Chapter Ninety-Five: A Night Without Stars

What needed to be stated had been stated, and what needed to be made clear had been made clear. Zhao Nan was not truly so pressed for time that he could not wait a little longer; he had only done it to show these people one thing: he was not a man of boundless patience.

After entering this safe zone, and after what had happened with Di Qiang, Zhao Nan came to feel that if the survivors of Listening Wind City were to summon the courage to challenge the monsters in the center of the plaza, then before victory, what they needed most was not persuasion, but sternness.

They had to be driven to the edge of death, forced to erupt in desperation.

Di Qiang’s corpse had already begun to show signs of melting away. The blood that had flowed from his neck had long since vanished. The life-saving straw on which those who had once been willing to serve him depended had rotted away completely. At this moment, none of the people who had originally stood on Lin Yu’s side voiced any objection; all of them declared their willingness to fight.

Like warriors who had already plucked the fruit of victory, they stood with confidence, their eyes bright as they looked at the people who had lowered their heads in silence. It was the same look those people had once given them, only half a day earlier.

“Make your own choice. I do not speak for anyone else. I speak only for myself. . . . I would rather rely on myself. Going out to farm monsters is far safer than challenging the monsters in the plaza.”

A man who had been sent to negotiate stood up and left at once.

“Think carefully. If we challenge the plaza monsters, we can still contact people from the other safe zones.” Lin Yu frowned and said, “The more hands we have, the better our chances!”

“I’m just a nobody. I only want to survive safely. . . . Or maybe someone could keep me as livestock, and I would not say a word. Or if you have some way to guarantee my safety, then I absolutely will not consider challenging the monsters in the plaza.”

Zhao Nan shook his head. “Casualties are inevitable. Do as you please. . . . But let me be blunt: once we succeed, you will share none of the joy of victory, and from then on you will never be able to hold your head up again.”

The man gave a cold laugh. “I hope you succeed, then go on mocking my humble little life! Remember my name: Sun Baoqiang. If you fail, I will be the first to mourn for you!”

With that, Sun Baoqiang pushed past the people blocking the door and disappeared in no time.

After he left, one after another, many others chose to leave as well. By the end, among those who had originally been willing to submit, only a little over a hundred remained.

Counting Lin Yu’s original people, the total number had exceeded three hundred. Most of them were capable of fighting at any time. That counted as a worthwhile gain.

To raise their morale, Zhao Nan then had Gao Mingyang and the others send a large shipment of supplies from East Source City. Among them were quite a few fresh cuts of safe meat. Everyone hurried to light fires and cook, and before long the entire safe zone was thick with fragrance.

This drew quiet glances from many of those who had just left. Unfortunately, Zhao Nan no longer had the slightest intention of recruiting them, and simply pretended not to see.

At the same time, it also proved that Zhao Nan truly could supply abundant resources, and that his efficiency was far beyond what Di Qiang had ever managed.

Elf biscuits were not expensive on the market, but fresh meat was pricey indeed.

By nightfall, Zhao Nan and Lin Yu were alone together in a quiet room. Fiona, at his request, was contacting Gao Mingyang’s side and constantly preparing the supplies for here.

The people in East Source City already understood Zhao Nan’s situation clearly. Hearing that they could help restore the soul crystal of Listening Wind City, they had thrown themselves into the work with all their strength, hoping to reunite sooner.

“Do you know people in any other safe zones? Can you contact them in advance?” Zhao Nan asked, looking out the window.

Outside, the fallen city was bleak and desolate, and only the low growls of monsters could be heard.

In the far-off sky, faint glimmers of light could just barely be made out. Those were the few remaining safe zones.

“Only two that I know well,” Lin Yu said calmly. “Their manpower is roughly the same as ours. They can also communicate with people in other cities, but procurement seems to be rather troublesome. I looked into it, and it seems that once the other cities heard this place had fallen, they raised the price of elf biscuits quite a lot.”

“Exploiting a disaster is hardly surprising.” Zhao Nan nodded. “Because they cannot even guarantee their own supplies, that’s why you chose not to rely on them?”

“Yes. They would certainly prioritize their own original people. If we went there, we would probably be treated with hostility.” Lin Yu sighed. “Actually, if today’s incident had not happened, I would probably have led my people away here after a while, even if we had to endure cold stares. Di Qiang himself was also buying food from other cities at inflated prices. If no one was willing to go out and farm monsters, his funds would have run out sooner or later. By then, without anyone lifting a hand, he would have been devoured alive by the very people he had enslaved.”

Zhao Nan fell silent for a moment, then said, “I can ensure a large supply of materials. Contact the people in those two safe zones for me. Those willing to come can gather here directly. Also, spread the word as much as possible. Through mail, we can save a lot of time.”

