Chapter 226: The Scheme

Around the large cart were twenty humanoid creatures resembling mantises; they had two legs, four blade-arms, and were covered in a layer of scales, their gazes cold and icy, radiating a biting murderous aura—at a glance, they were clearly not to be trifled with.

The large cart came to a stop, and the wolf demon raised its head, its brown eyes flickering with the light of intelligence; it sized up the tall walls of Luolong County, the pitch-black cannon muzzles, and the soldiers standing in battle formation on the walls, realizing that the humans in this city were not easy to deal with.

It had already led its subordinate Wild Wolves to attack several human cities and knew that those cannons had immense destructive power, capable of wiping out many of its subordinate Wild Wolves with a single shot; even if it could breach the city, the Wild Wolf army would suffer heavy casualties.

This white-furred wolf demon was named Lang Jiao, a Third Grade High Stage wolf demon; its intelligence was comparable to a human's, and it could already speak, so it stood up and said, "Listen, people on the walls: hand over two thousand humans to be eaten by the Demon Race army, and the others will be spared; otherwise, once the city is breached, everyone will be bitten to death."

Lang Jiao's voice was not loud, yet it seemed to merge with the wind, and even those standing a kilometer away inside Luolong County could hear her words clearly.

"If we hand over two thousand people, the wolf demon won't attack Luolong City. Anyway, we have plenty of refugees here; over a thousand just arrived today. Do you think Lord Meng will hand people over to avoid disaster?"

"I don't know. If I were Lord Meng, I would draft two thousand refugees and hand them over. Anyway, these refugees only just arrived and don't count as Lord Meng's subjects. Handing them over could avert a catastrophe—why not do it?"

"Lord Meng loves his people like his own children. Even if those filthy refugees just arrived, he wouldn't hand them over to be eaten by the Wild Wolves."

"That's not necessarily true. Haven't you seen how many Wild Wolves are under the walls? There must be over ten thousand. And look at the eagles in the sky; this battle won't be easy to fight. If we really fight, we'll likely suffer heavy casualties. It would be better to hand over some refugees so we can all survive."

The people inside the city discussed it in hushed tones; some agreed to hand over two thousand refugees, while others disagreed. The newly arrived refugees were also uneasy, trembling with fear that they would be handed over as food for the beasts.

When the Demon Beasts attacked, everyone in Luolong City—whether they were original city residents, the Salvation Army, or the newly joined refugees—had been of one mind, prepared to join hands to resist the Demon Beast siege together.

However, following that middle-aged man's words, the morale of the people in the city wavered, clearly splitting into several factions: the former city residents were one part, the original Refugee Camp was another, and the newly joined refugees were yet another.

Especially these newly joined refugees; fearing they would be handed over, they gripped their weapons and watched the city residents vigilantly. Clearly, they were not prepared to be captured without a fight; if they were to be handed over to feed the beasts, they would certainly fight to the death.

Meng Yifan keenly sensed the changes in the people within the city and could not help but frown, thinking to himself, "Damn it! Wasn't it said that Demon Beasts are simple-minded and only know how to charge blindly? How have they evolved to start using schemes?"

Lang Jiao's simple sentence had succeeded in sowing discord, plunging the people in the city into chaos, which secretly alarmed Meng Yifan, as he knew the coming battle would be difficult to fight.

Meng Yifan saw the tension in the city; if things continued like this, a brawl might break out within the city before the Demon Beasts even attacked.

Meng Yifan hurriedly stood on high ground, focused his Qi into his dantian, and said in a loud voice, "Everyone, think about it: today a wave of Demon Beasts comes and asks us to hand over two thousand people."

"Tomorrow another wave of Demon Beasts comes and asks us to hand over another two thousand. The day after tomorrow they come again—what do we do? Keep handing people over? Our entire city only has thirty-six thousand people; I fear we wouldn't last half a month before being eaten by the Demon Beasts."

"This is a scheme by the Demon Beasts to sow discord. Do not be fooled; the Demon Beasts just want us to weaken ourselves so they can eat us all without any effort."

"You are all my subjects, and I will never hand you over to feed the beasts. If the Demon Beasts dare to attack the city, we will accompany them to the end and fight them to the death."

"It just so happens we are short on food; these beasts are all plump and sturdy, and one is enough to feed a person for half a month."

"According to our previous drills, take your positions and prepare for battle; let the Demon Beasts know that we humans are not to be trifled with."

Meng Yifan's prestige was high; ever since he took control of Luolong County, he had been trying every possible way to win people's hearts and had truly done many good deeds for the common people, who all trusted him deeply.

Now that he had called out from his high position, everyone was willing to follow his orders, and all stood in battle formation, ready for combat.

Lang Jiao looked at Meng Yifan with some surprise; she hadn't expected this guy to be so eloquent. In a few words, he had broken her scheme. It seemed this guy was not one of the useless fools she had encountered in the previous cities.

"Interesting fellow, let's try again." Lang Jiao waved her right claw, and from behind the Demon Beast army, twenty ox-carts emerged, piled high with grain—the very grain that Liu Sheng and his men had painstakingly transported from Linjiang Prefecture.

"Twenty carts of grain in exchange for one thousand humans. If you exchange, I will lead the Demon Beast army away right now. If you don't, we attack immediately. Human, you had better think clearly; my patience is limited, so don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit."

Luolong City was short on food; if they could obtain these twenty carts of grain, plus the existing stock in the Warehouse, they could survive these three months by being frugal. Meng Yifan very much wanted to obtain this life-saving grain, but asking him to hand over one thousand humans was impossible.

Let alone one thousand people, even for one person, Meng Yifan would not hand them over. The people in the city were all his subjects; they were loyal to him and followed his orders, and at the same time, Meng Yifan had the duty to protect their safety.

"Enough nonsense. If you want to fight, then let's fight! We will accompany you to the end," Meng Yifan said loudly.

Lang Jiao waved her claw and roared, "Attack the city!"

The first to launch an attack were the eagles circling in mid-air; they were like fighter jets, diving down from the sky, their sharp talons flashing with a metallic luster as they clawed fiercely at the defenders on the city walls.

"Fire!" Meng Yifan shouted, and the soldiers on the walls raised the Elm Cannons they had prepared long ago, aiming the muzzles at the eagles descending from the sky.

The Elm Cannons were simple to manufacture, light, and flexible; one person could carry one, and they were loaded with Shrapnel Shells. Once raised, they were used as anti-aircraft guns.

"Boom! Boom!" Over fifty Elm Cannons roared, and dense swarms of thumb-sized iron balls erupted, flying toward the eagles in the sky.