Zhong Lingtong would not budge. The old man was at a loss as to what to do.

There were some things he didn't wish to say in Su Ping's presence.

Staying in the Longjiang Base City was tantamount to digging his own grave. The old man was not sure what Su Ping was thinking. The Otherworld Heavenly King was a king among beast kings. Not even legendary battle pet warriors were able to deal with this Heavenly King, let alone Su Ping who was merely a Fate Challenger!

“If that is your choice, I will also stay. I hope I can be of help,” the old man said.

Of course, he was staying to look after Zhong Lingtong

Once the city was breached, he would do anything to forcefully take Zhong Lingtong away, even if that meant he would displease Su Ping. Given Zhong Lingtong's talent, she could become a master trainer with whichever teacher she learned from. She was the future hope for the Zhong family. He could not allow her to lose her life because of Su Ping. Su Ping didn't say a thing. His phone began to ring; it was from the mayor, Xie Jinshui.

“Sir, where are you?” Su Ping asked at once.

“I'm back.” Xie Jinshui sounded unusually calm.

Su Ping was surprised. So fast?

He left last night and came back today?

“How many legendary battle pet warriors are coming?” Su Ping asked. The reply was a few seconds of silence. “Mr. Su, can you come over? I want to have a meeting. There are things that we must speak in person.”

Su Ping suddenly noticed that something was off in Xie Jinshui's tone. His mind was disturbed.

“Sure. I'll go right now,” Su Ping said.

He hung up the call and said to Venerable the Blade and the three from the Zhong family, “I have to tend to something urgent. Make yourselves at home.”

Venerable the Blade looked at Su Ping with a frown. Venerable the Blade had overheard that conversation since Su Ping had not used a sound-proof seal. “Sure. Be careful.”

“Mr. Su, don't worry about us,” the old man from the Zhong family replied.

Su Ping nodded and left his store at once.

He saw that Qin Duhuang and Liu Tianzong were coming out from their buildings across the street as well. They seemed to be taken aback after seeing Su Ping. “Mr. Su, Xie is back.”

“Yes. He called me and told me to go there.”

“Is that so? I'm on my way to his place as well. I asked how many legendary battle pet warriors were coming but he didn't say.” Qin Duhuang's eyebrows were knitted together. Liu Tianzong produced a forced smile. “That guy. Is he trying to prepare a surprise for us?”

Su Ping and Qin Duhuang didn't enjoy that joke. It wasn't funny, at all.

They weren't in the mood to joke around, especially with something so grave.

Xie Jinshui's reaction was strange.

They couldn't help but think of the worst possibility. They wished it wasn't true!

At the city hall.

In a conference room.

Apart from Su Ping, Qin Duhuang, and Liu Tianzong who arrived together, Mu Beihai and Zhou Tianlin were also there. They were tending to some businesses in other places and hurried over after they had received Xie Jinshui's call.

The same group gathered in the conference hall.

“Xie, what is going on? Say something!” The family head of the Ye family, the short-tempered man, was clearly impatient by then.

Xie Jinshui lowered his head. Qin Duhuang looked pale. “Xie, what the heck is going on? Tell us. Are legendary battle pet warriors from the Tower coming here or not?”

That was the question that everyone wanted to ask Xie Jinshui; Qin Duhuang had spoken their mind. They gazed at Xie Jinshui with worry.

Xie Jinshui trembled upon hearing Qin Duhuang's question. Another moment of silence later, Xie Jinshui slowly raised his head, revealing an expression that no word could describe.

Fatigue, disappointment, despair, pain, and guilt.

Everyone's minds were weighed down after seeing that face.

Slowly, Xie Jinshui said, “The Tower said that… the Deep Caves are in a state of emergency and they cannot send anyone to help.” His voice was hoa.r.s.e.

Qin Duhuang and the others turned ghastly pale. They could not?

“Not even one legendary battle pet warrior is coming?” Zhou Tainlin shouted, angry and stunned. “Aren't there dozens of legendary battle pet warriors in the Tower? The Tower usually sends legendary pet warriors to help when a base city is under attack by wild beasts. Why the h.e.l.l not this time?!”

“Are they afraid of the Otherworld Heavenly King?”

