Qin Shilei and An Qian sat in a restaurant, drinking tea and chatting.
"Shilei, do you think we should take over all of the Tang family's former territories?"
"No need. Those territories are closely tied to the Tang family. Even if we could forcefully subdue them with our strength, they might betray us someday."
"Then should we expand the Rock Battle Group here?"
"I was thinking the same thing, but it's best to keep the numbers within five thousand, and their strength should be at least Bronze Seven Stars."
"What kind of relationship should we have with the remaining three major families in Junhai City?"
"Let's first establish the framework of our Rock Battle Group. I'll talk to them then."
To allow Jie Mingchen and Wu Xia, the deputy and head of the battle group, to maintain order, Qin Shilei gave them two Yellow-tier cultivation techniques.
They both had enough experience at this point and, after receiving the two techniques, successfully advanced to Silver One Star.
Qin Shilei then gave them two suitable combat skills.
This gesture earned him their sincere gratitude, and they swore to repay Qin Shilei with their lives.
As a result, Jie Mingchen and Wu Xia's strength at least tenfold, and the Rock Battle Group's high-end combat power finally reached a new level.
Qin Shilei instructed the still excited Jie Mingchen, "The Rock Battle Group is too short on personnel; we need to expand. You arrange it."
He then told the other party some recruitment standards.
Jie Mingchen nodded in agreement, "Okay, Boss Qin, I'll go arrange it now."
After saying that, he had people post recruitment notices for the Rock Battle Group all over the city.
To better recruit suitable talents, he specifically pointed out that the mysterious boss behind the Rock Battle Group was Qin Shilei, a Golden-tier cultivator.
However, after the recruitment notices had been posted for two days, very few people came.
When Qin Shilei and An Qian returned from killing zombies outside, Jie Mingchen immediately stepped forward, frowning, and said, "Boss Qin, can you show off your power in a crowded place?"
"Ah," Qin Shilei was taken aback and asked, "Is recruitment not going smoothly? Let nature take its course. As long as your strength increases, many people will flock to join the Rock Battle Group in the future."
Jie Mingchen nodded in agreement, "Boss Qin, you are right. However, it seems someone doesn't want us to recruit."
"Even though I said the Rock Battle Group is under your protection, Boss Qin, rumors are spreading in the city that we are falsely advertising."
"And the heroic deeds of you, Boss Qin, in destroying the Tang family have also been suppressed."
"Now, it's rumored all over the city that the Rock Battle Group is just a small force, not worth joining."
Qin Shilei sneered, "This must be the work of those three major families."
"Hmph, I hope they don't go too far, otherwise, I, Qin, am not someone to be bullied."
He paused and then said to Jie Mingchen, "I'll say it again: only when you are strong yourselves will there be no shortage of people joining the Rock Battle Group."
"Otherwise, even if I find dozens or hundreds of Silver-tier experts for you, you probably won't be able to command them then."
Jie Mingchen's expression changed, and he nodded in agreement, "Boss Qin, you are right. I'll take people to kill zombies and earn crystal cores now."
Qin Shilei said, "I'll go with you."
As they walked towards the outskirts of the city, they suddenly heard a loud noise from the east of Junhai City.
Qin Shilei commanded, "Turn the car around and drive east."
After speaking, he got out of the car and flew east with An Qian.
Junhai City is a coastal city, and the vast sea lies to its east.
At this moment, a large number of sea beasts were climbing out of the sea and rushing towards Junhai City.
Survivors living by the sea were the first to spot the sea beasts and immediately fired flare guns to warn the city.
Countless evolved humans rushed from the city to drive away the sea beasts.
Sea beasts should only be able to live in the sea, but these mutated sea beasts could crawl on land for a short time and attack Junhai City.
Sea shrimp the size of adults, ferocious sea elephants, sea turtles the size of small houses, and fast swordfish.
All kinds of sea beasts swarmed towards Junhai City.
To protect their homeland and the families living within the city, the evolved humans in Junhai City bravely fought these sea beasts.
Although there were many sea beasts, there were also many evolved humans, and they were not struggling to deal with them.
After all, these sea beasts were only from a small area of the nearby sea, numbering only three to four hundred thousand.
Moreover, Junhai City had encountered sea beast attacks multiple times before and had considerable experience.
Just as the evolved humans thought they would annihilate the sea beasts in another half an hour, a monstrous wave suddenly rose from the sea ahead.
A corner of a colossal figure occasionally emerged from the sea, instilling terror.
Before long, the colossal figure reached the shore and violently charged onto the dock.
Only then did everyone clearly see that this terrifying sea beast was a giant octopus.
It had more than a dozen tentacles, and when raised, they were forty to fifty meters high.
As soon as the giant octopus appeared, it swung its tentacles at the crowd.
With a single sweep, twenty to thirty people were caught by its tentacles and thrown into its mouth.
Countless ice arrows and fireballs were continuously blasted at the giant octopus.
However, to everyone's despair, these attacks were all blocked by the greasy skin of the giant octopus.
Even the special abilities of Silver-tier evolved humans could not harm the giant octopus.
They could not kill it, nor could they withstand a single blow from it.
Facing such a terrifying enemy, all the evolved humans present felt a deep sense of despair.
The giant octopus was like a colossal killing machine, wantonly slaughtering people in the crowd.
Within five minutes of its appearance, thousands of people had been killed.
Fear spread through the crowd, and soon some people could not stand it and turned to flee into the distance.
At that moment, two figures, one white and one red, flew from the city towards them.
Name: Golden Tiger Octopus
Description: Golden Three-Star Sea Beast, proficient in water-element abilities. Be wary of its tentacle entanglement. Weakness: Cannot stay on land for long.
"An Qian, you go deal with the other exotic beasts. I'll handle this giant octopus."
Qin Shilei said this and charged towards the Golden Tiger Octopus.
The giant octopus paid no attention to Qin Shilei and casually swung one of its tentacles at him.
Qin Shilei accelerated, dodged the tentacle's sweep, and at the same time, slashed at the tentacle with his sword.
The divine ability "Stiffening" instantly took effect on the giant octopus, causing it to freeze in place.
Qin Shilei waved his hand and released the Vajra, simultaneously using the combat skill "Seven Stars Fall From the Sky" to slash at the octopus's tentacle.
The sharp sword energy chopped at the octopus's skin, but it was like chopping at tough cowhide, only penetrating four to fifty centimeters.
However, these mere wounds were insignificant to the giant octopus's massive size.
In fact, the Vajra's attack was more potent.
The Vajra first leaped high into the air and then smashed down fiercely with its staff.
The giant octopus, which had half risen, was immediately smashed to the ground by the Vajra's blow and spat out a large mouthful of dark purple blood.
After the Vajra struck it a few times, the giant octopus finally recovered from its stiffening.
It suddenly sprang up from the ground and instantly wrapped its tentacles around the Vajra entirely, attempting to retreat into the sea.