Chapter 401: Obtaining a Labor Force

"Does anyone know where Zhang Lie is now?"

No one had an answer to that question. Only the governor and the special forces troops of Qi even knew that Zhang Lie was planning to build a new settlement; the three thousand hunters who had chased after Zhang Lie hadn't known where they would be going, either.

That was why Zhang Lie had been touched by their willingness to follow him anyway.

At that moment, Zhang Lie and his party were heading toward the capital of the sura. Ever since Zhang Lie had claimed the capital for himself, it had become devoid of people, and the rest of the kingdom had been slowly consumed by its neighbors.

He had only been gone for half a month, but the capital already seemed to be turning into ruins.

Zhang Lie announced, "Starting from today, we'll build our own settlement right here."

Su Hong asked, "Right on top of the foundations of the sura's capital?"

"What do you think? The foundations here are sound, and we'd only need to build on top of it— we have the base of a settlement right here."

With the destruction of this sura kingdom, the nearby kingdoms would surely expand their lands, but it would take them quite some time to do so. By that time, Zhang Lie would have taken full control of the capital.

Su Hong shook his head. "It would be almost impossible for the three thousand of us to build a settlement here. Just repairing these walls would take us a full month, let alone restore the buildings all around."

Furthermore, was a settlement with just three thousand people meaningful? Since they had a teleportation apparatus with them, wouldn't a secret base suffice?

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Of course, Su Hong didn't mention those reservations.

Zhang Lie reassured him, "Don't worry, we'll have more people here soon, along with specialists who are familiar with city building and planning. You're all warriors, so it would be wasteful to have you all take part in the construction efforts."

"People? From where?"

"They'll show up soon enough—just give them some time. You must all be tired after rushing here from Qi, so why don't all of you go rest? Take whatever house you want—as you can see, there are plenty of vacancies. There aren't any dangerous lifeforms around, and no sura would waste their time coming over here. It should be quite safe. I'll be heading out for some time."

"For how long?"

"A week or two. I'll be returning with those who will construct this settlement."

Zhang Lie had decided to return to the Yeluo Valley and bring the entire Yeluo clan over.

He turned to Sun Mengmeng and instructed, "Sun Mengmeng, along with the rest of Team Zenith, install the teleportation apparatus in a secure location."

"Yes, Captain!" the members chorused.

Zhang Lie spread a pair of black wings as he soared into the sky and quickly vanished from sight.

The three thousand hunters watched on, but not for long. Su Hong reacted quickly, clapping his hands for attention and glaring at all of them. "What're you all waiting for? Find a house to stay in!"

When Zhang Lie landed in the Yeluo Valley, he found the Yeluo clan head waiting for him.

Zhang Lie cut to the chase. "I intend on building a settlement, and I'd like your clan to move over."

The Yeluo clan head's eyes widened. "Congratulations, human warrior! However, we of the Yeluo have lived here our whole lives, and transplanting the entire clan on your whims is a difficult request. Furthermore, the herbs we need for our special concoction only grow in this valley."

The clan head seemed rather displeased, but Zhang Lie wasn't open for negotiation.

"I won't accept any excuses. The environment there is better than it is here, and these herbs can be transplanted. Just leave a few warriors behind to take care of them. Furthermore, I'm not making a request, but a demand. Either you accede, or I'll destroy your clan."

Zhang Lie flared his genetic energy, sending frightening ripples into the air and causing even the Yeluo clan head himself to shudder. He didn't dare oppose Zhang Lie.

In the highest authorities' palace in the Milky Way, Amurong was laughing so hard he had tears coming out of his eyes. "Haha, Zhang Lie was expelled from Qi, haha!"

His plan had succeeded! The greedy hunters of Qi had evicted Zhang Lie almost of their own accord, and Zhang Lie's reputation would surely fall as a result.

Amurong summoned his secretary over. "Where did Zhang Lie go after leaving Qi?"

His secretary tapped on the tablet he was holding. "He left with a band of hunters, allegedly to build his own settlement."

"To build his own settlement?! Ridiculous—how could they succeed with just a motley crew? Let him be."

Succumbing to Zhang Lie's threats, the Yeluo clan prepared to migrate en masse.

"Shall we set out now?" The Yeluo Valley was usually quite dangerous, but Zhang Lie easily handled any enemies that came his way.

A new post appeared on the hunters' forums.

"I have news, fresh news! I've finally found where the champion of mankind, Zhang Lie, went!"

"Really? Wonderful, I've been waiting to find out!"

"How do you know where he went?"

"I heard it from a friend in Qi. He was one of the three thousand hunters who went to sack the sura's capital and followed Zhang Lie out of Qi. Apparently, the moment they realized Zhang Lie was going to leave Qi, they all gathered up and followed him away. Guess where Zhang Lie went!"

"If I were Zhang Lie and had been treated so terribly by the hunters in Qi, I'd join the sura and sack Qi myself."

"No, Zhang Lie's not like that! If he didn't feel some sort of responsibility for mankind, he wouldn't have returned to Qi to repel the first sura invasion."

"I have no clue where he would be. Tell us, where's Zhang Lie and what's he doing?"

"He's gone to build a settlement!"

"What, a fifth human city?"

"That's a very Zhang Lie thing to do, isn't it? First slaughtering a sura king, then building his own city... I'm not sure anything that Zhang Lie does will be able to shock me any longer."

"Wait, he's building a city with just three thousand people?"

"...I'd respected Zhang Lie, but isn't he a fool? Doesn't he know how much manpower is required to maintain a city?"

"He must be addled!"

"Isn't it normal? A strong hunter needn't be particularly intelligent; he might have done it on a whim without considering the idea carefully."

"Wouldn't those around him stop him?"

"Even if they did, I don't think he'd listen. That's how the strongest hunters are—arrogant and prideful, and unwilling to listen to others."

"Do you know where Zhang Lie's city is located?"

"Apparently, it's where the old sura capital was."