Chapter 136 – Sudden Change

In the early dawn of Doleiz City, Punk and his companions had already departed. The city’s army and priests stood ready, waiting only for Mila’s radiance to illuminate the city before launching their assault on the Tisha Xia’er Church.

Meanwhile, outside Doleiz City, refugees gathered before the city gates. A robust old man led several equally spirited young people in glaring at the noble on the city walls—Zweig.

“You clearly have sufficient grain, so why force all refugees to lose everything? Is this the mercy and kindness you nobles speak of?”

The young people beside him clenched their fists, waving them vigorously as they protested loudly:

“That’s right! Distribute the grain now!”

“It was them who forced my sister to sell herself! Return my sister to me!”

“Our whole family is starving to death, yet these nobles are hoarding more grain than they could ever use!”

“Hurry up and apologize, then hand out the food!”

The refugees were filled with righteous indignation, everyone roaring in anger. The presence of numerous “companions” granted these typically timid refugees unimaginable courage. Now, many young people even dared to point at Zweig and curse him loudly.

Meanwhile, Dichiduo, Bilan, and Lotalan found themselves helplessly mixed within the refugee crowd. The raised arms of the refugees even blocked the light of dawn. Lotalan watched the silent Zweig on the platform, knowing full well that this noble was the scapegoat Doleiz City had put forward. Soon, he would likely distribute grain to the refugees before driving them away.

The refugees jostled and crowded against each other in unbearable congestion. Dichiduo had to do his utmost to shield Lotalan and Bilan behind him to prevent them from being knocked over. They wanted to reach the platform to warn the old man representing the refugees’ protest: “You’re being tricked by the cunning nobles! Stop this quickly!But everyone fervently pressed toward the old man who was still loudly accusing the nobles. Dichiduo and the others found themselves trapped in the middle of the refugee tide, unable to move!

“Look! What is Zweig having brought up to the city walls?” Lotalan exclaimed, pointing at the walls.

Hearing this, Dichiduo stopped struggling to push through the crowd. He stood on tiptoe, finally catching a glimpse of the scene on the walls over the sea of people.

They saw “Zweig” directing servants to pile large sacks of grain onto the city walls. So much grain had been stacked that it formed dozens of small hills along the battlements. Even the scattered grains alone filled the air with the faint fragrance of Ququ Wheat.

“Gulp”!!

Seeing such vast quantities of grain brought forward, the refugees fell silent almost simultaneously. Overwhelmed by hunger, they swallowed hard in near-unison.

Everyone, including Dichiduo, Lotalan and the others, stared in stunned disbelief. The amount of grain was so immense it completely covered the city walls.

Dichiduo was rendered speechless. He never imagined these nobles could be so insane—hoarding this much grain while constantly pleading poverty.Thinking of the countless children who starved to death among the refugees, the numerous families forced to sell their sons and daughters just to obtain food, Dichiduo still remembered a frail child of merely six or seven grabbing clumps of dirt to stuff into their mouth. He also remembered a lively, kind-hearted girl sneaking off to the military camp in the dead of night to sell herself to bring food to her family. The cause of all this was nothing but the greed of the Nobles. And now, the piles of grain stacked atop the city walls served as the most merciless mockery of this cruel reality.

Dichiduo’s fists were clenched so tightly in rage that they bled. Having grown up in the peaceful Nielan Town, he simply couldn’t fathom that such “evil” existed in this world—that there were people who would rather let grain rot than relieve the suffering of the desperate refugees. Did they truly possess not a shred of humanity?

What was even more terrifying was that those Nobles were about to set a dreadful conspiracy in motion. They would distribute the grain, only to drive all the hopeful refugees straight into the Abyss.

“Damn it! Damn it all!”

Dichiduo’s eyes burned with fury. He was enraged, he despised—both for the existence of such unimaginable “evil” and for his own powerlessness to stop it, forced to watch it all unfold before his eyes.

Just as endless wrath consumed Dichiduo’s heart, a pair of soft, delicate hands gently covered his bleeding fists.

“……”

Dichiduo looked up in a daze to find a beautiful face unexpectedly close to his.

“This isn’t your fault. We can’t save everyone, nor can we punish all evil. So, as long as we protect those right before us, that’s enough. Isn’t that what you said?”

Bilan’s voice flowed like a clear stream, soothing Dichiduo’s heart. His tightly clenched fists gradually relaxed.

“You’re right, Bilan. The priority now is to save those in front of us, but……”

Dichiduo gazed with a hint of despair as “Zweig” on the city wall moved to a high vantage point, clearly preparing to address the crowd.

“Is it too late to stop him……”

Lotalan lowered her head in dismay. She had already anticipated how events would unfold. Judging by the typical demeanor of those Nobles, Zweig would surely begin with hypocritical apologies, then advise the refugees to seek shelter in other territories, and finally distribute the grain before dispersing them all…

“Zweig” stood atop the high platform. From such a distance, no one could clearly make out his figure, and no one noticed the deeply concealed madness in his eyes at that moment.

He produced an Enchanted Megaphone, took a deep breath, and declared in an unwavering tone:

“Now, I—Zweig Kaula—hereby issue the command… Immediately burn all the grain, every last grain!”

“………………”

“………………”

“What… did that Noble say?”

The refugees outside Doleiz City, along with the dozens of City Guard soldiers on the walls, were all stunned. “Zweig’s” actions had taken everyone by surprise; no one could process what was happening.

But Zweig’s five or six loyal private soldiers reacted instantly. Prepared in advance, they swiftly pulled out flints and, under the stunned gazes of all present, set the nearby grain piles ablaze with lightning speed.

It all happened in the blink of an eye—so fast that no one even had time to think of stepping forward to intervene.It was unknown what materials had been added, but the moment sparks touched the grain piles, they immediately ignited. Due to the dense stacking of the grain, the flames quickly spread to every pile without exception. In just a few seconds, the entire city wall was engulfed in a sea of fire.

Zweig stood on the rampart, laughing heartily. The flickering shadows of the flames danced wildly across his greasy, plump face.

“You lowly commoners, how dare you make demands of the incomparably noble Nobles? Now, by Lord Hett’s command, I have burned all the grain. This is the Dolaizi Nobility’s punishment for you! Hahahaha! You deserve only to be slaves, generation after generation!”

Zweig laughed maniacally on the high platform, while over twenty thousand refugees stood frozen in place, staring in despair at the towering inferno.

“What… what is this? The Nobles would never do such a thing… Why… why would he…”

Lotalan, amidst the crowd, was already at a loss for words. The sudden twist of events had taken everyone by surprise. Zweig had unhesitatingly burned all the grain and, in the process, shifted the blame onto Hett and all the Doleiz Nobles.

Lotalan had no idea what had happened or why Zweig had done this, but she knew one thing for certain: this situation was absolutely not what those Nobles had intended to see.

(End of Chapter)