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Chapter 66 Dragon Knight

Of the three major cities on the rainforest peninsula, if Dragon Valley City is a shamanic holy land and Dragon Peak City is a military fortress, then Dragon Plain City is a trading capital.

This is a city controlled by merchant guilds, situated on the scenic shores of Twin Lakes, and also connecting the Wood Elf Jungle Sea with the Empire's Longwater Province. As a result, many of the city's residents are both Imperials and Wood Elves.

After the refugees arrived in Dragonpeak City, heated arguments broke out within the city council.

The vast majority of parliamentary representatives still did not believe in the existence of the White Walkers, let alone the "Daughter of the Dragon," a saint who only existed in religious texts.

They suspected that the refugees were under some kind of collective illusion, curse, or psychological suggestion.

Of course, if even a high city like Longfeng City can fall, how can Longyuan City, which is surrounded by plains with no natural defenses, have the confidence to protect itself?

Therefore, the chambers of commerce quickly sprang into action, packing up and transporting everything they could carry out of the city. As for the real estate that they couldn't take, they dumped it at rock-bottom prices to deceive smaller chambers of commerce and speculative capital that hadn't yet received the information.

As for organizing the evacuation of citizens? That's out of the question. Saving innocent citizens might earn praise and commendation at best, but it would cost them their own hard-earned money!
To prevent the refugees of Dragonpeak from spreading news of the Others and hindering the plans of various merchant guilds to sell real estate for cash, the city council quickly passed a new resolution unanimously, prohibiting the refugees of Dragonpeak from entering the city and requiring them to stay on the edge of the wetlands by Twin Lakes, under the watchful eyes of the Dragonpeak City guards.

Therefore, although there was a sense of tension and unease in Longyuan City, it appeared prosperous and bustling on the surface. Many citizens were still unaware of the situation and were leisurely strolling through the shops along the street.

Until the dragon appears.

Dea, transformed into a giant dragon, flapped her wings and flew over Dragon Plains City, letting out a thunderous roar amidst the shocked and terrified gazes of countless citizens:

"The White Walkers are coming! The White Walkers are coming! The true dragon commands you to evacuate! Evacuate, all of you!"

Moments later, widespread panic spread like a plague throughout the city.

The city council is currently in meeting. Because some chambers of commerce are selling off their shops at any cost, the average price of real estate in the city has dropped sharply, affecting the cash-out plans of other chambers of commerce. Therefore, the councilors, who represent the chambers of commerce, are putting pressure on those chambers that have angered the public, demanding that they immediately buy back the real estate to stabilize the market.

The sudden appearance of the Dragon's Daughter disrupted all of the city council's plans.

Servants from various chambers of commerce kept hurrying between the parliamentary seats, bending low to deliver any intelligence or instructions from the chambers to the members of parliament sitting in their seats.

Upon receiving the news, the latter stood up and delivered a passionate speech, attempting to bring more chambers of commerce and members of parliament to his side in a short period of time.

"Everyone! Everyone!" a councilor shouted, "The most urgent task is to eliminate the adverse effects brought by the dragon as soon as possible! I suggest that each chamber of commerce send people out to every major traffic artery to give speeches, clarify rumors, and stabilize the panic within the city!"

"Objection!" another councilor shouted. "The dragon is still flying in the sky! Unless we shoot it down, the speed at which we can refute rumors is slower than the speed at which they spread!"

"Then you guys go and shoot down the dragon!" A loud, undisguised jeer erupted from the opposite seats.

The councilor who had spoken earlier was not intimidated and simply said, "Now that the rumors have spread, it's almost impossible to refute them. Instead, we should follow the information already released by the dragon and announce that Dragon Plains City is preparing to deal with the Others and is also purchasing a large amount of military equipment from abroad, so that the citizens can believe that the city council can protect them!"

"Are you so overwhelmed with the demand for weapons and armor that you're resorting to stealing public funds from the city council?" another councilor scoffed.

"If the White Walkers truly exist and are about to invade, weapons and armor are undoubtedly indispensable hard currency." The councilor, far from feeling ashamed, immediately began advertising, "All my goods are top-quality products shipped from the Imperial River Bend Province. Those interested should act quickly and contact the Troller Merchant Guild as soon as possible!"

"We just received news that someone's fleet has occupied the city's docks!!" someone suddenly shouted. "Docks are limited. If a merchant guild occupies the docks with their ships, preventing everyone's cargo ships from leaving, we're doomed! I demand the implementation of the Temporary Dock Control Act to prohibit any unauthorized vessels from docking, and for the city council to coordinate their deployment!"

"Second! Second!" many councilors shouted in agreement. It would be fine if everyone was busy transferring assets, but what if some rival chambers with long-standing feuds deliberately delayed their ships on the last leg of their shipments after they had almost finished moving their goods out? That would be truly disgusting.

"Silence!" The speaker whispered to the people behind him for a moment, then suddenly struck the podium with his gavel, signaling all the councilors to quiet down. "The fleets at the city's docks are not flying any merchant guild flags. Who is hiding their presence? Tell us immediately, or they will be treated as hostile vessels and confiscated by the guards!"

The lawmakers looked at each other, each suspecting that the other (or a particular family) was deliberately causing trouble. To prove their own innocence, they all adopted an indignant stance.

Seeing that no one acknowledged it, the speaker was about to speak again when suddenly the ground beneath his feet shook violently, causing him to lose his balance and almost fall. Fortunately, he managed to grab the podium in time.

Immediately afterwards, rain began to fall from above—the roof of the parliament building had been violently ripped off from the outside.

The terrifying head of a dragon peered into the building through the gap, its golden, merciless vertical pupils staring at the councilors present.

All the lizardman councilors were stunned, sitting in their seats completely motionless, fearing that the dragon would open its mouth and breathe fire at them, turning them into roasted lizards.

They stared in disbelief as the dragon lowered its head, allowing the dragon knight standing on its forehead to land on the central platform of the council.

"Excuse me, make way." Rein jumped off Dia's head, pushed aside the dazed speaker, braced himself on the podium, and looked at all the councilors with a gloomy expression.

A bunch of trash.

Why don't we let Dia kill them all?

But that won't work, because Longyuan City is too close to the Empire. The real financial backers of many merchant guilds are noble families from the Empire's Changshui Province, Valley Province, and even River Bend Province. Killing them all would only invite too much hatred and would do nothing to improve the subsequent plans.

"In the name of the Daughter of the True Dragon," Raine declared loudly, "we now demand that the City Council immediately mobilize the entire city's manpower."

"Board the Fahre family fleet docked at the city's pier immediately."

(End of this chapter)