Chapter 48
TL: Moonlit
Wen Qingling didn’t dare to defy his parents’ words. As soon as the two humans left, he began to handle Ling City’s affairs.
Wen Qingling called the Sisters and blood corpse over to discuss the future development of Ling City.
Blood corpse was particularly honest this time. He was genuinely scared by Wen Qingling. He had encouraged Wen Qingling to deal with the “General” with malicious intent, hoping that Wen Qingling and the “General” would perish together, so that he could have absolute control over Lingcheng. However, the blood corpse never expected that Wen Qingling would actually force the “General” to leave. As a result, the position of the top leader in Ling City shifted from the “General” to Wen Qingling.
No matter how you looked at it, the mountain on top of the blood corpse’s head still existed, but he had changed his identity.
Wen Qingling didn’t care about the blood corpse’s ulterior motives. As long as he was alive, the blood corpse wouldn’t be able to escape his grasp.
Ling City was divided into five major districts, each in a different direction. The city center was an independent district. Wen Qingling had always occupied the South City, which was the South District of Ling City. He had taken over the city center, making it his territory as well. This was the Central District. The East City was the East District, occupied by the blood corpse. The West City was the West District, occupied by the “Leader” Sisters. Only the North City’s North District was currently vacant.
Wen Qingling said, “I have a great ambition now. I want to build Ling City into a large civilized base. What do you think?”
The blood corpse immediately became furious, “So, you want to take over our territories?”
Wen Qingling replied, “Who said that Ling City would be under my command in the future?”
The blood corpse roared, “Didn’t you have no ambition? Haven’t you always been content with your little piece of land in the South City? Why are you so fickle now? You say you have ambition?!”
Wen Qingling said, “I want to develop Ling City now.”
The blood corpse earnestly advised, “Lord Wen, we can’t do this. Think about your civilized base, how beautiful the development will be, how comfortable the life of civilized zombies will be, and how obedient your cute zombie subordinates will be. Isn’t that enough? What use do you have for all the dirty and decaying zombies everywhere?”
The blood corpse couldn’t convince him alone, so he involved the Sisters, “Sister Tiantian, Sister Xin, don’t you agree?”
Given how powerful Wen Qingling was now, as long as the Sisters’ eyes were not blind, they knew how to choose.
They glared at the blood corpse and asked Wen Qingling, “Are you planning to turn all the zombies in Ling City into civilized zombies?”
Wen Qingling shook his head, “Not all of them. I will select them. In the future, Ling City will belong to our civilized zombies, and the decaying zombies can only roam in the suburbs.”
The blood corpse sneered, “Even if you drain all your blood, it won’t be enough.”
Wen Qingling reached out from a distance, grabbed the blood corpse, punched him in the face, and threw him aside, “I advise you to speak properly.”
Blood corpse: “…”
Could he still endure this?!
As the boss of East City, he was actually being beaten just like that. Didn’t he care about his face?!
The blood corpse helplessly expressed that in front of Wen Qingling, his dignity was worth nothing.
The Sisters spoke up, “This is a big project. Not to mention how much blood anemones it will require, if it’s going to be built into a large civilized base, it will definitely need a sturdy city wall. Are you planning to build the entire city wall of Ling City by yourself? Forgive me for speaking frankly, but wooden city walls don’t seem fire-resistant.”
The younger Sister had a different opinion, “I think wooden city walls are fine. Since it’s Lord Wen who is building the city, he will definitely consider the fire prevention measures as the first step.”
The Sisters simultaneously looked at Wen Qingling.
Wen Qingling nodded. “You don’t need to worry about fire. As long as my wood-based abilities are intact, flames cannot destroy the wooden city walls. Or, to put it another way, as long as the strength of the fire-based ability users doesn’t surpass mine, they won’t be able to destroy the wooden city walls.”
The Blood Corpse grumbled, “So, you still believe that you alone can establish a large-scale civilization base?”
Although Ling City was large, Wen Qingling’s strength had improved several levels since last night. Even if he couldn’t complete it in one go, he could do it in multiple attempts, and he didn’t plan to include the entire Ling City in the base construction. He had to leave some living space for the decaying zombies.
The Blood Corpse said, “We must face a question. If you want to establish a large-scale civilization base based on Lingcheng, what are your plans for my East City and their West City? Will you take full control over everything? Will we become your subordinates?”
Wen Qingling looked at him. “You can refuse, but I can also kill you.”
The Blood Corpse remained silent.
Wen Qingling took a firm stance. “Right now, I am the boss of Ling City. Either you obey or you die.”
The Blood Corpse stayed silent.
Wen Qingling said, “I’ll give you one minute to consider.”
The Blood Corpse remained silent.
If it were before, Wen Qingling might have considered the attitude of the Blood Corpse and even the opinions of the sisters. But now, with his significantly enhanced strength, he could completely suppress a “leader”-level zombie.
The attitude of the sisters was no longer a problem. They were young and influenced by the blood anemone. They now had great trust and reliance on Wen Qingling. The biggest problem now was the Blood Corpse, who always sang a different tune.
“Kid, if there’s a zombie who dares to sing a different tune with you, just kill them to avoid future trouble.” Jiang Lan and Wen Zheng came in from outside. They had blueprints in their hands, obviously making plans for the future of Ling City.
