Chapter 927: Long Time No See

The noisy laughter was suppressed.

The town mayor looked at the expressionless Lin An, and upon seeing no sign of resentment, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Indeed, it was just as he had thought.

That's right.

His request was not excessive, especially since it was for everyone's good; he thought Lin An wouldn't dare to incur public anger and reject him.

Important figures always care about face; if he didn't obtain the mother seed, Lin An would surely have no way to explain himself to his superiors.

Watching the middle-aged woman who fantasized about becoming an Awakened One, the few Awakened Ones behind the mayor suddenly tapped him anxiously.

"Great uncle! We! Our official!!"

Lowering his voice, a physique-type Awakened One swallowed dryly, recalling the scene they had imagined while boasting earlier.

Standing at the front.

The middle-aged man's eyes shifted; he subtly waved his hand behind him, indicating his nephew need not rush—whatever needed to be said would be said.

He simply called out a few more Awakened Ones again, lightly coughing twice:

"Um, General Lin."

"There's another condition... actually, it's not really a condition! It's that we old folks can also fight monsters."

With a smiling face, he vigorously patted his nephew's chest, his expression exaggerated:

"This young man has an excellent physique! He's also an Awakened One!"

"You see, everyone has a heart to serve the nation; why not arrange this kid as a battalion or company commander? Of course, it'd be best if he served as a guard under you! He won't be inferior to other Awakened Ones! I judge his physique at 12 points!"

"Rest assured, he's definitely a fine seedling; if you nurture him carefully, he'll surely help you relieve your worries and solve difficulties!"

"Ordinary people, four or five of them together still can't get close to him!"

As he spoke, he summoned all his own people, praising anyone related by blood, spittle flying:

"General Lin, I know it's dangerous out there! But the people of White Mountain Town aren't the least bit afraid! Feel free to let them serve as squad or company leaders, boldly send them to fight monsters—even if they die on the battlefield, I won't even frown!"

Hearing his great uncle praise him like that, the physique-type middle-aged man first felt overjoyed, grinning widely.

But upon hearing that it would be best to be a guard, his face suddenly fell.

Instinctively, he blurted out:

"Great uncle! I want to be a high official! We hadn't agreed..."

Like him, the others also anxiously wanted to speak.

"What dying on the battlefield? What fighting zombies? What kind of joke is this? We've made such great contributions—why should we go to our deaths?!"

The mayor's face stiffened; he hurriedly grabbed his nephew, repeatedly forcing a smile, looking at his impatient relatives, a flash of anger crossed his eyes.

"This bunch of idiots!"

"Even if the position is small, as long as he has troops under him, what danger could there be!"

He thought it through clearly: if he joined Long An, relying solely on the rewards obtained would surely be insufficient; he must have his own people wielding authority to ensure safety.

Even if he hadn't seen what was happening outside, he understood the importance of military authority.

Thus, after much deliberation, he cut back on many conditions, as if slicing his own flesh.

"Wanting a high office is obviously unrealistic, but asking for a company or battalion commander should be fine."

"Awakened Ones are being snatched up everywhere outside."

"Given the importance of the seed, Lin An surely can only agree."

After the farce ended, seeing Lin An still show no reaction, he felt certain in his heart.

"It seems the first two requests are normal; this important figure also finds it hard to refuse."

After a moment's hesitation, realizing his chance came only once, he licked his lips, touched the mother seed, and planned to ask for some benefits for himself:

"General Lin, the previous conditions, in fact, are also meant to serve the country."

"Let's be frank—this country actually gives personal rewards, right?"

During the pause, Lin An wore a half-smile, observing the mayor as if watching a performance; he slightly tilted his head, signaling the other to continue without beating around the bush.

He actually wanted to see what this lot still intended to do.

"Then I'll just say it straight."

The mayor's eyes flashed with intense greed, his heartbeat even quickening a bit:

"I've heard that some Awakened Ones are very strong, like you."

