North Street, City Lord's Mansion.

Back in his familiar home, Xu Liyan no longer felt frightened and uneasy, regaining his composure and confidence.

"What's the situation now?" he asked his assistant, who had rushed over.

His assistant was a middle-aged man nearing forty, having lived through the eras of Xu Erde and Xu Wugong, and witnessed several rebellions and coups. He remained quite calm at this moment:

"Mr. Odick has already delivered the suspect 'Father' criminal, who wishes to see you.

"The wilderness wanderers who rushed in have seized a significant number of weapons and food, and are gathering in the central square, seemingly intending to attack North Street.

"They are evolving from an unorganized state into a true collective, while the city defense forces suffered heavy blows at the beginning. Several teams have lost their structure and are scattered in different parts of the city, only able to carry out basic defense and cleanup, and could be overwhelmed by the unrest at any time.

"The City Lord's Guard team you dispatched left the First Hospital and reinforced North Bridge and the Municipal Building. They have now joined forces with the city guards there. With their weapons, holding out for a while shouldn't be a problem, but their numbers are too small, far too small."

This was in regard to the relatively large number of wilderness wanderers.

Compared to almost dying just now, the current situation was not yet a crisis. Xu Liyan paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and asked in a gentle voice:

"Uncle Liu, what do you think we should do?"

Uncle Liu replied respectfully:

"Organize more manpower."

Xu Liyan nodded slightly:

"Issue my orders:

"Summon all members of the Noble Council to discuss countermeasures; they all need to contribute.

"Organize a group of elite members to go out from the North City Gate, detour to South Street, and connect the scattered city defense forces, gathering them together. Once this is accomplished, those rioters will be nothing to worry about. If it really doesn't work, and it comes down to mutually assured destruction, then deploy the drone squadrons to bomb them, don't be afraid of destroying the city.

"Also, issue mercenary missions to all hunters, and have the guild members shout directly through loudspeakers."

At this time, many relic hunters were also divided in various parts of the city and couldn't get to the guild to see the missions in time.

"Yes, City Lord!" Uncle Liu responded respectfully.

Xu Liyan remembered something and quickly added:

"Have Mr. Odick come over."

After making arrangements in an orderly manner, Xu Liyan inquired of the mechanical monk Jing Nian beside him:

"Zen Master, please 'foresee' the situation that will follow."

Jing Nian's eyes flashed red:

"Very well."

The light in his electronic bionic eyes then froze.

After seven or eight seconds, Jing Nian said:

"Danger still exists. The enemy has further arrangements related to explosions. Benefactor, you must not be careless."

Before overcoming himself and entering the "Mind Corridor," his "foresight" ability could only detect whether something that could threaten the survival of himself and the corresponding target was about to happen. He could not see the corresponding images, nor know where it came from, and it was quite vague.

Xu Liyan nodded:

"I will pay attention and will have the guards check everyone's body.

"Zen Master, I'm going to clean up and change clothes."

During the attack just now, he rolled on the ground twice, both panicked and frightened, and also somewhat weighed down by Jing Nian. He had even had a slight incontinence.

Even if he hadn't, he would take this opportunity to clean himself up and adjust his mindset to cope with the ensuing chaos.

Jing Nian nodded slightly:

"I will guard outside the door."

He had already checked Xu Liyan's bedroom, balcony, and the garden outside, and found no hidden dangers.

...

In the courtyard behind "A'fu Gun Shop," the residents who had repelled the first wave of attacks began to move various obstacles to several entrances, preparing to create barricades and seal off the area to deal with possible future thugs.

Among them, those forty- and fifty-year-old men and women, although not as agile as the young people, were very organized and efficient in doing the corresponding things, giving people a feeling of being right at home.

This was something they often faced when they were young.

After Jiang BaiMian and Shang JianYao parked the Big Red off-road vehicle in the alley, they supported Lei YunSong and Lin FeiFei, took the two children, and entered the yard before it was completely sealed off. They went up to the second floor and joined Bai Chen and Long YueHong.

After entrusting Aunt Nan and Gu ChangLe to take care of the two children, they entered the room and exchanged their experiences, focusing on the important points.

"Are we still leaving the city?" Jiang BaiMian asked, weighing her words.

Bai Chen was silent for a few seconds before saying:

"The most chaotic time has passed."

"Yeah." Jiang BaiMian agreed, "When we came over, we found that the wanderers were gathering in the central square, probably wanting to attack North Street, where the most food is. Once Wildlands City reorganizes, restoring order is only a matter of time. They have a lot of weapons and ammunition stockpiled."

This was the most important trade center at the junction of the three major forces, and its defense system was built to withstand an attack from a major force for a period of time.

As long as those wilderness wanderers didn't take advantage of the initial unrest, relying on their numbers and catching the other side off guard, to attack North Street and completely paralyze the city's organization, they wouldn't have many more opportunities.

Bai Chen continued:

"As long as this place isn't the focus of the attack, holding out until the situation stabilizes shouldn't be a problem."

Whether it was food reserves, weapons, or fortifications, it was enough to last two or three days.

She paused and hesitated before adding:

"Aunt Nan has a lot of people here. Taking them all out would require organizing a convoy, which would be too conspicuous and easily targeted."

