After opening Qin Shilei's treasure chest, An Qian and Zhang Xiaoli also opened their treasure chests, with slight gains for both.
The three returned to their rooms to rest, awaiting the arrival of the next day.
In the early hours of the morning, three earth-shattering explosions were heard again from the direction of the Chi Yuan River.
As soon as the sun rose, Mu Ziping urgently knocked on Qin Shilei's door.
"Regiment Commander, three more bridges were blown up last night, leaving only the last two. The Commander-in-Chief requests your presence for a discussion."
Qin Shilei glanced towards the small mountain valley and turned, saying indifferently, "I have an urgent matter to attend to. I'll see the Commander-in-Chief when I return."
Before going to sleep last night, he had gone to that small mountain valley again for a while. The zombie king still couldn't enter the cave.
After a night, he didn't know how the situation was. Qin Shilei wanted to check first.
Mu Ziping opened his mouth, but finally advised, "Regiment Commander, this might not be a good idea."
"So be it," Qin Shilei summoned Xiao Qiang and swiftly flew towards the small mountain valley.
Upon approaching, he saw that the zombie king was still having its subordinates attack the cave.
Although the white light emanating from the cave had weakened, it still kept the zombie king at bay.
Qin Shilei pondered for a moment, thinking that he could let the zombie king continue to wear down the cave's defensive white light, and then turned to find time to see the Commander-in-Chief.
"Such airs, making so many of us wait for one person."
As Qin Shilei entered the conference room from last time, Fan Xiaobo sneered sarcastically.
Qin Shilei glanced at the other party and said indifferently, "I didn't ask you to wait for me."
"Enough," Kong Zhendong stopped Fan Xiaobo and stated directly, "Everyone is here, let's discuss this openly."
"The zombie king must be killed, and Nanzhuang City must be recaptured."
"Whoever can kill the zombie king will not only be promised the rank of Division Commander by the military, but any territory captured by civilian legions when Nanzhuang City is retaken will be under their sole governance."
Everyone present's eyes lit up, then returned to calm.
Kong Zhendong spoke well, but still did not offer many practical benefits.
In the doomsday era, territory is important, yet not so important.
You occupy a few streets, or even a district of the city, what are you after? It's all about the various resources within.
And most of the resources are portable.
With the remaining territory in Nanzhuang City overrun by zombies, if Qin Shilei and his group could really occupy a district, could they open shopping malls and collect taxes, or cultivate land?
Of course, it wasn't entirely without benefit. At least they would be the nominal owner of that land, and could develop their influence from there. Perhaps one day they would become the true master of Nanzhuang City.
Seeing everyone unmoved, Kong Zhendong continued, "Now the grain in Heshan District is running low, and I presume your grain supplies are also scarce. We can only survive by retaking Nanzhuang City and utilizing the resources within."
"Grain is running low?" Qin Shilei glanced at the Qiankun Ring in his hand and a faint smile touched his lips.
Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fan also added, "For the person who kills the zombie king, the military will reward five tanks, ten armored vehicles, twenty rocket launchers, five artillery pieces, twenty machine guns, and a batch of various ammunition."
Upon hearing this, Qin Shilei showed some interest. "Finally, you're willing to offer something practical."
These items would be very useful for both killing zombies and defending the base.
Seeing that everyone was somewhat enticed, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fan continued, "The military's opinion is that all of you present can join forces to eliminate the zombie king."
"The military will be responsible for locating the zombie king and will transport you to the destination by helicopter, providing fire support."
"You can each lead a small elite force, aiming to complete the mission before the zombie horde surrounds you."
Fire King, Ice King, and the others agreed:
"Good, with everyone's combined strength, we can surely slay the zombie king."
"We'll drop down suddenly in front of the zombie king, and surely catch it off guard."
"I agree with this plan."
After speaking, they all turned to look at Qin Shilei.
Although not explicitly stated, the Fire King and the others still felt that Qin Shilei would be the main force in killing the zombie king.
