I have an Apocalypse City
Chapter 1540 - Chapter 1540 Chapter 1541 Detention

Chapter 1540: Chapter 1541: Detention Chapter 1540: Chapter 1541: Detention Just as the City of Hope was celebrating, Song Jian received more than a dozen system prompts in succession, all of which were notifications of decreased reputation with various cities.

Even the Count title he had obtained in the City of Sin was directly revoked, although such a title had become more or less optional after Song Jian became a city lord, it was still quite irritating to have it stripped away at this time.

“City Lord, what happened?” Wang Qi noticed the subtle change in Song Jian’s expression and hurriedly asked.

“It’s nothing!” Song Jian shook his head. There was no need to share such matters with others; it was enough that he knew.

“Rest assured, city lord, in the next few days I will arrange for people to conduct a thorough search of the sewers to see if there are any undiscovered ruins…” Wang Qi promised.

“Such ruins are likely to appear in the form of a dungeon, so tell the brothers searching to be careful,” Song Jian instructed.

Monsters within dungeons are much stronger than those in the wild, and one careless move might not even allow the searching players to realize they’ve entered a dungeon, and if surrounded by monsters, their lives could be in grave danger.

“A ruin that has caught the attention of so many from the Legendary Realm can’t possibly be a small or medium-sized dungeon; it must be a large or even super-large one,” Song Jian thought to himself.

“Understood, city lord, don’t worry, we…” Wang Qi nodded again and again and was about to say something more when his expression suddenly changed as if he had received some news. In a short while, a look of fury appeared on Wang Qi’s face.

“City Lord, our trade convoy has been detained by the City of Light. Not only did they detain all the goods of the convoy, they are also demanding a fine of ten million Doomsday Coins, and they want you to go personally to apologize,” Wang Qi said in a low voice.

“What, how dare the City of Light do such a thing?”

“It’s utterly shameless, what right do they have to detain our trade convoy…”

“Lawless, are the NPCs in this game world so arrogant? Our convoy wasn’t carrying any contraband, how can they detain it at will?”

…

For a time, the administrators of the City of Hope were all condemning the actions of the City of Light.

It was known that even if all cities had listed the City of Hope as an “unfriendly city” and banned future commercial activities, they had no right to detain the City of Hope’s trade convoy, let alone demand a fine and a personal apology from a city lord. This was an outright provocation.

“What’s the situation with this convoy?” Song Jian asked gravely.

“The convoy headed to the City of Light was just a small-scale one, with three players and twelve NPC professionals in charge. They were transporting some ore, wood, and herbs, and a small amount of gems. After selling these in the City of Light, they would purchase some special products from there to sell back here. Each trip would earn about over a million Doomsday Coins in profit,” Wang Qi said softly.

Ever since the Valley of the Undead was developed, the City of Hope had established more than a dozen trade convoys, each with a fixed route, providing a continuous stream of wealth for the construction of the City of Hope.

…

On the other side, within the Holy Light City, Wang Yueyao was very angry as she faced a group of city guards and loudly rebuked them, “On what grounds are you detaining our goods? On what grounds do you prohibit us from leaving the city?”

A soldier clad in full armor, expressionless, spoke in a deep voice, “The City of Hope has already been listed as an unfriendly city by the Holy Light City. Your caravan is hereby forbidden from approaching the Holy Light City ever again. Moreover, we suspect that your merchandise is concealing contraband and thus requires inspection. You must wait for our search to complete before you may leave the city!”

“What right do you have to detain our goods? What right do you have to inspect them?” Another player, Su Nan, clutched her magic staff tightly, blocking the city guards from approaching the caravan’s merchandise.

“Yueyao, Su Nan, let them inspect it!” A middle-aged man with furrowed brows, the captain of the caravan named Jiang Guo, could clearly feel that this group of city guard NPCs was different from those they usually encountered–they were clearly elite soldiers. The armor and weapons on their bodies were all of high quality, and each one of them possessed combat power at the third tier. The leader had even reached the pinnacle of third tier combat power. Should any conflict arise, their caravan would be suppressed in an instant.

“Captain, they’re being too bullying…” Wang Yueyao exclaimed indignantly.

“Enough, the City Lord is back. They’re targeting him. All we need to do is to follow their instructions. Don’t worry, the City Lord will take care of us!” Jiang Guo assured her.

Song Jian’s return and his suppression of over a dozen Legendary Realm powerhouses had already spread to every city through the game’s built-in forums–Jiang Guo and his team were no exception.

It was precisely because of this news that the caravan, which had originally planned to stay in the Holy Light City for a few more days to purchase goods, decided to leave immediately. What they hadn’t expected was such a swift response from the Holy Light City, deploying elite troops to intercept them just as they were about to reach the city gates.

The caravan’s goods were detained, and Jiang Guo, along with the other two players and all NPC professionals, were imprisoned in the city jail. Inside the City Lord Mansion of the Holy Light City, a distinguished looking elder stood respectfully behind two white-robed priests, listening to the teachings of one of them.

“Song Jian has slain the Holy Maiden of Light and killed High Priest Velses. This is a provocation against the God of Light!” A handsome middle-aged priest, holding a short staff a bit longer than one foot, waved it lightly as he spoke.

A fist-sized diamond was embedded at the tip of the short staff, which emitted dazzling divine light with his movements.

“Yes, what Cyrus Priest says is most correct. Song Jian’s actions are indeed a provocation against our religion!” Toss, the City Lord with white hair and whiskers, chimed in nervously, “I’ve followed the two priests’ orders and detained a caravan from the City of Hope. I believe this will certainly arouse dissatisfaction from the City of Hope. It is very possible that Song Jian will come to their rescue.”

“Hmph, the City of Hope is just a new city. Apart from the City Lord, Song Jian, there isn’t a single Legendary Realm powerhouse. As soon as he shows up, we must ensure that he meets his demise at the Holy Light City!” Cyrus gently wiped the diamond at the top of his staff with his left hand, a vicious glint in his eyes.

“Honorable priests, I have a small request. Should a battle ensue, could it please not take place within the Holy Light City?” Toss, the City Lord, was sweating profusely, his voice hesitant.

With an impassive face, Cyrus turned to look at Toss, immediately making him feel a heavy pressure, almost bringing him to his knees.

“A battle of the Legendary Realm, if it breaks out in the Holy Light City, might cause great damage to the city and lead to irrevocable losses, which, in turn, would also be a loss for our religion. And such a loss is entirely avoidable,” Toss hastily explained.

“Don’t worry, City Lord Toss, we have already thought of this,” said another priest who stood next to Cyrus and had been silent all along. He spoke in a soothing voice, “We will intercept Song Jian outside the Holy Light City and ensure that no harm comes to it.”

After hearing this, City Lord Toss finally felt relieved, nodding slightly, his face breaking into a fawning smile.

…