The Guardian's Return (Ethan Rivers) novel Chapter 485

Nolan was getting anxious. Stephen had recovered and would be back in Hill City in no time. Besides, with Stephen having met with Jeremy, Nolan was worried that Jeremy might’ve said things he should not.

Adding to that, the South Regent’s forces were about to return to Hill City, and he also had to rescue the South Regent’s men. He started planning how to rescue them while discreetly finding out what Jeremy and Stephen talked about. However, when he learned that Jeremy did not mention him, he sighed in relief.

Two days later, Stephen returned to Hill City, accompanied by Ganter and Austin. Ganter had promised Ethan to become a psychologist in Hill City, and Austin realized that he still had much to learn after this incident, so he decided to tag along with Ganter.

Stephen was very grateful to Ganter and Austin as both of them had essentially saved his life. Hence, he arranged accommodations for them and even bought a storefront for Ganter.

“If you need anything in the future, just let me know. I will solve it for you.”

After settling them down, Stephen resumed managing Hill City.

Nolan had taken over for the past few days, and upon seeing Stephen’s return, he smiled. “Stephen, you’re finally better. After getting past this hurdle, it’ll be smooth sailing from now on.”

“Yeah.” Stephen nodded. “Thank you for the past few days. Did anything happen?”

Nolan said, “Hill City’s situation remains the same.”

People were leaving, and the economy was declining, especially after the South Regent’s businesses were shut down. No prominent businesses were left in Hill City, with the Spencers being the only exception.

Stephen read through various reports and felt a headache coming. “Let’s have a meeting later.”

Hill City had too many pressing issues that needed to be addressed right away—the worsening economy, the lack of new businesses entering the city, population loss, the culprit behind the cross-border trades, and the rampant illegal goods…

The meeting was convened soon. When Stephen listed the problems, everyone was momentarily dazed. It felt like they had been transported back three or four years.

Once, Hill City, or the whole Riveria had faced the same problems. Only then, things were much worse.

At that time, foreigners could easily infiltrate Riveria, and various factions brazenly conducted sales of illegal goods on the streets.