As Ding Teng’s roars echoed, the zombies thundered southward, with the higher-tier ones breaking away from the horde and moving to the very front. Qin Shilei, using his pet bag, systematically collected all the zombies at Silver rank and above.
“This horde of zombies, under the command of the hundreds of intelligent zombies I’ve specifically left behind, will continue their migration south. Brother Qin, why don’t we first search the small towns near Yunlin City and gather the zombies there as well?” Ding Teng suggested.
“Excellent idea.” Qin Shilei took out his map, confirmed their target, and immediately had Xiao Qiang advance towards it.
Now, ninety-nine percent of these zombies had advanced to Bronze rank. Their running speed far surpassed that of pre-apocalypse athletes at full sprint. Furthermore, they were tireless. Running twenty-four hours a day, taking into account various factors, they could cover nearly a thousand kilometers. Hope City and Dujiang City were nearly two thousand kilometers apart, and the zombies in the surrounding cities along the way numbered around fifty to sixty million. Ding Teng could currently control a maximum of about fifteen million zombies. Therefore, every so often, Qin Shilei and his group would redirect the zombies, moving them towards the western border. Once these zombies reached the vicinity of the border, Ding Teng would release his control over them. Whether the zombie tide would charge into the dense forest and engage in a life-or-death struggle with the mutated beasts within, or traverse mountains and cross ridges to plague neighboring countries, was no longer his concern.
Xisu City was a small city on the southwestern border of Great Xia. Although it lacked city walls for protection, it had gathered nearly two hundred thousand survivors. One day, the evolved humans in the city were preparing to leave to hunt mutated beasts. Suddenly, a piercing warning siren sounded throughout the city. Everyone stood on higher ground and looked out. In the distance, a dark, massive mass of figures was rapidly charging towards Xisu City.
“Zom… Zombie tide!”
“Run!”
“It’s over, Xisu City is completely finished!”
“There are no large zombie aggregations within a hundred kilometers north of Xisu City, how could a zombie tide occur?”
“Stop thinking, just flee. Save whoever you can.”
“We’re short on fuel and cars, how can we outrun tireless zombies?”
News of the approaching zombie tide spread rapidly to the vast majority of Xisu City’s survivors. Panic and despair quickly permeated the entire city. Just as everyone was scrambling to flee south of Xisu City, a loud eagle’s cry suddenly came from the distance.
“Roar!”
Then, a furious roar that shook the heavens erupted from behind the zombie horde. With this roar, the zombies, which were almost upon Xisu City, stopped abruptly. The survivors who hadn’t managed to escape yet then saw a giant eagle carrying two men flying rapidly towards them.
“Fortunately, we arrived in time. Otherwise, a tragedy would have occurred!” Qin Shilei said with a look of relief.
“I never expected that Bamboo Forest Town would hide a Golden rank mutated beast. If it weren’t for chasing that beast, we wouldn’t have let the zombie horde deviate from its path,” Ding Teng still had lingering thoughts about the Golden Armored Beast that had escaped.
“First, direct the zombie horde towards its designated target,” Qin Shilei said.
“Alright!” Ding Teng nodded, then let out several more roars, commanding the zombie horde to charge westward. At this moment, the survivors in Xisu City also noticed that the zombies had turned and were fleeing into the distance.
“Are we saved?”
“It’s King Qin An and his subordinate riding the giant eagle.”
“Those roars just now were from King Qin An’s subordinate. Could he command zombies?”
“No matter what, it must be King Qin An who saved us.”
“King Qin An is truly amazing. His subordinate’s roar alone scared away tens of thousands of zombies.”
“No wonder he dared to boast that he would cleanse the world and bring peace and prosperity to the land.”
“King Qin An, I love you! I want to have your babies.”
Qin Shilei flew to the front of the crowd. “Please inform your leaders that this zombie horde will migrate to the border line about three to four hundred kilometers west of your city. You’d best not hunt in the vicinity and remain vigilant against their potential return.”
Even though Qin Shilei and his group would collect the intelligent zombies at Silver rank and above once they reached their destination, without the leadership of high-tier zombies, these zombies would become scattered, wandering aimlessly, and would not form another zombie tide. However, over time, it was hard to guarantee that high-tier zombies wouldn’t reappear, potentially reorganizing a zombie tide.
“King Qin An, can we relocate to your Hope City?”
“King Qin An, I also have Silver rank three cultivation. Can I join your Qin King’s Mansion?”
“King Qin An, stay and be our city lord!”
The survivors clamored, shouting at Qin Shilei. Most of them hoped to attach themselves to Qin Shilei’s power.
“The time is not yet ripe. You should continue to live peacefully in Xisu City for now,” Qin Shilei said, then mounted the Golden Winged Thunder Eagle and pursued the zombie horde. He had a plan for the survivors scattered across Great Xia. On Blue Star, besides insects and zombies, there were numerous mutated beasts. To achieve a relatively safe living environment, one could only rely on the protection of tall city walls. Qin Shilei had always arranged for his subordinates to purchase city-guarding tablets in large quantities. Only by building more cities with protective walls within Great Xia and then relocating nearby survivors into them could a better defense system be established. For example, building two to three more cities between Hope City and Dujiang City. This would not only settle all the survivors along the route but also allow them to communicate with each other. If any foreign races attacked, they could mutually support each other.
Four days later, Qin Shilei finally completed the migration of zombies along the route from Hope City to Dujiang City. His pet bag was now filled with four to five hundred thousand zombies of various types, all at Silver rank and above. To accommodate Ding Teng’s zombie army, Qin Shilei had even cleared out the scarabs he had previously stored, converting them into materials and treasure chests. After several days of interaction, Qin Shilei decided to refresh a few practical attributes for Ding Teng.
“Brother Ding, in recognition of your contributions to the Qin King’s Mansion, I’ve decided to use one of my talents to enhance your strength.”
Ding Teng’s eyes lit up. “Brother Qin, do you possess an unknown talent?”
Qin Shilei said with feigned mystery, “Yes, the reason my strength increases faster than others is because of this talent. However, using this talent on others will slow down my own cultivation speed.”
“This… Brother Qin, perhaps you shouldn’t use your talent on me,” Ding Teng hesitated.
“It’s alright. If your strength increases, it represents an increase in my strength. Furthermore, you’ve made great contributions to the Qin King’s Mansion, and you deserve this reward,” Qin Shilei declared righteously. After speaking, a bolt of lightning emerged from his hand and slowly pressed onto Ding Teng. The intensely pure and yang lightning power instantly made Ding Teng’s body go numb and feel extremely uncomfortable. However, fearing that it might affect the execution of Qin Shilei’s talent, he could only grit his teeth and endure it. After a while, Qin Shilei seized the opportunity to permanently bestow the ‘Imperial Demeanor’ he had previously refreshed onto Ding Teng, while simultaneously retracting the lightning power from his hand.