Chapter 116: Discussion (II)

In a large conference room in the city government office district, Ren Pingsheng sat at the head of an oval table. On his left were two representatives from the city government, and on his right were two representatives from the military.

In front of the four representatives, there was a stack of materials as thick as the width of three fingers.

Ren Pingsheng’s gaze swept across the room and finally landed on one of the city government representatives, Hong Yi.

Hong Yi was in charge of all the government affairs in East Lake City, including the city’s construction, economic activities, management of the household registry, and so on.

“Let’s hear the report on the losses in East Lake City first.”

Hong Yi had a serious expression as he lowered his head to confirm the exact numbers. He then raised his head and replied, “So far, 63% of the houses in East Lake City have been destroyed. 85% of the factories have been destroyed, and 113,000 people have died. The economic loss is about 500 billion yuan.”

When Ren Pingsheng heard this, his head swayed and he closed his eyes.

When the other three representatives heard this, their hands that were on the table for support went limp and they almost fell onto the table. Each of them took a deep breath to swallow this huge loss.

East Lake City had a population of nearly a million people, and more than a tenth of them had died in this battle. Just the population alone would take about five years to recover to its original level. In the meantime, there could not be any more disasters like being invaded by the beast tide.

Most of the houses and factories had also been destroyed. Although they could be rebuilt, it would take at least a few years for them to recover.

It could be said that this air raid had almost completely destroyed the ability of East Lake City to take part in a battle for the next three to five years.

This was the reason why a large number of warriors were stationed in the city all year round. Once the beast tide invaded the city, even if humans finally drove the beast tide out, they would still suffer losses at the level that could destroy the entire city.

A few minutes later, Ren Pingsheng reopened his eyes.

His gaze was soul-stirring, and his body emanated the air of a superior again. It was as if the loss of composure earlier had not happened.

“Report the results of the battle.” His gaze landed on Han Qingshan.

Han Qingshan was in charge of the city’s defense, and the city guards and the city patrol were all under his purview.

“Almost half of the alien bird creatures in the flock were killed. 27 of the alien bird creatures that were seven to eight meters long were killed, and two of the alien bird creatures that were more than 10 meters long were killed.

We have tabulated the information of those who have killed the alien bird creatures at least seven to eight meters long. One was killed by Gao Chengliang at the Dewan building… Two were killed by Chen Yiming near the Jinghu district…”

Han Qingshan reported the information.

Ren Pingsheng nodded and memorized the names of the people mentioned.

Next, it was the military representative’s turn to speak.

Xue Haichuan reported the military’s losses.

Most of the soldiers in the military were elites. Not only did they know martial arts, but they also had high-tech weapons. However, they had still lost a third of their men.

After all, when fighting the alien bird creatures head-on in the city, tactics like using a volley of gunfire and firing cannons in formation could not be used because of the need to prevent collateral damage.

The military could only use their numbers to fight the alien bird creatures, causing both sides to suffer heavy losses.

Finally, the main agenda of the meeting was the military’s pursuit of the three birds that were more than 10 meters long.

“Tell me the details of how the masked man killed the two alien bird creatures,” Ren Pingsheng said in a low voice.

“At that time, two-thirds of our military’s warrior realm forces were confronting those two alien bird creatures in the industrial park in the south of the city…” Cao Zhengjun recounted the situation.

Other than the face under the black mask, everything else, including Chen Yiming’s clothes, height, weapon, internal energy attributes, and so on, had been gathered and reported.

“Tell me more about the form of the masked man’s internal force.” Ren Pingsheng waited for Cao Zhengjun to finish before specially mentioning the form of the internal force.

“The intensity of the internal force in the masked man’s body is much stronger than the eight of us. In addition, it shares some similarities with the black flames of the alien bird creatures, and can stay a certain distance away from the surface of his body.”

“How far exactly can it go?”

“It was about two or three meters at the time, but we can’t be sure if it was the masked man’s limit.”

“Can it change into various forms at will?”

“This was not observed.”

Chen Yiming’s internal force, which had been enhanced by the Level-1 Undying Body, was discussed and analyzed by the five people.

The point of discussion was that at the first stage of the warrior realm, no matter how strong one’s internal force was, it was not strong enough to instantly kill alien bird creatures of the same level.

