In the command center, Mayor Bai Yong and Commander Jin Shun looked at each other. Both men did not say anything but just by the look in their eyes they seemed to understand what they were both thinking because as if by prior agreement they turned around with pale faces and walked hurriedly towards the exit of the room they were using as a monitoring center.
The two soul evolvers in charge of Jin Shun's protection followed him from the left and Shen Mei followed Bai Yong from the right.
"Mayor Bai? Where are you going?" Shen Mei asked as she watched Bai Yong get into a vehicle.
Bai Yong looked at her and said in a deep voice, "Shen Mei, now that the camp is about to fall into the hands of that dictator called Bai Zemin, I'm afraid that people like us will not meet a good end. How about coming with me and becoming my personal bodyguard? I have my next target in mind. It won't be long before I get back everything that rightfully belongs to me, believe me in that."
Shen Mei was stupefied for a few seconds trying to process the words spoken by Bai Yong but it didn't take her too long to realize what he meant.
It was clear that Bai Yong had no plans to stay in the Baiquan Camp any more now that his forces were defeated. Both he and Commander Jin Shun knew of the letter sent by Bai Zemin a few days ago which demanded the unconditional surrender of the Baiquan Camp in exchange for him allowing the top commanders to live and keep their personal properties along with some minor benefits.
Since Bai Zemin's offer was rejected by the two camp leaders, then it was clear that when he took over the camp he would show no mercy to these two.
It was just that Shen Mei had no reason to follow Bai Yong now that he had practically lost everything. She only worked for him because she needed and still does need a steady livelihood and a safe place to rest; even if she was a powerful soul evolver, Shen Mei was still a human being at the end of the day and humans needed to live in society by default.
Therefore, she simply shook her head and said with slight indifference, "Bai Yong, I have no interest in becoming a homeless dog."
This time, Shen Mei no longer included the word 'Mayor' while referring to Bai Yong. Previously it was necessary to show at least some respect, but that was no longer the case. With Bai Yong losing practically all his authority, the employment contract between him and Shen Mei had automatically expired.
How could Bai Yong not notice the change in Shen Mei's tone of voice and the way she addressed to him? His expression changed slightly but soon was back to normal.
"I see. That's too bad." Bai Yong sighed theatrically and said with a farewell smile, "I really wish you good luck, Shen Mei. You are a mighty warrior, I'm sure with your talent you can shine anywhere."
Shen Mei simply nodded with an expression that was neither joyful nor sad, clearly not caring too much about Bai Yong's words.
Bai Yong also had no intention of staying to chat about life with Shen Mei as every passing second was deadly for him. After sitting in the modified military vehicle, he urged the driver to drive back to his village, and soon the vehicle departed leaving a cloud of dust behind.
Shen Mei's eyes glittered uncannily and a sly little smile appeared on her face. She looked at the defensive wall pointing in a northerly direction and without hesitation dashed forward as fast as she could.
That place was currently the most unstable since a kilometer or two away from the wooden gates was the battlefield which although it seemed to have calmed down no one knew what might happen the next instant. After all, the Baiquan Camp team still had weapons and plenty of ammunition so they could continue fighting if they wanted to.
"Unless they want to die, they will definitely behave like obedient children." Shen Mei whispered to herself and disappeared in an instant.
She needed to send a message. Who knows, just a short walk along with a few words might get her on the good side of the soon-to-be leader and total overlord of the Baiquan Camp.
* * *
City in ruins, approximately 2 or 3 kilometers away from the walls of Baiquan Camp.
After the defense army surrendered unconditionally and without putting up a fight upon seeing the power of the enemy leader, they were all gathered in an orderly manner in a clearing inside the ruined city.
In contrast to what these soldiers had expected, their weapons were handed over to them immediately and without so much difficulty. However, Bai Zemin had not been so naive as to allow the troops who were his enemies a moment ago to carry weapons just like that.
What he did was to completely break the structure of the teams and ensured that the original soul evolvers who came with him to attack the Baiquan Camp would take over the leadership of the different teams temporarily. Moreover, since the soul evolvers also underwent military training and tactical training with Fu Qigang at the base, they all had some knowledge about the war machines.
After all, although Bai Zemin and his faction aimed to have as many soul evolvers as possible in the shortest possible period of time, this did not mean that they had given up on modern weaponry. Bai Zemin did not want to raise an ape army that only knew how to use swords and spears; therefore, everyone was obliged to spend at least 1 hour a day on military machine training.
