Published: February 12, 2025
The ones surrendering were merchants who had come to the Holy City for business.
West Asia is vast, and besides the Holy City, which is the largest fertile land, there are many other regions that have nurtured a lot of people. Since ancient times, trade has existed between the numerous oases.
Of course, there could also be wars. These people came to the Holy City to make money, not to die. Ahmad's previous confinement of them had already made them very unhappy, and the subsequent war had caused them to lose their goods.
Indeed, Ahmad is the king of West Asia, but to these merchants, that was merely nominal. If the Holy City could bring benefits to major forces in other places, why should they listen to him? Now, their interests had been severely infringed upon, and even their lives were threatened, so why should they serve the Holy City?
Invaders? Yes, these Easterners deserve that title, but what does it have to do with them? They had heard that there was animosity towards the Holy City; otherwise, why would they be rivals? If it was merely about plundering, to be honest, the weaker forces these merchants belonged to would be the best targets.
Since it was like this, what did it matter if they surrendered? After all, their homes weren’t here. As long as they could leave, whether the Holy City or these Easterners emerged victorious, they would still gain corresponding benefits.
There were indeed quite a few of these people. In just one hour, nearly twenty thousand had arrived, most of whom were in the East City where Ye Zhongming was located.
Their demands were quite simple: they wanted to leave the Holy City.
As for their attitude… how should one put it? It wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't bad either; there was a sort of indifferent detachment, as if it had nothing to do with them.
Ye Zhongming stroked his chin, looking at the representative chosen by these people with great interest. He found the West Asians quite intriguing.
Currently, the entire Holy City was surrounded by Cloud Summit, and fierce battles were raging within. The Holy City’s army was at a complete disadvantage; what gave them such courage to think that they could remain uninvolved in this matter? Did they think they could just leave without paying any price?
Ye Zhongming was quite peaceful towards the national zone, as long as they weren't hostile forces, they could generally coexist.
However, for these people, who had little interaction with him and had even fired at Cloud Summit’s team during the recent conflict, he didn't have such a good heart or patience.
"Two choices."
Ye Zhongming raised two fingers and put down one, saying, "I see you aren’t carrying any goods, so I will implement a level reduction policy for the Evolution Potion. As long as you can hand over a bottle of Evolution Potion registered as one level lower or an equivalent item, then you may leave."
The merchants immediately erupted in chaos, with all kinds of protests, but the basic message was that all their goods had been taken away, how could they possibly have any money left?
Ye Zhongming looked puzzled, "Then where does your confidence come from, demanding that I let you leave amidst the apocalypse's war?"
The group immediately dropped their previous reserve. The reason they dared to make demands was simply because they were numerous. Together, they had more than fifty thousand, and if they truly resolved to become enemies with Cloud Summit, it would indeed cause a lot of casualties.
They were betting that Cloud Summit would rationally let them leave, thus reducing unnecessary troubles.
But who would have thought that this young leader would be so tough?
"Then, esteemed Leader of the East, what is your second choice?"
One person stepped forward, pressing Ye Zhongming for the other option.
"Strip off all your equipment, then you can leave."
This time, there was even more uproar.
Although it wasn't absolute, those with higher evolution levels tended to have better gear; it could be said that equipment was something they valued highly, second only to evolution levels, sometimes even above profession and bloodline.