349: Tiananfu's Refuge

“Have you heard? Someone is going to declare himself king.”

“Finally, someone couldn’t hold back. He may be the first, but he will certainly not be the last. Heroes emerge in times of chaos!”

“Qin An King is not some hero; he is a peerless master determined to clear the universe and sweep all directions. I believe he can achieve it.”

“What if he’s the number one person on Blue Star? Our brothers are trapped in a small town by zombies, but we haven't seen him come to rescue us.”

“With zombies and mutated beasts not yet repelled, is our country about to enter an era where various factions contend for power again?”

“Declaring himself king, does that mean the next step is to ascend to the throne as emperor?”

“I support Qin. I hope he can lead us to sweep across the entire Blue Star and make all of humanity on Blue Star kneel at our feet.”

“Hmph, I don’t hope for a Great Emperor to appear on Blue Star. I simply don’t like kneeling.”

On the national chat channel, everyone freely expressed their opinions.

Some enthusiastically supported Qin Shilei with raised hands, while others sneered, cursing Qin Shilei as a rebellious traitor.

Hope City ignored the discussions on the chat channel and was instead busy preparing for Qin Shilei’s enthronement ceremony.

Massive amounts of supplies were transported from the city Lord’s Mansion to be used for the ceremony’s arrangements.

The city Lord’s Mansions of Junhai City, Beian City, Xinluo City, Dujiang City, and Aya City, all controlled by Qin Shilei, were also adorned with lights and decorations, immersed in a sea of festivity.

Beian City city Lord’s Mansion.

“Report, city Lord, Tan Anguo from Tian’an Prefecture is visiting.”

An Qian was about to fly back to Hope City with Zhang Qiang and the others to attend Qin Shilei’s enthronement ceremony when a guard suddenly walked in and reported.

“Please invite him in.”

Soon, Tan Anguo and several others were invited in.

As soon as General Fan entered, he immediately questioned, “City Lord An, is your husband truly going to be a rebellious traitor who will bear eternal infamy?”

“General Fan, please mind your words.”

An Qian said coldly, “What is a rebellious traitor?

Which of my husband’s actions was not for our country, not for the sake of more survivors living better?

Hope City, Beian City, Junhai City, Dujiang City, and even Aya City in Tianzhu—when did my husband appear without turning the tide and saving millions of survivors from danger?”

General Fan argued, “As a member of Great Xia, he should have shed his blood for his homeland. Not like this, attempting to declare himself king!”

“Whether he is a rebellious traitor or an emperor of the ages, there will be a public verdict in the future.” An Qian’s eyes shone with an unusual brilliance.

The imperial demeanor of her husband was finally slowly revealing itself, and a heroic ambition to create a prosperous era with her husband welled up in her heart.

“You are rebelling!” General Fan angrily condemned.

Zhang Qiang, who was beside them, spoke, “What put us in this situation are the mutated beasts and creatures from the Other World, not our city Lord.

If it weren’t for the city Lord’s appearance, I’m afraid several of our great cities would have already become ruins.

General Fan, you would also have been eaten by bugs and long turned into a pile of feces, instead of being able to condemn our city Lord so presumptuously here.”

Xie Haimei also interjected, “If our city Lord didn’t have the world in his heart, why would he live separately from his wife? Couldn’t he live like an emperor if he stayed in Hope City?”

General Fan was speechless for a moment.

“General Fan, step down.”

Tan Anguo stepped forward, “City Lord An, does your husband truly intend to ascend to the throne as emperor, and what is his attitude towards our country?”

“With a wave of his hand, mutated beasts will turn to dust! With a single command, Blue Star will become a forbidden land for the Other World, daring not to invade lightly!”

An Qian said with great spirit, “That will be the day my husband, Qin Shilei, ascends to the throne as Emperor, and the day our country stands at the pinnacle of the world.”

She paused, then continued, “Both my husband and I are proud to be people of Great Xia.

My husband also said that if you are interested, we can work together to explore a path of governance more beneficial to the current situation.

Of course, my husband has the final say on everything concerning his territory.”

As Qin Shilei acquired more and more cities, he felt increasingly strained by their management.

Although he could suppress everything with force, each city had hundreds of thousands of people, and there were always many conflicts between people.

Due to the pressure of survival, these conflicts had not yet become obvious.

But Qin Shilei also saw the underlying problems.

Except for Commander Kong, none of Qin Shilei’s subordinates had experience managing millions of people.

If he could absorb Tan Anguo and his think tank team, it would certainly be easier to find a suitable path of governance.

Tan Anguo showed some signs of being moved.

After a brief thought, he said, “City Lord An, please wait a moment, allow us to discuss.”

An Qian pointed to the side hall and said, “Please do.”

After closing the main door, General Fan eagerly asked, “Chief, you’re not really going to let us pledge allegiance to such a rebellious traitor, are you?

If so, we will all be sinners against the country, and our names will stink for a thousand years after death!”

Tan Anguo calmly said, “General Fan, you few Platinum Realm Evolutionists have been unable to advance to the Golden Realm for a long time. What do we have to stop Qin Shilei from ascending to the throne as emperor?

Even if you did advance, perhaps he would already be in the Platinum Realm, and then your gap would be even larger.

Times have changed. Now, individual power reigns supreme. Qin Shilei alone is worth a thousand armies. What’s more, his wife and his subordinates are by no means weak.

Now is the perfect time for us to get close to him and subtly influence him.

Establishing an invincible super empire—what a magnificent and desirable undertaking!

Don’t you think this is the ideal our ancestors have always pursued?”

General Fan, Ji Pengcheng, and the others were stunned by their Chief’s idea.

“No matter what, I still object.” General Fan still couldn’t accept it.

“As the Chief said, times have changed, and our Blue Star might truly need a peerless hero to save everyone from danger.” Ji Pengcheng, however, agreed with Tan Anguo’s idea.

“Let’s vote!” Tan Anguo said faintly.

In the end, it was five to two, and Tian’an Prefecture decided to cooperate with Qin Shilei.

This was just a polite external statement; in essence, Tian’an Prefecture as a whole pledged allegiance to Qin Shilei.

Less than ten minutes later, they reappeared before An Qian.

Tan Anguo said directly, “City Lord An, we accept your proposal. Let us work together to create a beautiful future!

However, we have a few requests. First, I hope to preside over Qin Shilei’s enthronement ceremony and personally bestow upon him the title of Qin An King.

Second, when your husband ascends to the throne as Emperor in the future, the country’s name will need our approval.

Third, we can take charge of various city Lord’s Mansions, occupying at least one-third or more of the high-level positions.”

An Qian smiled faintly, “Regarding the first and second, I agree on behalf of my husband. As for the third, you can only strive for it based on your own strength and the merits you accumulate for the city Lord’s Mansion. I guarantee I will not deliberately suppress you.”

“Good!” Tan Anguo had also thought that the other party would agree to his third request.

“Then let’s head to Hope City now!”

An Qian and the others arrived outside the city Lord’s Mansion, summoned Xiaoqing, and flew back to Hope City carrying several people.