A massive plaza was constructed atop the mountain in Yuzhou City, specifically built to facilitate the takeoff and landing of the Feathered Army. On the day Shen Feng departed Yuzhou for battle, many people came to see him off. Many had voluntarily joined the Feathered Army, and their families couldn't understand why. These individuals, however, believed that whatever the City Lord intended to do was right, and thus they would follow him.
After bidding farewell to his family, Shen Feng took to the skies with his men. This scene was captured by cameras for promotional purposes, an idea conceived by Chang Jianyi.
"Alas, you're just leaving like this. You really are something. If you had all tried to stop him, perhaps you could have persuaded Shen Feng to change his mind. But you all remained silent, and Shen Feng left," Chu Zhaoyan said, holding Shen Yishi as she saw Shen Feng off. Her words couldn't help but convey her resentment towards the two people beside her.
"Crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide – these tactics are indeed effective. However, many people need heroes to appear now, and Shen Feng is going to be that hero. How can we stop him? Furthermore, since Shen Feng is doing this, I want him to become famous, a hero in everyone's eyes. I will silently support him," Chang Jianyi stated calmly.
Li Keyi also advised, "A man's ambition lies in all directions. Shen Feng wants to save people; this shows his broadmindedness! We should be happy. Moreover, when Shen Feng truly saves the world, we will be proud of him."
"Hmph, you can dream on. You're already a seventh-tier ability user. Humph, I'd like to see how you get pregnant! You don't have children. When Shen Feng eventually loses interest in you, humph, you'll be finished," Chu Zhaoyan, unable to refute Chang Jianyi, began to mock Li Keyi.
"I... I will eventually have one," Li Keyi was choked by Chu Zhaoyan's words. She hadn't expected Chu Zhaoyan to attack her with this. After all, Shen Yishi, whom Chu Zhaoyan was holding, wasn't her own child, yet she could look down on her.
Chu Zhaoyan then revealed a triumphant smile and left haughtily, leaving behind a sulking Li Keyi.
Li Keyi's current work in Yuzhou primarily involved scientific research, specifically studying the effects of extraterrestrial elements on the human body. Her work had always been this, and what she was currently researching was very advanced: how to artificially synthesize evolution crystals. Once evolution crystals could be synthesized, it would be possible to cultivate more powerful ability users in the future.
Li Keyi shook her head and chose to head to the laboratory.
Meanwhile, the public, upon hearing about Shen Feng's actions, were moved to tears. This was especially true for many refugees who had flooded into Yuzhou. Many dreamed of returning to their hometowns, but as long as the crisis of mutated birds was not resolved, they couldn't go back. Now, Shen Feng's willingness to solve the mutated bird problem undoubtedly gave many people hope.
...
Shen Feng's actions were considered by many to be a publicity stunt. Mutated birds were already a global problem. At this time, setting out with only a thousand people to defeat them was sheer nonsense; it was clearly an impossible task. They would likely be back in Yuzhou within a few days.
This sentiment was prevalent online and on the radio. Except for Yuzhou, where voices were full of praise, most other places were questioning Shen Feng's motives, believing his intentions were impure. Many were speculating about when Shen Feng would finally give up.
However, those online and speaking on the radio were not experiencing severe disruptions in their lives. Only when mutated birds entered their cities would they know despair. There were also many who couldn't speak out, who were deeply threatened by mutated birds and desperately hoped for those in power to resolve the issue. Yet, in the end, the only one who responded to their hopes was Shen Feng.
The truth was, in this world, there were always people who couldn't speak out. Wang Xiaobo referred to these people as the silent majority. They lived difficult lives, had no means of survival, and couldn't even voice themselves in a normal person's world. These people constituted the majority. Precisely because they couldn't speak, some people believed they didn't exist.
Thus, when many were not optimistic, Shen Feng set out and truly began killing mutated birds. Although the pace was slow, he continued to kill them. More and more people joined Shen Feng's team. Many joined because their family members had been killed by mutated birds, seeking revenge. Joining Shen Feng's team required no good food or drink; it was enough to follow Shen Feng in battle.
How to make someone willing to fight? The answer was simple: hatred. Mutated birds had killed too many people, and humans were particularly vengeful creatures. Now that mutated birds had killed many people's parents, wives, and children, these people dreamed of revenge.
Hatred was the most fundamental force in people's hearts. The countless people currently fighting alongside Shen Feng on the battlefield were doing so for revenge. Shen Feng himself hadn't expected to have followers outside, and he could only strengthen his resolve and continue fighting to the end, so as not to disappoint everyone's expectations.
Life outside was always arduous. If one stayed at home, whether watching comics or television, it was done at one's leisure, with no one to restrain them. But in the wilderness, even eating was a major problem. The Feathered Army led by Shen Feng fought outside, and within a few months, their clothes were already tattered.
Solving the food problem was also difficult. They ate whatever they found in the wild. If they lacked ammunition, they could only seek out nearby cities and request them to provide ammunition. Generally, the leaders of these cities would show Shen Feng some respect upon meeting him and provide some ammunition. However, often the ammunition they lacked couldn't be replenished simply. When ammunition was scarce and they still needed to fight, they could only resort to the simplest method: using the cold weapons they carried to engage in close combat.
