Chapter 2576

The first ritual held before every grand assembly.

Though this is merely a formality that boosts combat power by not even a hair, it can influence one's state of mind.

Almost every lord has had family, friends, or lovers die in war.

In this one minute, recalling the past and mourning the departed is also a manifestation of experience.

The Heavenly King Army has no such "waste of time" procedures.

"Silence concluded. Everyone, please be seated."

Another round of sounds as people sat down.

Yao Feng said, "Then our grand assembly officially begins today. Please have Regiment Commander Shen summarize this evacuation battle for us first."

Yao Feng nodded to Shen Jiyun below the stage, then walked down.

Shen Jiyun quickly walked onto the stage.

He nodded to all the lords.

Then he began to speak:

"First, I will summarize the situation regarding our evacuation battle.

"Although everyone has experienced it firsthand, we must still be clear about the overall situation.

"From the start of this werewolf invasion until our evacuation to Shubei Town, our White Tiger Regiment lost a total of 2,368 lords during this period.

"This includes all lords who were killed in action, captured, surrendered, or defected.

"The captured lords have already been exchanged for a batch of werewolves, and the remainder are being actively communicated with to be exchanged back as soon as possible.

"But... their combat power can no longer be maintained.

"Therefore, our actual losses remain 2,368 lords.

"This includes two deputy regiment commanders, Fei Jing and Fu Jianxing, as well as 11 chief and deputy chief commanders, and 182 squadron and company commanders.

"Corresponding to these losses are 13 provincial-level lords, 82 prefectural-level lords, 765 county-level lords, and 1,508 town and village-level lords.

"It can be said the losses were devastating."

The losses were indeed not small.

In terms of numbers alone, the loss of over 2,000 lords is truly tragic, and the quality of the lost lords was also very high; the losses of provincial, prefectural, and county-level lords approached 1,000 people.

But given the situation at the time, these were already very acceptable losses.

However, these words certainly cannot be spoken on the stage.

Shen Jiyun continued:

"But we can be grateful that 5,143 lords successfully evacuated.

"Including the people of several towns such as Jiaoya Town, Tongyan Town, and Hegu Town, most also followed us out.

"Among them, our Hegu Squadron, Binghe Squadron, and Tongyan Squadron, totaling over 2,700 people, are temporarily stationed in Shubei Town.

"Another 2,400-plus people are stationed in Xiye Town and Youfeng Town.

"To achieve such a result from an originally dead-end situation, we feel very grateful.

"Here, we must specially commend Squadron Commander Li Ruanyu of the Jinyu Squadron."

Shen Jiyun extended his hand below the stage, directly toward Li Ruanyu's position.

All the lords looked over.

Li Ruanyu did not react much, her expression faint.

After all, she actually felt guilty in her heart.

She knew all the praise should have belonged to Zhao Chi.

But since Zhao Chi was unwilling to reveal his deeds, Li Ruanyu could only step forward on his behalf.

However, thinking that although the deed was not done by her, it was done by her man.

As a wife, accepting honor and gratitude on behalf of her husband is quite reasonable.

Thinking of this, Li Ruanyu's face broke into a smile.

Shen Jiyun said:

"Captain Li Ruanyu provided over 2 million weapons and over 4 million costumes for our entire regiment this time.

"All are Super-Improved grade.

"And all are weapons and costumes that break through attribute levels.

"Especially those costumes; even now, seeing them still makes me feel it is incredible.

"Every lord received one. I believe everyone understands the value and attributes of these costumes and equipment.

"They should have a significant effect on improving everyone's combat power.

"Especially the female lords in the regiment; many were able to hold out until the end against the werewolves' fierce attacks and pursuit thanks to the super-strong attributes of those costumes.

"I dare not say too much, but at least over a hundred female lords survived because of this.

"Their contribution to our entire regiment's combat power is no less than 20%.

"I hope everyone will thank Captain Li Ruanyu for her contribution with warm applause."

Having finished speaking, Shen Jiyun led the applause.

Suddenly, the applause thundered.

Zhao Chi instinctively shrank his neck.

All the lords front, back, left, and right were clapping hard.

Su Qin looked at Zhao Chi with a smile, clapping her hands hard, but her gaze remained fixed on Zhao Chi.

Amidst such intense applause, Li Ruanyu could only stand up.

She turned around and offered a simple bow to the lords behind her in response.

But her response caused the applause to become even more intense.

Various voices of thanks also kept appearing.

"Thank you, Captain Li. With the Speed-Boost Silk Stockings, the werewolves simply couldn't catch up to me!"

"Many thanks, Captain Li. Only with that full set of costumes could I hold out until reinforcements arrived despite the soldiers' rout."

"Alas, I am a man, but after my several personal female guards wore that batch of costumes and equipment, their combat power exploded. They were stronger than my most elite combat units. Otherwise, I would have been ambushed and killed by the reinforcements summoned by the werewolves. It truly saved my life."

"When I moved between trees wearing high heels, I never fell once. The terrain adaptability is too strong!"

"Yes, that batch of costumes and equipment was truly too powerful. Unfortunately, after one battle, the equipment's durability is already low. I wonder if Captain Li can make more to sell? But... it should be very expensive, right?"

"Of course it's expensive. Haven't you looked at the stats?"

"Then what should be done?"

"No way... This batch of costumes and equipment I obtained might be more expensive than my entire territory. Unless the World Stone is recovered, it wouldn't be worth that much."

"Is it that exaggerated?"

"Nonsense. Don't you look at the bonus stats... You, a village-level lord, just stop talking and hurry up to clap louder."

"Oh..."

The lords' voices of thanks were drowned out by the applause; even if Li Ruanyu heard them, she couldn't make them out clearly.

But she knew it was all gratitude.

Gratitude for Zhao Chi.

She looked at Zhao Chi with emotion.

Their gazes met instantly.

Zhao Chi smiled at Li Ruanyu, and Li Ruanyu smiled back in response.

After a long while, the applause faded.

Shen Jiyun sighed: "Actually, even I myself received direct support from Captain Li this time. Words of thanks are too cheap, so I won't say much more. Once we wait for the commendation..."

He looked at Jiang Chen below the stage, then stopped.

Shen Jiyun continued:

"Next, let me briefly explain our results from this battle.

"As everyone knows, the werewolves' invasion this time deployed a full three regiments.

"One regiment surrounded Xiyuan County, while another regiment blockaded the area near Xiyuan County, directly trapping several of our friendly regiments in the north.

"This forced our White Tiger Regiment to face an entire werewolf legion alone.

"The werewolf legion's organization was larger than ours, and its combat power was also stronger, basically twice that of ours.

"Moreover, with the help of the central area formation, the werewolves greatly weakened our formation's terrain advantage.

"In addition, many lords within our ranks had already been bought by the werewolves and became werewolf spies. Some of these spies were of quite high rank, already at the level of Deputy Regiment Commander, which further left us in a passive position.