The garrison barracks, a horde of sin beasts!

"Shenglin City has a garrison of thirty thousand, with barracks near each of the four gates to the east, west, south, and north."

"The sin beasts outside the city are usually fairly quiet. With the city-protecting formation as well, it's difficult for them to breach the defenses in a short time."

"The garrison commander is Feng Shan, at Silver Ninth Grade..."

Along the way, Lin Xiao briefed Lin An on the garrison.

Lin An listened quietly, nodding from time to time. He knew a fair amount about the garrison. After all, in his previous life, he had joined it immediately after entering the game.

Soon, the two reached the eastern district, the most heavily defended part of Shenglin City.

Beyond the eastern district lay an endless mountain range, with countless sin beasts hidden within.

The eastern district's barracks housed ten thousand troops, a third of the city's entire garrison. Feng Shan, the garrison commander, was also stationed here year-round.

If a major battle broke out, Lin Xiao, as city lord, also had to oversee the battlefield in person.

Just as the two reached the barracks entrance, they found an armored man waiting there with a group of people.

"Garrison Commander Feng Shan welcomes the city lord and young city lord."

The armored man at the head bowed, and everyone behind him followed suit.

"No need for formalities. I'm only here to help An'er get acquainted with the barracks."

Lin Xiao waved a hand. "Has everything been well in camp lately? How are the troops?"

Feng Shan immediately straightened and answered respectfully, "Reporting to the city lord, all is well in camp. The troops' morale is high, and they haven't neglected their training. There have been a few small disturbances involving sin beasts outside the city recently, but we suppressed them promptly without suffering any losses."

Lin Xiao nodded, a trace of satisfaction on his face. "Good. Thank you all for your hard work. However, the sin beasts are becoming increasingly active. We must not let our guard down."

"Rest assured, City Lord," Feng Shan said solemnly. "I will strengthen our patrols and defenses and never allow any sin beast to threaten the city's safety."

Lin Xiao gave a slight nod, then turned to Lin An, a hint of expectation in his voice. "An'er, this is your first visit to the barracks. Take a good look and learn more about the soldiers' lives and training. In the future, you'll also have to shoulder the responsibility of protecting the city."

Lin An nodded. "Yes, Father."

Seeing this, Feng Shan immediately stepped aside and gestured. "City Lord, Young City Lord, please follow me into the camp."

At the same time, Feng Shan looked at Lin An curiously. The city lord had sent word last night that he would inspect the camp today.

He had also told him that the young city lord, Lin An, had recovered from his illness. Feng Shan had not quite believed it then. Only now, seeing for himself that Lin An was no longer as he had been, did he believe it.

Naturally, he was pleased. The young city lord was Shenglin City's future master. Only if he was well could Shenglin City fare well.

Lin Xiao was about to nod when Lin An spoke first. "Wait, Father. There's something wrong with that man."

Lin An pointed at an armored young man behind Feng Shan.

At Lin An's words, everyone turned to look at the young man. His expression tightened, and he hurriedly stepped forward.

"This subordinate, Liu Yue, greets the city lord and young city lord. May I ask what the young city lord meant just now?" Liu Yue asked with a bow.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Lin Xiao wasted no words. He raised a hand and subdued him, handing him over to his personal guards before turning to Feng Shan. "Your garrison isn't clean."

Feng Shan and the garrison's senior officers shuddered inwardly.

They knew the city lord had not come merely to inspect the camp. For a moment, everyone reviewed their recent actions, afraid they would be subdued like Liu Yue.

Feng Shan kept his eyes fixed on Liu Yue.

Liu Yue was one of his formidable officers. At only twenty-six, he had already reached Bronze Seventh Grade and had a chance of breaking through to Silver before thirty.

Everything he knew about Liu Yue flashed through his mind, but he simply could not think of what offense Liu Yue had committed.

However, he knew very well that the city lord was not someone who acted recklessly. Since he had taken action, Liu Yue must have committed some evil deed Feng Shan knew nothing about.

"I have failed to supervise my subordinates properly. Please punish me, City Lord," Feng Shan said with a bow.

Lin Xiao glanced at Lin An. Seeing that he did not point his little finger at anyone else, he said, "We'll discuss that later. Let's enter the camp first."

The group entered the barracks, and Lin An looked around.

Inside, soldiers stood in orderly ranks, carrying out their daily training.

Battle cries and the clash of weapons rose one after another, filling the entire camp with a grim martial air.

"Young City Lord, this is our daily training ground," Feng Shan explained as he led the way. "The soldiers train their bodies and practice battle formations here every day to ensure they can bring their full fighting strength to bear in combat."

Lin An nodded, his gaze settling on the soldiers training. Before long, he spotted sin beasts lurking among them.

He was not surprised. These soldiers fought sin beasts year-round and were the most susceptible to possession.

However, he said nothing. Acting now would inevitably alert the other sin beasts, and it would be troublesome if panic broke out in the camp.

