Li Shutong nodded: "Having more messengers isn't so bad... What are you planning to do next?"
Qingchen didn't expose his master's attempt to change the subject. He took out the red wood from his pocket and said, "The first thing is that, according to Hu's intelligence agency, this is part of the forbidden ACE-022 Queen Ant. I need to find the Rat King first and see if it's still worthwhile to regain control of it."
The queen ant's original host was the body of Shindai Yuncang. Now that the other party is dead and the forbidden item has lost its effectiveness, the process has to be repeated.
Qingchen continued, "The second thing is that the parents mentioned at the previous meeting that they saw cockroaches the size of washbasins during the pest control work. I want to screen all of City 10 to see if there are any other potential biological contamination risks."
"The third thing I want to do is to collect all the corpses in the city and cremate them in one place, and build a monument for them. At the same time, the entire city also needs to be disinfected and immunized, otherwise, with so many people dying, there may be a plague."
"The fourth thing is that I need to reduce the number of parent-teacher associations in various cities. The battle in City 10 will make all conglomerates realize the existence of parent-teacher associations and how dangerous they are."
He continued, "The fifth thing is that I need the PTA to take over City 10. This time, City 10 has been reshuffled, and I have no reason to miss this opportunity."
"You want to manage this city yourself?" Li Shutong asked.
“No, Luo Wanyi is already on his way. He is the most suitable person to take over this city,” Qing Chen said, shaking his head. “If a knight is trapped in a city, he will lose his deterrent effect.”
“It’s good that you understand,” Li Shutong nodded. “What do you think of the Qing family? This time, the head of the Qing family on Ginkgo Mountain has planned a lot for you. He used the Shadow Gate to bring me here, and then he made Qing Ji and the Qing family troops refuse to come to my aid. His ruthlessness is probably beyond even Shen Dai Qianchi’s reach. No, there is a difference between the two. The Qing family’s head is more ruthless, while Shen Dai Qianchi is more disgusting. But no matter what, they didn’t care about the lives of ordinary people. He gave this city to you, which will affect many things…”
Qingchen was cut off from communication in City 10, so he lacked information.
Li Shutong helped him fill in some information, which made him suddenly understand the role that the Qing family played behind the scenes.
It was as if the Qing family had done nothing, yet achieved their goal.
And the most crucial point is that Shadow once told Qingchen that the old man on Ginkgo Mountain was most worried that Qingchen would not be willing to take over the power, but once Qingchen took over City No. 10, it would mean that Qingchen had no choice but to take over.
A city with 6 million people needs food, drink, and supplies, all of which depend on various production bases in the wilderness.
Therefore, if Qing Chen wants to feed these people, he must accept the Qing family's supply of materials, unless he wants the city's residents to starve to death.
Qingchen remained silent: "I need to think about this matter carefully, Master. Please allow me some more time."
...
...
Return countdown: 112:00:00.
Eight o'clock in the morning.
Qingchen went downstairs and called Xiaosan: "Luo Wanya will be here soon. After you maintain order here, find all the electricians from the refugees and go to the power plant to wait. Someone will arrive with new equipment. Once the power supply is restored, find an excavator and dig up the ruins of the Flying Bird Building. Now, set up the isolation zone and send trustworthy people to guard it."
Previously, in order to kill the Rat King, he obtained a piercing missile from the Li family, but instead of hitting the Rat King, it destroyed the Flying Bird Building.
Under these circumstances, it would take at least ten days to find the outside world.
A voice called out from afar, "We've found the Rat King! It's lying in the sewer up ahead, and it's still alive!"
While still chatting with his master, Qingchen immediately set off and finally found the Rat King. He was a little worried that the Rat King had already run away to the wilderness!
When he arrived at the scene, he saw He Jinqiu standing wearily on the street. Xiao San said to him, "It was this Boss He who helped find the Rat King. His Jade Heart Sword can move freely in and out of the sewers, making it extremely convenient for searching."