"Everyone says there's a fruit called spirit‑ability fruit; eating it adds some attribute."

"You see, spirit‑ability fruit and spirit‑ability food are pretty much the same; before you arrived, White Mountain Town had also planted quite a lot."

"If we handed all of it over to Long An, it wouldn't be quite appropriate, would it?"

"We don't want to take advantage of you; how about exchanging... uh, not one jin but ten jin of grain for one fruit?"

As his words fell, Lin An casually glanced at the spirit‑ability crops surrounding White Mountain Town; at a glance, it amounted to no less than several ten thousand jin.

He gave a light chuckle, looking at those eyes, and spoke calmly:

"So, I need to supply you with several thousand spirit‑ability fruits?"

"Ah!"

The middle-aged man's ears perked up with joy, though he feigned alarm, waving his hands repeatedly:

"Don't dare, don't dare!"

"One thousand! One thousand fruits are enough!"

His head spun from the spirit‑ability fruit, the middle-aged man breathed rapidly; having never dealt with Lin An before, he simply assumed Lin An had agreed to his request.

But thinking he'd asked for too much, which might not be good, he still felt the pinch and planned to ask for only 1,000.

Divide it up, and the rest would be enough for his own use.

A brief silence fell.

Yuan Feng beside him snorted coldly, instinctively sending a mental message to Lin An:

"Lord Lin An, you saw that, right? Hehe..."

On the other side, Mo Ling looked at them as if they were mad, gazing at the people whispering to each other, as if the crowd were already distributing.

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she couldn't have imagined anyone could be so stupid.

These people, doesn't anyone know the value of the spirit fruit?

1,000? Even selling the Greater Korean War Zone might not be worth that much!

In the strange atmosphere, before Lin An could speak, the survivors behind the mayor heard the middle-aged man already scheming for his own gain, and the crowd suddenly became restless.

"What about us! What about us!"

"Mayor! If we move to Long An, shouldn't Long An compensate us? In the past, demolitions worked like that: one apartment for two, plus cash!"

"Exactly! Where will we live if we go to Long An? General Lin, you must decide for us—give each person one set… no, two sets of housing! Then just add some equipment, or we won't move!"

"Just having a place to live is fine! General Lin! I also grew grain—you must give me that fruit too!"

"I watered it, that whole large plot is mine, General Lin! You can't just give it to the mayor—I want 100 of them too!"

The crowd erupted, hands raised, everyone chattering,

Driven by emotion, everyone glared resentfully at the mayor, then some fervently surged toward Lin An, frantically reaching out their hands.

As if demanding payment, they bickered seven to eight ways about the rewards they deserved.

"Out of the 1,000, at least 200 are mine! General Lin! I don't want the fruit—just give me a few pieces of the best equipment! I want that… whatever legendary…!"

"Your 200! That plot of yours occupies my land! General Lin, don't listen to his nonsense! I just want the fruit—give them all to me!"

"General, general! I don't want the fruit—I just want a big official position!"

Fervent emotion spread; the mayor, squeezed to the rear of the crowd, looked furious at those clamoring for rewards.

These idiots, don't they know to come one by one!?

He still hasn't finished stating his conditions!

Afraid someone would snatch the rewards first, he, shocked and angry, desperately tried to push through the crowd to get beside Lin An and say more.

However, the next second.

A clear, cold voice rang out across the venue:

"The agreement you made earlier with Long An was stated very clearly."

"Take you out, and the seeds go to Long An."

The chaotic crowd halted abruptly at the sound; in that instant, the bewildered looks on everyone's faces were replaced by anger.

Didn't we already agree to your terms?

This big shot, are you planning to go back on your word!?

Having completely forgotten their earlier fear of the black mist, in their long-held fantasies they had already regarded the mother seed as the capital for wealth and status after leaving.

