formula in the world that can be kept secret forever. If we can't grow up before they succeed in imitating it, Yuxi City will be in danger again in an instant."

He Yue, Fang Shisan and Shuang all nodded, and Shuang spoke first:

"It's not difficult to keep it secret. I will arrange for people to go to the demon tribe to get the food back, disguised as food merchants to enter Yuxi City, store part of it, and sell the rest elsewhere. Currently, the income of the Northern Industrial Base has not been made public, so 'buying' a large amount of food in one go should not arouse too much suspicion."

He Yue also supported her statement and said:

"Three hundred miles of fertile farmland can feed at least tens of thousands of people, but food must be eaten one bite at a time, and things must be done step by step. Yuxi City cannot consume so much food and grass now. Besides, the production of anti-magic medicine also requires costs. Although the cost is not too high, it is not enough to withstand the large quantity. Selling some of the food and grass can just maintain a balance between income and expenditure."

Fang Shisan closed his eyes, leaned back in his wheelchair, pinched the hem of his clothes with both hands, and said softly:

"With a stable supply of food and grass, we can raise another army. The casualties of Luger's soldiers were not heavy, and the new army can be formed quickly with veterans leading new soldiers. Since the demons don't need us to send people to farm, the recruited soldiers don't need to be fed by the people of Yuxi City, so even if the number of recruits is slightly larger, there is no need to worry about overdrawing the people's strength. The only thing we need to consider is how many people are willing to join the army after this bloody battle."

What Fang Shisan said was probably what everyone present was worried about. Hundreds of soldiers were almost wiped out after holding out outside Yuxi City for a few days, and there were countless casualties in the battle to defend the city. After witnessing such a tragedy, it was unknown how many people would have the courage to pick up weapons and fight the enemy on the battlefield.

Lid glanced at them and found that each of them was in deep thought, but this kind of contemplation was obviously full of happiness and joy. Just like a person who became rich overnight and was struggling with where to spend the money in his pocket, in any case, this potential food and grass could be said to have pulled Yuxi City from the edge of danger and greatly shortened the time for Yuxi City to recover. Otherwise, even if the current team could survive the difficulties, the final result would most likely be self-preservation.

After all, the current situation in the world may not give Yuxi City much time to develop peacefully.

"Gather the people and mobilize them."

Lid said calmly:

"Everyone wants the beauty of the world. But someone has to make sacrifices for those beautiful things."

75. For those who will never come back

Before mobilizing, Lid did another thing first.

After the demons retreated, Fang Shisan immediately sent people out to look for the soldiers' bodies. Unfortunately, not many were found. Most of the soldiers were killed in the surging waves of the demons. Most of the ones that were found were missing arms and legs. Fang Shisan burned them one by one and sent the ashes back to the soldiers' homes.

After Lid learned the names of these soldiers, he sent the list to Liu Shi, who hurriedly made a huge stone tablet and engraved the names and birthdays of all the soldiers on it. Then he set up a spacious memorial hall in Yuxi City and solemnly placed the stone tablet inside.

On that day, many people came spontaneously to check out what was going on, and the area around the memorial was blocked by the crowd.

He Yue did not put on makeup, but simply gathered her hair and sang a song by herself. Her voice echoed in the empty venue, accompanied by the sound of the piano. The opening was full of murderous aura, and the middle part was a tragic performance to the extreme. When she sang the climax of the song "I can't go out and I can't go back, the plain is suddenly and the road is too long", her voice trembled a little, and most of the people listening outside had tears in their eyes.

This song was given to him by Li De. In fact, He Yue is the only one in the world who can sing it so infectiously.

After singing a song, Lid, dressed in white, slowly walked to the stone tablet, stood there for a moment, and then stroked the names on it with his fingers. He pulled out a dagger and suddenly cut his wrist with it, and blood spurted out. Lid threw his hand violently, and blood splashed on the stone tablet, flowing along the smooth stone tablet to the names engraved one by one. The gray-white stone tablet was stained with blood, and many names were dyed bright blood red.

Reed lowered his hand, and the blood continued to fall to the ground.

