Heads turned as Lin Huang made this sudden declaration from his inconspicuous seat in the back.
“Stop messing around Lin Huang. Staying behind is nothing but suicide. You aren’t helping the cause by staying!” Yi Yeyu immediately rebuked him. She did not want him to stay behind and ruin his bright future. As she got to know him, she discovered more and more of his good points and had long considered him a budding talent.
“Head Examiner, please listen to what I have to say.” Lin Huang returned her gaze with a resolute glint in his eye. He did not intend to back down on this!
The duo’s unwillingness to give up led to a stalemate in the hall.
It was at this moment that the conference hall’s grand doors flung open. A White robed youth sauntered into the room with both his hands in his pockets.
The youth said from across the room, “Yeyu, you should let him speak before deciding.”Judging from the way he addressed her, they seemed to be familiar with each other.
His sudden appearance stunned Yi Yeyu. “Brother, why are you here?”
“I had a mission nearby and heard you were the head examiner of the nearby hunter exam. So I decided to visit you since my mission was over. On the way here, I read that explosive news article on the 7th district’s official site. The one about the transcendent dying. They even posted a video clip of it.” He replied in a joking tone.
“You shouldn’t have come.” Her face darkened as she heard his response.
“If I didn’t come, with your personality, you probably would have gotten yourself killed in the coming battle.” He was well aware of his sister’s stubbornness and sense of duty.
Yi Yeyu had no rebuttal for that.
He then turned to Lin Huang, “Kid, my name is Yi Zheng, Yeyu’s brother. I overheard you saying that you had a plan. Let’s hear it.”
Hearing this name, the faces of the people present changed immediately, especially Bai Yan’s. His eyes clearly reflected the respect he held for this man and his strength. Yi Zheng was ranked no.11 on the 7th District’s Gold Hunter ranking board.
However Lin Huang was blissfully unaware of this as he slightly nodded his head and presented his plan.
“The only way for the 200,000 people in this stronghold to survive is to fight with our backs against the wall! Our transcendent requires two days to get here while that monster is currently injured. This means that we only need to defend for two days against the monster horde, as the likelihood of the transcendent attacking us with its current injuries are extremely low.”
“We definitely don’t have the numbers to face against this horde but we can call for reinforcements. As long as the Hunter Association puts up an emergency mission and increase the reward, there will be lots of takers. At that point, Miss Yi only has to use her relic to transfer the hunters over. Of course, this is only part one.”
“Snowy Mountain County’s surrounding regions are mostly one and two-star hinterlands. If we have enough hunters, we can preemptively strike at them. A Silver Hunter is definitely able to clean up a two-star Hinterlands in a few minutes.”
“Furthermore, we have the terrain advantage. The entire back of this stronghold is surrounded by the Snowy Mountain range. As long as we clean up the monsters in the mountains, the only thing we need to be worried about is the desert. But the monsters in the desert require at least 2 days to cross over. I’ve climbed that mountain so I have a rough gauge of the timing. A Three-star BlackIron hunter would need at least 2 days to climb those mountains while we only need to defend for 2 days before our transcendent arrives and kills their transcendent.”
“As for the canyons on the east, their numbers are low to begin with, we can organize a few teams to clean them up. Next, we can create a choke point by blocking that canyon’s entrance with giant boulders. At which point, we only need to station ourselves at that choke point. This would greatly reduce their numbers advantage!”
“Our only problem then is an air invasion from the bird type monsters. We need to form a team to specifically deal with this threat.” The crowd was stunned by his speech.
Even Yi Yeyu was surprised, she did not know that Lin Huang had such an elaborate plan.
Yi Zheng was no exception as well. He clapped as he praised Lin Huang, “ Fantastic! That was a very clear and detailed plan. Its chances at success are high as well.”
“I’ll inform the higher ups in the Association and get the mission put up. Yeyu you can pick the respondents up. Once everyone is gathered, we can discuss the finer details then.”
As he finished his sentence, he turned around to the crowd, and glanced at the teenagers present, “ You kids are exempted from this operation. You can follow Yeyu back to the medium stronghold. I’ll get her to write a report to the higher ups to get them to give all of you a pass.”
After a round of organization, he contacted the Hunter Association which quickly approved of the plan.
“They’ve agreed to the plan. The mission should be put up soon. You can bring those kids over.” Yi Zheng turned towards his sister and nodded.
“Alright, everyone gather here, I’ll bring you guys back to the medium stronghold.” She waved to the crowd and summoned her dimensional relic.
However, Lin Huang did not respond to her call.
“Hurry up Lin Huang!” she shouted.
“I already said that I won’t leave.”
“Kid, even if you stayed you wouldn’t be of much use. This plan is yours. If we succeed at defending this stronghold, you will get half of the credit, don’t worry.” Yi Zheng thought that Lin Huang was afraid of him hogging all the credit and started reassuring him.
“With or without that, I would still stay behind.” Lin Huang insisted once more.
“Lin Huang, exactly what do you want?!” Yi Yeyu was livid as she shouted at him.
“I want to witness with my own eyes 200,000 people making it through this crisis safe and sound. That’s my condition for leaving!” His gaze met hers head on once more. Hearing this, Yi Yeyu averted her eyes and kept quiet.
The awkwardness showed on Yi Zheng’s face as well. He had assumed Lin Huang wanted to stay for the credit.
The other teenagers fell silent too, a look of shame on their faces.
“I want to stay as well!” A voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
“Me too!”
“I want to hunt some monsters!”
……
With someone taking the charge, more and more people stood up.
However, there was one notable exception. Bai Yan. He kept his head down and hid in the crowd as he murmured to himself, “A bunch of suicidal morons…”
“That’s enough. This isn’t the time for hero wannabes. This is a life or death crisis.”
By now, Yi Yeyu’s eyes were slightly red but she still tried to calm them down. “Lin Huang you can stay. All the Three-Star BlackIron can stay behind if they wish to. Everyone else had better scram back to the Medium Stronghold and cultivate! You can’t even kill a BlackIron monster, what’s the point of you staying?!”