As dusk gave way to night, the day-long Tide finally receded. Yet Lake City remained as bright as day, with every Command Post having switched on all the city's lighting before nightfall.
Inside the main Command Post, a gray-haired elder sat in the seat of honor at the center, with the Association's core members seated below him.
The elder was Luo Yan, the current vice president of the Hangzhou Martial Arts Association. His expression was grim as he read the casualty reports handed up from below.
Bang—!
After reading the last one, Luo Yan slammed the report heavily onto the table before him.
The force split the table cleanly in two, yet the paper report drifted slowly down without a single tear.
"Seal the city immediately. Conduct a thorough search for the remaining accomplices. Until every last Sakura Nation remnant has been purged, no one is leaving!"
"Vice President, that would be inappropriate. They have been hiding for a long time and won't be easy to root out. Sealing the city may cause panic among the people of the main city."
The man raising the objection was the head of Lake City's Inspection Department. In this sudden incident, he bore the greatest responsibility; it was a serious dereliction of duty.
"Panic? Since when have the people of Dragon Nation become so fragile? Even the full-scale invasion of the Demon Clan failed to break us. It is only a city lockdown. Aren't you making far too much of it?"
Luo Yan's stance was firm, but someone immediately voiced another opinion. It was the head of the Logistics Department.
"Elder Luo, I think we need to discuss this with the military. Sealing the city rashly would consume no small amount of resources. We can't have the Association shoulder all of it alone,