Murich, hiding under the table, had a clear view of Xu Liyan's situation. He scrambled out and rushed towards the corner where Zhao Zhengqi was.

During this process, he shouted loudly:

"Explosives!

"He's strapped with explosives!"

Zhao Zhengqi and others, being farther away and obstructed by the table, couldn't see the detailed situation on Xu Liyan's side. They asked urgently and frantically:

"What explosives?"

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

Frankly speaking, if they hadn't seen that the situation seemed to be under control, they would have definitely had their bodyguards clear a path and rush out of the room to join their own guards.

"'Little Mushrooms'! Xu Liyan is strapped with 'Little Mushrooms'!" Murich quickly shared the situation.

That type of explosive originated from the "Orange" company, model h404. Because of its great power, it was nicknamed "Little Mushroom".

"Shit!" Francisco, another Red River race noble councilor, couldn't help but curse.

If a ring of "Little Mushrooms" exploded, it would mean that no one in the council hall and the corresponding outer areas would survive—except for those who are not normal people.

After a brief moment of chaos, Zhao Zhengqi looked at Odic, Uncle Liu, and the hooded "Mysterious Person," and asked loudly:

"What's going on?

"And, first, first, disarm the explosives."

The conversation made him a little nervous.

"This humble monk will do it." The mechanical monk Jing Nian's five metal fingers, under the control of the chip, slowly disarmed the explosives strapped to Xu Liyan with the highest precision.

He was now a bit annoyed, having made a "blind spot" mistake:

He had added some modules that were not usually used in order to come to Wildgrass City as a bodyguard. He had even specifically used them to check whether the participating nobles and their guards were carrying explosives of sufficient equivalent, but he had overlooked the employer himself.

Odic didn't force himself and turned his gaze to Zhao Zhengqi, simply explaining:

"Not long ago, the 'Anti-Intellect Cult's' 'Father' attacked City Lord Xu and was blocked.

"But his purpose wasn't assassination, but to close the distance, make eye contact, and 'hypnotize' City Lord Xu, so that when he summoned all the noble councilors, he would commit a suicide attack and wipe out the entire top level of Wildgrass City."

He was only sure of the second half of the sentence now.

If it was just to assassinate Xu Liyan, the "Father" didn't need to play it so fancy and do a bunch of "useless work." His real target was very big and very difficult.

That was to kill all the great nobles of Wildgrass City!

You see, Xu Liyan was guarded by the mechanical monk Jing Nian. Any attempt to contact him through normal channels and quietly "hypnotize" him could be disrupted by "foresight." Moreover, under the watchful eyes of the "Eternal People," attempts at "hypnosis" were quite easily discovered. At that time, even escaping might be impossible.

At the same time, for any gatherings that Xu Liyan attended, regardless of the form, others had to undergo strict checks and could only bring light firearms such as pistols that could be hidden on the body.

Under various constraints, it was almost impossible to kill all the nobles of Wildgrass City at once.

There were still sufficient security measures here.

As for what the purpose of this big goal was, it was temporarily unknown.

"Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi, so that's how it is..." The mechanical monk Jing Nian chanted a Buddhist prayer in a low voice.

He finally understood the causes and consequences and the various details, and also found the true source of the dangerous premonition—he thought there was a second round of assassination.

"Awesome!" Shang Jianyao didn't skimp on his praise.

If he wasn't holding the "Ice Moss" pistol and confronting the guards single-handedly, he definitely wouldn't let his applause be absent.

Although Jiang Baimian didn't look back, she could imagine that his face was probably full of admiration.

Admiring the "Father" for playing it so big.

Zhao Zhengqi, Francisco, and others barely understood the truth of the matter, didn't pay attention to the inexplicable remarks of Odic's subordinates, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Since such a "High-Ranking Hunter" had come to Wildgrass City, they had more or less sent people to inquire about the relevant situation. They were no strangers to Odic and turned their eyes to him one after another, expressing their gratitude:

"Mr. Odic, right? We really owe you a lot, otherwise we would have been blown to the sky."

"We will definitely prepare some gifts in return."

"Damn, I've experienced countless ups and downs in my life, but today I almost capsized in the gutter and became a victim of injustice, not even knowing who killed me. Mr. Odic, let's get closer, and be sure to visit my manor when this matter is over."

"When order is restored in the city, the followers of the 'Anti-Intellect Cult' must be caught and burned to death in the central square!"

As they spoke, the mechanical monk Jing Nian had removed the h404 explosives from Xu Liyan's body and grabbed them in his hand along with the black remote control.

He originally wanted to personally transfer these high-risk items to another place and keep them away from the council hall, but after looking at Xu Liyan, he gave up the idea.

A qualified bodyguard should not leave his employer more than three meters away.

"Who will take them out?" Jing Nian raised his arm and asked in a synthesized electronic voice.

Wildgrass City was located on the edge of the Monk Wasteland. The people present were no strangers to mechanical monks. At this time, they could roughly guess Jing Nian's identity, but after looking at the string of explosives and the remote control, they all chose to remain silent.

Obviously, no noble would demean himself to do this, and sending out bodyguards would weaken the defensive forces around them. As for summoning the guards in, it would not only violate the rules but also easily trigger unnecessary chain reactions—making other great nobles think that someone was trying to take the opportunity to engage in infighting.

