Qin Shilei instructed the Golden-Winged Thunder Roc flying beside them, "Xiao Qiang, your eyesight is sharp, fly higher to survey the surroundings. Once any golden mutated beasts appear, let out a warning call immediately."
After Xiao Qiang flew away, An Qian also spoke, "I'll go down and keep an eye on them, just in case anything unexpected happens."
With that, she spread her Phoenix Wings and began patrolling the area.
Qin Shilei looked down below, still a little uneasy, and asked, "Glutton, if a burrowing worm comes up from underground, can you sense it?"
"No problem," Glutton replied, then asked, "Master, I'm really hungry. Can I eat something to fill my stomach?"
Qin Shilei glared at him, "You can eat if you want, but you'd better protect them well. If anything goes wrong, I'll have you starve for a hundred years."
"Never," Glutton's heart tightened. He immediately used his psychic power as the Insect Emperor to scan everything within a ten-kilometer radius for any insects.
Qin Shilei said, "Alright, you can go eat. Just don't forget to look after my subordinates."
After giving instructions to his pet, Qin Shilei, like An Qian, began to patrol above the city's army.
Glutton's maximum control range over insects was ten kilometers, which seemed quite substantial. However, the twenty thousand-strong army occupied a considerable area, and the city guards had to eliminate the controlled insects in batches.
Glutton was positioned in the center of the army, and the legion slowly advanced towards areas densely populated with insects.
The army marched out of the city when the sun was just rising and only returned to Bei'an City at sunset, still seemingly unsatisfied.
"Well done!"
Someone on the city wall shouted loudly as they watched the triumphant return of the city guards.
Then, thunderous applause erupted, and countless survivors applauded desperately to welcome the city guards. They had been surrounded by insects for days, their hearts filled with frustration. Seeing the city guards slaughtering the insects like cutting down dogs today gave them a glimpse of boundless hope. They could only shout wildly, releasing the joy in their hearts.
Qin Shilei and An Qian arrived on the city wall. Qin Shilei smiled faintly at Wen Zhiyuan and asked, "President Wen, have I returned with everyone accounted for?" Although neither side had meticulously counted the numbers of those who left and returned, anyone with eyes could see that not a single member of the city guards had perished.
Wen Zhiyuan opened his mouth, tempted to lie. However, standing before him was the number one person on Blue Star. Only the stronger party could twist facts. While he also commanded over a hundred thousand subordinates, he was in the weaker position. Wen Zhiyuan reluctantly raised another point, "Even if you've all returned, are you absolutely sure that every single one of them personally killed a bug? Your twenty thousand-strong army includes many weaklings at the Black Iron realm. They probably couldn't even break the defenses of the clawed beasts outside the city. Don't tell me you consider them to have personally killed bugs just because they participated in the attack?"
Qin Shilei smiled and said, "Someone, show President Wen the videos you've recorded."
Yuan Yuhang immediately stepped forward and played a video. The footage showed several evolvers at the Bronze realm protecting an evolver at the Black Iron realm as they approached a dying clawed beast. The Black Iron realm evolver took a gleaming sword and thrust it forcefully into the beast's eye. With the sharp sword, the evolver stabbed several times before finally killing the beast.
Qin Shilei stated calmly, "President Wen, does this count as personally killing a bug?"
Wen Zhiyuan was surprised that the dignified number one person on Blue Star would go to such lengths to win. He whispered a few words to someone beside him. The person left and returned a while later with three city guards.
Wen Zhiyuan pointed at the three and asked, "You three are city guards who just came out of the city, correct?"
The three replied in unison, "Indeed."
Wen Zhiyuan, with a smile, asked again, "Then tell everyone, did any of you personally kill a bug just now?"
"Yes," the three answered in unison, "and not just one."
Wen Zhiyuan's smile froze. "What's going on?" "Shouldn't they have said that their strength was too low and they never had the chance to personally kill a bug?" "These three are my informants inside the City Lord's Mansion. They would never betray me."
In his state of confusion, Wen Zhiyuan didn't notice Qin Shilei's eyes had flashed a brilliant purple. Even though these three were Wen Zhiyuan's loyal subordinates, and they had indeed deceived everyone outside the city with their Silver One-star strength, not personally killing any bugs, under the influence of Qin Shilei's Purifying Purple Eyes, they could only state clearly that they had killed more than one bug.
"I don't believe it," Wen Zhiyuan resorted to quibbling. "I absolutely don't believe that out of twenty thousand troops, you could ensure that every low-level evolver personally killed a bug. Unless you can release videos of them killing bugs for everyone to verify."
"Hmph!" Qin Shilei sneered. "Whether you believe it or not, the millions of people in Bei'an City have witnessed firsthand how easily our city guards slaughter bugs like cutting melons and vegetables. They will naturally judge who won this bet. As for you joining the City Lord's Mansion as per the bet, I'm not interested anymore. Get lost, and the farther the better!"
Being driven away by Qin Shilei like swatting a fly, Wen Zhiyuan's face turned red and then green, utterly embarrassed. He didn't dare to show anger.
"What an ungrateful fellow. It's your fortune that Lord Qin takes an interest in you. You don't know how to cherish it." "Does he still think he won the bet? Even if the position of City Lord were given to him, would he dare to sit on it?" "Even if he did, no one in the city would recognize him." "In our eyes, only Goddess An, who possesses both strength and beauty, is our eternal City Lord." "Lord Qin, take me in. I only have a few hundred brothers, but nearly thirty of them are experts at Silver rank or above." "Lord Qin, take me in. My admiration for you flows like an endless river."
Countless curses rained down on Wen Zhiyuan from the surroundings for his lack of foresight, while many seized the opportunity to beg to join the City Lord's Mansion.
"President, since we lost, we admit it. Following Lord Qin, I think it's quite good." A voice suddenly came from behind Wen Zhiyuan, offering advice.
"President, we also think joining the City Lord's Mansion is a good idea. This way, we can quickly repel the bugs outside the city and regain our freedom." After that person spoke, several other members of the True Martial Association chimed in. They had joined the True Martial Association merely for better survival and didn't have any great loyalty to it. If they continued to follow Wen Zhiyuan blindly, they might remain trapped in the city forever. Therefore, they could only advise their president to defect to the City Lord's Mansion as the only way out. If they were expelled from the True Martial Association by Wen Zhiyuan because of this, they would then take the opportunity to join the City Lord's Mansion.
In a short while, more and more members of the True Martial Association began to persuade him. Wen Zhiyuan's face became so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it. He never imagined that a bet he thought was a sure win would lead him to a situation of near universal abandonment.