Chapter 48: On the Eve of the Great Battle

Of a team of more than a dozen, only Fang Kai survived.

But he had lost an arm forever.

The video came to an end, and Fang Shengli remained silent.

He had already said there would be a chance for them to explain.

Zhang Yu’s forehead was now drenched in sweat as he racked his brain for ways to excuse himself.

After a long silence, he finally began to defend himself.

He decided to employ a strategy of advancing by retreating.

“The primary responsibility for this operation falls on me. I will accept any punishment,” Zhang Yu declared, his words impassioned and his expression sincere, moving many present.

Secretly, he observed the others’ faces and was delighted at what he saw.

“It was my poor command that led to this failure. I am willing to take full responsibility.”

Seeing Zhang Yu’s self-sacrificing display, the others were about to plead for him.

Fang Shengli let out a cold laugh. “Take full responsibility? Can you afford to?”

“These were more than a dozen living souls!”

“They were warriors of Yanhuang City!”

“Is your life worth theirs?”

Sweat streamed down Zhang Yu’s back as he replied in a low voice, “No, I cannot bear that responsibility. But the dead are gone, and those of us left must live in the present and prepare for what is to come.”

Fang Shengli laughed, a rare and genuine laugh, unlike anything anyone had ever seen from him.

“Good! Very good!”

“What do you all think?”

He swept his gaze around the room. No one spoke. They no longer knew what to say, uncertain of the commander’s true intentions.

At this moment, silence was the wisest choice.

Fang Shengli smiled again. “Indeed, everyone makes mistakes. We cannot condemn a man for a single failure.”

Then his expression turned serious. “Very well! Since that’s the case…”

Zhang Yu breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed he had escaped disaster.

“Guards, take him away so he can atone for our fallen brothers!”

Everyone was stunned. This was not how they imagined things would unfold.

Zhang Yu was dumbfounded, crying out, “Why?”

“Why?” Fang Shengli sneered, slamming a stack of documents before him.

“Commander Zhang, no one can deny your contributions to Yanhuang City.”

“But it seems your acting skills are quite remarkable!”

At these words, Zhang Yu felt a chill down his spine.

Without hesitation, he decided to go all out. “Fang Shengli! I’ve known for a long time you didn’t like me. Now is your chance, isn’t it?”

Fang Shengli, furious, laughed. “Dislike you? You, a mere third-rank, think you’re worth my dislike?”

“I’ve survived this far by relying on myself!” He tore open his shirt, revealing a body covered in scars.

He pointed at Zhang Yu, “And you? From the very first day you arrived in this world, you were scheming and tricking others to serve you.”

“But let’s leave that aside. Tell me, how much have you embezzled since you came to Yanhuang City?”

Zhang Yu tried to explain, but Fang Shengli interrupted, “Don’t tell me it was all voluntarily! Shall I bring those people here to confront you?”

Zhang Yu opened his mouth but said nothing.

“Do you know why you must die?” Fang Shengli asked.

Zhang Yu glared at him in hatred.

“Just a few days ago, we received word of your dealings with those vampires.”

“I wondered why people from Yanhuang City had suddenly gone missing. So it was your doing.”

“You used the ‘Demon’ incident as cover for your trade—how seamless!”

“I’d intended to deal with you after the ‘Demon’ incident was resolved.”

“But who could have foreseen this?”

Zhang Yu was utterly defeated. He knew there was no escape.

He went mad, laughing wildly. “Ha! Ha! Why didn’t your useless son die out there? I hope he never wakes up!”

Everyone frowned. It was said that a dying man’s words are true.

But this man was like a vicious dog to the end!

Truly, one never knows another’s heart.

As Zhang Yu continued to curse, Fang Shengli, impatient, had him dragged away.

…

“So delicious! The braised pork is especially fragrant today!”

“Hah, I thought those ‘demons’ would be tough, but we handled them easily, didn’t we?”

“Please, you killed just one ‘demon’ and you’re bragging already? Even the City Lord isn’t boasting.”

“Ha! How could I compare to the City Lord?”

With that, the man stood up, raising his cup. “To the City Lord!”

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

The crowd echoed him. Wang Xiao also rose to return the toast, showing none of the airs of a city lord.

The atmosphere reached a new peak.

Seeing this, many stood up to toast Wang Xiao.

He was about to respond with a single cup, but the crowd jeered, “One cup for each of us!”

Wang Xiao was not one to be pretentious.

Life and death are taken lightly—if you’re not satisfied, fight!

Drink!

By the end of the banquet, little food was eaten, but much wine had been consumed.

But for people of their constitution, this amount of alcohol was nothing.

With just a bit of will, the wine could be expelled from their bodies.

As joy filled the hall, a ‘demon’ not far outside Infinite City smiled mysteriously.

The Crow Demon.

Different from the others, this one could display human-like emotions.

Behind it gathered several hundred regular ‘demons’.

These demons were far more menacing than those encountered the previous night.

“Just wait! Tonight will be my feast!” The Crow Demon’s face twisted with excitement, its mind frenzied.

It could hardly wait to storm into Infinite City and claim the divine blood.

But it restrained itself, knowing this was not yet the right moment—after all, only it could move freely during daylight.

Its plan had long been set.

The demons from last night had all been its pawns, all of them third-rank.

It never expected those useless creatures to do any real harm to Infinite City.

All it wanted was to make Infinite City drop its guard and become overconfident.

That way, obtaining the divine blood would be much easier.

Now, with the plan halfway complete, it only had to wait for nightfall to begin the next phase.

…

Many cities had survived—yes, survived.

No one knew how many lives had been lost just to make it to dawn; people were on the brink of despair.

It was not only human cities; vampires, beastmen, elves—all had suffered attacks from the demons.

The vampires fared best; as long as they had enough blood, they were practically immortal.

Thus, their casualties were the smallest.

The worst was among the beastmen.

Their strength varied greatly—while the strong could easily evade the demons, the weak were doomed.

Fortunately, their cities were populous, so the dead were merely equivalent to the number who would have starved in the past few weeks.

It was a tragic reality, yet there was nothing to be done.

All anyone could do was pray for the demons to leave soon.