He turned around and said calmly to the Yuxi City management following behind him:

"When the shame brought by the demons is washed away, this blood will be wiped clean."

After saying that, Lid threw the dagger in front of the stone tablet with a clang, turned around and left, his sleeves hanging down to cover the wound on his wrist, but blood still dripped all the way. Fang Shisan, Bai Huang and others didn't say a word, everyone bowed in front of the stone tablet, and then followed Lid away.

After the bloodstains dried, they looked like blood plum blossoms stretching all the way across the ground.

The next day, when Lid was gathering the people in the central square again, the place was almost packed. This time, when Lid was standing on the high platform, no one below was talking to each other. All eyes were on him. Unexpectedly, Lid did not speak any grandiose words to them. He just said in a deep voice:

"The army of Yuxi City was divided into the east and west this time. None of the soldiers in the west came back alive. Facing the demons that were countless times stronger than themselves, they held on until the very end. If it weren't for them, Yuxi City would never have received reinforcements. We survived, but they stayed there forever."

"I don't know if you have already learned that the defenders in the east are commanded by General Luger from Yuxi City, who guards the four cities of [Demon Suppression], [Iron Wall], [Scorching Sun], and [Apocalypse], but they didn't dare to withdraw to rescue us until the very end! We could have sacrificed fewer people, and more people around you could have survived! Are they cowardly? No, they just can't get away! The demons see our Yuxi City as a springboard to invade humans, and Yuxi City is the front line against the demons. When the battle was stalemate, Lord Yunyang's eldest son Li Yi brought his army and besieged Luger under the city of Apocalypse for a full half month!"

Lid's eyes were as sharp as a knife. He raised his hand high, pointed to the east, and said loudly:

"They want to take advantage of our misfortune and kill us!"

The crowd suddenly became chaotic, everyone was whispering to each other, most of them had angry expressions on their faces, and someone shouted loudly:

"Why are you besieging our city? If you have the guts, go fight the demons!"

This statement quickly gained the approval of others, and protests arose one after another.

"These beasts, so many of us died, but they don't feel sorry for us!"

"Not only did he not help, but he also caused trouble behind the scenes. Is he still a human being?!"

"My son didn't have to die. It was them. It was all because of them--!!"

Reed raised his hand and pressed it down, and the noise of the crowd suddenly became much quieter.

Lid said expressionlessly:

"I believe that most of you are reasonable. But I have also heard a statement that if I had not offended Lord Yunyang and was not sent here to be the city lord, Yuxi City would never have to withstand the attack of the demons on its own. But think about it with your conscience. Twenty-one years ago, I was not yet born. When the demons invaded, did Yunyang give Yuxi City any support? Didn't he just let you fend for yourself while the demons broke into the city, burned, killed, looted, and committed countless unforgivable sins?!"

Lid spoke louder and louder, and suddenly he said loudly to the people below with complicated expressions:

"In the final analysis, this is not my problem, nor is it Yunyang or the royal family's problem. This is your problem!"

"Because you are weak, no one cares about your life or death! Because you are weak, no matter who you are, you will be bullied! Everything you have today will never be secure, because one day you might be robbed and your family will be destroyed! If my Yuxi City takes over half of Yunyang, can the royal family just sit back and watch this large piece of land belong to the demons? If my Yuxi City takes over the whole of Yunyang, it may be possible that I can stop the demons outside the border by myself - just like Lingwu in the north!!"

No one can remain indifferent when being scolded like this.

Anger, grievance, unwillingness...all kinds of emotions mixed together, everyone gritted their teeth and clenched their fists.

Reed slowly calmed his breathing and his voice gradually became deeper.

"So in the days ahead, I will lead you to become stronger. I will make sure that the demons will never covet our Yuxi City again. I will make those murderers kneel before us and kowtow to apologize. I will make them return everything they stole from us, with interest!"

