Chapter 159: Duty

Gu Yuan felt that frantically surging aura, his expression moved slightly.

Ever since hearing the voices from outside the city wall, Han Meng had seemed like a different person. He, who had almost given up struggling, erupted with unprecedented anger and stubbornness. For some reason, seeing the scarlet bloodshot veins in Han Meng's eyes, Gu Yuan's heart trembled slightly.

"Why bother... Han Meng." Gu Yuan's voice sounded, mixed with a hint of helplessness. "You should have heard the communication from headquarters just now; that train cannot enter Aurora City."

"Just now was just now! Now, there are survivors from the Third District on that train!"

Gu Yuan wanted to say something more, but Han Meng growled again:

"Aurora City stood by and watched the Seven Districts die, which could be excused by the fact that there were too many people and they were powerless to save them... Now there are at most a few dozen people on that train! They barely escaped from the Third District; they are the last seeds of the Seven Districts! Now that they have fought their way to the city gates, do you still intend to stand by and watch them die?

Does Aurora City not even have the power to save these few dozen people!!"

Hearing this, Gu Yuan fell silent.

The cries from the train continued,

At the same time, the crowd around White Dove Square also became restless and chaotic.

"Are those survivors from the Seven Districts?!"

"There are still people alive! There are still people alive outside the city walls!!"

"There are so many old people and children... Heavens, what have they been through?"

"Why won't you let them into the city?!"

"That's right, they barely escaped to Aurora City, why won't you let them in!!"

Those figures holding flags and banners all had anger on their faces. Beyond that, the residents of Aurora City who had not originally joined the protest but heard the cries from outside the city wall also walked onto the streets in confusion. Seeing this scene, they all stood frozen in place.

Some of them had already heard the news of the fall of the Seven Districts, but hadn't expressed an opinion—after all, not everyone possessed a heart of compassion. Others had just heard the news and were greatly shocked... but when they heard the cries from outside the city wall, they were all moved to some extent.

The lives of three hundred thousand people were too heavy for them to speak of lightly, but these few dozen exiled children, old people, and wounded outside the gate stirred their compassion...

As residents of Aurora City, they had always been proud. They didn't understand why Aurora City wouldn't accept these survivors. Coupled with the rising emotions of the surrounding crowd, a large number of people were influenced and voluntarily joined the ranks.

"You cold-blooded Enforcers! You stood by and watched the Seven Districts die, and now you're standing by and watching these wounded and children die too?!"

"Vice Chief [Tan Xin] is a coward! What exactly is he thinking? Does he not even have the courage to accept the wounded?!"

"I am a doctor! Let them in! They need treatment!!"

"If you kill even these poor people! What kind of Enforcers are you?! How can cold-blooded people like you manage Aurora City well!!"

“……”

The emotions of the crowd rose amidst the shouting. They clenched their fists and flags, starting to try to cross the cordon. Some had even begun to scuffle with the enforcers guarding behind the line; for a time, the scene was extremely chaotic!

Figure after figure ran across the square, joining this chaotic farce, startling all the white doves that had been resting peacefully, causing them to flap their wings and fly into the sky.

On the wooden chair that no one noticed, Gu Yuan watched the chaotic crowd in the distance in silence, his expression complex.

"Let me go!!" Han Meng was still struggling frantically. Cracks spread across the wooden chair beneath him, and it seemed the entire chair would soon be shattered.

"Han Meng, you are a good seed," Gu Yuan said slowly.

"But don't forget that you are also an Enforcer. Your duty is to be loyal to Aurora City... You should know what the consequences are for openly defying the orders of Aurora City."

Han Meng looked at him and replied, word for word,

"My duty is to protect... not to be loyal to anyone."

Seeing the determination flashing in Han Meng's eyes, Gu Yuan let out a long sigh.

This frost-haired Enforcer didn't speak again, but slowly placed the coffee in his palm onto the wooden chair beside him...

Crack—!

The moment the paper cup landed on the surface of the wooden chair, it was like a mountain crashing onto an ice sheet. Hideous cracks instantly covered the entire chair, and with a sharp explosion, the chair was shattered and sent flying by Han Meng's struggle!

As the wooden chair exploded, Han Meng took the opportunity to break free from the shackles that had been placed on him. He transformed into a bolt of black lightning, speeding toward the city wall without hesitation amidst the swirling dust!

Gu Yuan stood calmly on the wreckage of the ruined wooden chair, his pupils reflecting the black-clad figure moving away, as if seeing his younger self:

"With such a temperament, no wonder you were so favored by the [Judgment] path... what a pity..."

He shook his head and turned to leave alone into the distance.

……

The city wall.

The cries from the train outside the city and the roars of the crowd inside the city were mixed together. At this moment, the many enforcers standing on the city wall were at a loss.

"Is this Chen Ling... using the survivors of the Third District as hostages?" a Five-Strip Enforcer frowned and said.

"He knows that he can't enter Aurora City on his own, so he's using these survivors to stir up the emotions of the city's residents to blackmail us... Truly a clever tactic."

"But I don't understand, even if he gets into the city, what can he do? We already know his identity; isn't this just sending himself to his death?"

"I don't know..."

"So now, do we destroy the train or not?"

As soon as this question was asked, the three Enforcers fell silent.

A moment later, the Enforcer in the middle took a deep breath and said slowly:

"Headquarters hasn't changed the order; we must proceed according to the original plan... No matter who is on that train, it cannot be allowed to enter Aurora City!"

Perhaps the words "Headquarters' order" had an effect, as the other two Enforcers nodded slightly. They stood side by side on the city wall, and three domains expanded outward simultaneously!

"Are you really going to destroy that train?!" Wen Shilin's brow was locked tight. "No... the survivors on the train are innocent! Not only are you refusing to let them into the city, but you are also going to kill them yourselves? Do you know what kind of terrible impact this will cause?"

"Since when does a reporter get to point fingers at matters involving the safety of Aurora City?" An Enforcer looked at him coldly.

"I am merely stating an objective fact!"

The fountain pen in Wen Shilin's hand was writing rapidly in his notebook. He stared at the three of them and spoke seriously and solemnly,

"Unless you kill me right now, when I go back, I will definitely publish all of this as it happened... The public outrage that will follow won't be easily quelled. You... and even the entire Enforcer system, will suffer immeasurable impact."