Gradually, Shen Feng's reputation spread among many people. Wherever Shen Feng and his men arrived, they were warmly received, especially by the common people. When the common people looked at Shen Feng, it was as if they were looking at their savior, their eyes filled with a fervor that could melt a person.
Every autumn, Shen Feng would lead his subordinates back to Yuzhou, preparing to defend against the invasion of birds during the harvest season. Over the course of a year, they spent no more than four to five months at home, with the majority of the time spent traveling outside.
In the first two years, Shen Feng gritted his teeth and persevered. However, in the subsequent years, Shen Feng could no longer bear it. From the moment Shen Feng decided to kill mutated birds, he was constantly on the road, barely aware of his child's situation, having to entrust his child's future to his wife's care. Many people in the newly formed team also died in battle.
He persevered for over five years, yet the number of mutated birds had not significantly decreased. Although the breeding rate of mutated birds had declined considerably, the surviving mutated birds were not being killed. It would not be easy to wait for these mutated birds to die naturally, which would take five to ten years.
"It seems I was too impulsive. After persevering for five years, there has been no progress. Perhaps I have chosen the wrong path entirely and wasted a long time on it. I should stop!" After five years, Shen Feng deeply regretted it. If he had used these five years in Yuzhou, he could have watched his child grow day by day and spent more time with his wife. Even if he had used them to build Yuzhou, Yuzhou would have developed better.
That night, Shen Feng and his men were resting in the wilderness. Campfires were lit on the ground; with the fires, they didn't have to worry about wild beast attacks. Looking at the flickering flames, Shen Feng suddenly felt lost. He had thought his righteous act would surely change the world, but after five years, he had gained nothing.
"To completely defeat the mutated birds will take another five to ten years. But do I really have that much time to waste on this matter? I should probably give up. Doing something that is destined to fail is meaningless!" Shen Feng thought to himself.
At this moment, Shen Feng turned to look at the group of subordinates beside him. These young men were all brought from Yuzhou, but many of them had already suffered casualties. At least over two hundred people had died in battles against mutated birds. If they continued to fight, he didn't know how many would return alive.
"I am truly an irresponsible leader, leading them out to fight, but unable to bring them back. Perhaps this is just my wishful thinking. If I had stayed honestly in Yuzhou, they wouldn't have died, nor would they have suffered with me," Shen Feng continued to think.
After a night of internal struggle, at dawn the next day, Shen Feng said to those around him, "It's about time, we should return to Yuzhou."
The subordinates around him were very surprised by Shen Feng's decision at this moment. They couldn't understand why the City Lord was returning now. They then asked, "It's still summer. Isn't it too early for us to go back? We usually return in the autumn, don't we?"
In the past few years, the Feathered Army usually returned in the autumn to prepare for the invasion of mutated birds, and then set out for battle as winter was about to end. They often rushed to wherever mutated birds were discovered to engage in combat. However, it was still summer, and returning to Yuzhou now seemed too early.
Besides Shen Feng's subordinates, others who had voluntarily followed Shen Feng were also very shocked because they didn't expect Shen Feng to propose returning to Yuzhou at this time. Thousands of people had followed Shen Feng for five years. Once Shen Feng returned to Yuzhou, they would return to their respective homes to defend against the invasion of mutated birds. But if Shen Feng continued to fight outside, they would still come and continue to follow Shen Feng in battle.
"Lord Fengshen, why are you returning to Yuzhou so hastily? It's still a long way from autumn. If you do this, aren't you wasting many opportunities to fight?" Many began to persuade Shen Feng.
However, Shen Feng turned around and asked them, "In these five years, how many mutated birds have we killed?"
"Perhaps tens of millions, maybe between thirty to forty million. Killing so many mutated birds proves that our fighting outside has definitely played a huge role. All these mutated birds were killed by us; this is our achievement!" someone immediately said proudly.
But Shen Feng gave a bitter smile and said, "It took five years, and we only killed tens of millions of mutated birds. You know, there are at least over a billion mutated birds in this world. How long will it take us to kill them all? I'm tired of it. This work is meaningless. I plan to return to Yuzhou and live my life as a wealthy idle man!"
When Shen Feng said this, everyone became anxious. If Shen Feng were returning to Yuzhou due to an urgent matter, they wouldn't say much. But now that they had been doing this for five years, it seemed like he was about to give up. Returning to Yuzhou at this time, wasn't this abandoning the task halfway?
"Lord Fengshen, please don't do this. We must get revenge. For those who died in the hands of mutated birds, we must fight to the last moment, to avenge them!"
"City Lord, we must persevere! As long as we persevere, victory will surely come. We cannot give up easily!"
A group of people then began to persuade him. Shen Feng suddenly felt so weak. Clearly, the leader himself intended to give up, yet his subordinates were still urging him to persevere. Normally, it should be the subordinates who were discouraged, and he would be the one to rally them. But now the situation was reversed.
Shen Feng fell silent. He didn't know if he should continue to do this meaningless work. He wanted to give up, but the people around him were urging him to persevere, and he was in a dilemma.
"Excuse me, is Lord Shen Feng here?" Suddenly, a voice came from the distant woods. Everyone quickly became alert. Encountering people in the wilderness, they might be good people, but they could also be enemies.