Chapter 148 – The Forced Deputy Village Chief

Chapter 148 – The Forced Deputy Village Chief

Cheng Yang left Niu Bing behind to guard the area while he rode Xiao Bai straight towards Yicheng city.

Xiao Bai’s full-speed running was indeed something Cheng Yang couldn’t match. In just over ten minutes, they had traversed several kilometers of jungle.

Upon entering the Yicheng ruins, Cheng Yang deliberately slowed his pace, carefully listening to his surroundings. After walking only a few hundred meters, he found a group of survivors.

With time being limited, Cheng Yang didn’t plan to waste words. Under the horrified expressions of the survivors, he directly charged forward on Xiao Bai, grabbed a young survivor, and rushed back towards Tongling Village, leaving behind a group of wailing, terrified survivors.

However, these people soon recalled a detail – the monster that had charged at them seemed to have a person riding it, and it was that person who had taken their companion. But how could a human ride a monster? Was it a humanoid monster?

With all sorts of strange thoughts, their emotions gradually calmed. After all, this was the apocalypse, and death was an everyday occurrence.

*I’m sorry. I hope I’ll have another chance to save you in the future,* Cheng Yang sighed inwardly.

With two adults on its back, Xiao Bai’s speed slowed considerably. It took nearly half an hour to return to Tongling Village.

Cheng Yang didn’t stand on ceremony, directly telling the captured young man, “Young man, you’re lucky. In a moment, you’ll become this village’s deputy chief. You might not understand what that means now, but I believe you’ll be very grateful for this experience in the future. I probably don’t need to teach you what to do next – just agree. If you don’t, I can find someone else. I think my partner here would enjoy a nice meal.”

“I… I…” The young man hadn’t yet recovered from the initial shock, but after Xiao Bai let out a fierce roar, his face turned deathly pale.

Cheng Yang didn’t have time to care about his feelings, as there were less than five minutes left to set up Tongling Village’s deputy chief. He immediately took the unlucky yet fortunate fellow to the profession statue. After testing his talent, he was assigned as an archer.

At this point, Cheng Yang also learned his name – Dong Zhengqing.

After completing the profession assignment, Cheng Yang didn’t hesitate to appoint him as Tongling Village’s deputy chief. This might be the first and only time a combat profession holder was forced to become a deputy chief.

However, after Dong Zhengqing completed his profession assignment and became deputy chief, many things suddenly became clear to him. As a young man, his ability to accept new things was quite strong.

Now that Tongling Village’s chief and deputy chief positions were settled, Cheng Yang had nothing to worry about. He smiled at Dong Zhengqing, “Dong Zhengqing, you must have been quite scared earlier, right?”

Dong Zhengqing still had many questions, but didn’t know how to ask them. After hesitating for a while, he finally said, “What exactly is going on? Who are you people?”

Cheng Yang replied succinctly, “We’re survivors just like you, but we were luckier and became combat profession holders earlier. Niu Bing will explain the details to you. He’ll be Tongling Village’s chief from now on, and you’ll be his deputy chief. In that regard, you’re his subordinate.”

Suddenly having a superior who seemed younger than himself, Dong Zhengqing didn’t know how to describe his feelings. But based on the knowledge that had suddenly appeared in his mind, he knew he had stumbled upon a great opportunity.

After speaking, Cheng Yang opened Dong Zhengqing’s attribute list while calling Xiao Bai over. The two of them charged into the jungle, planning to clear out the surrounding demonized beasts while they had time, ensuring Tongling Village’s safety in the short term.

Dong Zhengqing’s attributes were quite good, with a B-grade talent, which was considered excellent in the current world. Most importantly, one of his talents was related to territory management, making Cheng Yang feel he had struck gold.

His talent attributes were as follows:

The first attribute was a common personal attribute, but the second was quite good. Of course, this attribute wasn’t as powerful as it sounded – it only increased Spirit Energy income from killing monsters, not from donations or taxes. But it was undeniable that this was a very beneficial talent for territory development.

*Looks like I got lucky, randomly picking someone who happens to be a territory management talent. Is this what they call a red hand?* Cheng Yang thought to himself.

Niu Bing took on the role of explainer, answering Dong Zhengqing’s numerous questions. Fortunately, Dong Zhengqing’s questions weren’t too complex, and Niu Bing quickly clarified things for him.

