Chapter 402: Rebuilding
Back on Earth, Chu Feng and Yun Bing smiled as they heard the news.
"We've finally found you, Zhang Lie!" At that moment, they instantly and simultaneously decided that they would be heading toward the old sura capital.
While Zhang Lie was gone, Su Hong and the other hunters began clearing the rubble and fallen buildings from the aftermath of Zhang Lie's invasion. Quite a lot of buildings had collapsed as part of the raid, and Su Hong thought that it would be a good idea to get started immediately.
Only when they actually began the process did Su Hong realize how taxing the work was. The buildings and size of the capital were about five times larger than those of Qi, and the restoration process was commensurately tedious.
If not for the fact that they were all genetic hunters, they would have collapsed from exertion.
With the rubble mostly cleared, Su Hong intended on building a simple stone wall where the original walls of the capital had once stood, so as to not make it look so dilapidated.
"Su Hong, there's a group of aliens heading this way!"
Su Hong rushed to the watchtower at the center of the city.
"What race is that? Everyone, get ready for a fight!" Su Hong shouted.
"That won't be necessary." Zhang Lie's voice came from behind him.
Su Hong turned around, his eyes lighting up. "Thank goodness you're back in time, Zhang Lie! There's what seems to be a hostile group of aliens approaching us."
Zhang Lie chuckled as he shook his head. "It's fortunate that I came back to warn you all ahead of time, then."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtSu Hong: ? ? ?
"Those are my men."
Su Hong gaped. "They're your friends, Zhang Lie?"
Zhang Lie shook his head. "More like my subordinates. Don't treat them like enemies; we'll be cohabiting this city together."
"You have alien subordinates?!"
"What's so strange about that?"
"I'll make sure everyone knows immediately." Su Hong vanished like a puff of smoke, while Zhang Lie returned to the Yeluo clan and led them within the former capital of the sura. When they saw Zhang Lie's new settlement, they began to gape, as though they were country bumpkins who were visiting a city for the first time.
In some sense, they were: almost none of the younger generation of the Yeluo had left their valley, and even among the older, only the clan head and elders frequently stepped outside. Thus, everything they saw was filled with ty.
Quite a few of the Yeluo were looking all around them, their eyes sparkling. They had lived in a remote valley all their lives, and they had hardly seen the likes of a city as grand as the former sura capital, despite the aftereffects of Zhang Lie's invasion.
Their annoyance at having to leave their valley dissipated immediately.
"Clan head, can we really live here?"
Zhang Lie responded, "This will be a place to live for all of you."
The Yeluo's eyes brightened.
The clan head, on the other hand, reacted strangely to the sight. The other members of the clan might not know where they were, but he knew it very well—this was the capital of a sura kingdom!
Zhang Lie was a human, but he had brought them to a sura capital—and yet there were no sura living here, only humans. Had he been secluded from the world for too long? Had the humans somehow defeated the sura?
Zhang Lie instructed the Yeluo, "The western part of the city will be where you live. Choose whatever house you want. You'll be responsible for the forests and hills in that direction as well.
The clan head asked, "Where is it? How much land will we have?"
Zhang Lie retrieved a map and sketched out a region roughly by eye. "From there to here, up to this wall. The houses in this region are more or less furnished, so you should be able to live comfortably for the moment."
The Yeluo tribesmen yelled in excitement.
Zhang Lie specially instructed the clan head, "Make sure to curb your fighters so they don't start a clash with the human hunters."
"Of course. I'll make sure that no fights ensue."
Zhang Lie nodded. "I'll leave you in charge of defending the perimeter of the city, as well as posting guards in its interior."
"Leave it to me." The clan head beckoned his tribe to him as they left for the western part of the city.
Zhang Lie then rose into the air and inspected the changes to the city, the rubble that had been removed, the streets that were now cleaned up. He patted Su Hong's shoulder. "You've worked hard while I was gone."
Su Hong still seemed rather shocked by the Yeluo. "Are those all your subordinates, Zhang Lie?"
No human had ever been able to subdue an alien race before, so when he saw them all obeying Zhang Lie's orders, Su Hong was shocked by the sight.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmZhang Lie replied calmly, "As long as you're strong enough, you can control the entirety of the second realm."
He called for Hong Xi. "You went to the Yeluo Valley with me, so the Yeluo know you slightly better than the others. Go talk with their clan head and have him provide you with a list of the members of his tribe and their names."
"Is there enough manpower for this settlement?" Su Hong slowly recovered from his shock. "There are only about a thousand of these so-called Yeluo tribesmen, with four thousand of us in total. I'm not sure we'll be able to keep this city running like that."
Zhang Lie shrugged. "I'll just go find more alien races."
Su Hong's eyes widened. "Do you have any more alien subordinates, Zhang Lie?"
"Not at the moment, but I can easily find more. Have all three thousand hunters assemble. We'll roam around the vicinity of the capital and see what we find."
The men quickly gathered.
"Depart!" Zhang Lie set off with the three thousand hunters, as well as the members of Team Zenith.
"Where should we go?" Su Hong asked.
"I know that there's a tribe of rock spirits nearby. They're a very interesting race, with the ability to manipulate all forms of earth. They'll surely be a great help when it comes to rebuilding the capital."
Zhang Lie navigated them to an unusual forest of rocks. Rocky spires pierced the sky, each the size of a gigantic redwood. The spires were so densely packed that they resembled a forest.
Zhang Lie brought the hunters within. Suddenly, the earth began to quake, and the rocks began to disintegrate in front of them. The hunters all pulled out their weapons as they warily looked around, but Zhang Lie remained calm and unperturbed.
The rocks reassembled into a stone giant. "Tiny creatures, why have you come here?"
Su Hong gaped. "How will you subdue such large creatures?"
The rock giant in front of them was at least thirty meters tall, shocking even the most seasoned hunter.