Chapter 380: Unexpected Turn! Liu Mengyun

"Didn't expect it to be the emergency squad brothers arriving—why didn't you notify us ahead of time? We weren't prepared at all!"

Upon arriving at the Anlong City military headquarters, Mayor Hu Zhilong came out to greet them personally.

Hu Zhilong was forty-five, slender and short, barely over one meter sixty, with a buzzcut and a beard, his face beaming with smiles.

Strictly speaking, Hu Zhilong could indeed call Su Yang and the others brothers.

Su Yang had read Hu Zhilong's detailed file.

Hu Zhilong was truly born into the urban poor, spending his childhood in the slums of Anlong City.

His father was a vagrant who had a gambling addiction.

Once caught cheating at gambling, he was beaten, and when found, he was already dead in a stinking ditch.

His mother raised Hu Zhilong alone; shortly after he awakened his Beast Tamer talent, his mother died from exhaustion and illness.

After joining the Reclamation Force, Hu Zhilong performed excellently, and at twenty-seven, after becoming a Gold-Rank Beast Tamer, he joined the Changwu City Emergency Squad.

After breaking through to Platinum-Rank Beast Tamer, Hu Zhilong ran for captain of the Tenth Squad.

He was defeated by Shen Yan and was reassigned to Anlong City as mayor.

Reviewing Hu Zhilong's record, he was truly outstanding!

He was one of the quintessential examples of a commoner's rise as a Beast Tamer!

This world was inherently unfair.

The vast majority of commoners never awakened Beast Tamer talent; they could only toil endlessly just to survive.

Even if one awakened Beast Tamer talent, it didn't guarantee success.

Beast Tamers were an extremely resource-intensive profession.

Many commoner-born Beast Tamers signed their first beast with only Bronze-Rank growth potential.

Coupled with a lack of other resources to cultivate their beasts… those lucky enough might, at best, become Silver-Rank Beast Tamers in their lifetime.

Young Beast Tamers from wealthy families, by contrast, often had their first beast with Silver-Rank, Gold-Rank, or even Platinum-Rank growth potential.

Hu Zhilong became a Platinum-Rank Beast Tamer and a city mayor.

All through battlefield combat, accumulating battle merits, step by step, fighting his way up.

"Mayor Hu, we're here on a mission!"

"What mission?"

"Yi Gaojie, step out—don't be afraid!"

Yi Gaojie lowered his head and stepped forward from behind Hao Ren.

He was deeply afraid of Hu Zhilong.

Hu Zhilong asked uncertainly, "Is this Yi Gaojie?"

Su Yang asked, "Mayor Hu knows him?"

"I know him—he recently stole a missing persons file from the City Guard, then vanished!" Hu Zhilong showed no concealment. "I was even considering issuing a warrant for his arrest—never expected you'd find him."

Hu Zhilong's expression was utterly calm.

Su Yang, Hao Ren, and Liu Mengyun had never expected this reaction from Hu Zhilong!

They all sensed trouble.

Could it be… Hu Zhilong was truly innocent?

Su Yang stared at Hu Zhilong and asked, "Then, Mayor Hu, do you know why our emergency squad came here?"

"Surely it's about the missing persons in Anlong City?" Hu Zhilong spoke with deep sorrow. "I bear great responsibility—I failed to recognize the link between the missing persons and the Black Feather Organization. Since receiving the military order, I've begun secretly searching for them!"

Hao Ren glanced at Su Yang; the situation had deviated completely from their expectations.

Su Yang took a deep breath: "Mayor Hu, when you reported the missing persons to the military, how did you report them?"

"Of course truthfully!" Hu Zhilong replied calmly. "Based on Anlong City's age distribution of missing persons, the Black Feather Organization likely has a breeding site here for the Azure Jade Butterfly."

Hao Ren and Liu Mengyun froze upon hearing Hu Zhilong's answer.

"But the report we received from the Southwest Military Department was completely different… Anlong City's official report stated: missing persons ratio normal, concentrated among children; investigation found no trace of the Black Feather Organization!"

Hu Zhilong exclaimed in shock: "Not like that? How is that possible? I personally signed that document!"

Hao Ren suggested a possibility: "Could the document have been swapped?"

Liu Mengyun stepped forward and said: "That's entirely possible."

Su Yang gave Liu Mengyun a silent glance, then nodded: "Mayor Hu, can you immediately locate the person who delivered the document?"

Hu Zhilong angrily said: "Fine, I'll send someone to bring him here right away!"

At that moment, Liu Mengyun stepped forward and asked: "By the way, my lord, has Anlong City truly located the Black Feather Organization's breeding site for the Azure Jade Butterfly?"

Hu Zhilong glanced at Liu Mengyun's junior lieutenant rank, then at Su Yang.

Seeing that Colonel Su Yang said nothing—as if tacitly approving the junior lieutenant's question—

Hu Zhilong's expression darkened at being questioned by a junior lieutenant.

Still, he answered: "We just found it—not long ago. We haven't moved yet."

"How many troops will Mayor Hu send?"

"Ten Gold-Rank Beast Tamers, thirty Silver-Rank Beast Tamers—should be sufficient."

"No!" Liu Mengyun declared loudly. "Our Fourteenth Emergency Squad must participate in eliminating the Black Feather Organization! We came here specifically for this mission!"

Hu Zhilong forced down his anger: "Of course the Emergency Squad may participate!"

If this issue had been raised by Su Yang, he would never have been angry.

But coming from this junior lieutenant woman, it was suspicious.

Hu Zhilong had heard of Su Yang's reputation: top ranker in the Southwest Competition, the Southwest's greatest Beast Tamer prodigy.

He also knew Su Yang was the current captain of the Fourteenth Squad, highly valued by the Southwest Military Department.

He had originally thought that someone worthy of the Southern Military Department's attention and cultivation would be a precocious youth!

Words cannot match the reality of meeting in person!

Hu Zhilong never expected that Su Yang not only hired a beautiful woman as his aide, but also indulged her so freely!

He, Hu Zhilong, was at least a Major, holding the same rank as Su Yang!

Even if that woman was a Platinum-Level Yushoushi, so what?

Wasn't he one too?

In the military, what matters most is battlefield merit and military rank!

As long as one has sufficient battlefield merit, the Southern Military Department will grant a rank—even if it carries no real authority, only benefits!

Unknown to him, Liu Mengyun pressed further: "Mayor Hu, wouldn't sending only ten Gold-Level Yushoushi from Anlong City be too few? Could you summon every Gold-Level Yushoushi available within Anlong City?"

"Your Fourteenth Emergency Unit should have plenty of Gold-Level Yushoushi—just hiding in the city as members of the Black Feather Organization!" Hu Zhilong said to Su Yang, "Isn't this a bit of an overreaction?"

Liu Mengyun was about to speak, but Su Yang raised his hand to stop her.

"It's like this, Mayor Hu," Su Yang said in a heavy tone, "before your arrival, four other cities in the southwest had already detected traces of the Black Feather Organization, and their mayors had dispatched troops to eliminate them. Everything was progressing smoothly—until Zongyong City encountered trouble. The Black Feather Organization hidden there was extremely powerful; the mayor of Zongyong City and over a dozen Gold-Level Yushoushi were killed, and the Black Feather Organization escaped successfully!"

ps: I spent nearly four hours receiving IV fluids in the hospital—you probably don't understand the agony of realizing your phone is about to die while lying there, too afraid to sleep…