The two military warriors suspected that the masked man was someone who had broken through to the second stage of the warrior realm.

“Alright, this discussion ends here,” Ren Pingsheng concluded. “If the masked man didn’t try to trick you on purpose, then there must be something else that you didn’t notice.

As for why his internal force was visibly more intense, it should be due to his special physique. The masked man has yet to break through to the second stage.”

The military was particular about following orders. Although the two representatives from the military were still suspicious, they forced themselves to stop the discussion.

At this point, the four representatives had concluded their respective reports.

“Sir, may I know the whereabouts of the alien bird creature that is nearly 20 meters long? With that information, it will be easier for me to make the arrangements for the city’s reconstruction,” Hong Yi asked.

“During the air raid yesterday, the overseers from Nightwater City and Yungang City rushed to the Nuhe Mountain Range to monitor that alien bird creature. After seeing them, the alien bird creature did not start a fight. It is still staying in the central region of the mountain range,” Ren Pingsheng replied.

“Then…”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ren Pingsheng interrupted him and continued, “If there are no external reinforcements, the next time the alien bird creatures launch an air raid, the other two overseers and I will still be held back.

After all, humans in the warrior realm cannot fly, while the alien bird creatures can. The three of us can only barely make the alien bird creature hesitate. If there was one less person, the alien bird creature would very likely attack the cities.

The alien bird creature that is nearly 20 meters long corresponds to the second stage of the human warrior realm. If it successfully enters the city, I don’t need to tell you what will happen.”

When the others heard this, the skin on their faces twitched slightly, and their expressions turned ugly.

In the face of an aerial assault, humans were always at an absolute disadvantage. Each alien bird creature could usually hold back several humans of the same level by themselves.

The meeting room was silent for a few minutes before the pain brought about by the previous topic was suppressed.

“Sir, Yue Jingtian from the Yue clan refused the military’s orders when the alien bird creatures attacked the city yesterday. He was guarding his clan and did not come out to help.

The military has decided to convict the Yue clan of treason and punish them as an example to keep the civilian martial arts factions in East Lake City under our control. Please give us your approval,” Cao Zhengjun requested.

Once the crime of treason was determined, not only would the clan head’s lineage be convicted of the crime, but the entire Yue clan in East Lake City would also be convicted.

“How was the performance of the other six martial arts clans in East Lake City during this disaster?” Ren Pingsheng asked.

The Daxia Kingdom had directly appointed the city’s overseers. They usually did not manage the general affairs in the city, and were only involved in making a decision when it came to removing a top faction from the city.

“Although they played some cheap tricks, they were generally obedient and followed the military’s orders,” Cao Zhengjun replied.

“What about the other small and medium-sized martial arts clans?”

“Three of them ran away at the last minute.”

“What about the main large corporation in the city?”

“There’s no problem with the chairman. However, there were more than 10 senior executives who disobeyed orders.”

“What’s the situation with the 13 martial arts schools?”

“They didn’t contribute that much, nor did they do anything wrong.”

In the end, Cao Zhengjun added, “Among the 13 martial arts schools, only the Mantis Snake Sword School encountered some problems. Not long before the alien bird creatures attacked, the next successor of the school, Lin Yixuan, was severely injured by Chen Yiming. This caused us to lose the combat power of a warrior candidate during the alien bird creatures’ attack. Lin Yixuan also died in this incident due to his serious injuries.”

“Chen Yiming? I remember that this guy killed two alien bird creatures that were seven to eight meters long, right?” Ren Pingsheng paid attention to this name for the second time.

“That’s right. He’s very talented. He broke through to the warrior candidate realm after just one year of cultivation,” Cao Zhengjun blurted out the information, not withholding anything.

“A warrior candidate is still nothing much. It’s only worth talking about if he really breaks through to the warrior realm,” Ren Pingsheng interjected.

This name only left a slight impression on him, and he did not concern himself with it. In the eyes of people at the second stage of the warrior realm, warrior candidates were not qualified to be a topic in their discussion.

“Since the overall situation in East Lake City is still stable, there’s no need to convict the whole clan of treason. We can just convict the Yue clan head’s lineage of the crime,” Ren Pingsheng decided.

With just one sentence, the Yue clan was spared from complete annihilation and only the clan head’s lineage was to be punished with death.