“I will pave the way for you. I will personally point out the direction for you until everyone sees it clearly! As long as you are as united as when you defended the city, grit your teeth and move forward with all your strength, everyone’s life will get better and better. Sooner or later, Yuxi City will no longer have to rely on others for support. Instead, the whole world will remember Yuxi City, and those guys who are now arrogant will watch our faces carefully when they act! I will make the name of Yuxi City heard clearly in heaven and hell, and let the dead people not be bullied even there—”

"Of course, I also know that this is difficult. Perhaps in your eyes, everything is still very far away. But think about it, this day last year, this was just a shaky little town, supported by Fileta alone. Most of you had to abandon your dignity and live hard. From that life to today, it has been less than a year! So you can believe me, it won't be long before no one dares to underestimate my Yuxi City, and no one dares to treat your lives like grass!"

Reed lowered his hands, and a gust of wind blew, lifting his hair and sleeves at the same time.

Lid's voice was a little hoarse:

"The blood debts owed by those guys have been too late for our dead brothers to ask for repayment. We who are still alive must remember this debt and help those brothers to get it back tenfold or a hundredfold in the near future!"

As soon as the words were spoken, there was a roar of applause.

Reed quietly looked at the people who were cheering and waving their arms. He was the only one standing on the podium.

The sunlight was shining brightly, casting a light golden hue on his body.

1. New power, new blood

A whole week has passed since Reed returned to Yuxi City.

The results of the demon invasion this time were not widely spread. The Yunyang Lord blocked the news, and the outside world could only hear rumors. Not only Yunyang, but the royal family was also vague about this matter. In addition, Xi Qin, which had just formed an alliance with the royal family, remained silent, so no one was willing to bring up the issue at this time.

What's more, whether Yuxi City survives or not is an insignificant matter in the eyes of most people.

Lord Yunyang was not that stupid. Although Yunyang had always been laissez-faire towards Yuxi City, the scale of the demon invasion was actually very large this time, and Lord Yunyang secretly assembled an army. However, it was not long before news came out that the demons were besieging Yuxi City but turning a blind eye to other human territories, so the army did not go to the battlefield. Even when Li Yi led his troops to take advantage of the situation to rob, Lord Yunyang did not stop him.

As for the royal family, the king applauded and cheered when he heard that it was Yuxi City that was being beaten. The white-robed minister Wu Mi did submit a memorial, saying that human territory should be [inviolable], but the king directly shot it back. He secretly called Wu Mi over and asked him three questions in a row:

"Among the thirty-six territories, how many are truly loyal to our royal family? What does it matter if a territory that doesn't obey my orders is destroyed? Besides, it's just a small city, so what if it's gone? Don't mention this matter again!"

Wu Mi had no choice. Fortunately, the bounty hunters who made their living by hunting alien races did not belong to any force. After Nanchu's Prince Xiao Hei wrote to him, Wu Mi immediately issued a notice in the name of the Prime Minister's Office and spread the news to all parts of the world. This led to hundreds of bounty hunters rushing to Yuxi City to fight the demons.

After Yuxi City was finally saved, the king immediately claimed the credit for himself, saying that the bounty hunter was sent to the western front by the royal family, and that the city was saved entirely because of his coordination. No one openly opposed this matter, and it was eventually left unresolved.

Only the Lingwu Lord in the north, after receiving the news, first scolded the Yunyang Lord and the King for being "shameless", and then praised Lid for being "not bad". She didn't know that Lid had gone alone to make a deal with the King of the East, Snake Eyes, nor did she know the inside story of the demons invading humans. She just thought that Yuxi City was barely able to hold on with the help of bounty hunters, and felt that it was indeed not bad for a city to hold on for so long.

During this period, Lide actually did not express anything publicly. He only sent a letter to thank the Crown Prince of Nanchu, Xiaohei, and the White-robed Minister, Wumi, and arranged for someone to send some gifts with the letter. The one for the capital was a batch of organic fertilizer, and the one for Xiaohei was a batch of steel. It was a recognized fact that the royal family was short of food and Nanchu was short of steel, so Lide's batch of supplies was naturally what they wanted.

After writing the letter, Li De and He Yue chatted for the whole night.

The matter was raised by He Yue:

"Lied, I've observed that some of the bounty hunters who participated in the defense of the city have already left, and some of them are staying in Yuxi City waiting for the merchants sent by Yunhai because they have too many spoils to take away directly. I think we may be able to think of a way to keep them in Yuxi City during this period of time."