Over an hour later, Cheng Yang returned from the distance, though Xiao Bai didn’t come back with him, continuing to sweep the surrounding area. The beast was indeed quite violent – no matter what kind of demonized beast group it encountered, it would charge straight in, fight for a while, then retreat to rest.

It’s worth mentioning that while mutated beasts couldn’t use potions to recover health, their natural health regeneration speed far surpassed that of combat profession holders. Generally speaking, unless a mutated beast was killed immediately, it would be back to full health after about ten minutes, a fact that had frustrated countless combat profession holders in Cheng Yang’s previous life.

So Cheng Yang wasn’t worried about Xiao Bai’s safety when sending it out alone. As long as it didn’t encounter a demonized beast of equal strength, it would be fine.

Cheng Yang then set off for Yicheng with Niu Bing and Dong Zhengqing.

Along the way, Dong Zhengqing briefly explained his situation to Cheng Yang and Niu Bing. He now knew Cheng Yang’s identity – the superior of his superior, and an extremely powerful individual.

Dong Zhengqing was from a settlement in Yicheng with nearly ten thousand people. He and a group of companions had gone out to search for food when they happened to run into Cheng Yang, leading to the earlier events.

According to Dong Zhengqing, the settlement’s managers weren’t too harsh and had a relatively humane management approach. While the managers inevitably benefited themselves, it hadn’t caused much backlash from others.

Cheng Yang was somewhat curious about these managers. Talented individuals were valuable both before and during the apocalypse. Although the definition of talent had changed somewhat, with talent attributes becoming an important indicator, there was no denying that someone with strong practical abilities still held considerable value.

Cheng Yang immediately instructed Dong Zhengqing to take them to the settlement. With over ten thousand people there, if they could all be moved to Tongling Village, it would be enough for the village’s development.

Dong Zhengqing was naturally eager to do so, as his family was still in the settlement. He was very much looking forward to his family members also becoming combat profession holders. He now clearly understood that to survive in the apocalypse, one had to become a combat profession holder. Having this opportunity to advance first was naturally a good thing.

The settlement Dong Zhengqing mentioned was located in Yicheng’s suburbs. To make the upcoming migration smoother, the three of them didn’t deliberately avoid the demonized beast groups along the way, instead charging forward to eliminate them.

Cheng Yang had another purpose in doing this – to establish his powerful image in front of Dong Zhengqing, who was somewhat of a talent. While this couldn’t guarantee absolute loyalty, it would at least make people think twice before considering betrayal.

The reality matched Cheng Yang’s expectations. Watching from a distance as large groups of demonized beasts turned into piles of corpses under Cheng Yang’s attacks, Dong Zhengqing was utterly shocked. In his eyes, these demonized beasts were nearly invincible.

After about twenty minutes, the three arrived outside the settlement.

Rather than calling it a settlement, it was more accurate to describe it as a patch of ruins that demonized beasts rarely visited. In an area less than four to five hundred meters across, there were densely packed, crude tents. These tents were crude because they were basically made by propping up a few wooden sticks and covering them with tarps, or even thick paper in some cases.

Fortunately, it hadn’t rained since the apocalypse began, otherwise it’s hard to say whether these makeshift “tents” would still exist.

Dong Zhengqing’s return didn’t attract much attention, though Cheng Yang and Niu Bing’s attire did make some people curious. But it was only a slight curiosity – the cruelty of the apocalypse had completely worn away their desire to seek truth. So they didn’t ponder why Cheng Yang and the others were dressed like this – perhaps the sticks they carried were just for defense against demonized beasts.

Originally, Dong Zhengqing wanted to see his family first, but Cheng Yang didn’t want to waste precious time on personal matters. He immediately had Dong Zhengqing take him to see the settlement’s leader.

Dong Zhengqing didn’t object, understanding the urgency of the situation. Seeing his family could wait.

After walking about a hundred meters, Cheng Yang saw several tents ahead.

These tents were quite conspicuous. They weren’t the haphazardly constructed kind, but proper camping tents from before the apocalypse. Compared to the other tents, these few looked much more high-end.

In the center of these tents sat five people, gathered together as if discussing something.

PS: Seeking subscriptions and monthly tickets… (To be continued)