Although Nova showed no signs of lying from her demeanor, Qin Shilei did not immediately believe her.
With a flicker of thought, his eyes turned a seductive purple once more.
"Nova, do you truly wish to recognize me as your master?"
"Nova genuinely wishes to recognize the Esteemed One as her master."
"Why do you wish to recognize me as your master? Do you want to be my spokesperson in Pretty Country?"
"Revenge! And also to better survive in the apocalypse."
"Who is your enemy?"
"Steve. He killed my parents."
Within the illusion created by his Profound Sight Purple Eyes, it was almost impossible for Nova to lie.
Qin Shilei then inquired about Nova's subordinates.
While their resolve to pledge allegiance was not as firm as Nova's, they harbored no hidden conspiracies.
Qin Shilei snapped his fingers, bringing everyone back to their senses.
"Since you are all so sincere in pledging yourselves to me, I shall accept you. Rise."
"Greetings, Master!"
Nova and the others bowed slightly once more before rising and returning to their seats.
Qin Shilei asked, "Nova, do you have any way to find those hidden Golden experts?"
Nova replied with some uncertainty, "I can try, but I don't have much confidence. After all, those people are very protective of their lives."
She then briefly explained her plan to Qin Shilei.
Afterward, she and her subordinates opened the national chat channel.
"Hello everyone, I see King An of Qin is advancing aggressively and likely won't stop. Our only chance of survival is to unite all the Golden experts in Pretty Country. What do you all think?"
"Nonsense! None of us are a match for King An of Qin's single sword. What outcome is there besides death?"
"Why don't we surrender to King An of Qin? We haven't heard of him massacring people in the cities he's occupied."
"Get lost! I'd rather die than be a pawn in someone else's game."
"Why don't we form a group and develop in another country? With our strength, we can be overlords wherever we go."
"It seems King An of Qin is only looking for Steve. Why don't you go meet him, Steve? Perhaps he just wants to have a chat and then leave for Great Xia."
"Don't be foolish. King An of Qin brought an army of 200,000 here. Anyone with eyes can see he has ill intentions."
The numerous evolved individuals bickered back and forth, and it was unclear which among them were Golden experts.
Nova again suggested they form a group to develop elsewhere, but she still didn't receive much response.
She closed the chat channel and shook her head, saying, "It's not very effective. Master, I guess those people are hiding near their own cities. Perhaps you could mobilize the army to search?"
Just as Qin Shilei was about to reply, his communication talisman suddenly vibrated.
Upon injecting qi to activate it, Mu Ziping's voice came through.
"Master, something has happened!"
"Steve suddenly appeared in Bolera earlier, injuring more than ten of our Night Watch members before leaving with a message."
"You stay there; I'll return immediately."
After hanging up the communication talisman, Qin Shilei immediately summoned the Golden-Winged Thunder Roc.
"An Qian, ride the Golden-Winged Thunder Roc and follow me. I'll go ahead."
With that, he transformed into a streak of lightning and sped towards Bolera.
Three minutes later, Qin Shilei appeared before Mu Ziping.
"Master, your subordinate is incompetent. Not only did I fail to detain Steve, but he also injured more than ten of our brothers," Mu Ziping said with shame.
"Don't say those self-recriminating words for now. Take me to see them," Qin Shilei said in a deep voice.
Mu Ziping turned and led Qin Shilei into a large hall.
Inside were more than ten injured Night Watch members, along with some healers skilled in recuperation tending to them.
Qin Shilei briefly examined their injuries and felt relieved.
None of these Night Watch members were in mortal danger, nor could they even be considered seriously injured.
Mu Ziping recounted, "Steve, along with several subordinates, suddenly appeared before Xiao Fei and the others. Those individuals all had skeletal summonings, and those summonings were extremely powerful. It was precisely by taking control of the skeletal summonings that they were quickly injured."
"Before leaving, Steve left behind a USB drive."
He then took out a computer from his spatial ring and turned it on.
A handsome young man in his twenties appeared on the screen.
The man bowed slightly in a Western-style greeting.
"I am Steve. I greet His Majesty King An of Qin."
"Steve deeply regrets not being able to meet Your Excellency in person."
"I did not intend to become an enemy of King An of Qin. As for injuring your subordinates, it was out of necessity."
"I hope Your Excellency will leave Pretty Country. Otherwise, we who are without a home will have no choice but to seek a place to survive in the distant East."
"With a great enemy at our doorstep, we should join hands to repel them, not engage in such pointless internal conflict. What do you think, King An of Qin?"
At the end of the video, a skeleton in armor, like a meteor striking the earth, swooped down from mid-air.
Boom!
Stone fragments flew, and a large rock was smashed into countless pieces by the skeleton's shield.
"Heh, quite interesting."
Qin Shilei's expression grew colder. "He's showing off his strength to me now, and trying to threaten me with Great Xia!"
He carefully sensed the enemy's aura left on his subordinates' wounds.
Tracking Art!
First, faint information came from one to two hundred kilometers away.
Just as Qin Shilei was about to fly to that location, he suddenly found that the faint information had vanished without a trace.
"Hmm, there's some skill involved."
Qin Shilei thought the other party had sensed his tracking and voluntarily severed the connection.
However, he had completely overestimated them.
The reason for the Tracking Art's failure was entirely due to Steve sending the skeleton back to hell at that precise moment.
Although the Tracking Art had failed, Qin Shilei still flew in the southeast direction, following the earlier sensation.
He circled the area but could not find any trace of Steve and his group.
Qin Shilei pondered for a moment, then opened the chat channel and sent a message.
"Is Steve here? I only wish to purchase your lightning-element staff. Do you have any intention of selling it? Qin Shilei left a message."
"You came all the way to Pretty Country with an army of 200,000, and in less than a day, you've taken nearly ten cities. Now you say you only want to buy a staff? Who would believe that?" a passerby immediately said disdainfully.
"I believe you. Will Your Excellency return after buying the staff?" another person asked, pretending to be naive.
"Once everyone in Pretty Country kneels and submits, King An of Qin will surely return home. Right, King An of Qin?" someone said, stirring up trouble without fear.
"One thousand pieces of Enlightenment Tea, and take your people and leave Pretty Country immediately, and I will sell you the staff," Steve suddenly offered.
"Ten pieces of Enlightenment Tea, and I promise to withdraw my troops from Pretty Country. Qin Shilei thought for a moment and sent another message.
"My staff is an orange-grade top-quality item. If not for the sake of my many companions in Pretty Country, you wouldn't even be able to touch it with ten thousand pieces of Enlightenment Tea."
Steve seized the opportunity to establish a heroic image among the many evolved individuals in Pretty Country.