Upon seeing Qing Chen, He Jinqiu said softly, "This is a gift outside of the transaction, no need to thank me. I'll also give you some information: creatures parasitized by the queen ant cannot survive. After the host of the forbidden object dies, the queen ant has already retracted all its antennae. The rat king's spine is full of wounds, and now it only has the chance to prolong its life. You can't control it again. It's a bit of a pity."
Qing Chen asked, "How would you control other races?"
He Jinqiu said, "Drip your blood onto the red wood. Once you capture one of the members of the colony, have it eat the queen ant and control it to find the king of the colony. When it gets close to the king, the queen ant will naturally know what to do."
"Thank you," Qingchen said. "Why did Mr. He give these to me?"
He Jinqiu thought for a moment and said, "Let's do something for those who died. Don't feel guilty. From now on, transactions will still be transactions."
Just then, Qin Shuli ran out from a distance: "There are still living people in the city! While we were doing disinfection work, we discovered that the garrison barracks was being attacked by a swarm of cockroaches!"
Qing Chen paused for a moment: "Qing Yi, Yan Chunmi, come with me over there. All the elites follow, and the ordinary people stay behind to continue the disinfection work!"
No one knows how large the cockroach population is or how aggressive they are, so he plans to take his elite troops to check the situation first.
Qing Chen and the Secret Service quietly infiltrated the area, while Li Shutong moved between the rooftops of various buildings.
They looked up and were shocked to see Li Shutong casually leaping hundreds of meters across the air, landing from one rooftop to another...
He looked exceptionally dashing.
"Wow, this is incredible!" Keiichi exclaimed enviously. This knight demigod's physique was just too powerful!
Along the way, Qingchen and the others saw a few cockroaches scattered on the streets. Strangely, the garrison troops were in the first district, and after everyone entered the first district, everyone clearly felt that the streets were much cleaner.
There was no blood, no remains, and no rat carcasses.
Aside from being a bit chaotic, it seems that no battles have taken place.
"Were they all eaten?" Qingyi asked in a low voice.
“No,” Qing Chen shook his head: “It’s very likely that no battle really took place here… Strange.”
Just then, they passed by a street and saw a group of cockroaches crawling frantically in a dessert shop. Each one was as big as a washbasin, making a complete mess of the dessert shop.
But strangely, the cockroaches ran away after they saw them arrive...
"Why do I feel like they're very timid?" Qingchen asked doubtfully. "Didn't Qin Shuli just say that the garrison camp was under siege? Would such timid cockroaches dare to attack the garrison?"
The elite force of over two hundred people, comprised of members of the Secret Service and their C- and D-level families, continued to infiltrate the edge of the First District.
Gradually, Qingchen heard a dense crawling sound, and his scalp tingled.
As they continued forward, the rustling sound grew closer. After thinking for a moment, Qing Chen ordered his men to climb a tall building, intending to observe the situation from the rooftop.
When they all arrived on the rooftop, they were all stunned.
The ground was swarming with cockroaches, it was so disgusting that it made everyone's scalp crawl.
Even someone as easygoing as Qing Chen felt his trypophobia was about to kick in.
Inside the garrison camp, soldiers were carefully hiding behind cover, waiting for orders. Outside the camp, swarms of cockroaches were busily moving in and out of the shops.
The problem is, these cockroaches are just looking for food here; they haven't attacked the garrison troops at all!
The garrison camp was spotless, with no refugees housed and no signs of fighting.
Qing Chen sighed. He had thought this place would shelter a large number of refugees, but now it seemed that the garrison troops were no good either, just lackeys of politicians.
"Don't these cockroaches eat people?" Qingyi asked in shock. "There are only a few scattered cockroach corpses at the gate of the garrison, and the gate doesn't look like it's been damaged."
Qing Chen breathed a sigh of relief: "As expected, cockroaches are naturally fond of oily and sweet foods, and they also gnaw on soap and electrical wires, but they are not very interested in humans. However, when cockroaches are extremely hungry, they will eat animals, but that is rare."
