"If even heaven doesn't care, why should I?"

With the aid of the Wild Wolf Gang Leader's Token, the section of city wall that had been on the verge of collapse held firm once more.

But...

They had used up a precious exotic treasure.

An exotic treasure that could temporarily strengthen a city wall's defenses was extraordinarily valuable. It could save lives.

"Has the Chen Family's Builder still not arrived?"

Standing in the torrential rain, the Wild Wolf Gang Leader turned to the subordinate beside him and roared.

"We've sent several men to the Chen Residence, but there's still no reply." The subordinate holding a long saber wiped the rain from his face and shouted back.

"Fucking hell!"

The man, a bandit through and through, stared at the seemingly endless strange entities outside the city. His face twisted as he gripped his saber's hilt, fury blazing in his eyes.

Tonight.

With Northbank City in peril.

The only people standing on the walls were his brothers from the Wild Wolf Gang and scattered forces such as the North River Market. He had even seen quite a few merchants take out all the eerie stone they normally hoarded and could never bear to spend, handing it to Builders to construct arrow towers.

All to hold out through tonight.

Yet...

Not a single person from the North River Chen Family or the Qiuhe Wang Family had come to defend the city.

He knew exactly what those two families were thinking. Their own residences had higher-level walls anyway. What did it matter to them if Northbank City's walls fell? All they needed to do was protect their own little patches of land.

They could not bear to spend their eerie stone and exotic treasures defending Northbank City.

As one of the Three Great Powers, his Wild Wolf Gang also had its own territory and walls. He could just as easily retreat to his own domain.

But—

He had never had any major business ventures over the years. His gang was a rising power that had emerged after Northbank City fell during the rainy season thirty-seven years ago. He could not get a foothold in the big businesses, so the gang's main source of income was the protection money they collected from shops.

Since he had taken these people's protection money.

He had to protect them.

That was the rule.

Take the money, do the job.

"Boss, what do we do now?" His trusted subordinate beside him spoke urgently. "The Chen Family and Wang Family clearly aren't coming. Why don't we pull back too? We can't hold the city on our own."

"...Whew."

The Wild Wolf Gang Leader turned to the elderly man standing behind him on the wall, drenched in rain. He was the gang's Builder, an outside retainer and a Level 5 Builder. The gang leader had once saved his life after he was injured in the wilderness, and he had followed him ever since.

After taking a deep breath, he suppressed the anger in his eyes and asked hoarsely, "Elder Zhu, what do you think?"

"I'll follow your lead."

There was little change in the elderly man's eyes. He merely chuckled. "Whatever you order, I shall do."

"Good!"

The bandit-like man looked at the Meatworm Wraiths charging again and again through the torrential rain outside the city, then suddenly laughed. "I reckon that since we've collected protection money, we ought to protect the people behind us."

"Taking their money without doing the job isn't how the Wild Wolf Gang operates. What do you say?"

Lightning flashed.

A hint of bloody light appeared on the man's deathly pale face.

"Erhu!"

"Here!"

"Open the storehouses! Bring out every bit of eerie stone and every exotic treasure the Wild Wolf Gang has! I'm fucking holding this city to the death today!"

"Yes!"

Opening the storehouses meant it was time to stake everything they had.

After this battle.

Even if Northbank City held, the Wild Wolf Gang would cease to exist as a power within it.

The news soon spread along the walls.

Anyone in the city who could scrape together some eerie stone rushed out of their home into the torrential rain whenever they saw a member wearing the Wild Wolf Gang's colors, handing over everything they had.

Everyone understood.

The Wild Wolf Gang was defending the city for them.

Even if the Wild Wolf Gang did not defend the city, it still had somewhere to retreat to. But they truly had nowhere to go. If the city fell, they would die.

"Dad."

Inside a wooden hut in a Northbank City alley, a man in hemp robes held a great knife and grinned at his terrified parents, who could not bear to let him leave. "You always used to say I'd never amount to anything running with a gang. You kept wanting me to find a position with the Chen Family, saying that was the proper path."

"See now?"

"When the city is truly about to fall, we're the ones protecting everyone in it."

Just then.

A firework bloomed over the city through the torrential rain.

The man delayed no longer and hurriedly said goodbye. "The gang leader has issued an emergency summons. I have to go. I'll be back at dawn."

Northbank City, the Chen Residence.

Inside the Council Hall.

Several elders had gathered.

"The Wild Wolf Gang Leader certainly has guts, but he isn't very rational. Win or lose, after this battle, the Wild Wolf Gang will no longer exist as a power in Northbank City."

The Chen Residence's First Elder sighed, a conflicted expression on his face.

The Wild Wolf Gang was a power that had emerged after the last disaster.

It had not experienced the rainy season thirty-seven years ago.

They had no idea that a city's fall was inevitable in a rainy season like this. So what if they held out tonight? There were still more than twenty days left in the rainy season.

It was all wasted effort.

At a time like this, the right thing to do was conserve every resource, defend their own territory to the death, and weather the rainy season.

The Second Elder remained silent.

He merely felt that... the Family had grown more and more chaotic over the years.

The Ghosthide Map clearly showed that Jiangbei Chen Family Station No. 37 had not yet fallen. One fact was plain: Chen Fan had become a Builder, and his level was not low. Yet this Builder, who had originally belonged to their Chen Family, had been driven into the Wasteland by internal strife.

But...

No one in the Family dared mention it again. They simply pretended not to know.

Just then—

The Chen Family Head pushed open the door and entered the Council Hall. He began speaking as soon as he sat down.

"The Wild Wolf Gang has opened its storehouses and committed all its reserves to defending Northbank City to the death, choosing to live or die alongside hundreds of thousands of citizens."

"Commendable courage."

"I admire him as a man of substance."

"The people in the city are united now. Anyone with even a little eerie stone has rushed into the streets to press it into the hands of Wild Wolf Gang members. With that support, they might actually hold out tonight."

The First Elder said thoughtfully, "Family Head, do you mean we should join the defense now, seize the opportunity, and salvage some of our reputation?"

"No."

The Chen Family Head shook his head. "Whether my actions over the years have been right or wrong is for future generations to judge. But one thing is certain: everything I've done has been for the Chen Family's growth. In that regard, I have not let our ancestors down."

"Nor have I disgraced the position of Chen Family Head."

"Even if they hold out tonight, there are still more than twenty days left in the rainy season. How will they defend the city through its latter half?"

"They're wasting the city's resources."

"Have all Chen Family Disciples change into Wild Wolf Gang clothing immediately and collect the eerie stone and exotic treasures the citizens and merchants are donating."

"Especially around the North River Market."

"I don't care what happens to the people of this city."

"Since eternal night invaded, how many people have died on this continent? How many begged heaven for a way to survive? Did heaven answer them?"

"If even heaven doesn't care, why should I?"

"I care about only one thing."

"The Chen Family's growth."

"Everything... is for the Chen Family."

"..."

The elders exchanged glances, each seeing the conflicted look in the others' eyes. But after a long moment, they all nodded. "As you command, Family Head."