Changzhou City's lord was Feng Yuxin, who had left Beian City back then.
At that time, because the insects were about to surround the entire Beian City, he chose to lead the Tianmo Sect and several allied forces that followed him away from Beian City and came to Changzhou City.
He had calculated everything, but he never imagined that this deliberately chosen Changzhou City would also face an insect siege on the eighth day of their arrival in Changzhou.
What he didn't expect even more was that the insects in Beian City had been resolved by Qin Shilei.
During this period, his subordinates and the forces that followed him complained privately more than once, regretting why they had been so foolish and chose to leave Beian City at that time.
Every time Feng Yuxin unintentionally overheard those complaints, he felt as if his face was being slapped hard.
He understood that even though those people didn't say it explicitly.
They must have been blaming him in their hearts, "It's all Feng Yuxin's fault for lacking foresight, which has plunged us into such a life-or-death predicament."
Zhu Shan analyzed, "Qin Shilei claims he wants to find spatial rifts and solve the insect problem outside the city for us. In reality, he must be waiting for us to make an offer, intending to extort a large sum from us."
Peng Tiancheng also agreed, "That's likely it. We should think about what price we need to pay to get him to deal with those detestable insects."
Feng Yuxin frowned, "Top-tier equipment or massive crystal cores?"
Peng Tiancheng furrowed his brows and said, "As the number one person on Blue Star, ordinary equipment probably won't catch Qin Shilei's eye. We've been trapped for many days, and we don't have many crystal cores to meet his price."
"Saying a lot, but it's like saying nothing."
Feng Yuxin cursed inwardly, then turned to look at the others.
Zhu Shan said, "Men are often lustful. We can try sending a stunning beauty to try and seduce him."
Feng Yuxin nodded in agreement, "Alright, bring Cui Dandan over immediately."
Zhu Shan added, "Qin Shilei has many beautiful women around him. Seduction alone might not succeed. We should still offer some top-tier equipment to impress him."
Feng Yuxin scanned his subordinates and said calmly, "For everyone's future, you should offer your precious treasures. I will compensate you accordingly from the City Lord's mansion treasury."
The crowd looked at each other, but not a single person willingly offered even a piece of top-tier equipment.
"Hmph!"
Feng Yuxin snorted with displeasure, then, with a pained expression, took out two purple items from his spatial ring.
"Xie Haitao, go and request Qin Shilei's help to resolve the insect siege with these two items later."
Peng Tiancheng suddenly interjected, "City Lord, what if Qin Shilei doesn't like these two purple items?
What do you think, will Qin Shilei, like he did in Beian City, demand to become our City Lord before he agrees to deal with the insects outside the city?"
"He wishes!" Feng Yuxin roared angrily, as if his sore spot had been touched, "Changzhou City was established by me. No one will ever take it from my hands."
Seeing their City Lord's stance, everyone could only remain silent.
Zhu Shan suggested again, "Why don't we offer the crystal cores from the insects outside the city as the price, and ask him to help us deal with them?"
Peng Tiancheng scoffed, "President Zhu, are you foolish? If we could get the crystal cores from those insects, it would mean we've already solved our current problem. Why would we need to ask Qin Shilei?"
"Idiot," Zhu Shan shot a glance at Tiancheng, "We can have Qin Shilei control the insects outside the city, and then we can kill them. We won't take any of the spoils."
"Brilliant," Feng Yuxin's eyes lit up. "This way, it's equivalent to giving Qin Shilei a massive amount of crystal cores, and we'll also solve the problem of the insect siege.
This is truly a brilliant suggestion. Xie Haitao, go and request his help with this condition."
"Alright."
Xie Haitao, accompanied by the newly arrived Cui Dandan, returned to the hall they were in earlier.
As soon as they entered, Cui Dandan stepped forward, bowed, and began pouring tea for Qin Shilei.
Cui Dandan had a voluptuous figure and had deliberately worn a low-cut dress. With every glance and smile, she inadvertently exuded a captivating charm.
Qin Shilei only glanced at her as she entered and didn't look at her again.
Xie Haitao had no choice but to take out the two purple items and place them on the table. "Mr. Qin, I've inquired with my subordinates, and there's no news of any spatial rifts.
This is a small token of our Changzhou City's sincerity. We hope that for the sake of hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens, you will help us deal with the insects outside the city.
As long as you, Mr. Qin, can control the insects outside the city, all the spoils we get from killing them will be given to you."
"Oh!" Qin Shilei was taken aback and looked at Xie Haitao with a strange expression.
What was this guy up to?
He had just come to ask for directions, and now they were offering equipment and asking the entire city to work for him for free.
Hadn't he already made it clear that as long as they blocked the source of the insects, they could slowly eliminate the ones outside the city?
However, since others insisted on giving him a great gift, Qin Shilei naturally wouldn't refuse.
His gaze fell on the two purple items on the table.
One was a Battle Barrier, and the other was a World-Breaking Talisman.
Both were functional items, and their effects might not be very practical for ordinary people.
For Qin Shilei, however, they were rare treasures.
World-Breaking Talisman (Purple): A one-time-use item that can forcefully break through moderately strong barriers or certain seals.
[Perform attribute refresh?]
[Refresh.]
Silent (Red): When breaking through a barrier, no sound will be produced.
Increased Strength (Red): The energy used by the World-Breaking Talisman to break barriers will be increased by thirty percent.
Self-Recovery (Purple): After the World-Breaking Talisman is used, it can absorb external energy to slowly recover its barrier-breaking capabilities.
Not bad, not bad. Once the attribute is fixed as self-recovery, it can be used repeatedly.
Qin Shilei then refreshed the attributes of the Battle Barrier a few more times, but unfortunately, he couldn't get any good attributes and had to give up.
He looked up and said to Xie Haitao, "I accept your request. I will first find the spatial rift and prevent the insects from continuing to reinforce this side.
Then I will return to help you exterminate the insects outside the city. However, I will only stay here for three days, and I hope you can select five to ten thousand elite fighters to participate."
After speaking, Qin Shilei left Changzhou City and rode on Xiao Qiang to continue searching for the spatial rift.
Xie Haitao returned to Feng Yuxin's side and excitedly reported the news.
"You mean Qin Shilei still insists on going to find the spatial rift?" Feng Yuxin asked with a frown.
"Yes," Xie Haitao replied truthfully. "Qin Shilei said he would return by tomorrow at the latest."
"Could it be that the fellow named Qin's original intention was to solve the problem of insects coming through the spatial rift?"
Feng Yuxin's expression immediately turned grim.
"City Lord, didn't we just give him a great gift for nothing?" Xie Haitao fanned the flames by pointing this out.
"Shut up," Feng Yuxin glared at Xie Haitao. "If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute."
Zhu Shan hesitated for a moment and then said, "City Lord, perhaps we won't give the crystal cores obtained from killing the insects to this Qin fellow later."
Feng Yuxin shook his head and rejected the idea, "Since we've already agreed, we still have to give him the crystal cores to avoid any further accidents."
Thinking about the two purple items he had given away, and the millions of crystal cores he was about to give, Feng Yuxin felt his heart bleeding continuously.