The city walls, twenty meters high, firmly held the zombie horde at bay.
Occasionally, mutated zombies unleashed their powers against the walls, but due to the great distance, they were easily evaded by everyone.
Moreover, their sheer numbers and dense formation made it difficult for them to dodge the attacks from the city walls.
Slowly, the sun began to set in the west.
The zombies outside the city gradually thinned out.
Piles of zombie corpses rose five to six meters high outside the city walls.
After a full day of fighting, the people on the city walls were utterly exhausted.
Their mental energy had been depleted and restored several times over.
"Kill them all!" Qin Shilei leaped outside the city and engaged the remaining zombies at close range.
Survivors with remaining strength also slid down ropes and charged towards the scattered zombies.
As the sun completed its descent behind the western peaks, the zombies outside the city were finally annihilated.
With this, the majority of zombies in Nanzhuang City had been eliminated, effectively reclaiming the city.
Under the dim light of dusk, countless figures descended the city walls via ropes.
They drew their blades and cleaved the heads of the zombies below.
"Turn on the lights!" With Zhang Cheng's command, numerous battery-powered lights illuminated the city walls, bathing the area outside in daylight.
"Stop!" Zhang Xiaoli, standing on the city wall, shouted loudly, hoping to deter survivors attempting to secretly dig out crystal cores.
Some hesitated before quickly collecting the crystal cores from the zombie heads and standing up.
Others seemed to ignore Zhang Xiaoli's cries, continuing to rapidly dig out the crystal cores.
"Anyone caught digging crystal cores again will be killed without mercy!" Qin Shilei's icy voice echoed.
More people ceased their actions and straightened up.
Yet, a small number silently continued to dig out crystal cores.
"Die!" Qin Shilei became a blur of motion, lunging towards a middle-aged man who was digging out a crystal core.
A flash of cold steel, and the man's head flew through the air, landing among the zombie corpses.
"I helped kill these zombies too, is it unreasonable to dig out some crystal cores now?"
Those still digging out crystal cores felt a jolt of alarm, quickly stood straight, and shouted in response.
"Now, return inside the city walls immediately," Qin Shilei said sternly.
The individuals exchanged glances, but intimidated by Qin Shilei's authority, they obediently climbed back inside the city walls.
Qin Shilei teleported back onto the city wall and instructed Zhang Cheng.
"Arrange for the Rock Combat Group to go down and dig out crystal cores, then allocate twenty percent of the cores as rewards to the citizens who participated in killing zombies based on their contributions."
"City Lord Qin, we also contributed earlier, shouldn't we receive a share of the spoils?"
The survivors who had fled into the city and later climbed the wall to help kill zombies asked cautiously.
"Hmph!" Qin Shilei scoffed. "If I hadn't opened the city gates, you would likely be another corpse below. How dare you ask for spoils?"
The murmurs demanding spoils immediately ceased.
The crowd, somewhat sheepish, prepared to leave.
"City Lord Qin, if I join Hope City now, can I still enjoy the benefits of a citizen?" someone suddenly asked in a low voice.
"How shameless! Now that there are benefits, you want to join. What were you doing before!" countless voices of contempt erupted.
"Heh heh." Qin Shilei chuckled. "That's fine, as long as you abide by the rules of Hope City, I welcome you to join. I always treat my citizens very well."
This is acceptable?
Those who had fled into the city found Qin Shilei's thinking difficult to follow, but they eagerly spoke up, "City Lord, I want to join too."
"Alright," Qin Shilei readily agreed and turned to Zhang Cheng. "Uncle, arrange for people to register them and issue citizen badges."
After collecting two crystal cores from each person, Zhang Cheng processed their entry into the city.
Once everything was settled, Qin Shilei cleared his throat and announced, "I always treat my citizens generously. Now, all of you go outside the city and dig for crystal cores."
The group surged forward, excitedly brandishing their weapons, ready to dig for crystal cores.
"I forgot to mention."
Qin Shilei spoke again. "Because you were not yet my citizens when you killed zombies, you will not receive spoils. However, given your diligence in digging crystal cores after becoming citizens, each of you will be rewarded with three crystal cores."
"Ah!" Everyone was stunned.
They had paid two crystal cores to join Hope City, and now digging for crystal cores yielded three.
In essence, after all their hard work digging crystal cores, they had only earned one.
No, they might not even earn one, and might even be at a loss.
Now that they had joined Hope City, what about their relatives in Heshan District? Should they join too?
If they were to join, it would mean spending more crystal cores.
"Uncle, send people to keep an eye on them. Anyone caught embezzling spoils will be killed without mercy!"
Qin Shilei's murderous voice reached everyone's ears again, sending a chill down their spines.
At this moment, Shi Yutang approached Qin Shilei and bowed. "Thank you once again for saving everyone's lives. Let our men help you clean up the spoils. I guarantee they will not embezzle a single bit from you."
Qin Shilei nodded. "Alright, thank you for your trouble."
There were simply too many zombie corpses outside. If it were up to the few thousand members of the Rock Combat Group alone, they would likely not finish digging until tomorrow.
There were also some who had not joined Hope City but, in gratitude for Qin Shilei saving their lives, voluntarily climbed outside the walls to help collect the spoils.
After five to six hours, all the spoils were finally collected.
As for the zombie corpses, they would be refreshed by the system after twenty-four hours, so Qin Shilei didn't need to worry about them.
Zhang Xiaoli's willow tree, before the refresh, was desperately absorbing various nutrients from the zombie bodies.
Kong Zhendong watched the soldiers gaze at Qin Shilei with admiration and felt a sudden sense of weariness.
In this damn apocalypse, individual strength was amplified infinitely.
Only invincible power like Qin Shilei's could better lead everyone to survive.
His only son was dead, and his daughter seemed to be siding with the other man.
He didn't know if the central government still existed; the military here had already fractured under his leadership.
Was his persistence still meaningful?
"Qin Shilei, can you promise me that if you one day ascend to the pinnacle of the world, you will continue to preserve the national name of Great Xia?"
Kong Zhendong suddenly asked Qin Shilei with utmost seriousness.
Qin Shilei smiled and said, "I have never thought of becoming a ruler, so how can I ascend to the pinnacle of the world and change the national name?"
Kong Zhendong remained silent, continuing to look at Qin Shilei with a solemn expression.
"Fine!" Qin Shilei pondered for a moment and then replied seriously, "If one day I truly ascend to the pinnacle of the world, I will certainly continue to use Great Xia as the national name."
He thought to himself that Great Xia, the name itself, was quite good.
If such a day were to come, why must he change it to something else?
Besides, this national name would give the people here a greater sense of belonging. Using it as the national name could also make it easier to subdue them; why not do it?
"Commander Shi, as the Commander-in-Chief, I now order all soldiers to merge into Hope City. From this day forth, they shall be subservient to City Lord Qin!"
Kong Zhendong turned and sternly ordered Shi Yutang.
"Yes, sir!" Shi Yutang replied with a salute.
Kong Zhendong then addressed Qin Shilei again. "Qin Shilei, are you willing to accept the position of Commander-in-Chief?"
Qin Shilei looked at him for a long moment, then stood at attention and saluted. "Everything will be as the Commander-in-Chief arranges."