348: Become a King

Shi Lei raised his hand, stopping everyone’s words. “I will have Deputy City Lord Lu Tian罡 reorganize the City Guard Army’s four elite legions. Those interested, please register to the side.”

“As for what constitutes a great contribution, Hope City has its own criteria. Every time my subordinates go on a mission, they will have corresponding merits recorded. A million merits can be exchanged for a piece of Enlightenment Tea.”

“If any of you have equivalent heavenly materials, earthly treasures, or top-tier equipment, you can also exchange them with me.”

Upon hearing this, people immediately rushed to the office desk that had already been set up on the left to register for the City Guard Army.

Others fell into deep thought, hesitating whether to give up their status as a leader and become someone else’s subordinate.

Jiang Yiming and the other former City Guard Army legion commanders’ expressions changed repeatedly. They looked at each other uneasily, then huddled together, conversing in low voices.

“The City Lord just said he wants to reorganize the City Guard Army. Is he trying to take away our military power?”

“The power in our hands is the foundation of our future survival; we can’t let him easily take it away.”

“He is not only the City Lord but also an unparalleled master. How can we resist him?”

“We should first ask the City Lord how he plans to arrange us. The four of us must advance and retreat together to overcome this tribulation.”

The four of them walked together towards the main platform.

Jiang Yiming bowed simply and asked, “May I ask how the City Lord plans to arrange our more than 200,000 City Guard Army soldiers?”

Qin Shi Lei swept his gaze over the few of them and said indifferently, “Since I am reorganizing a new elite City Guard Army, the original City Guard Army will naturally cease to exist.”

The four felt a sudden tightening in their hearts.

One of the legion commanders, Jia Guanghui, couldn’t help but ask angrily, “City Lord, are you trying to drive us to our deaths?”

“Hmph!” Qin Shi Lei swept his gaze over the four again, then let out a cold snort.

The four immediately felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, their bodies trembling slightly. The words they were about to speak were swallowed back down.

Qin Shi Lei said coldly, “I give you two paths.

First, take your people and accept reorganization under Deputy City Lord Lu Tian罡. Select the elites among them to form new legions. I promise you at least a regimental commander position, and after making contributions in the future, there will be opportunities to become a legion commander again.

Second, you can take up to three thousand Evolution experts who voluntarily wish to leave with you and depart from the City Guard Army. You can become a free mercenary group or leave Dujiang City.”

“Regimental commander?”

Jia Guanghui felt greatly insulted. “We are dignified legion commanders. Now you only want us to be mere regimental commanders?

We have made countless contributions to Dujiang City, and each of us is a Silver Realm Seven-star master.

A legion commander who commands tens of thousands of people, yet you want him to be a regimental commander with only over a thousand people. Don’t you think that’s too wasteful?”

Qin Shi Lei said calmly, “Which path you choose, think it over and tell me.”

“All the soldiers under me were personally trained by me. Without me, you probably won’t find it so easy to subdue them. City Lord, would you reconsider and raise our status a bit?”

Jia Guanghui’s tone subtly revealed a hint of threat.

Qin Shi Lei asked again, “Which path have you chosen?”

“I choose neither.” Jia Guang said sharply, “I will now take my people and completely break away from the City Lord’s Mansion. I will establish my own power.”

Qin Shi Lei gave Lu Tian罡 a look.

Lu Tian罡 immediately understood. He flashed close to Jia Guanghui and squeezed.

Crack!

Jia Guanghui hadn’t even reacted before Lu Tian罡 had already snapped his neck.

“The City Lord gave you opportunities time and again, why didn’t you cherish them?”

Seeing a legion commander, who commanded tens of thousands of subordinates, being thrown into a corner like a broken rag, the entire banquet hall instantly fell silent.

Under everyone’s gaze, Qin Shi Lei showed no intention of appeasing the crowd. He merely gestured to Lu Tian罡 to have someone remove the corpse.

“Jiang Yiming, which path have you chosen?”

Qin Shi Lei looked up at Jiang Yiming and the other two, who were stunned to the side.

“I hope to follow you, City Lord, and strive for our great cause.”

“I also hope to follow you, City Lord.”

“It is my honor to be able to follow you, City Lord.”

The three of them did not hesitate for a moment and quickly chose to pledge allegiance to Qin Shi Lei.

“You will likely be very grateful for your choice today.”

Lu Tian罡 said with a smile.

Then he looked up at the crowd below and said, “Everyone, please continue. Eat and drink as you please. As long as you don’t violate our City Lord’s Mansion, I guarantee you will live better than you do now.”

“City Lord, how do you plan to deal with the zombies outside the city?” someone suddenly asked.

Qin Shi Lei pondered for a moment and replied, “I will have my contracted spirit, the Zombie Emperor, drive all these zombies to nearby towns.”

“And take away the high-level zombies among them.”

“This way, you can form teams to hunt these zombies and earn crystals.”

Upon hearing this, everyone showed expressions of gratitude. “Thank you, City Lord, for such thoughtful arrangements for us.”

Qin Shi Lei again gave Lu Tian罡 a few instructions, then left the banquet hall.

He planned to hand over all matters of Dujiang City entirely to Lu Tian罡, no longer interfering much.

After leaving the banquet hall, he immediately had Ding Teng deal with the zombies outside the city overnight.

At dawn, Ding Teng returned to the City Lord’s Mansion.

“Brother Qin, all the zombies outside the city have been dispersed. The Silver Realm zombies among them have also been ordered by me to temporarily stop in a small town.”

“Good, then I will accompany you now to see how to deal with them.”

Master and servant, they flew out of Dujiang City again, heading towards a small town over a hundred kilometers away.

Soon, they arrived above that small town.

Looking at the densely packed zombies below, Qin Shi Lei asked in surprise, “There are so many Silver Realm zombies?”

Ding Teng said proudly, “Not many, just over a hundred thousand, which is less than one percent of the total.”

Qin Shi Lei thought about it. A mere hundred thousand high-level zombies, compared to the tens of millions of zombies Ding Teng initially commanded, indeed did not account for a high proportion.

He took out his pet bag and tried to put the zombies below into it.

It really didn’t disappoint him.

With Ding Teng’s assistance, those zombies were easily collected into the pet bag, with the beetles inside each occupying one side of the pet bag.

“Brother Ding, when we find a suitable place, I will return your subordinates to you.”

“It’s all up to Brother Qin’s arrangements.”

“Good, then let’s first send Wen Le back to Hope City, and then we’ll go build your Zombie Empire.”

“It’s building our Zombie Empire and our Great Xia Empire!”

“Mm, let us jointly create a new era for Blue Star.”

Not long after Qin Shi Lei returned to Hope City, a piece of news quickly swept across the entire Great Xia.

The number one master of Blue Star, the City Lord of Hope City, Qin Shi Lei, declared himself king, with the title Qin An King!