After leaving the military base, Eleanora followed behind Bai Zemin before asking in a bored tone of voice, "Hey, could you at least tell me where we are going?"
Hearing Eleanora, Bai Zemin moved forward one or two more steps before stopping.
"... What's wrong?" she asked when she noticed that after a few seconds he didn't say anything.
"Eleanora, I don't know how Angelo handles things in America nor is it any of my business so I won't ask about it. However, if we want this alliance of ours to work then I think we'd better make a point clear from the start." Bai Zemin turned slightly and looked at her with an indifferent expression that sent chills down the soul of the American soul evolver.
"I'll be honest with you, I don't know if the reason your team is clearly keeping their distance from you is because of your skill for reading minds or if it's because of how ugly your personality is."
Eleanora's pupils trembled slightly and her face turned slightly pale when she heard Bai Zemin's words. All thoughts of playing dumb or telling a lie disappeared when her dark blue eyes met those blood-red eyes that seemed to be piercing her very existence and revealing every one of her deepest secrets.
Bai Zemin's expression remained the same as did the tone of his voice while he slowly said, "I know you don't like me, and to be honest, I don't like you at all either. I also know that the reason Angelo left you here even though I could kill you if your mind-reading skill is discovered is because he wants you to gather information for him. I don't care if for Angelo his subordinates are replaceable and I don't care if you want to be his puppet, but I want you to listen very well to what I'm going to tell you now... Here, in China, I am the king. I won't ask you to fight for us, but I definitely won't tolerate you putting the lives of my people in danger because of your stupid arrogance and pride that I don't know where you get it from."
Eleanora's face grew even paler as she heard Bai Zemin's words and finally a glint of fear containing something else shone in her eyes as she stared at him.
"It's not a threat by any means, I don't like threats. I am simply announcing to you how things are and warning you about the consequences." Bai Zemin said before resuming his steps.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"If you want to stay all day locked in the room that will be provided for you then good for me. If you want to sleep with a thousand men a day then good for me as long as it is consensual. If you want to just rot then go for it.... But don't bother me. Different from Angelo who can use his people as tools I'd rather kill them to save us all headaches."
Eleanora looked at Bai Zemin's back almost until he disappeared before taking the first step followed by the second and third, following him with her head down and deep in thought.
"Hehe... Zemin, you really are evil." Lilith walked next to Bai Zemin and as she looked back to see what kind of expression the girl had she couldn't help but chuckle to herself, "That girl is probably having an existential problem right now. I wonder if she will break down or not."
Bai Zemin's expression was indifferent, and because he knew how powerful Eleanora was he did not dare to whisper any words in reply to Lilith. Therefore, he simply continued on his way to the building where the meeting would be held in a few minutes.
Actually, Bai Zemin knew that Angelo was someone very important to Eleanora; this was obvious from how she looked up to him and practically idolized him. On the other hand, Eleanora was clearly being ostracized by the others with perhaps the only exception being Dylan, but even he preferred to spend as little time as possible by her side.
Who would want to be around someone capable of reading thoughts after all?
Therefore, the fact that Angelo stayed next to her and didn't push her away but rather gave her respect and a position definitely increased his image in the girl's mind. At the end of the day, Angelo himself had said it an hour ago; he was trained from a young age to be a born leader and strategist.
At the young age of 19, Eleanora was easy to manipulate.
Bai Zemin's eyes flashed slightly as he glanced over his shoulder without stopping his steps.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})'Now, what will happen when that idol's image slowly begins to shatter?' Bai Zemin was curious as to what outcome his seemingly casual words might bring.
Cruel? It was.
At the end of the day, Bai Zemin could tell that Angelo was definitely not the type to abandon his friends so casually even if he was clearly using Eleanora. However, in war everything was fair game and Bai Zemin would sooner or later have to conquer America either by hook or by crook.
If he could slowly implant the seed of doubt in Eleanora then that would be great. It wasn't going to be that easy but Bai Zemin had time to play with her.
The first bullet had been fired.
Now that Eleanora would begin to question Angelo's actions, Bai Zemin just had to go at his own pace to ensure a no small likelihood that everything would go his way.