Zhou Tianlin had uttered what everyone else was thinking. All of them wanted to ask the same question. Mu Beihai pulled a long face. “Xie, what on earth happened? The base city pays a large amount of tax money to the Tower every year, it is their obligation to help us. We need them now. How come not even one legendary battle pet warrior is coming?”

Qin Duhuang was thinking the same thing. He stared at Xie Jinshui. “Xie, you are fully aware of what kind of situation we are in. The Longjiang Base City is basically doomed if none of the legendary battle pet warriors come. I'm willing to sacrifice my old life for Longjiang, but it's stupid to make sacrifices that can be avoided!”

“Indeed,” the family head of the Ye family added, “Why aren't they coming?”

“Xie, were you not respectful enough?” Liu Tianzong frowned.

Xie Jinshui glared at Liu Tianzong and his lips trembled. “Respect? Would you believe that I asked while on my knees? I knelt in front of them, one by one! Not respectful enough? I don't know what else I could have done. I wasn't asking them. I was begging them piteously!”

Liu Tianzong was speechless and so were the others.

Xie Jinshui got on his knees?

He's not a legendary battle pet warrior but he is at the peak of the t.i.tled rank!

He's a mayor! How could he kneel to anyone?

Even when meeting legendary battle pet warriors, the maximum that etiquette required for a t.i.tled battle pet warrior to do was to bow!

Kneeling! That was not how legendary battle pet warriors should be treated!

Su Ping pulled a long face. He could picture in his mind what it was like when Xie Jinshui was on his knees, pleading.

“Why was it so? Is this about the Deep Caves? I heard that several legendary battle pet warriors died in the Deep Caves. Xie, how many legendary battle pet warriors did you meet in the Tower?” Qin Duhuang questioned.

Xie Jinshui said nothing.

A moment later, he finally found his voice. “I hurried to the Tower overnight and told them all the details. They told me to wait so I did, and I waited… for two hours. They said that their leaders had summoned me so I went. I met the legendary battle pet warrior in charge of the Tower.

“I told him everything. He said that the Deep Caves needed legendary battle pet warriors and that we should take care of the matter by ourselves or evacuate the city before the Otherworld Heavenly King arrived. I said that I couldn't possibly evacuate the entire city with our large population. We would also need protection during the evacuation. I asked for one legendary battle pet warrior to help with the evacuation but I was turned down.

“Then I went to seek legendary battle pet warriors that had once visited the Longjiang Base City or those who had some connections with the base city.

“There were several of them and they turned me down.

“I searched the Tower and I found more than a dozen legendary battle pet warriors, but none of them said yes…”

Xie Jinshui continued after a pause, 'I could tell. They were scared. They were scared of meeting the Otherworld Heavenly King if they came here to help.”

Qin Duhuang was dumbstruck.

Su Ping was, too. But he was also filled with rage.

“I remember a legendary battle pet warrior called the North King. Did you meet him?” Su Ping asked. Xie Jinshui was surprised to find that Su Ping knew a legendary battle pet warrior. He nodded. “I met him and I requested his help, but he said he couldn't come here because he had other a.s.signments.”

Su Ping said nothing.

A ball of fire was burning inside of him.

The other people came back to their senses. Zhou Tianlin bellowed, “You said you begged to more than a dozen legendary battle pet warriors? If they were all there, why would they be afraid of one Heavenly King? The entire trip would have taken them less than one day. They wouldn't have to do much to scare away the wild beasts. Why the h.e.l.l would they not come?”

mo

“Didn't they say that the Deep Caves needed more legendary battle pet warriors? Why did you find more than a dozen legendary battle pet warriors in the Tower then?” Qin Duhuang was confused. He had heard from Qin Shuhai about the Deep Caves and the urgent situation, and the fact that even the Supremacy League had been used as a chance to lure out more legendary battle pet warriors. But Xie Jinshui had met more than a dozen legendary battle pet warriors. Xie Jinshui looked at Qin Duhuang and then at Zhou Tianlin, Mu Beihai and everyone else who were full of wrath. He forced a smile.

He had gone to the Tower and seen the legendary battle pet warriors. He knew more answers.