Besides, who knew if there were other remote controls for that pile of explosives? What if the "Father" had accomplices hiding in the City Lord's Mansion, and when the time came, they would press the switch?

At that time, whoever held the explosives wouldn't even have ashes left!

Of course, it was their consensus to transfer the dangerous items away as soon as possible.

With similar thoughts, they once again looked at Odic, hoping that he could have his men do this.

Before they could speak, Shang Jianyao volunteered:

"I'll do it!"

He was quite interested in that long string of "Little Mushrooms."

"Good!" "Courageous!" All the nobles present unanimously agreed and signaled the guards to put down their weapons and stop confronting each other.

Shang Jianyao quickly walked towards the mechanical monk Jing Nian and took the pile of things with his left hand.

Then, he extended his right palm, posing for a handshake.

Jing Nian froze for a moment and somewhat blankly extended his right hand made of a metal skeleton and shook hands with Shang Jianyao.

"Zen Master, I'll play a song for you later, you'll definitely like it," Shang Jianyao said enthusiastically.

If the situation wasn't so serious, Jiang Baimian would have really wanted to raise her hand and cover her face.

The mechanical monk Jing Nian didn't know how to respond for a moment. Fortunately, Zhao Zhengqi helped him out:

"Now we can wake up the City Lord. Only he knows some of the details."

Odic had no objection and nodded to Jing Nian.

The mechanical monk Jing Nian immediately grabbed Xu Liyan's shoulders and shook them.

Shang Jianyao was originally excitedly watching, but because he was holding dangerous items, he was unanimously asked to leave quickly.

He had to move his feet, inch by inch, towards the door.

Two or three seconds later, Xu Liyan woke up.

He was dazed for a while, then hurriedly lowered his head and looked at his waist.

"City Lord Xu, you were hypnotized by the 'Father'," Odic reminded him.

Xu Liyan's expression changed repeatedly, and he leaned back on the chair as if he had lost his strength:

"I remember...

"When I was cleaning, I heard voices in my head saying 'Blow them up' 'Blow them up', and then, I found a pile of explosives from the secret armory in the room..."

After the attempt failed and he was told the truth, his "hypnosis" effect was lifted.

"City Lord, it's not that I'm acting like an old man, but you still have to be more cautious in the future and don't always run to the Hunter's Guild," Zhao Zhengqi lectured, alluding to something.

Xu Liyan perked up and ignored this, looking at the guards outside the door and said murderously:

"Tell Sun Xuefeng that as soon as the team is organized, immediately launch a counterattack and strive to push those wasteland wanderers out of the city within an hour."

Seeing that the alarm had been lifted, Murich and others relaxed and walked back to the long table one after another, expressing their opinions:

"Yeah, those damn beasts, I don't know how much stuff they've broken. I just hope they haven't ruined the supplies too much."

"Our food is all grown by ourselves with great effort. Why should it be cheaper for them? Giving some of them a chance to be slaves is already the ultimate act of kindness."

"Can't they just stay outside the city honestly and quietly and wait for other slave-catching teams from 'First City' to come?"

"Who told them not to store food themselves? Who can they blame for starving to death?"

"I don't think we can just simply push them out of the city. If we don't give them some cruel lessons, they'll dare to do it again in the future!"

"Keeping them is also troublesome. It's better to find some ways to solve them all without wasting bullets."

Amid the chatter, Zhao Zhengqi and others once again turned their attention to the post-disaster strategy proposed by Xu Liyan earlier:

"City Lord, you can't be soft-hearted."

"Even if you want to provide relief, you can't give it away for free. Don't those citizens still have real estate, shops, and furniture? They can be taken out in exchange for food..."

"So many people have died, shouldn't there be no shortage of food?"

"We have to urge them to bury the people as soon as possible. If there's a plague, it'll be troublesome."

"This can only solve the problem for a while, not for a winter. We still have to consider a more appropriate solution. How about, City Lord, you come forward and borrow a batch of food and supplies from 'First City'?"

"At worst, we can recruit new citizens, there are plenty of people coming."

"In this world, food is more valuable than people..."

"Everyone, everyone, let's be harmonious, let's be harmonious."

Various voices entered his ears, making Xu Liyan's head a bit dizzy again.

Bang!

Just then, there was another gunshot.

The broken crystal chandelier fell directly and smashed onto the long table with a clang.

Murich, who spoke and acted slowly, slid under the table again. Zhao Zhengqi, who was fat, left his seat like a cat and scurried to a corner with cover. This time, he was so hasty that he didn't even bother to pull his eldest son along.

As the nobles scattered again, Odic, while hiding towards the head of the long table, looked towards the door with the mechanical monk Jing Nian.

Shang Jianyao stood there, holding the string of "Little Mushrooms" in one hand and the black remote control, and holding the "Ice Moss" in the other, aiming at the long table.

Noticing the gazes cast over, he asked with a sunny smile:

"If I press this button, will this string of bombs explode with a bang?"

Hearing this question, especially the emphasized "bang," the heartbeats of all the nobles, including Xu Liyan, skipped a beat.

Odic blurted out:

"Are you crazy?"

Shang Jianyao looked at him with an undiminished smile and responded:

"You just realized that?"

Jiang Baimian next to him sighed helplessly, turned her body, raised her pistol, and helped him guard his back.