"City Lord, shall we begin the review?"

Upon reaching a raised platform, Feng Shan asked the question.

Lin Xiao had already said last night that he would review the garrison today. This was also to help Lin An quickly identify the sin beasts hiding among them.

"Yes, begin," Lin Xiao said with a nod.

"Begin the review!"

Boom, boom, boom...

As Feng Shan's words fell, war drums sounded, and the ten thousand soldiers began the review in formations of five hundred.

Lin An watched the formations pass before him one after another, searching for the hidden sin beasts.

"Seventh in the first row, second in the third row..."

As Lin An spoke, Lin Xiao began marking the soldiers he named.

Feng Shan, standing beside them, did not understand what they were doing, but he dared not ask.

Two hours later, as Lin An identified the sin beasts in the final formation, the review came to an end.

"Three hundred and seventy-two in total."

Lin Xiao's expression darkened. Nearly four hundred men had been possessed by sin beasts.

Had Lin An not identified these sin beasts today, the consequences would have been unimaginable if these nearly four hundred men stabbed them in the back during the sin beasts' next large-scale siege.

At this thought, Lin Xiao rose and stepped onto the platform. All the troops turned their eyes toward him.

"Soldiers!" Lin Xiao's voice rang like a great bell. His imposing presence, like that of a god of war, inspired awe.

"During today's review, I saw your valor and felt your fighting spirit. You are this city's protectors, the people's support. Every drop of sweat and blood you shed is for the peace of this land."

Lin Xiao swept his gaze over the soldiers below. "Though things are relatively peaceful now, we must not relax in the slightest. Today's review was not merely to display your strength, but to remind you that war has never been far away. We must always be ready."

His voice paused, then grew even firmer and more forceful. "However, threats still exist among you. Today, I have come to help you eliminate them."

At these words, the soldiers below exchanged puzzled looks, unsure what threats the city lord meant.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The next instant, Lin Xiao raised his hand, and pillars of light rose from one soldier after another.

Three hundred and seventy-two in total, no more and no less.

The expressions of the soldiers enveloped in those pillars changed drastically. How could they not realize they had been exposed?

They immediately tried to fight back.

"Hmph, you still dare resist!"

Lin Xiao snorted coldly at the sight. A terrifying pressure swept out, pinning them to the ground and leaving them unable to move.

"City Lord, what is the meaning of this? Why are you subduing us?"

"That's right! We risk our lives for Shenglin City, and now you're going to kill us once we've served our purpose?"

"Brothers, fight him! He wants to kill us!"

The subdued soldiers roared angrily, their words aimed at inciting the other soldiers.

The other soldiers' expressions shifted as well. Some of those subdued were their friends and relatives, so misgivings inevitably arose.

"City Lord, this is..."

Feng Shan's expression was grave as well. If this matter was handled poorly, it could easily provoke a mutiny.

"Weren't you wondering why I subdued Zhao Yue?"

As Lin Xiao spoke, he waved his hand, and Ji Yuan brought Zhao Yue forward.

"An'er, do it," Lin Xiao said.

Lin An nodded, took out the long saber his bargain father had given him earlier, and approached Zhao Yue.

"Young City Lord, you..." Zhao Yue still wanted to struggle, but Lin An's saber was what greeted him.

How could Zhao Yue not realize now that he too had been exposed? But with Lin Xiao's power restraining him and Ji Yuan, a Silver Ninth Grade expert, beside him, he had no chance to resist.

"No..."

Slash...

As Zhao Yue let out an unwilling roar, the saber cut his head clean off.

The sight shocked every soldier present. Naturally, they knew Zhao Yue, and none had expected him to die just like that.

Roar...

Just then, a roar rang out. Black energy emerged from Zhao Yue's body, and the figure of a sin beast appeared.

But the sin beast only let out a single wail before dissipating.

[You successfully killed a Bronze Seventh Grade sin beast and gained 3 attribute points.]

At the sight, Feng Shan, the other senior garrison officers, and all the soldiers present erupted into an uproar.

"It's a sin beast! General Zhao was possessed by a sin beast!"

"How is that possible? When was General Zhao possessed? None of us even knew!"

"Even General Zhao was possessed by a sin beast. Doesn't that mean these people the city lord subdued are also..."

At that moment, all the soldiers looked at the nearly four hundred subdued men with grave expressions. Those nearby even raised their weapons and aimed them at the men.

"Young City Lord, were they all possessed by sin beasts?"

Feng Shan approached Lin An, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Zhao Yue, whom I thought so highly of, was actually possessed by a sin beast?

And these nearly four hundred men here were possessed too?

As garrison commander, he naturally understood how severe the consequences of so many men being possessed could be.

But how did the city lord know?

He could not help glancing at Lin An, the young city lord. He had been standing beside them earlier and had naturally heard Lin An calling out names.

At the time, he had wondered why the young city lord was naming people. But now, it seemed their young city lord had some means of detecting sin beasts?