He had left many things unsaid because it was pointless to bring them up at this time.

He was a grown man, a mayor. He had experienced many things and seen many things, good and bad. He was able to understand the underlying meaning of the refusals.

But what would understanding do to him?

It would merely make him feel even more pain.

“There is one thing they are right about.” Xie Jinshui lowered his voice. “I called you to discuss that matter. Since the legendary battle pet warriors of the Tower are not coming, to protect the Longjiang Base City by relying on ourselves will be practically impossible. So, I'm planning on evacuating the city.”

That was a shocking proposal. Xie Jinshui became calm and his tone was serious. Everyone had noticed that he had been struggling inside before they arrived.

“Evacuating.” The family head of the Ye family's face was clouded. “The underground trains connecting the Longjiang Base City with the other base cities are closed. How do we evacuate? We have a population exceeding twenty million in the base city. Do you understand what that number means? Evacuating the city won't be easy, even with open transportation.” Mu Beihai collected himself and thought quickly. “I think we can call the surrounding base cities and ask them to open up the underground trains again. Also, we don't have to evacuate everyone. We can leave the old, invalid, vulnerable, and those who are terminally ill behind as bait and get the other people out!”

Su Ping could not believe what he had just heard.

The others glared at Mu Beihai in disbelief.

What a cruel proposal!

To leave behind a group of people as bait to distract the wild beasts?

Bait, as in becoming food!

Those people would stay behind to be eaten by the wild beasts. Once full, the wild beasts would no longer be motivated to chase the others!

Theoretically speaking, it was an option. But it was too barbaric!

No one would want to be sacrificed that way!

Who would stay behind to be food for the wild beasts?

Zhou Tianlin and Qin Duhuang remained silent. Their family leader status allowed them to understand that, while heartless, they weren't left with many choices in that kind of situation.

Wars were cruel and heartlessness was a natural result of waging war. When a tiger was chasing, you didn't need to outrun the tiger, you just needed to outrun your companion. That was survival!

Survival itself was a cruel thing.

They were the ones who would determine the life and death of the general public.

Xie Jinshui was still silent. Mu Beihai sounded like a demon. Xie Jinshui's first reaction was to fly into a fit of rage, but that rage had soon disappeared into thin air. He could not scold Mu Beihai. He also understood that to evacuate the entire base city was impossible!

Once they began to run, the wild beasts would run faster!

More people would lose their lives if the people of the Longjiang Base City fled in different directions. After all, beyond the walls was the wild. People would encounter beasts out there as they ran to other base cities. Only a handful of battle pet warriors could survive in the wild and protect themselves. The general public would most certainly be doomed!

Silence prevailed in the conference room for a moment.

Mu Beihai looked at the other's reactions. He knew that his proposal was cruel but he didn't take it back. Such being the case, he was happy to leave. Anyway, the Mu family would be ent.i.tled to leave. The ones who were left behind would be the common men who were without any powers, money, or background.

Xie Jinshui noticed that Su Ping was thinking about something. “Mr. Su, what are your thoughts?” He asked, breaking the silence.

The others turned to Su Ping. Su Ping was too young. Out of instinct, they had ignored Su Ping when they were talking about such a grave matter. He was powerful but that was his sole advantage; he might not be determined or visionary like the family leaders.

Su Ping looked at them. “I won't persuade you to stay if you want to go. But… I won't leave.”

His answer stunned the others into stillness.

They stared at him, showing what they wanted to say on their faces, 'Do you have any idea what you're talking about?!'

Staying?

Is he planning on fighting against the Otherworld Heavenly King?

They would have felt hopeful if some legendary battle pet warriors from the Tower could have supported them. However, the Tower would not send anyone to help them. They were all alone!

Su Ping was powerful, and there was a legendary battle pet warrior in his store. But what would that do?

There were five beast kings!

Su Ping could kill all five beast kings, but what if the five beast kings attacked different fronts?

Su Ping was one man. Even with a legendary battle pet warrior backing him, they would only be able to protect two sides of the base city. Who would guard the other sides?

The base city would be between the hammer and the anvil. Even if the side protected by Su Ping was completely unaffected, what good would that do? The inside of the base city would still be gone!