"I understand." Jiang BaiMian responded with a smile, indicating that Bai Chen didn't need to feel bad, "Staying has its advantages. Everyone holding their ground here is also a viable option, and just right..."

Speaking of this, she turned to look at Shang JianYao:

"See if you can wake up Lei YunSong and Lin FeiFei. If we can find out the whereabouts of Wei Yu and the others, we might have to take another risk in the city."

Although she said "risk," her tone was very relaxed, as if she was just going out for a casual stroll.

Finally, she smiled at Long YueHong and said:

"You did well today; you're already a qualified warrior."

While Long YueHong unconsciously puffed out his chest, Shang JianYao had already walked to the bedside and assumed the posture of pressing on Lei YunSong's chest.

This made Jiang BaiMian roll her eyes helplessly, but she didn't bother to stop him, letting him do his thing.

Once, twice... Lei YunSong suddenly coughed and slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing that came into his sight was a plaque with gold lettering on a red background.

It read:

"Pangu Biology"

"Do you remember this?" Jiang BaiMian began to assess the other party's condition to determine whether to let Shang JianYao make a "friend."

Lei YunSong had clearly opened his eyes wide, but he still looked like he hadn't woken up yet.

His eyes were blank for a few seconds, then they lit up, as if he had finally awakened from a nightmare that had lasted for nearly two months.

"Are you people from the company?" he asked urgently.

"Guess," Shang JianYao replied with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang BaiMian slapped him on the back of the shoulder with her right hand.

"Do you remember who you are and what you came to Wildlands City to do?" Jiang BaiMian asked instead of answering.

Lei YunSong's brow furrowed, and the muscles on his face were faintly distorted, as if he was enduring some unspeakable pain.

"I, I..." he suddenly sat up, gasping for breath, "Be careful, be careful of that sickly person!"

After saying this, Lei YunSong's face was covered in sweat, wet as if he had washed his face.

Shang JianYao nodded:

"If he can escape."

Lei YunSong was still in the process of gradually seeing the light, and didn't understand the meaning of the sentence.

After a while, he finally calmed down:

"I am Lei YunSong, the leader of a team from the company. I came to Wildlands City to investigate the main brain of 'Mechanical Paradise.'

"When we left the City Lord's Mansion and walked out of North Street, we encountered a man in a black windbreaker. He looked very thin, as if he was sick..."

As he spoke, Lei YunSong's voice gradually lowered, and his tone was full of fear.

"He 'hypnotized' all five of you at once?" Jiang BaiMian was a little surprised.

After the previous encounter, she could almost confirm that the fake "Father" could only hypnotize one person at a time.

"No." Lei YunSong shook his head, "I was the one who made eye contact with him at the time. After returning to the hotel and falling asleep, I went out in a sleepwalking state and saw him again. After that, according to his instructions, I waited until dawn to find excuses and opportunities to bring the team members to see him one by one..."

After listening to Lei YunSong's statement, Jiang BaiMian's assessment was:

After being separated from the corresponding environment and stimulated by familiar objects, he should have broken free from "hypnosis" and returned to normal.

"Do you know where Wei Yu and the others went?" Jiang BaiMian asked about the most important thing.

Lei YunSong shook his head guiltily:

"We were separated.

"Lin FeiFei and I lived in adjacent buildings on South Street. According to that man's orders, we did some things, while Little Yu and the others were taken away by him..."

"Do you have any clues?" Jiang BaiMian pressed.

Lei YunSong frowned and recalled for a while:

"That person's 'hypnosis' seemed to have a time limit. Every once in a while, he would disguise himself and come to see us, redo the 'hypnosis,' and issue some orders at the same time.

"Once, he was a little late. My condition had recovered a lot, and I vaguely knew something was wrong. I went outside specifically to observe the route he took.

"He usually seemed to be in North Street. That time, I also heard him talking to someone with electronic products, saying something like 'Take them all to North Street'..."

At this time, Lin FeiFei also woke up.

Repeating the previous process, Jiang BaiMian verified some of Lei YunSong's words.

"You haven't fully recovered yet; get some rest. We're going to North Street to try to see that fake 'Father' and see if we can find out the whereabouts of Wei Yu and the others from him." Jiang BaiMian made a prompt decision and decided to go now.

Shang JianYao immediately supplemented:

"And return the car."

This made Lei YunSong and Lin FeiFei look at each other, suspecting that they hadn't completely broken free from "hypnosis," or that the anesthetic effect hadn't completely worn off, causing them to be slow to react and unable to understand what the other party was saying.

Leaving the room and arriving at the stairwell, Jiang BaiMian said to Long YueHong, who had followed:

"You stay here and help Little Bai.

"Um, remind her to keep an eye on Lei YunSong and Lin FeiFei. Although they seem to be fine, there's no guarantee that something won't happen."

"Yes, team leader!" Long YueHong inexplicably had a feeling of being entrusted with an important task.

Finding a window at random, Jiang BaiMian jumped from the second floor to the alley outside, drove the car, carried Shang JianYao, and went to South Street.

She knew that the wilderness wanderers were gathering in the central square, trying to attack North Street, and didn't dare to take that route, choosing to go around in a big circle.

As before, they went out from the South Street city gate, detoured to the North Street city gate, and successfully passed through the heavily guarded defense line with a special pass.