Chapter 259 - 149: Painfully Costly
"What? What did you say? The Soul Fire was stolen, and that many people died?" Inside the City Lord’s Mansion, White Hair erupted in fury, roaring at a group of City Defense Army officers.
The officers hung their heads, none daring to make a sound. They had no desire to put themselves in the line of fire at a time like this; their best bet was to stand there obediently and take the tongue-lashing. Everyone knew White Hair was an emotional man. Whoever stepped forward while he was angry was just asking for trouble.
After the army withdrew, the City Defense Army tallied the numbers and found several thousand casualties. Although most of them were ordinary Commoners, a death toll of that magnitude was enough to alarm them, and they had hurried to the City Lord’s Mansion to report.
White Hair had initially thought that if they could obtain the Undead’s Soul Fire, losing some Commoners would be an acceptable price—the benefits, after all, were worth it. But now, the Soul Fire had been completely devoured on the spot. Not only had they failed to bring any back, but they had also lost several thousand people. He was growing restless.
The Underworld was inhabited by Demonized Creatures, and precisely because of this, they revered Power far more than the normal creatures of the surface world. The enmity between the various cities ran deep, and they often went to war. Every single Commoner was a precious asset to a city.
The scale and population of an Underground City were the fundamental basis for measuring its strength. If a city ever suffered a massive loss of population, it wouldn’t be met with aid from other cities, but with merciless invasions. Demonized Creatures don’t bother with sentimentalities like friendship.
Komeilan City had a total population of just over a hundred thousand. Losing several thousand in one go was a blow that stung White Hair deeply.
After roaring for a long time, White Hair’s throat grew hoarse. He snatched a wine glass, gulped down two mouthfuls, and let out a long sigh. He straightened his clothes, then walked to a mirror to comb his hair. At last, he suppressed the rage in his heart and resumed his gentlemanly appearance.
"And the Undead? What were their losses?" White Hair asked, returning to his officers and clearing his throat.
"Roughly tens of thousands," one of the officers said, looking up.
’Hm?’
’The Undead lost even more than we did? That’s good.’ Now he had a way to explain things to the city’s inhabitants. If his side had lost thousands while the enemy suffered few casualties, the citizens would certainly riot, and that would be a difficult mess to clean up.
’The enemy’s death toll is higher than our own, and those who returned even absorbed Soul Fire and gained an advantage. The residents shouldn’t stir up any trouble now.’
Being a City Lord wasn’t so easy. In White Hair’s eyes, the Demonized Creature residents were nothing but an unruly rabble. The moment he did anything to displease them, they would surround the City Lord’s Mansion, screaming for his head.
With the City Defense Army, White Hair wasn’t afraid of a fight. He was confident he could suppress the Commoners of Komeilan City, but suppression would create even bigger problems. It would shatter their loyalty. Being able to crush a revolt was one thing; being able to stop the Commoners from fleeing to other cities was another entirely.
So even though he had enough Power to suppress them, he still had to coddle this unruly mob to prevent them from making trouble.
"How many more Undead are in the tunnel?" White Hair asked.
"Still a lot," the officer replied after a moment’s thought.
"A specific number, you damn bastard! I need a specific number!" White Hair snarled, shoving his face up to the officer’s, spraying him with spittle.
"Er... possibly tens of thousands," the officer stammered.
They had no idea how many Undead there actually were. After fighting for a full day, they still hadn’t even seen where the Undead were coming from. They had merely concluded from the intel reported by various squads that there were at least tens of thousands of Undead still in the tunnel.
But even that number was enough to shock White Hair.
’Just how many Undead are there?’ he thought. ’We’ve already killed tens of thousands, and there are still tens of thousands more?’
He walked back behind his desk and sat down, his brow furrowed. Things were getting serious. ’This isn’t a small contingent of Undead,’ he thought, ’this is an entire army!’
"City Lord, you don’t need to worry. We’ll organize another group to go kill them tomorrow. We’ll definitely wipe out every last one of the Undead," an officer said, stepping forward when he saw White Hair’s expression.
’This is a great chance to suck up and show my loyalty,’ the officer thought. ’Besides, when we fight the Undead, the City Defense Army won’t even have to be on the front lines. The Commoners will be the ones to charge forward.’
White Hair fixed the officer with a hawk-like glare.
"Go again? Do you want to get everyone in the city killed?! Are you insane, you idiot!" White Hair cursed at the officer.
Barely perceptible smirks flashed across the faces of the other officers. ’Serves him right for trying to stand out,’ they thought. ’His attempt to suck up completely backfired.’
The officer who had been scolded quickly shut his mouth, stood obediently to the side, and bowed his head in silence.
"Why did these Undead have to appear here? Couldn’t they have gone somewhere else?" White Hair muttered to himself. "No, I can’t be the only one to suffer losses. I have to drag the others into this."
If it were a small band of Undead, he would have just wiped them out and been done with it. But with so many, how could he be expected to handle the cleanup all by himself?
Even if they managed to clear out those tens of thousands of Undead tomorrow, the losses would be anything but small. If he lost nearly ten thousand people in total to deal with the Undead, would the other cities just sit back and watch? Of course not—they’d send their armies to attack him.
White Hair knew the City Lords of the surrounding cities all too well. They might not offer a helping hand in a time of need, but they were absolute masters at kicking a man when he was down.
"Go. Spread the news about the Undead," he said after a moment’s thought, waving his hand.
"Are we asking the other cities for aid?" an officer asked in surprise.
"Bullshit! Is that asking for aid? Are you implying I can’t kill the Undead myself? You’ve got the brains of a Giant Tusked Boar!" White Hair roared at the officer who had spoken.