In the future, mankind would definitely be relying on high-tech weapons and the blueprint of the Electromagnetic Gun in Bai Zemin's possession was proof of this. In that case, acquiring modern knowledge was necessary for the troops to adapt faster when the time of change came.
With the electromagnetic bombs removed, the ten war tanks became operational once again and these in conjunction with approximately 15 IFVs and around 40 mounted vehicles with heavy machine guns on them were more than enough to wipe out a team of around 4,000 men with ease. Therefore, by taking a small number of trusted soul evolvers, Bai Zemin made absolutely sure that the recently subdued enemy would not turn around and try to bite him in the ass.
Even if it was a weak bite; a bite was a bite. Since it was possible to avoid being bitten by taking a bit of precaution, then naturally he would take it.
Standing on top of a war tank which was sitting on top of a large pile of rubble, Bai Zemin surveyed the more than 4000 men in front of him with cold eyes. Behind him, the soul evolvers who composed the Blood Spear Legion and who had followed him on a long ride from the north stood with their backs straight.
Approximately 700 of them had arrived, but now, less than 500 remained. The war was cruel, even the victors suffered in most of the cases.
However, despite the sadness of losing many of their comrades, they all felt pride in their hearts. They felt proud of themselves and their comrades, proud that they could defeat such a large army with such low numbers even though they were losing in terms of armament. But besides pride, these soul evolvers of the Blood Spear Legion that only admitted evolved humans also felt that they learned many valuable lessons today.
Not only did they gain valuable experience for future confrontations against other humans or any intelligent race capable of creating tactics and devising war plans but they also understood in greater depth the feeling of helplessness of watching their allies dying before their eyes without them being able to do more than watch. This would only serve to make them stronger and fuel the desire to become even stronger.
The army of armed men and the soul evolvers that submitted looked at the people in front of them with apprehension. Now they could only wait and see how they would be treated by this young leader.
As for putting up a resistance? That was a thought they all hated; a thought none of them dared to have at this time. The opposition was simply too powerful! Their leader was even capable of causing explosions to catastrophic levels and his magic was powerful enough to damage the world itself!
A single attack like the one before and the entire Baiquan Camp would be razed to the ground completely!
Of course, none of them knew that in reality, Bai Zemin couldn't launch an attack like before just like that, and even if he could, he didn't dare.
"As I have introduced myself before I don't think it is necessary for you to hear my name again, however, I will repeat myself for the last time." Bai Zemin said slowly and in a serene voice, "My name is Bai Zemin. I am the leader of the faction located about 40 hours away from this place in a northerly direction and I am also the person who will be in control of this place from this moment onwards. I will be brief and concise with this as I have no time to waste with any of you. My motto is very simple, submit to me and prosper or oppose me and perish."
Although his voice was serene, the slight coldness in his words was enough to remind everyone in depth of what he was capable of. He continued without altering the flow at all:
"The first thing I will do is merge my faction located in the north with this faction. Since this camp is larger in size and is in a position that favors my main objective, it will be the other group that will be moving this way and when that happens you will all be reintegrated into different teams from the different legions that make up my combat troops."
Seeing everyone silent, Bai Zemin decided that there was no need to stretch the matter any further so he decided to end it there temporarily:
"I know most of you are not loyal to me at all yet and I honestly understand that. I will see to it that I gain the trust and loyalty of most of you in no time, I have faith in that. For now, I advise you that if you want to keep your heads attached to your necks you should refrain from trying to cause me problems…. I am considerably kind to my troops, I give them as much comfort and luxury as possible so that my subordinates live the lives of kings and queens. However, I definitely show no mercy to my enemies regardless of gender or age! Keep that in mind and we can probably work well together."
It was clear to Bai Zemin that it was impossible to gain the trust and faith of these people in such a short time and with mere words. What he needed first was to let the fear they felt at his power subside a little, not disappear completely but subside enough to let them think rationally. From then on they would realize that having such a powerful leader only meant greater benefits; then, Bai Zemin just had to continue doing what he had been doing so far.
Crush his enemies and continue to move forward without stopping.
Just as Bai Zemin was preparing to instruct everyone to head inside the walls that made up the perimeter of the Baiquan Camp, a silhouette whirled in the distance and approached at full speed.
Bai Zemin narrowed his eyes and a small glint of murderous intent shone in his gaze as he noticed that the incoming soul evolver was not just any soul evolver but a truly powerful one.
Surprisingly, this person possessed Agility points almost comparable to Evangeline's!
* * * * * * *
Really thank you very much to all who give gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
