After a brief exchange of pleasantries, everyone prepared to enter the settlement. Ian Song noticed that Coco Guan kept glancing curiously at Guan Zijie.
Thinking of their shared surname, Ian suspected they might be relatives, so he asked, "What's up, Coco?"
"He looks a lot like one of my cousins from my granduncle's branch," Coco said hesitantly.
"Really? Then just call him over and ask, you'll know for sure."
So Ian waved Guan Zijie over. After exchanging a few details, it turned out Guan Zijie really was the grandson of Coco's granduncle, making them cousins by generation.
Haigang Settlement, Meeting Room.
Compared to the last meeting, eight new faces had joined the conference: Helen Guo, Jason Long, Kevin Zhou, Leo Liao, Jimmy Zhu, Mark Mao, Ray Wang, and Coco Guan. Coco Guan was acting as Ian's secretary, standing quietly behind him.
The seven newcomers had only recently reached peak Postnatal Realm, so they still carried a bit of sharpness.
Their powerful aura put a lot of pressure on Guan Zijie and the others.
"Alright, let's start with some quick introductions so everyone can get to know each other," Ian said, glancing around the room.
After everyone had briefly introduced themselves, Ian continued, "I hereby announce: as of today, the South China University Settlement and Haigang Survivor Settlement are officially merged and renamed the Yanhuang Settlement!"
Clap clap clap!
A round of enthusiastic applause broke out.
After the applause, Ian announced his second order: the old Haigang leadership system would be abolished, replaced by a Management Council. He would serve as council president, with three departments beneath him: Logistics, Discipline and Inspection, and Combat.
Each department would have one minister and two deputies.
The Logistics Department would be headed by Kevin Zhou, with Charles Wang and Jimmy Zhu as deputy ministers.
The Discipline and Inspection Department would be led by Zeke Guan, with Jason Long and Mark Mao as deputies.
The Combat Department would be headed by Helen Guo, with Leo Liao and Boris Hu as deputy ministers.
In addition, the fighters from both settlements would be reorganized into three battalions.
The three battalion commanders would be Jason Gao, Ray Wang, and Hailey Zhou.
No one had any objections to Ian's appointments.
The meeting lasted until nine in the evening.
After the meeting, Ian headed straight to the villa with Coco Guan.
"You're back, Ian."
Seeing Ian, Lillian Liu smiled and came forward to greet him.
"Mm!"
Ian nodded.
"Master Big Brother!"
Jewel, who had been reading comics on the sofa, put down her book and rushed over excitedly.
Ian quickly opened his arms and picked her up.
Seeing Lillian Liu, Coco Guan couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis in her heart.
"Oh right, let me introduce you! This is Lillian Liu, and this is Coco Guan—my girlfriend!"
Hearing Ian introduce her as his girlfriend, Coco was overjoyed. She smiled brightly at Lillian and said, "Nice to meet you, Lillian! Just call me Coco from now on!"
"Hello, Coco. You're really beautiful—honestly, you and Ian look like a perfect match!" Lillian replied with a smile, though a hint of sadness flickered in her eyes.
Before the apocalypse, Lillian was an office worker and an excellent cook.
Knowing Ian would be back, she had already prepared dinner and waited for him to return.
After dinner, Ian began guiding Jewel in her cultivation.
An Innate Spirit Body really was an extraordinary constitution—Jewel managed to cultivate true essence within an hour. Ian realized her potential was limitless. It was a pity that when he left this world, he couldn't take her back to his original reality.
That night, Coco was unusually proactive, making Ian wonder if something had triggered her.
While Ian and Coco were having their passionate night, Lillian found it hard to fall asleep.
Even though the room was well soundproofed, Lillian's senses had become extremely sharp after mutating. Listening to the moans coming from the next room, she felt her own body heat up as well.
............
The next day, Ian gathered all the fighters in the settlement and handed out more than two thousand Evolution Crystals to the original Haigang fighters.
In just one hour, these fighters underwent significant transformation. Only then did Hailey Zhou and the others realize that Ian's forces were so strong because of these crystals. Somehow, the crystals looked familiar to them.
After absorbing the power of the crystals—
Ian reorganized all the fighters.
The veterans from South China University became squad or platoon leaders, tasked with training the original Haigang fighters in cold weapon combat.
With millions of zombies in Huahai City, using firearms would only attract more of them. So, cold weapons were the best choice for killing zombies.
Outside the settlement—
A man and a woman arrived.
The man wore a black robe, his long hair falling over his shoulders. He was handsome and radiated a captivating aura.
The woman wore a long green dress and was stunningly beautiful, with a gentle and elegant air.
The man and woman were none other than Eric Mok and Snow Feng of the Myriad Beasts Order.
"Eric, are we really just going to walk openly into the settlement?" Snow Feng frowned slightly. The two of them had been sent to Haigang to investigate Ian Song's background. Snow's plan was to pose as ordinary survivors and secretly observe Ian.
But Eric intended to enter the settlement without hiding anything.
Hearing this, Eric flashed a charming smile at Snow and said, "Junior Sister Xue'er, I thought you were still refusing to talk to me."
Snow's frown deepened. "Eric, please call me Snow or Junior Sister Snow—don't call me Xue'er."
Eric just smiled and glanced at the settlement. "I plan to capture Ian Song directly and force him to reveal his origins!"
"Isn't that a bit reckless?" Snow asked worriedly.
"No!" Eric shook his head, his face full of confidence. "Sometimes you just need brute force to solve everything. Overthinking only complicates things. No matter who Ian Song is—if he's with an outside force, I'll kill him and take over the settlement. If he's just a secular martial artist, I'll make him my slave and have him keep running the place for me!"
Snow continued, "According to my father's sources, Ian Song is very strong, likely at the Transforming-Gang Realm, and there are thousands of armed fighters in the settlement..."
Eric waved her off, interrupting. "Those so-called armed fighters are just local dogs and chickens—not worth worrying about. As for Ian Song, he's probably just first-stage Transforming-Gang. Capturing or killing him will be a piece of cake!"
Seeing Eric so confident, Snow said no more, but she couldn't help feeling that his arrogance might cost him dearly.