Reed looked very interested in this:

"Oh? But I heard that although these people are powerful, they don't like to be controlled by others. Otherwise, they can just go to a lord and become a guest official. Their lives would probably be much more stable than now. It's probably impossible to lure such people with benefits. Do you have any good ideas?"

He Yue replied:

"I did think of a way, which is to set up a special agency to cooperate with these bounty hunters. After they fight here, they will definitely seize a large amount of materials. I have consulted some bounty hunters, and they usually keep some materials for their own use, and most of them have to be dumped. But there are almost no big cities near the border, and there are not many traveling merchants, so they are also troubled by this. Not only that, most of the current tasks are commissioned to them privately, and the diffusibility of each task is not very strong. I think that if we can set up a special agency, issue tasks to them, and then recycle materials from them, we can attract many bounty hunters to Yuxi City."

Lid nodded, pondered for a moment, and said:

"But they will not obey the orders of Yuxi City..."

“They don’t have to listen.”

He Yue explained patiently:

"These people stay in Yuxi City. They may not obey our orders, but if there is another alien invasion, they will not miss the opportunity to make money. And when they find that they can live a more stable life while retaining their freedom with this organization, they will naturally join the battle to defend Yuxi City. To put it bluntly, as long as these people exist in Yuxi City, regardless of whether they actually obey our orders, the outside world will consider them as the strength of Yuxi City."

Lid asked again:

"Then how can you guarantee that bounty hunters are willing to come to our Yuxi City to accept missions? And how can you guarantee that those who post missions are willing to place the missions in Yuxi City?"

He Yue answered again:

"Because Yuxi City can be said to be the city closest to the demons. In addition, the good trade channel between Yuxi City and Yunhai Territory will also come into play. Also, because we have openly broken up with Yunyang, the Yunyang lord cannot reach our Yuxi City, which means that directly selling materials in Yuxi City can save cumbersome checkpoint fees. We can also make concessions on commercial taxes. In short, they can gain more benefits."

Only then did Reed smile and nodded.

He Yue breathed a sigh of relief, but said with some distress:

"The only difficult problem is the mission problem, which is also an intelligence problem. When this organization was just starting out, basically no one was willing to issue missions to us. And when this organization became popular, other territories could follow our example and provide greater support, and we would not be able to maintain our competitiveness..."

Lid smiled and said:

"You don't have to worry about this."

He waved his hand and said to He Yue lightly:

"When I made the deal with Snake Eyes this time, I asked him to regularly provide intelligence information on the other three demon kings and their followers. Snake Eyes should be able to find out where these demons live and what they are good at. With this information, the bounty hunters' hunting efficiency will be greatly improved, and the mortality rate will drop rapidly. After repeating this several times, they will naturally understand that it is the best choice to accept missions from us."

Lidd paused and added:

"But the name bounty hunter sounds too long, let's call him a hero. Since he dares to fight against the demons and lives a life of blood and sword, this name is the most appropriate. As for the organization... I think we should call it the Hero's Guild."

2. Rewards for you

After He Yue and Li De finished their discussion, they carefully negotiated some specific details. Because it was late at night, He Yue slept in Li De's room. She slept very well, always firmly occupying one side of the bed, neither rolling around nor talking in her sleep, and slept properly all night.

The next day, Li De got up early and was leaning his head to watch He Yue sleeping. As a result, He Yue was also sleeping lightly and woke up in a daze. The two looked at each other, and He Yue suddenly smiled. He stretched out his hand and gently pulled Li De's face. After confirming the familiar touch on his hand, he said softly:

"It's good to be back."

After saying that, he turned over and sat up, stretched, rubbed the messy hair on his forehead, and said to Lid:

"I will make specific plans for the Heroes Guild. After confirming everything is correct, I will teach the people below to execute it. There should be a result within a week. By then, the heroes living in Yuxi City should not have completely left. They will definitely be very interested in something that is closely related to them. I think it is most appropriate to use these heroes for the first round of publicity."

"Then let's arrange it this way. After Snake Eyes sends us the first piece of information, we will intensify our publicity efforts."