Chapter 2581

The remaining lords were pulled to their feet as well, and then a thunderous round of applause erupted across the entire venue.

Shangguan Ting was genuinely surprised.

Given today's situation, the one ranked after Li Ruanyu should have been the lord whose war merits were second only to Li Ruanyu's.

But how could it be her?

During the evacuation, she had clearly screwed over Yao Feng, and screwed over the entire regiment headquarters along with her—she should have been punished.

Not being punished was already more than good enough, so how could there be a commendation?

Despite her doubts, under the current circumstances she had no choice but to go up on stage.

As Shangguan Ting passed by Yao Feng's seat, she glanced over curiously.

Yao Feng's face was expressionless; she didn't look at her.

Shangguan Ting could only walk up to the stage in a daze amid the applause.

Jiang Chen gestured for everyone to quiet down.

Then he said:

"This evacuation was actually very rushed.

"The direct cause was that the werewolves bypassed the effect of the Truce Talisman and invaded through the spatial rift.

"And River Valley Town was invaded first; the River Valley Corps suffered the heaviest losses.

"When evacuating, although the River Valley Corps successfully made it into the spatial rift, a large number of werewolves were already ambushed there.

"The moment the River Valley Corps entered, they were held up by a werewolf squadron, and then an entire nearby werewolf regiment swarmed in to attack as well.

"The River Valley Corps was in dire peril.

"And at that moment, the other regiments also had to break free from the werewolves' pursuit—there was simply no way, and no spare strength, to support the River Valley Corps.

"The River Valley Corps could only rely on themselves.

"But how could they rely on themselves?

"The River Valley Corps had already suffered heavy losses to begin with, and still had to face an entire werewolf regiment alone—it was simply impossible.

"So they could only flee for their lives individually.

"But the problem was, the werewolves were faster than us, and a large number of lords simply couldn't escape.

"So…they had already resigned themselves to certain death…

"At that time, every clan, every squadron, a great many lords had already linked their territories together.

"Facing the endless sea of werewolves, everyone chose to die together.

"That kind of scene—even though I didn't experience it personally, it's easy to imagine how desperate it was…"

The venue fell silent.

Jiang Chen's few words once again awakened the memories of the River Valley Corps.

Although they had already escaped, those lords still felt a tightness in their chests, unable to catch their breath.

What awaited them back then was almost always the annihilation of their entire clan.

The lords of the other regiments could also imagine the situation at the time.

Quite a few lords turned their heads to look toward the River Valley Corps's position.

Jiang Chen continued:

"Those who could escape were all high-level lords.

"But the problem is…some lords who could have escaped were unwilling to abandon their families, and in the end stayed behind entirely.

"Captain Shangguan was at the River Valley Corps at the time.

"Everyone should know about the Phantom Squadron she led—it's known for its speed, so they evacuated out very quickly.

"But when she discovered that several other squadrons were about to have their entire clans wiped out…she charged back in.

"Braving the danger, she returned alone, single-handedly going to rescue the lords of the River Valley Corps…"

Before Jiang Chen could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a sharp cry.

"Thank you, Captain Shangguan!"

The voice was high-pitched, extremely jarring in the silent venue.

Just as the lords were about to turn and look, a second voice rang out.

"Thank you, Captain Shangguan, for risking your life to come back!"

After the second voice, cries of gratitude rang out from all directions without stopping.

"Thank you, Captain Shangguan. If it weren't for Captain Shangguan, I wouldn't have made it out."

"That's right, thank you, Captain Shangguan. Otherwise, my whole family would have died over there."

"It was truly desperate back then. When Captain Shangguan came back, I really couldn't believe it. At that time, only she could have broken through, and she managed to bring our family's younger generation out."

"Yes, yes. Even if she couldn't bring them out, I'm still grateful to her!"

"Thank you, Captain Shangguan. If it weren't for Captain Shangguan, my entire territory would already have become werewolf food."

"Thank you…"

Cries of gratitude rose one after another.

Shangguan Ting, who was usually composed and proud, was actually a little moved at this moment.

She had indeed been impulsive back then.

But it wasn't entirely impulse.

After all, she too came from a clan.

A vast noble clan.

But…

was also wiped out.

As for the clan massacre…

She had experienced it firsthand.

That feeling of despair… she could recall it vividly.

So back then, she truly hadn't acted on impulse.

She had only wanted to rescue some people, to preserve a spark for those clans.

So she rushed out without a second thought.

She never expected that so many people would now be thanking her.

Shangguan Ting didn't know what to say.

She stood there in a daze, listening to the words of thanks from below, her heart in complete turmoil.

She was very unaccustomed to this kind of situation.

She was, for once, a little nervous.

When nervous, she would look at the person she trusted most.

So her gaze also turned to Zhao Chi.

There was even a hint of pleading for help in her eyes.

Zhao Chi simply raised his thumb.

No words were needed; the gesture alone was enough.

Su Qin, seeing what Zhao Chi did, also raised her thumb.

Xiang Yuan beside her didn't know why Su Qin was doing this, but since Su Qin, as the captain, had done it, Xiang Yuan also raised her thumb.

Seeing this, Geng Zhan and Fu Yi likewise raised their thumbs.

The lords of the River Valley Corps sitting in the back, seeing this, also raised their thumbs one after another.

The members of the Phantom Squadron beside them realized they had fallen behind, and all stuck out both thumbs.

And so, the entire venue was filled with thumbs held high.

The scene was a little absurd.

A little comical, too.

But no one would think so.

It was all genuine admiration.

Selfish lords were common.

In this world, one did indeed need to be somewhat selfish to live longer.

But even selfish lords knew what was good and what was bad.