284: Retreat to advance

When Qin Shilei and An Qian stepped into the conference room, there were already twenty to thirty people seated inside.

“Mr. Qin, Mrs. Qin, please take the main seats.”

Seeing Qin Shilei and An Qian walk in, Tan Anguo and several other bigwigs immediately stood up, motioning for them to sit in the front row.

After they were seated, Tan Anguo was the first to speak: “As long as the Bug King hidden in the shadows is not eliminated, we will not be able to rest easy, and our city may even fall and our people perish. Everyone, please share any ideas you have.”

Someone immediately interjected: “The Bug King is too powerful; only Mr. Qin and Mrs. Qin can deal with it. We should listen to their opinions.”

Immediately, everyone’s gaze turned to Qin Shilei and An Qian.

Qin Shilei asked indifferently: “To deal with the Bug King, I wonder what price you all are willing to pay?”

As soon as he said this, the entire conference room fell silent.

After a short while, someone tentatively asked: “I wonder what Mr. Qin means by that? Do you want us to pay, or do you want to be the City Lord of Beian City?”

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Sect Leader Feng Yuxin, Wen Zhiyuan, and Tan Anguo, who were seated in the main seats, changed simultaneously.

Paying would be fine if everyone chipped in, but if Qin Shilei truly wanted to be the City Lord, this would touch upon the three men's sore spot.

Qin Shilei said calmly: “For the sake of being fellow Great Xia Country citizens, I have repeatedly helped you deal with the bugs.

However, I am ultimately not a person of Beian City. If you want me to continue to act, shouldn't you give me a reason?”

The Heaven Wolf Gang leader immediately said: “We support you as our City Lord, Mr. Qin, please take action.”

Sect Leader Feng Yuxin and the other two immediately stared at the Heaven Wolf Gang leader with murderous gazes.

The Heaven Wolf Gang leader showed no fear and continued: “If anyone can resolve the current predicament, I am willing to support him as the City Lord of Beian City.”

Anyway, the position of City Lord would not fall to him, so who held it was of no concern to him.

Immediately, several other people below voiced their agreement: “I also agree with the Heaven Wolf Gang leader's proposal. Whoever can resolve the current predicament, I am willing to support him as the City Lord of Beian City.”

The garrisons of these few people were closest to the city wall, and they suffered the greatest losses in the recent battle with the bugs. They were most eager to resolve the bug siege as soon as possible.

Sect Leader Feng Yuxin glanced at those few people, then turned and said coldly: “Mr. Qin, Beian City is not Junhai City. This position of City Lord is very troublesome. Are you sure you want it?”

Qin Shilei smiled faintly: “I never said I wanted to be your City Lord.

If any of you have a way to deal with the Bug King and the bug swarm outside the city, if I had a vote, I would cast it for him too.”

He originally only wanted to extort a few pieces of equipment and some crystals from these people, but he didn't expect someone to proactively offer him the position of City Lord, which made Qin Shilei a little tempted.

However, as the capital of the Great Xia Country, Beian City had particularly complex forces, so it was better to retreat to advance for now.

“Hmph!” Sect Leader Feng Yuxin snorted lightly: “Do you think that without you, we will all die in Beian City?”

“Of course not.” Qin Shilei said as if nothing had happened: “I am the City Lord of Hope City, and I have been away from home for many days. I miss my family very much, and I am preparing to leave Beian City soon.”

Bang!

General Fan slammed the table and angrily rebuked: “You are taking advantage of the situation, you are usurping power, you are not worthy of being a Great Xia Country citizen.”

Qin Shilei glanced at him and sneered: “What's wrong with going home?

As a dignified general, shouldn't you create conditions for us to live and work in peace? You are incompetent yet have the nerve to blame me?

Do you really think I care about your City Lord position? Whoever wants it can have it, what does it have to do with me!”

An Qian also interjected: “Not only is Beian City facing the threat of bugs, but there is also a Space Rift a few kilometers away from our Hope City, and countless bugs are eyeing Hope City.

As the City Lord of Hope City, shouldn't my husband defend his own city and protect the residents of Hope City?

What's wrong with us planning to go home, or is there anyone among you willing to help us drive out the bugs?”

The conference room immediately fell silent.

No one could refute their words.

After all, they didn't know the current situation of Hope City.

If it was truly under siege by bugs like Beian City, who would have a reason to ask Qin Shilei to abandon his own property and instead stay in Beian City to help them resolve the bug siege?

The Heaven Wolf Gang leader spoke again: “Mr. Qin, I still support you as the City Lord of Beian City. I hope you can save everyone.”

Sect Leader Feng Yuxin gave a meaningful look to a woman sitting opposite him.

That woman was Zhu Shan, the leader of the Heavenly Immortal Pavilion, who immediately understood and stood up, smiling: “I wonder if Mr. Qin has any good strategies for this.”

“Not much confidence.” Qin Shilei shook his head, “If you can find the Bug King within half a day, I can help you slay it, free of charge.”

Zhu Shan had thought that Qin Shilei would confidently say he had a grasp, and then she could mock and taunt him in various ways, portraying him as an extremely detestable and cold-blooded person, thereby inciting the antipathy of the people of Beian City towards Qin Shilei and making it impossible for him to gain a foothold in Beian City.

“Are you really lacking confidence, or are you trying to threaten us with this to achieve your goal of becoming the City Lord?” Zhu Shan scoffed.

“Hmph!” Qin Shilei snorted coldly, “Qin is just an outsider. The position of City Lord and the threat of bugs have nothing to do with me. You all discuss.”

After speaking, he closed his eyes and said no more.

Tan Anguo glared at Zhu Shan, reproaching: “Zhu Pavilion Master, what are you saying? Apologize to Mr. Qin quickly.”

Zhu Shan apologized reluctantly, but Qin Shilei seemed not to have heard, showing no reaction at all.

Tan Anguo spoke again: “Everyone, quickly think of a way to find the Bug King. As long as Mr. Qin can take action to resolve the Bug King, we can find a way to deal with the bug swarm outside the city.”

Everyone began to discuss animatedly, but after half an hour, they still had no solution.

“Buzz!”

The sharp warning sound rang out again.

Everyone's expressions changed, and they stood up and rushed outside.

They arrived at the city wall ten li away and found that countless bugs were once again emerging from the tunnels.

Fortunately, there were only twenty to thirty tunnel exits this time.

The number of invading bugs was not large.

After sacrificing two to three thousand lives, they finally managed to destroy the tunnels again.

Everyone gathered in a nearby conference room once more.

This time, Qin Shilei and An Qian directly cited physical exhaustion and the need for rest, and did not attend the meeting again.

The conference room was dead silent, everyone looked heavy-hearted, yet helpless.

Bang!

The Heaven Wolf Gang leader slammed the table fiercely and said with a booming voice: “I still stand by what I said, whoever can resolve the current predicament, I am willing to support him as City Lord.

Since Mr. Qin has the ability, why are you unwilling to let him be the City Lord?

Are you going to just stand by and watch the bugs continuously devour us?”

This Bug King was truly cunning, creating dozens of tunnels every now and then to let the bugs attack.

There was no telling how many bugs there were. Although Beian City had over a million survivors, it could not withstand such torment.

“Hmph.” Sect Leader Feng Yuxin snorted coldly: “Letting an outsider climb over my head, I will never agree.

Let's migrate together. Continuing to stay in Beian City, we will either be killed by the Bug King or eaten by the bugs outside the city.

While the bugs haven't completely surrounded Beian City, let's leave Beian City from the south.”