Chapter 411: Do You Want Me to Spell It Out?

"That's right, we witnessed all of this with our own eyes. The President's strength is absolutely among the most formidable of all C-Class Awakened."

"I'm afraid it's already approaching that of a B-Class Awakened."

"With the President holding the fort, if a Beast Tide really does Explode, we might actually have a chance to hold them off."

The few people chimed in one after another, echoing Hai Qiong's sentiments.

Hearing this, the elderly, weak, women, and children in the crowd felt a slight sense of relief; it turned out Hai Qiong already had a countermeasure, and they had been worrying for nothing.

However, some of the young and middle-aged men wore vigilant expressions, their intuition telling them that if things were truly this simple, there would be no need for Hai Qiong to call everyone over.

Sure enough, the words Hai Qiong spoke next confirmed the suspicions in their hearts.

"After our repeated entreaties, that powerhouse is willing to stay and serve as the President of our Association to protect Yongan City. However, he set one condition." Hai Qiong took a deep breath and said slowly: "He hopes to buy back the vacant land in everyone's hands at market price to use for settling people from outside the city."

Hai Qiong's words were like a heavy bomb, stirring up monstrous waves on the already restless lake surface.

"What? He wants to take away the land in our hands?"

"Take our land? That is absolutely out of the question!"

"Don't even think about it! It is absolutely impossible to agree!"

The crowd's emotions were instantly ignited, becoming incredibly agitated; some people stood up directly from their seats, roaring loudly to express their dissatisfaction.

Hai Qiong's brows were tightly knitted together, and he had to shout loudly: "Everyone, calm down first, everyone just calm down!"

It took a great deal of effort for the noise to subside slightly, but the way the crowd looked at Hai Qiong was as if they wanted to slice him into a thousand pieces.

"You might not have understood what I meant." Hai Qiong explained helplessly, "It's not taking everyone's land for nothing, but buying it from your hands according to the market price."

"Buying it is also not okay!"

"That's right, that's my land. Just because he says he wants to buy it, I have to sell it?"

"Exactly, and talking about market price—if I wanted to sell, would I be afraid of not getting the market price? What a joke; even if I doubled or tripled the price, there would still be people scrambling to buy it."

"Hai Qiong, tell that guy to get back to wherever he came from. He just arrived in Yongan City and he's already starting to scheme against us?"

"Tell him to get lost immediately!"

The crowd clamored, everyone talking at once, and the entire hall became a chaotic mess.

Several Awakened watched this chaotic scene, looking at one another with faces full of helplessness.

When they first learned of this matter from Hai Qiong, they had already anticipated that such a situation would arise.

After all, touching interests is much harder than touching the soul, and furthermore, these people were accustomed to arrogance and luxury in their daily lives; how could they easily agree to such a thing?

Several minutes passed, and not only did the crowd show no signs of stopping, but they instead aimed all their hostility at Hai Qiong.

"Hai Qiong, so you called us over just for this? You're a fine one, Hai Qiong, you traitorous thing, actually colluding with outsiders to scheme against us. Are you even human?"

"That's right, Hai Qiong, when Qi Yuangu was here before, how come we didn't see you had such 'ability'? Hmm? Now that Qi Yuangu is missing, you're feeling smug, aren't you? Let me tell you, Qi Yuangu is only missing, not dead. When he returns, you'll get what's coming to you!"

"Hai Qiong, you despicable and shameless villain!"

"Hai Qiong, you only know how to bully us who have no backing. If Brother Fang and the others were still here, would you dare say this to us?"

Hai Qiong's face turned beet red from the insults, and anger surged in his heart.

Although he had long expected that he might be scolded, it still didn't feel good to be pointed at and cursed.

However, he still suppressed the anger in his heart, and only after the crowd had finished scolding and paused slightly, did he say slowly: "Everyone, no matter how you curse me, it cannot change the current reality."

"That person has already become the President of our Association. His words are not only for me to obey, but for everyone in the Association to obey, and the City Lord's Mansion will also cooperate. Of course, every one of you present must also obey. If you don't, the consequences will be very serious."

"Hai Qiong, what do you mean by that? Are you threatening us?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd became furious again. They had thought their tough stance would make Hai Qiong retreat, but they hadn't expected the other party to be even more resolute.

"Sigh." Hai Qiong sighed heavily and said: "Everyone, there are only so many of you, yet you occupy more than half of the land in Yongan City. With this land just sitting there, what practical use can you have for it?"

"I'm happy leaving it there, is that any of your business?"

"Exactly, I'll do whatever I want."

As if he hadn't heard these words, Hai Qiong continued: "The President's meaning is very clear: he hopes you can bring out that land so that people who truly need it can live there."

"And it's not taking it for free; the President will purchase it at market price and also guarantee your safety within Yongan City. Isn't this a good thing?"

"Good my foot! I don't need him to guarantee my safety!"

"That's right, we're living here just fine. Where is this so-called Beast Tide? You surnamed Hai, stop trying to scare us!"

Responding to Hai Qiong was still a burst of intense verbal abuse.

Hai Qiong shook his head helplessly and said: "Everyone, do you really want me to spell it out for you?"

Once these words were spoken, the crowd was startled and fell silent.

"In the past, when the City Lord and the others were here, you could indeed do whatever you wanted. Even if you snatched people off the street in broad daylight, no one dared to say anything to you. But times are different now."

"The City Lord and the others have all passed away, and although President Qi is said to be missing, I'm afraid the outlook is grim. You no longer have any backing now. There is the saying that 'an innocent man is guilty of his crime because he possesses a treasure,' and furthermore, you know yourselves what you have done in the past."

"If others wanted to target you, would they even need to be so circuitous? Never mind the President; even for us, wanting to deal with you would be an easy task, wouldn't it?"

Hearing these words, the faces of everyone in the hall became very ugly.

"So, while the President is giving you this opportunity, everyone should just take the step down. Although the land is gone, you can get a large sum of money. Even if you aren't in Yongan City in the future, you can go to other cities and live without worry. Isn't that good? These are my sincere words, and they are also advice given to you for the sake of our past acquaintance."

After Hai Qiong finished speaking, he sighed deeply again.

To tell the truth, if there were really no other way, he truly would not want to speak to this extent.

After all, even though the crowd's words were so harsh earlier, he had endured it all without losing his temper.

But firstly, the President had already assigned the task, and he had to complete it; and secondly, if the President were to become displeased because of this matter... he simply dared not continue thinking about it.