"Team up? No need."
Qin Shilei said indifferently, "I am enough to deal with the zombie king alone."
With that, he stood up and walked out of the conference room.
If there wasn't that cave with its allure in the valley, Qin Shilei wouldn't have minded having some cannon fodder when fighting the zombie king.
Now, it was only suitable to take An Qian and the others to kill the zombie king.
"Too arrogant!"
"Yesterday you said going to kill the zombie king was a suicide mission, yet today you think you can kill it independently. Is he out of his mind?"
"Does he really think he can ride his pet and shoot the zombie king to death? I'm afraid he won't see tomorrow's sun."
Fan Xiaobo sneered as he watched Qin Shilei walk out.
Although the Fire King and the others did not chime in, their expressions showed that they largely agreed with Ice King's opinion.
Upon returning to Villa Number Five, Qin Shilei first picked up An Qian and flew towards the small mountain valley.
Xiao Qiang's wings now spanned eight to nine meters, enough to carry two people at once.
An Qian sat in front, leaning slightly into Qin Shilei's embrace from behind.
A few strands of her hair blew onto Qin Shilei's face in the wind, tickling him.
"Why don't you help me tie my hair?" An Qian suddenly said.
"Okay," Qin Shilei took out a red hair tie and simply tied her hair into a bunch.
"This is too perfunctory," An Qian playfully complained.
"Do you want me to tie it into a ponytail? That doesn't suit your temperament at all," Qin Shilei argued logically.
"You wouldn't know how, would you?" An Qian turned her head and smiled at Qin Shilei.
"Don't move."
Qin Shilei took out a butterfly hairpin and changed the subject. "Clipping on a hairpin like this would suit you perfectly."
"You got lucky," An Qian's lips curved into a smile. "I think this simple style is quite nice too."
The two chatted relaxedly, and before they knew it, they had reached a grove of trees behind the small mountain valley.
After letting An Qian down, Qin Shilei went back to pick up Zhang Xiaoli.
Just as Qin Shilei was about to go back for Zhang Qiang and the others, he noticed that the white light emitted by the cave had significantly weakened, and the zombie king could break through the cave's defense at any moment.
Qin Shilei decided to act immediately.
Xiao Qiang gently flapped its wings and hovered directly over 200 meters above the valley.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
Qin Shilei's right hand became a blur as he continuously pulled his bowstring, firing a volley of arrows.
The ordinary mutated zombies below were all shot in their vital spots and collapsed powerlessly.
It only took one or two to three arrows to kill an ordinary mutated zombie.
"Roar!"
Qin Shilei's actions quickly provoked the zombie king's displeasure, and it roared upwards.
Under the zombie king's command, the Tyrant picked up stones from the ground and hurled them towards Qin Shilei in the sky.
Xiao Qiang flapped its wings lightly, easily evading the flying stones.
Qin Shilei's arrow-shooting movements were completely unaffected, and he continued to slaughter the mutated zombies below.
If they were in the city, the zombie king might have led its subordinates to hide in buildings.
However, this valley, with its sparse small trees, offered no place to hide.
The zombie king could only stand there raging, helpless.
It wanted to retreat into the city, yet it was unwilling to leave the cave.
Seeing that Qin Shilei had already killed over a hundred of its subordinates, the zombie king finally couldn't stand it any longer. It leaped up, spread its bone wings, and flew into the sky.
Qin Shilei did not intend to engage it head-on for the time being. Riding Xiao Qiang, he circled around, continuing to slaughter the zombies below.
After flying for a short while, the zombie king had to land on the ground again.
Its flying speed was fast, but its endurance was poor, only able to fly a few hundred meters at most.
"Roar roar!"
The zombie king let out roars, its eyes turning even redder.
After a while longer, the zombie king let out another roar.
In the valley, apart from the Tyrant, all the other zombies fled towards the city.
Qin Shilei chased after the group of zombies, killing them all the way until they had all reached the city and hidden themselves in the tall buildings.