Buildings were smashed and pulverized by King Kong as he swung them down.
King Kong danced with increasing joy, wishing he could immediately find an opponent to battle for three hundred rounds.
"Stop!" Qin Shilei ran out of the building's lobby and shouted loudly.
King Kong sheepishly halted his movements, then hid his cudgel behind his back, as if afraid his master would take it back.
"This staff seems tailor-made for King Kong. With it, King Kong's combat power at least doubles," An Qian said in surprise.
"His staff techniques just now seemed quite masterful," Qin Shilei agreed. "It wasn't a waste of my purple equipment."
After speaking, he turned back to the treasure chest and picked up the final combat barrier.
[Refresh attributes?]
[Refresh.]
Weakened (Red): Enemies drawn into the barrier have their strength reduced by ten percent.
Duplicate (Purple): Creates an identical combat barrier.
Seal (Purple): Individually pulls an enemy into the barrier, achieving the effect of sealing them within.
The "Duplicate" attribute was good, as it would allow him to obtain another combat barrier.
However, "Seal" seemed more practical. Qin Shilei thought about it and still chose the "Seal" attribute.
Before leaving Pucheng City, Qin Shilei summoned Xu Jun and instructed him, "Pucheng City will henceforth become a transit point for Hope City to hunt异兽 (yì shòu) in the nearby mountains. From now on, only powerful evolved individuals will be accepted here. You must not only maintain order within the city but also not neglect your own strength."
"You must guard the Ice Secret Realm well. No one is allowed to enter the Ice Secret Realm without permission from the City Lord's Mansion."
Coincidentally, the Ice Secret Realm was also enclosed by the city walls at the very edge.
To enclose the Ice Secret Realm in Shegu within the city walls, Qin Shilei had even abandoned half of Pucheng City's architectural area when he buried the city-protecting monument back then.
Qin Shilei planned to arrange water or ice attribute evolved individuals to cultivate in the Ice Secret Realm in batches later, hoping they could comprehend the corresponding rules to more smoothly advance to the Golden realm.
After arranging matters in Pucheng City, they returned to Hope City once more.
In the City Lord's Mansion conference room.
Zhang Cheng pointed at the map on the projection screen and said, "By organizing information from the chat channel, we know that there are now eighteen bases in Great Xia with a survivor population exceeding 200,000, five with 500,000, and two with 1,000,000. As for those with a population below 200,000 but above 50,000, there are over two hundred..."
"The two bases with over a million inhabitants are Junhai City on the coast and Great Xia's capital, Bei'an City."
"The capital also raised its city walls half a month ago, while Junhai City does not have them."
"Due to reasons like transportation and communication, Great Xia is currently in a state of disunity. Even within a single city, multiple factions might be vying for power."
"Based on the information we possess, Great Xia has at least sixteen spatial rifts. The invaders of our world are primarily insects, but there are also other异界生物 (yì jiè shēng wù) like demons."
Ever since the world chat channel was activated, Qin Shilei had arranged for people to compile and organize the information.
Through the fragmented words of survivors from various regions, they were no longer completely ignorant of Great Xia's current situation.
Qin Shilei stood up and said, "Although Hope City does not have the largest population, I believe our strength is the strongest."
"An army values quality over quantity. I hope everyone continues to work hard to improve their personal strength and the strength of their legions."
"To better understand the specific situation in Great Xia, I plan to travel around. After I leave, Zhang Xiaoli and Kong Qingshu, as Vice City Lords, will have the final decision-making authority."
The zombies and异兽 within a hundred-kilometer radius of Hope City had been basically cleared. The evolved individuals in the city had to travel far every day to earn crystal cores and obtain supplies.
There was no great necessity for Qin Shilei to stay in Hope City, so he decided to travel.
Kong Qingshu and Zhang Xiaoli were only at Silver five-star and six-star respectively. Staying in the city would allow them to absorb crystal cores and advance with greater peace of mind, and they could also rely on their pets to guard Hope City.
Qin Shilei then dealt with some of the existing problems in Hope City and, together with An Qian, embarked on their journey to tour Great Xia.
Their first stop was Junhai City.
At this time, Jie Mingchen and his companions had already established a branch of the Rock Solid Battle Group in Junhai City and encountered their first major challenge.
In a dilapidated building.
Xiao Mei sidled up to Wu Xia and complained, "Big Sister, that person just now was too detestable! He took our three hundred crystal cores and then assigned us this kind of building."
This building had over twenty floors, with four suites on each floor. Nearly eight hundred of them meant about ten people per suite, making for very cramped living conditions.
Moreover, this area was clearly the slum of Junhai City. These buildings were not only old but also lacked water and electricity, making life extremely inconvenient.
Wu Xia said faintly, "Stop complaining. Once we establish ourselves in Junhai City, we will definitely be able to get a better base."
Jie Mingchen frowned, "Even if we have crystal cores, those people probably won't easily let us switch to a better base."
Wu Xia said fiercely, "Those people couldn't recruit us, so they resorted to this method to force us to submit. They are truly detestable."
They had arrived in Junhai City two days prior, a grand contingent of nearly a thousand people, all of them Bronze realm evolved individuals. Upon arrival in Junhai City, they were immediately targeted by individuals with ulterior motives.
Jie Mingchen and his companions had good average strength but lacked top-tier experts.
As a result, the major powers in Junhai City all wanted to bring this group under their control.
Jie Mingchen and his companions had rejected all sorts of invitations, whether they were forceful or sincere.
They had already encountered significant difficulties when establishing their mercenary group at the mercenary guild in Junhai City.
When they applied for a base for their mercenary group, they were met with disdainful mockery, "You, a mere E-rank mercenary group, actually want a base? What a fantasy."
Jie Mingchen had no choice but to lead his subordinates to the administrative hall to apply for personal housing.
The manager, after pocketing their three hundred crystal core "red envelope," actually assigned them this worst possible location.
Junhai City, as a first-tier city, had many survivors and fewer people after the apocalypse. Better housing than this was readily available everywhere.
For the past two days, when they went on missions, they were deliberately assigned the most difficult or the most worthless and tedious tasks.
Spies from various factions also loitered around them.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
Just then, there was a knock on the door from outside.
Xiao Mei opened the door at Wu Xia's signal.
A middle-aged man wearing non-prescription glasses walked in.
"Group Leader Jie, are you accustomed to living here?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.
"There's no need for Deputy Group Leader Tang to worry. We are all quite accustomed to living here," Jie Mingchen replied faintly.
The visitor was none other than Tang Gaoxuan, the deputy group leader of the Lingfeng Mercenary Group.
"May I ask if Group Leader Jie has considered our Tang family's proposal?" Tang Gaoxuan asked with a smile.
"Thank you for the Tang family's kindness, but our Rock Solid Battle Group already has a leader, and we truly cannot join the Tang family," Jie Mingchen replied, refusing.
Tang Gaoxuan's expression immediately turned cold. "Don't be ungrateful for kindness. Our Tang family showing you consideration is giving you face. If you offend our Tang family, your Rock Solid Battle Group will likely find it impossible to move an inch in Junhai City."