Arriving at the building, Bai Zemin walked straight in and seeing Eleanora following close behind decided to let her go into the room to see how things worked under his rule.
'Hopefully, the number of apes will be few this time.' Bai Zemin sighed in his heart as he opened the double wooden door after reaching the top floor.
It seemed to be that the stars often arrive last, because when Bai Zemin looked inside the room he noticed that seated at a large table there were already more than thirty people gathered. He also noticed that there were empty seats, probably from the leaders who were either fighting in the north or were doing other important things that simply could not be left out.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Bai Zemin walked to the main seat and the only sound inside the room was the sound of his footsteps.
Before even looking at the others, Bai Zemin gave a slight nod towards Shangguan Bing Xue who was sitting to his right and gave the same treatment to Wu Yijun who was sitting to his left.
Wu Yijun had a beautiful smile on her face when she nodded towards him, and to the disbelief of 90% of those present, Shangguan Bing Xue smiled slightly towards him in response.
Wu Yijun was undoubtedly a very powerful soul evolver, however, what Bai Zemin valued most about her was her amazing management skills in any field.
On the other hand, Shangguan Bing Xue was a born leader capable of annihilating entire armies of soul evolvers by herself.
The two of them were literally Bai Zemin's shield and sword.
Bai Zemin nodded to the people he already knew from before, which made each of them subconsciously straighten their backs. However, something that made him frown slightly was that there were too many familiar people missing here.
He looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and calmly asked, "What about Luo Ning? I haven't seen her."
Luo Ning had already turned ten during Bai Zemin's time at Eventide World. The girl had most likely already become a great Second Order soul evolver so she should already have the rank of General in the army and also a Rank 3 noble title not only because of her strength but also because of her seniority as a member and past record of accomplishments.
However, Bai Zemin had not seen her anywhere.
In fact, it was not only Luo Ning but even the Wen twins, the little pink dolphin Xiao Xiao, Feng Tian Wu, Feng Hong, Xia Ya, etc. A lot of people that he had not seen even one time since he arrived.
"Luo Ning was mobilized to the west of China. She together with Feng Hong and Liang Jing are in charge of expanding our territory. There are some of our powers that are spread out in the peripheral bases to protect each establishment, but most of them were mobilized to the north... Even the Wen twins have evolved, I think you will be surprised when you see them." Shangguan Bing Xue explained calmly.
(A/N: Liang Jing, old-looking assassin with a strange job who always coughs as if he is about to die. Feng Hong, Feng Tian Wu's father).
Wu Yijun, who was sitting on the opposite side of Shangguan Bing Xue, added with a mysterious smile, "The one who will surprise you the most will probably be Xiao Xiao though."
".... I see." Bai Zemin nodded, and for a moment he fell into deep contemplation.
"What kind of leader doesn't know what's going on with his own faction? Is this some sick joke?"
A slightly mocking voice sounded inside the room and everyone's eyes automatically moved to one of the people closest to the main seat.
Bai Zemin also looked at this person but did not recognize him at all. However, he could tell that this person was a powerful Third Order soul evolver.
A handsome man with dark hair and ash-colored eyes looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and said with a faint smile, "Leader Shangguan, is this person our Founder Leader? How can such a thing be possible? He doesn't even know something as important as where our major powerhouses are located, and judging by the fact that you had to explain the distribution of forces to him means that he probably isn't even aware of how terrifying the situation in the north is."
Shangguan Bing Xue's expression turned as cold as ice and a flash of murderous intent shone in her sky-colored eyes.
"Bing Xue, who is this?" Bai Zemin asked calmly as he took his time to look at the other party staring at him defiantly.
A flash of shame shone in Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes as she slowly said, "His name is Ye Feng and he was formerly the leader of Henan's biggest faction. He agreed to give up his power in exchange for a Rank 3 noble title as well as keeping his position in the army... and because I was prioritizing a rapid expansion to conquer China as soon as possible, I simply accepted his proposal at that time."
Bai Zemin nodded slightly and looked at Ye Feng silently.