“That was exactly what I was thinking.” Lin Yu nodded.

“Also, add one more thing to the message.” Zhao Nan’s expression turned grave. “The monsters in the plaza will keep leveling up as time passes. Roughly one level per month.”

“Really?” Lin Yu was shocked.

“Yes,” Zhao Nan said.

“Then there’s no time to waste. I’ll go at once!” Lin Yu could not sit still any longer and hurried out.

After Lin Yu left, Zhao Nan rose and walked to the window.

Under the night sky, the map of Listening Wind City looked like a vast prison. At this time, who knew how many people were silently staring up at the heavens?

“Even if we have enough people to hold back the mutated elite monsters, how many can actually break through that giant serpent’s defenses. . .”

Zhao Nan could break through. Fiona could too. . . . As for ordinary class players, if their equipment was average, they probably would not even reach that level despite being level twenty-three; at most, they would only be able to force out a single point of damage.

Rubbing his temples, Zhao Nan thought that even if the matter of the assault were set aside for the moment, the problem of coordinating all those gathered here was still a difficult one.

“Who is it?”

In the quiet, Zhao Nan heard footsteps approaching from outside the door. It was not Fiona; the two of them had some mutual awareness, so it absolutely could not be her.

Zhao Nan turned sharply. If someone had come looking for him on business, like Lin Yu and the others, they would normally give a warning.

The moment he turned, Zhao Nan was even ready for battle.

The visitor seemed startled, and stopped short. Zhao Nan made out the figure clearly: it was a woman of fairly pretty appearance.

At this moment she was pressing both hands against her chest, breathing heavily, her curves alluring. She looked at Zhao Nan, her face still pale from the shock.

“Who are you?” Zhao Nan frowned.

The woman drew a deep breath. After steadying herself, she said in a low voice, “Do you need someone to serve you? One bag of biscuits. Just one bag, and I’ll serve you well!”

Zhao Nan narrowed his eyes, and looking past the woman, he clearly saw several faces peering out from the doorway. They were all women, though their looks were somewhat inferior.

“I’m not Di Qiang. If you want food, then join the expedition against the monsters.” Zhao Nan let out a cold snort. “If you have time to scheme about getting food from me some other way, you would be better off going out to farm monsters, improving your own level. You might even survive.”

“Just one bag!” the woman refused to give up. “I can do any position! Look!”

With that, she actually tore open her clothes, revealing a striking figure. Her ample chest swayed in the air, and there was not the slightest trace of shame on her face as she lifted her head and asked, “Well?”

“Nothing much.” Zhao Nan frowned. “Get lost.”

“Are you even a man?” the woman snapped, and in the end could no longer restrain herself from hurling curses.

“Whether he’s a man or not is none of your business.”

A slender figure came striding in on the wind from behind. In the instant the woman turned in surprise, that figure grabbed her arm, raised a hand, and slapped her hard across the face.

“I only need to know that he is a man!”

Fiona had arrived.

The slap had been delivered with tremendous force, and the crisp crack of it rang out like thunder. On the ground, two teeth, stained with blood, were already rolling about before anyone knew when they had fallen.

“Get out of here! Or I’ll kill you!”

Under the icy rebuke that made one’s pores stand on end, the woman clutching her chest covered her face and fled in tears. The women who had been peering from outside the door had vanished long before then.

“How ruthless,” Zhao Nan laughed.

“Of course I have to be ruthless when dealing with vixens.” Fiona wrinkled her nose and said in a strange tone, “Did I come at a bad time?”

“The timing is perfect. How are things on Mingyang’s side?”

“They need some time to prepare the materials.” Fiona shot Zhao Nan a look, then frowned again. “The things you asked for, I feel like there may not be enough, so I doubled the amount. It probably won’t be ready until tomorrow.”

“That doesn’t matter. Grain is not that expensive.” Zhao Nan touched his nose. “Even healing potions and the like are not a big deal. The real trouble is all the items for removing negative status effects.”

“Don’t worry. We’ve already found a lot of ways to increase the production of various medicines.” Fiona said.

Zhao Nan became curious at once. “How so?”

“Students.” Fiona said with a smile that was not quite a smile. “Yuan Xiang has a lot of students. Most of them hardly ever go out to farm monsters, and instead choose to practice secondary professions. Among them are quite a few alchemists. After Teacher Yuan heard that you needed a large quantity of medicine, she immediately began rallying those students to work through the night making all kinds of potions for you. . . . She really is very good to you!”

Zhao Nan rubbed his nose and very directly changed the subject. “The moon is very round tonight.”

“I’m sorry, but you can’t even see the stars tonight.”