If the mother seed were exchanged, that's what they said; if Lin An hadn't come, they might really have just wanted to rely on the mother seed's value to beg outside Awakened Ones for rescue.

But once leaving became 'easy as pie,' how could they possibly tolerate getting nothing at all?

His expression startled, the mayor frozen in the crowd instinctively looked up and shouted:

"General Lin! That's not what was said!"

"The mother seed belongs to all of us! We didn't ask for anything else!"

He reached for the mother seed in his pocket, instinctively wanting to rely on his sole capital to threaten.

Like an opened Pandora's box, the middle-aged man who had imagined leaving countless times, now pressed before Lin An, heard that Lin An seemed to disagree with their terms.

His face flushed red, he angrily raised his fist:

"Are you Long An going back on your word!? Want to rob us!? The seeds are ours! Giving nothing is robbery! Either give me the fruit, or destroy the seeds and we'll all starve together!"

"Exactly! You're bandits! You promised us!"

Just as his words fell, the mayor, who shared the same thought, was about to add something when he again heard Lin An's icy voice:

"Hand over the seeds, and I'll take you out; if you want to live well, work for Long An!"

"This is your last chance—hand them over now!"

Stiff in place, hearing Lin An's cold tone, the mayor felt as if struck by a sudden blow, his whole body turning icy.

The other side hadn't agreed to his conditions!

But, holding the mother seed in his pocket, he simply could not let go.

This wasn't just a seed; it was his hope for the future. Put bluntly, he had always been clear: even if Lin An agreed to his terms, he wouldn't surrender the mother seed—he'd just have his trusted people farm the land, otherwise what's the point of dragging so many people along!?

Even if he were dumber, he could see that once he truly handed over the mother seed, he'd have no value at all.

In that instant, the urge to flee arose; he didn't believe Lin An would dare act against him at the cost of destroying the mother seed.

At the same time, the townsfolk who had been making the most noise, like a shattered illusion, looked at Lin An as if he were an enemy:

"Folks! This guy is a con artist! Long An wants to rob us!! They refuse to give us any supplies!"

"Don't be scared, everyone! Let's rush him together—with so many of us, he wouldn't dare strike!"

Passions flared; the crowd, stirred up, could no longer stay rational and burst into curses.

"Return the fruit you owe us!"

"Swindler! You surely swallowed our rewards! We'll sue you!"

"Post it on the channel! Lin An is a swindler! A bandit!"

"Destroy the seeds! Let's all starve together! We're not afraid of him!"

Hearing the crowd's howls like zombies in his ears, Lin An's eyes filled with cold intent.

Although he wasn't exactly a good person, he wasn't about to start by killing people and seizing the seeds.

But looking at the current situation, the other side seems to have him 'figured out'.

The opportunity has already been given.

If that's the case...

"Give me the fruit! Give it back!! I'm going to report you to your superior!"

Face full of anger, he charged through the crowd.

Seeing the middle-aged man who, emboldened by the crowd, had rushed to his front, Lin An expressionlessly raised his hand and pointed:

"Okay, I'll give it to you."

"Whoosh!!"

"Bang!"

A white light flashed; a spiritual energy fruit, bolstered by aura, instantly erupted with ultra-high speed, piercing the man's head.

Blood spattered out, like splashed ink.

In an instant, the charging body suddenly stiffened in place, the tilted upper body still holding its running pose.

"Plunk"

One second later, the body, its brain tissue shattered, fell to the ground like a torn rag.

All was silent; the world seemed to have quieted for a second.

The next moment, the crowd, having come to their senses, gazed in horror at Lin An lowering his arms, trembling all over.

Like being drenched with cold water from above, waves of screams echoed through the town.

"Bang!!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

In the small town enveloped in black mist, streaks of red blood mist swept across, bringing back a long-lost vivid hue.

Standing behind Lin An, Little Mo Ling blinked dazedly.

She hadn't seen it in a long time.

It turned into fireworks.