Qin Shilei had no choice but to put away the pair of life-sharing jade pendants and continued on his way.
Blowing in the biting cold wind, he flew for another thousand kilometers.
"Master, there are people and insects fighting below."
Qin Shilei was closing his eyes to absorb the crystal core when Xiao Qiang's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Let's go down and take a look."
"Alright, Master."
Xiao Qiang swooped down and quickly reached an altitude of one to two hundred meters above the ground.
"Master, it's not humans, but zombies and insects fighting."
"They're fighting amongst themselves, no need to bother. Let's search the vicinity to see if we can find the location of the spatial rift."
Qin Shilei glanced below and had Xiao Qiang search the area where the insects appeared.
In less than an hour, he found the spatial rift in a vegetable patch.
It was a spatial rift with a diameter of about five meters.
Passing through the spatial rift, they entered a bug valley on the other side.
A golden-armored beetle was leading hundreds of thousands of beetles, preparing to cross the spatial rift.
Qin Shilei summoned Chi Huo, who easily controlled its own kind.
After a few instructions, Qin Shilei returned to Blue Star through the spatial rift again.
He pondered for a moment and said, "Xiao Qiang, let's go and see the city of Dujiang."
With that, he jumped off Xiao Qiang's back and flew rapidly towards Dujiang City.
Qin Shilei had no idea that the scene of zombies and insects fighting he had just witnessed was merely a small part of the area.
If he hadn't cut off the source of the insects, they might have continued to tie down the zombie army's southward advance.
At present, the zombie army was advancing like a hot knife through butter, forcing the insects to retreat steadily. It was believed that soon all the insects on the Wuqin County side would be wiped out, and then the army would march south to Dujiang City.
Qin Shilei flew forward for over a hundred kilometers and found that groups of evolved humans were appearing underground, cooperating closely to hunt insects.
After flying another few dozen kilometers, a tall city appeared before his eyes.
The Golden Winged Thunder Roc's body, thirty to forty meters wide, quickly attracted the attention of the survivors in Dujiang City.
Soon after, a team of Wind Chasing Eagles carrying evolved humans flew out from Dujiang City.
"Screech!"
Upon seeing those Wind Chasing Eagles, the Golden Winged Thunder Roc raised its head and let out a cry, as if displaying its kingly status.
With this loud eagle cry, those Wind Chasing Eagles immediately became timid and did not dare to approach Qin Shilei's side again.
A young man wearing black armor kicked the Wind Chasing Eagle beneath his feet and cursed in a low voice, "Useless coward, you're scared to even get close just because of someone else's pet's cry?"
After scolding his pet, he looked up and shouted loudly, "Who are you? What business do you have in Dujiang City?"
Qin Shilei replied indifferently, "I am Qin Shilei. I went to a nearby spatial rift. I'm just passing by."
Qi Pengju's expression changed slightly, and he spoke again, "So it's City Lord Qin. It is truly an honor for Dujiang City to have your esteemed presence.
I am Qi Pengju, the City Lord of Dujiang City. Please come to the City Lord's mansion for a chat."
After saying that, he turned around and led the way.
Before long, they arrived at the City Lord's mansion in the city center.
After some pleasantries, Qi Pengju said apologetically, "City Lord Qin, I have urgent matters to attend to and must excuse myself for a while. I will have Gongsun Xi accompany you on a tour of our Dujiang City.
I will host a banquet for City Lord Qin at noon."
With that, he summoned a beautiful young woman of exceptional appearance to lead Qin Shilei out of the City Lord's mansion.
After Qin Shilei had gone far, Qi Pengju and his subordinates immediately began to discuss.
"City Lord, this fellow named Qin has come to Dujiang City with ill intentions."
"Junhai City and Bei'an City have both fallen into his hands. I'm afraid he has his sights set on Dujiang City this time."
"He relies on his high cultivation and plunders the hard work of others everywhere. Such people are the most detestable."
"We in Dujiang City must unite as one and drive this person away."
Meanwhile, Gongsun Xi, who had been instructed by Qi Pengju, led Qin Shilei specifically through the city's slums.
She said with a sorrowful expression, "Dujiang City is extremely short of resources. Nearly half of the 800,000 survivors are struggling to get their next meal.
Our City Lord works tirelessly every day for the well-being of everyone."
The implication behind her words was that Dujiang City was resource-scarce, and even if Qin Shilei took it, it would only be a burden. Therefore, Lord Qin should not have any designs on it.
Qin Shilei, who had no intention of occupying Dujiang City, did not grasp her meaning. He thought she was crying poor and wanted to buy food from him.
He then said, "If your City Lord is willing, I can sell you some grain at a 20% discount."
"Ah!" Gongsun Xi was stunned for a moment and then said with a dry laugh, "I will thank Mr. Qin on behalf of our City Lord."
She then continued to talk about the complex factions within the city.
The "Eight Great Gangs" and "Four Great Families" were all unruly individuals who refused to be governed.
In short, Dujiang City was a mess. Even if you, Lord Qin, took it over, it would take immense effort to make this force useful to you.
As Gongsun Xi spoke, she led Qin Shilei to the southern city wall of Dujiang City. Looking at the boundless sea, she said, "Dujiang City is adjacent to the sea. Even with the protection of a tall city wall, it is fraught with danger.
Last time, a golden-level tiger shark almost broke into our Dujiang City."
"Golden Tiger Shark?" Qin Shilei's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Is it still nearby? I suddenly want to taste tiger shark meat."
"..."
Damn it, she forgot that this fellow named Qin was the number one person on Blue Star. A mere tiger shark wouldn't scare him.
Gongsun Xi had no choice but to fabricate a story, "The golden tiger shark's whereabouts are unpredictable. I don't know where it swam off to now. We are truly afraid that it will appear again one day and rush into the city, slaughtering everyone in Dujiang City.
Now, we can only hope that our City Lord can advance to the golden realm soon, so that he can guard Dujiang City and no longer fear the golden tiger shark.
However, this way, the City Lord will be confined here and will no longer be able to travel around or seek opportunities for further advancement."
Qin Shilei said truthfully, "Even if your City Lord advances to the golden realm, he will likely not be able to deal with the golden tiger shark in the sea. In fact, choosing to build a city here was not a very good choice."
"..." Gongsun Xi cursed inwardly, "I didn't say this for you to belittle our City Lord. I meant to tell you that even if you take over Dujiang City, you will be bogged down by this city, and in the end, it will not be worth the gain.
Do you understand?"
Qin Shilei sighed, "For a city by the sea like this, without a top-tier peerless expert to guard it, once the sea beasts attack, it could be destroyed and its inhabitants wiped out in an instant."
Upon hearing this, Gongsun Xi thought he was lamenting that only he could claim the position of City Lord, with no one else worthy.
Angered, she asked coldly, "According to Great Expert Qin, without you, Dujiang City will be destroyed and its people wiped out?"