Outside the city, Black Spirit natives were laying siege, while the Black Spirit Empire's last regular army had been shattered and scattered. The powerful figures of the empire had vanished without a trace. Those defending atop the walls now were merely city defense squads formed from ordinary residents within the city. Even so, against the Black Spirit natives' casual assault, they still suffered grievous casualties.
The Black Spirit natives' main force had not yet arrived. Those who had come ahead were only scouting parties from native tribes. But these city defense squads lacked unified command. Though they possessed considerable fighting strength, they still defended with great difficulty against the Black Spirit natives' attacks.
If every ship in Black Pearl Harbor had not vanished without a trace, and if their wives, children, and elderly relatives had not been inside the city, the members of these city defense squads would have fled with their people long ago. They were not wealthy great merchants; the tickets Monk offered were far too expensive, a treatment beyond their means. With no road left to them, they had voluntarily banded together and mounted the city walls.
Thus, when they saw Black Spirit natives galloping past outside the city from time to time, the originally despairing defenders suddenly saw large numbers of elite warriors clad in standard armor surging onto the walls. Their cheers were only natural.
But what left these city defense squad members stunned was that the moment those warriors flooded onto the wall, they immediately issued an integration order—all city defense personnel were to accept incorporation into the Dragon Mountain Empire's regular legions and become officially enlisted soldiers of its regular army. Any who resisted would be dealt with under military law.
The cheers atop the walls and throughout the city vanished without a