No sooner had he finished speaking than several cockroaches flew out of the broken window on the 56th floor, fluttering their wings as they flew toward the ground.
Qing Chen: "..."
Qingyi: "..."
Holy crap, it can even fly!
If these things get really aggressive, they're way worse than a swarm of rats! What defense line can stop them?!
Moreover, this thing flew out of the window, not with flesh and blood in its mouth, but with a piece of red velvet cake...
"Are they really harmless?" Qingyi asked doubtfully. "And yet, this group of harmless creatures terrified the garrison troops?"
“I’m going to get rid of the cockroaches,” Qingchen said.
Qing Chen originally intended to control the Rat King and use the rat swarm as spies and a protective force for City 10.
But now he has changed his mind; compared to rats, flying cockroaches are clearly of greater strategic value.
While cockroaches are indeed timid nowadays, cockroaches controlled by the queen ant are anything but. Qingchen can control them to travel across the wilderness, then through the sewers into City 20, and launch a precise strike against the Kamishiro Foundation within City 20!
Qingchen took out a piece of red wood and handed it to Xiaosan: "You can drip blood."
"Huh?" The third child was taken aback. "Parent, you're giving me this forbidden item? You want me to control these cockroaches?"
“Yes,” Qingchen nodded.
"Why don't you control yourself?" the mistress asked curiously.
Qing Chen: "I feel a little nauseous..."
The mistress: "???"
Chapter 698, The Old Man on Ginkgo Mountain and His Gift
“Xiao San, you’re a mature member of the Golden Family now. You need to learn to share the responsibilities with your parents,” Qing Chen patiently advised. “Although controlling cockroaches is a bit disgusting, think about it. With such a huge cockroach swarm under your control, will your parents still be able to do without you in the future? Then you can use your abilities to take on more responsibilities and help more family members!”
"Parents, such an important matter, why don't you let the Black family handle it?" the mistress asked tentatively.
Qing Chen said meaningfully, "Who says you can't become a member of the Black family in the future?"
The mistress declared with a heroic air, "I'm willing to make this contribution to the parent-teacher meeting!"
“What a great family,” Qingchen praised without reservation. He forcefully pulled Xiao San’s hand, cut a gash with the puppet, and dripped the blood onto the red rectangular piece of wood.
When the blood seeped into the wood, the queen ant, who had been feigning death, came back to life.
Yan Chunmi, observing the ground from the rooftop, said, "Boss, there's a strange cockroach outside the garrison camp. It's completely golden. Could it be the cockroach king?"
Qing Chen looked over and said, "According to Boss He, it would take several days to transfer the queen ant through the colony members. Wouldn't it be easier if we just went directly to the cockroach king? The rest of you stay here and wait for orders. The spies, follow me and charge toward the cockroach king. Let's move out!"
The team of over thirty people ran downstairs, reached the street, and located the cockroach king.
That cockroach king was cunning; as soon as it saw Qing Chen and the others rushing over, it ran for its life.
Cockroaches swarmed towards Qingchen and the others, trying to block their advance.
But they are only newly evolved, and they eat less than mice.
The rat swarm couldn't catch up with or stop the procession, so how could they possibly stop it?
Before he had run for more than a few minutes, Qing Chen stomped the cockroach king to the ground, and no matter how much it struggled with its long, thin legs, it could not escape.
Qingchen placed the queen ant on its back.
In an instant, the queen ant extended hundreds of tentacles again, each one piercing deep into the cockroach king's body.
It's not difficult at all.
On a distant high-rise building, the mistress vomited on the spot.
The sacrifice was too great.
Family members comforted them, saying, "Just bear with it. From now on, you'll be part of the Black family."
The mistress suppressed her disgust and thought it over. Right now, the only member of the Black Family was Luo Wanya, but she now possessed an unprecedented strategic position. The Black Family wasn't so far away after all, and her parents had already hinted at it…