He now understood the reason why this person he didn't even know occupied such a high position at this table. This Ye Feng guy was sitting even higher than his father at this moment.
"I'm sorry, I-"
"It's okay, I understand." Bai Zemin interrupted Shangguan Bing Xue and said with a faint smile, "You were avoiding conflicts to the extent possible to get the country for me, weren't you? I understand."
Shangguan Bing Xue clenched her fists tightly and nodded silently.
"Ye Feng, right?" Bai Zemin did not wait for the other party to speak and indifferently stated, "You seem to doubt my title as the Founder Leader of our Transcendent faction so let me prove to you that I have the power to decide on anyone's fate whenever I feel like it and in any way I feel like it."
Ye Feng had not even opened his mouth when Bai Zemin announced out loud.
"From today onwards your Rank 3 title is out of effect and in its place you are granted the title of Noble Rank 5. Furthermore, whatever rank you have held in the army will also be downgraded and at the end of this meeting you will join Luo Ning's troops. You will assist and obey her for the duration of our faction's capture of the rest of the country."
For a few seconds, the room fell deathly silent before Ye Feng began to burst out laughing.
In fact, there were three other people who had expressions of contempt on their faces.
"You want to revoke my titles? You want me to go obey the orders of a ten-year-old brat? Who the hell do you think you are!" Ye Feng stood up and his aura slowly began to rise as the smile on his face receded.
Bai Zemin's eyes flashed weirdly as he noticed Ye Feng's eyes inadvertently moving towards Wu Yijun.
"I am the Founder Leader. As I said before, I am the one who has the final say. Who can bestow or take away at will." Replied Bai Zemin calmly before adding, "If you are doing this to impress a woman then you better sit down, you look ridiculous."
"Ridiculous?" Ye Feng was so angry that he began to laugh.
He was one of Wu Yijun's pursuers. Ye Feng had tried everything; he had been attentive, kind, caring, and had been courting Wu Yijun for over a month but during all that time the girl literally only said a total of 16 words to him and all of those words had something to do with rejection.
Ye Feng was used to having whatever woman he felt like having whenever he felt like it. Since the beginning of the apocalypse it had been like that. However, Wu Yijun was not only a powerful soul evolver but her position was so high that if he were to touch her even a finger the number of Third Order soul evolvers that would go for his head was enough to make him tremble in fear at the mere thought of it.
Therefore, now that the reason why she had been rejecting him was in front of him, Ye Feng could not hold back the urge to show off a little. However, what he did not expect was that Bai Zemin would be so bossy that he would immediately humiliate him in front of all the faction's top brass among which was Wu Yijun whom he wanted to impress.
"Let me show you how ridiculous I am..." Ye Feng muttered and his body soon began to grow in size.
The weaker mayors that were just normal humans but with high positions thanks to their leadership abilities turned pale with fear as they saw a myriad of scales start to grow on Ye Feng's body. Some of them stood up and retreated to stand behind more powerful soul evolvers who could withstand some of the terrifying pressure that began to fill the room.
Rumble...
The building that was constructed of Rank 1 stones capable of withstanding the explosion of dozens of grenades began to rumble more and more intensely. Only the people who knew Bai Zemin from before remained calm and looked at Ye Feng indifferently.
Suddenly, however, that rumbling stopped, and under everyone's confused eyes, Ye Feng's mouth opened wide. However, there was no sound from him even though his entire body was trembling fiercely.
"As the Founder Leader of the Transcendent faction, I deprive you of all your titles."
Everyone turned to look at Bai Zemin whose body was surrounded by a halo of golden light to the point where it was difficult to see his silhouette. However, those two blood-red eyes glowed so brightly that everyone felt chills running down their bone marrows.
After exchanging 90% of his Strength for Magic, Bai Zemin activated Blood Manipulation and while looking at Ye Feng indifferently declared, "As the Founding Leader of the Transcendent faction... I deprive you of your life!"
Bang!!!
Eleanora's face turned white as a sheet when she saw the body of the Third Order soul evolver exploding in a blood mist, and while everyone looked at Bai Zemin in shock a single thought flashed through her head.
'This mand is out of his mind!"
* * * * * * *