The Blood Corpse, who had been excluded by everyone, said, “…”
What else could he do besides surrender? He couldn’t really die here, right?
He could clearly feel the difference between himself and Wen Qingling. He was no longer Wen Qingling’s match.
The Blood Corpse crossed a big X on his mouth. “Forget what I said. You’re the boss. You have the final say.”
With a unanimous opinion, they could finally begin planning the future of Ling City.
The original urban construction of Ling City was like concentric circles, with the city center in the middle, followed by four major city zones, and finally, four major suburban areas. Wen Qingling decided to continue with this plan. The five major city zones would be the activity areas for civilized zombies, while the four major suburban areas would be the territory of decaying zombies.
His parents agreed with his construction ideas. Considering that the number of civilized zombies wouldn’t reach millions in a short period of time, it would be pointless to have such a large territory. They had to leave some space for other species.
Even the construction of the five major city zones wouldn’t happen overnight. Wen Qingling proposed dividing it into three phases, with the city center as the core, constructing the core city, inner city, middle city, and outer city in sequence. Tall city walls would separate each city, and moats and gates would be built in the four directions. Beyond the outer city would be the locations for the four major suburban areas.
Since the number of civilized zombies was relatively small for now, there was no need to construct everything on a large scale. Wen Qingling decided to first build the city walls for the core city and inner city, and improve the environmental hygiene in these two areas. Dilapidated buildings that could be repaired would be fixed, while those without any value would be demolished.
Wen Qingling only needed to construct the city walls, and others would be responsible for the planning and arrangements inside. This work would be completed faster if everyone pitched in.
After reaching a consensus, Wen Qingling led everyone to the city center and began the construction of the walls.
The Blood Corpse’s concerns didn’t materialize. Since they were only building wooden city walls, although the circumference was long, it didn’t pose a challenge for Wen Qingling. After all, he had effortlessly established the civilization base in South City, and now his strength had further improved.
Under the witness of everyone, the tall walls of the core city and inner city slowly rose. The core city walls were 20 meters high, while the inner city walls were 18 meters high. Wen Qingling’s civilization base was now enclosed within the inner city.
The gates of the core city and inner city were wide open, allowing the decaying zombies and mutated creatures inside to leave for the outskirts of the city. Once trapped inside, apart from entering a dormant state or starving to death, there was no other possibility. For long-term considerations, Wen Qingling didn’t want to kill all the mutated creatures in Ling City. They were a valuable source of food and needed to be properly preserved.
With the construction of the large-scale civilization base underway, Wen Qingling was currently in dire need of manpower. Although he had many blood anemones, if he planted one for every zombie, it wouldn’t be enough.
Wen Zheng suggested, “This won’t work. We can’t rely on you to bleed every time for planting the blood anemones. We need to find another solution.”
Jiang Lan, concerned for her son, proposed, “Why don’t we establish a research institute ourselves and study how to maximize the value of blood anemones?”
Father and son simultaneously looked at Jiang Lan and gave her a thumbs up.
Wen Qingling said, “Mom, you’re really insightful.”
Wen Zheng added, “What my wife said is absolutely right. Besides, there’s already a research institute in the West City. Let’s clean it up and conduct our own research. As for the researchers…”
Wen Qingling interrupted, “I already have someone in mind. Once things settle down here, I’ll go and find them.”
Wen Zheng urged, “There’s not much to be busy with here. Hurry up and go find them.”
Jiang Lan added, “It would be great if we can also develop an antidote for the zombie virus. Then we won’t have to rely on blood anemones for treatment every time. Do you really have to reveal the ‘secret recipe’ every time someone comes for treatment?”
Wen Qingling agreed, “Mom is right.”
Wen Zheng chimed in, “My wife is right.”
However, achieving research results wasn’t as simple as saying it. It would definitely require a process. Since Wen Qingling was currently in need of manpower, he came up with a solution. He used his wood-based ability to stimulate the growth of blood anemones, making them larger. This way, one plant could be divided and used to treat multiple zombies.
Wen Qingling is currently selecting from his subordinates in the South City zombie group, giving priority to the decaying zombies willing to voluntarily become civilized zombies. He provided a batch of blood anemones that he had stimulated to grow to his parents, allowing them to administer the treatments themselves. He was now ready to set off for Rong City.
The target candidates for Wen Qingling were none other than the research assistants brought by Meng Lao. Since they were assistants, they should be somewhat useful. Wen Qingling planned to ask them if they were willing to become civilized zombies and work for him. If they were unwilling, he wouldn’t waste blood anemones on them.
It’s worth mentioning that after cleaning up the original base, the civilized zombies started organizing the core city and inner city. The Sisters and Blood Corpse controlled the zombies in West City and East City, respectively, but they assisted in transporting things and participated in the construction alongside everyone else.
Wen Qingling didn’t actually strip the Sisters and Blood Corpse of their rights. They still managed the zombies in the West City and East City. However, they needed to inform Wen Qingling when making any significant moves. Of course, even if they didn’t inform him, Wen Qingling would still find out.
Wen Qingling was the leader of Ling City, and there was nothing he couldn’t find out if he wanted to know.