In a magnificent palace tens of thousands of kilometers from Great Xia.
An evolutionist clad in golden armor spoke with concern, "My King, the Eastern dragon is about to rise, and it may affect our future dominance!"
Zeus, seated on his high throne, rested his chin on his hand and said nonchalantly, "It matters not. Their enemies are not just insects, but also a sea of zombies. Great Xia has a vast population, and the number of zombies it has spawned is countless. I refuse to believe he can deal with the zombies within Great Xia as easily as he dealt with the insects."
Sharing the same sentiment were the leaders of many factions, including King Arthur, Steve, and Caesar.
They were all astonished by the immense power held by Qin Shilei, yet none believed Qin Shilei could easily resolve the zombie crisis within Great Xia. Therefore, they felt no immediate threat from Qin Shilei.
Evolutionists from countries bordering Great Xia, who were struggling to break through to the Gold tier, harbored hopes of entering Great Xia to seek advancement.
As for whether they would resort to deception, trickery, coercion, or temptation, only proximity to Qin Shilei would truly reveal.
Qin Shilei paid no heed to the shock his enthronement ceremony had brought to the numerous survivors on Blue Star.
After discussing tactics with his subordinates, he sent them back to their respective garrisons to lead their teams in the Great Xia reclamation war.
Once everyone had dispersed, Zhang Xiaoli asked, "Qin Ge, I just checked the chat channel. Many people have left messages saying they want to exchange treasures or crystal cores for Enlightenment Tea. What do you think about this?"
Qin Shilei pondered for a moment and replied, "If the other party can truly offer top-grade items, it's not impossible to trade. Xiaoli, arrange for people to try and communicate with them. If they can produce truly rare top-grade items, we can trade immediately. For those with slightly lesser offerings, we can arrange for an exchange a month later."
Exchanging a cup of Enlightenment Tea could very well foster a Gold-tier expert who might become a future enemy. However, Qin Shilei was confident that even if they did reach the Gold tier, they would pose no threat to him.
Indeed, he did manage to trade for an item of extraordinary quality shortly thereafter. This matter will be discussed later.
Qin Shilei was now preparing to go with Ding Teng to drive the zombies within Great Xia to suitable locations.
However, as they were leaving the City Lord's Mansion, they were stopped by Duan Tianhe.
"Boss, I hope you'll let me help you drive away those zombies."
Qin Shilei looked at Duan Tianhe and noticed his cultivation was stuck at the Silver peak, just like many other survivors.
Ding Teng glanced at Duan Tianhe and said coldly, "You're the human who is also partially zombified, the one Brother Qin mentioned, right? Your strength is too low; you'll only be a hindrance rather than helpful. Go do whatever you want."
"Hmph, just because you're the Zombie Emperor, you think you're so great." Duan Tianhe retorted angrily, "I'm talking to my boss, why do you need to butt in?"
Ding Teng's aura surged. As the Zombie Emperor, his natural deterrence over low-level zombies immediately enveloped Duan Tianhe.
Duan Tianhe felt as if a massive mountain was pressing down on him, causing his entire body to tremble, almost forcing him to his knees. He gritted his teeth, fiercely resisting Ding Teng's oppressive aura, striving not to fall.
"Brother Ding, stop." Qin Shilei quickly called out to Ding Teng, "Tianhe is my friend, do not be rude." He then turned to Duan Tianhe and said, "Since you have the intention, then come with us to drive out the zombies in Great Xia. If you can complete the task I assign you, I will grant you a million merits."
The moment Duan Tianhe spoke, Qin Shilei understood what he truly desired. It was nothing more than a cup of Enlightenment Tea. Currently, a significant number of Qin Shilei's friends, family, and subordinates had reached the Silver peak. If they could obtain a cup of Enlightenment Tea, they would have a high chance of successfully advancing to the Gold tier. This would allow Qin Shilei to gain over a hundred Gold-tier experts in a short period.
However, casually bestowing Enlightenment Tea would make it seem too cheap, and others might not be grateful. Therefore, from the outset, Qin Shilei had established the rule: "Anyone who earns a million merits or performs a great service for the Qin An King's Mansion can exchange for a cup of Enlightenment Tea."
For the sake of a cup of Enlightenment Tea, the leaders of many factions, including Xia Yunyan, had directly merged their forces into the City Lord's Mansion. This incentive had also significantly boosted the cohesion of the Qin An King's Mansion.
Duan Tianhe, uncertain if Enlightenment Tea would be effective for him, found himself trapped at the Silver peak and saw this as his only chance. Upon hearing Qin Shilei's words, he joyfully exclaimed, "Thank you, Boss! I will definitely work hard to help drive away the zombies."
Qin Shilei interrupted him, took out a map, and marked several locations. "You only need to be responsible for these areas. Go now."
In truth, Qin Shilei thought highly of Duan Tianhe. He was neither servile nor overbearing towards him, yet showed sufficient respect, even adoration. He had also been assisting the city guards in clearing zombies from nearby cities. If Duan Tianhe could successfully drive the zombies from over ten cities west of Hope City to the border, Qin Shilei would not mind gifting him a cup of Enlightenment Tea.
Qin Shilei and Ding Teng stood on the back of Xiao Qiang and flew directly towards Dujiang City.
Although the goal was to drive out the zombies in Great Xia, it was not something that could be accomplished overnight. They decided to open up passages between the several cities currently under the Qin King's Mansion's jurisdiction to improve communication.
"Brother Ding, we only need to drive away those with hundreds of thousands of zombies. The smaller towns with less than a hundred thousand should be ignored. They can be left for other evolutionists to hunt and earn crystal cores."
"Alright. Should we deal with the high-level zombies in the smaller towns first?"
"If it's on the way, you can gather them. I'll collect them into my pet bag, and then I'll get you an army of Silver-tier or higher zombies."
"Thank you for the arrangement, Brother Qin."
"As for the high-level zombies in the larger cities, you can also select them. I will collect all of them into my pet bag."
"I understand. We'll leave the small, scattered zombies for those evolutionists to upgrade with."
Almost all the zombies and mutant beasts within a 200-kilometer radius of Hope City had been cleared. After flying for nearly 300 kilometers, Qin Shilei and Ding Teng spotted a medium-sized city—Yunlin City.
"Roar!" As Ding Teng let out a furious roar, countless answering roars erupted from Yunlin City.
"What a voice!" Qin Shilei admired him sincerely. Although his own strength was greater than Ding Teng's, he couldn't achieve a roar that reached over a hundred kilometers like Ding Teng could.
"Brother Qin flatters me. It's merely a minor skill."
"Roar! Roar! Roar!" Ding Teng let out several more roars. Qin Shilei looked down to see a torrent of zombies pouring out from the high-rise buildings, then charging collectively towards the southern part of Yunlin City.
He once again felt fortunate to have subdued Ding Teng, the Zombie Emperor. Otherwise, leading a force of 100,000 elites to completely clear this city of three to four million zombies would have taken several days. Now, with a single roar from Ding Teng, these zombies were completely dealt with. Afterward, evolutionists could easily enter the city to search for useful supplies.