165: Can't I be a wise ruler who founded a new country?

Commander Kong gestured for his daughter to put down the gifts: “Qin Shilei, due to the need to reorganize the military, I’ve only just come to express my gratitude for saving my daughter and me. I hope you don’t mind.”

The gifts were one hundred doses of the latest version of the zombie serum developed by the Research Institute.

It was a decent gift.

Qin Shilei calmly accepted the gifts offered by the other party: “The military has been reorganized now, I presume?”

“It’s a long story!” Commander Kong smiled wryly, then added, “I heard you named this place Hope City?”

Qin Shilei smiled and said, “Yes, thanks to everyone’s kindness, I shamelessly took on the role of City Lord.”

He deliberately mentioned being the City Lord to observe the other party’s reaction.

Indeed, upon hearing the term “City Lord,” Commander Kong’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

After a pause, he composed himself and said with a smile, “Hope City, that’s a good name. I wonder if you still have any tools for building this city wall?”

“The only City Guardian Monument I had has already been used,” Qin Shilei shook his head.

Commander Kong showed a hint of disappointment: “What a pity.”

He paused, then shifted the topic and asked, “I wonder what your thoughts are on whether our Great Xia Country can cope with this apocalypse?”

Qin Shilei shook his head: “I’m just a small individual; I only want to ensure the people around me survive better. As for national affairs, I don’t know much.”

“However, judging from the information on the chat channel, the country is likely to enter a state of warlordism.”

With transportation paralyzed, communication severed, and the power of thermal weapons greatly reduced, the central government simply could not effectively control the regions below.

Although Qin Shilei’s words were harsh, Commander Kong knew they were the truth.

He had never received any directives from the central government; instead, some people on the chat channel, under the guise of a high-ranking central official, demanded a certain military region to go to the capital for rescue.

Commander Kong looked at Qin Shilei and said in a deep voice, “Do you also want to carve out a territory and achieve a great undertaking?”

Listening to the other party’s questioning tone, Qin Shilei suddenly felt a bit annoyed and said coldly, “What if I do, and what if I don’t?”

Commander Kong spoke, “If you do, I can make you the true City Lord of Nanzhuang City, and also the General Commander of the military.”

“The only condition is that you must acknowledge the leadership of the central government, and once the country has a request, you must obey unconditionally.”

“Heh heh.”

Qin Shilei sneered, “You mean, you want me to work for your military? General Commander, that’s quite a calculation.”

“I don’t mean for you to work for the military.”

Commander Kong explained, “With my recommendation, you can legitimately become a military bigwig. Once the country is recovered, you will also be a great hero. You will be a patriot praised by everyone, why not?”

Qin Shilei suddenly changed the subject and said, “I heard your military is already fragmented now. Are you throwing a mess at me to clean up?”

Yesterday, when Kong Qingshu came over, she had given him a detailed account of the military’s situation.

Although the elite combat forces of the rebel groups were wiped out at the General Commander’s headquarters that day, the commanders of the various rebel forces remained completely unharmed.

Now they were holding their military camps, not allowing anyone from the General Commander’s headquarters to step foot inside.

Apart from the Liehuo Army, the other three armies even subtly intended to relocate their entire armies.

Although Commander Kong had the help of Lu Tian罡, the military’s top figure, and the Liehuo Army, he was simply unable to forcefully suppress those rebel groups.

Although he was still nominally the General Commander, he could only command the Liehuo Army.

Commander Kong said indifferently, “With your formidable strength, if you suppress the leaders of those rebel armies, then I, in the name of the General Commander, will surely be able to easily subdue those armies.”

“Why should I?” Qin Shilei said disdainfully, “I do all the hard work to clean up your mess, then help you retake Nanzhuang City. Finally, with a command from the central government, I have to eagerly go and sacrifice myself.”

“Am I really that cheap, that I must find myself a superior to boss me around?”

“Because you are a citizen of the Great Xia Country!”

Commander Kong asserted righteously, “Born in the Great Xia Country, the country nurtured you, cultivated you, do you not have any patriotism?”

“I’m actually not a citizen of the Great Xia Country,” Qin Shilei thought to himself.

Although the Great Xia Country had many similarities to his homeland, and he did feel a certain recognition for the Great Xia Country, he couldn’t bring himself to shed his blood for it.

Qin Shilei smiled and said, “Can’t I become the ruler of the Great Xia Country, or even a founding sagacious monarch?”

“Presumptuous!”

Commander Kong slammed the table fiercely and angrily shouted, “Your disloyal intentions will not come to a good end.”

Qin Shilei sneered, “Are you here today to question my title as the City Lord of Hope City?”

Kong Qingshu quickly explained, “Commander, don’t misunderstand, we truly came to sincerely thank you for saving our lives.”

Then she turned to her father and said, “Dad, the world is already in such chaos, and the central government no longer exists. Why are you still stubbornly insisting on loyalty to the central government? If we can truly recover the land and still maintain the name of Great Xia Country, what’s wrong with a different ruler?”

Qin Shilei scoffed, “It’s good that you still remember I just saved your dad. Is this your dad’s attitude towards his savior?”

“I never thought about becoming a ruler, but why should I take over your fragmented military? Why should I hand over the empire I painstakingly built with both hands just because the central government gives an order later on?”

Zhang Qiang, who was at the side, also spoke up, “Our Great Xia Country has thousands of years of history, and there have been many dynastic changes. Should all those founding monarchs have been executed?”

Commander Kong’s expression changed repeatedly, then he suddenly said with some despondency, “I overestimated my position as General Commander. You truly don’t care for this position.”

Today, Qin Shilei moved the city wall further outwards, and the side length of Hope City instantly increased to five kilometers.

Commander Kong had rushed to see Qin Shilei precisely because he saw that the area of Hope City could expand.

In his conjecture, if Qin Shilei’s Hope City could continue to expand, it would eventually encompass the entire Nanzhuang City.

At that time, the other party would truly become the City Lord in name and in fact.

Just then, Commander Kong’s bodyguard hurriedly walked in and reported, “Reporting, Chief, the zombies in Nanzhuang City suddenly rioted, forming a zombie tide that is launching a furious counterattack against our forces here. And the number of boats is limited, making it difficult for the army to withdraw to He Shan District for a while. Commander Shi hopes to retreat into Hope City.”

Before Commander Kong could reply, Zhang Cheng also ran in, “City Lord, there are many soldiers and civilian Evolution users outside our Hope City, hoping to enter Hope City for refuge.”

Commander Kong’s expression suddenly became a bit awkward.

He had just angrily rebuked the other party; was he now going to immediately ask for help again to save people?

Qin Shilei stood up and said, “Let’s go, let’s take a look.”