Pingcheng Command Center.
Lu Heng picked up his teacup and blew on the floating tea leaves, his eyes fixed on the water as if it held some special significance.
Lin Yu sat beside Lu Heng. Seeing that Lu Heng had no intention of speaking, he also remained silent, imitating Lu Heng's action of sipping his tea.
Zhao Kai sat opposite them, a knot of tension in his stomach.
"What if it doesn't work? Sigh, it seems I can't make it this time. My old face is worthless to City Lord Lu."
"Sigh! Should I say it again? It's so awkward just sitting here!"
"I'm doing this for the soldiers and civilians in the city, especially my soldiers who followed me before the apocalypse. I don't want to lose any of them again like during the last zombie siege. No, my old face doesn't matter. I'll ask again."
Zhao Kai wrestled with his thoughts opposite Lu Heng, unaware that Lu Heng, through his mind-reading ability, understood his every inner thought.
The reason Lu Heng hadn't given Zhao Kai an immediate answer was simply that he was contemplating how to arrange Pingcheng after its annexation.
Lu Heng wasn't opposed to accepting Zhao Kai's team. He felt that these soldiers were all part of an established force, untouched by the corruption of society after demobilization. Their discipline and obedience would be more assured.
Setting down his teacup, Lu Heng's lips curved slightly. He wanted to see how far Zhao Kai would go for his subordinates.
"I, I don't need to manage Pingcheng. As long as Wuming City can take in my soldiers and treat most of the survivors in the city well, I can be just an ordinary soldier, obeying Wuming City's command. I..." Zhao Kai looked at Lu Heng with determination.
"You don't need to..."
Zhao Kai's face fell, and his heart sank into despair.
"Heh, you don't need to leave your post. You will still manage Pingcheng. I can annex the soldiers from Pingcheng, but I need to screen everyone. Just because these people are reliable to you doesn't mean they'll be useful to me. I have my own screening methods. You just need to arrange all personnel. After we screen them, if they can be employed, I will treat them equally. Their treatment will be the same as the people in Wuming City."
Zhao Kai's heart felt like it had been on a roller coaster, soaring high and then plummeting. At this moment, he felt as if he had been pulled out of a quagmire, gasping for air, his face beaming with the joy of rebirth.
"Did I hear that right? You're willing to annex us?"
"Yes, but only your currently enlisted soldiers. As for the other ability user teams in the city, I'm not annexing them."
Lu Heng had no intention of treating everyone equally in terms of management. Wuming City had gone through several purges, weeding out many undisciplined teams.
Some survivors who were too weak to overcome their inner cowardice were also eliminated in the initial battles against zombies.
Therefore, except for those who were too old to become ability users, they had survived until Wuming City by being protected by their ability user family members.
These people, who could survive in the apocalypse while carrying their families, not only possessed strong personal combat abilities but also had the ruthlessness to kill zombies and bandits who preyed on ordinary people. They did not abandon their families and possessed a stronger belief in never giving up.
Thus, Lu Heng also took care of the families of these individuals in Wuming City, arranging for them to do work within their capabilities.
Lu Heng could extend this to the soldiers who passed the screening, as they would undoubtedly have family members with them.
However, the other ability user teams in the city were too complex. Most of them had been drawn to the chaotic world of the apocalypse and had become creators of that chaos.
"Yes, that's great. Hehehe." Zhao Kai was as happy as an old child, his white teeth bared to the air.
"For the specific details, I'll arrange for others to come in a couple of days. You compile the information on the soldiers in the city. Let me tell you in advance, don't try to falsify anything or suddenly add people who don't belong to your team. I can detect them during the screening."
With mind-reading, as long as people were unaware of Lu Heng and the Director's ability, their inner thoughts would be exposed to them.
"Yes, yes, I'll personally check each person. There won't be any extra, hehehe."
"So, do you have anything else?" Lu Heng asked Zhao Kai.
"No." Zhao Kai shook his head. Since Lu Heng had agreed, he and his soldiers would now be under Lu Heng's jurisdiction. Of course, he could still raise issues if he had any, but Zhao Kai didn't want to make any further requests immediately after Lu Heng had agreed to the annexation.
"I will take care of the soldiers' families. You can inform your subordinates about this." As he was leaving, Lu Heng gave Zhao Kai another reassurance.
"Oh, okay, okay." Zhao Kai rubbed his hands together and smiled as he escorted Lu Heng and the others to the open ground downstairs.
...
Upon returning to Wuming City, Lin Yu, who had remained silent, finally spoke, "Brother Lu, will the management of Pingcheng be the same as Wuming City?"
"We cannot completely replicate Wuming City's management model. For example, regarding the annexation and management of soldiers, the Director can accompany you. You can assess if there are any individuals with ulterior motives among them. There's no need to tell them the reason; simply state that Wuming City will not employ them. For safety reasons, give them time to leave and provide them with some low-level crystals as subsidies."
"Understood." Lin Yu noted this down in his notebook.
"As for the other ability user teams in the city, they will continue to be managed according to Zhao Kai's previous methods. The houses and land in the city will be leased or sold to them. You can research the specific prices and forms of sale yourselves."
Lu Heng's objective was actually to find a place for the ability user teams that were no longer accepted in Wuming City. Pingcheng was perfect for this.
With an existing city barrier, they wouldn't need to rebuild. After Zhao Kai's subordinates were annexed and their ranks elevated, the city's safety would be greatly enhanced.
Moreover, these people were very familiar with Pingcheng. Lu Heng didn't intend to send personnel from Wuming City there for supervision.
He wanted to give Zhao Kai the freedom to continue his work. Zhao Kai was, in fact, a very competent manager, but they had initially been too slow to understand zombies, failing to rapidly improve the overall capabilities before the zombies did.
This led to them falling behind the zombies' development progress step by step, to the point where they were almost successfully overrun by zombies in the last siege.
Lu Heng only needed to help him screen the soldiers in the city and then help them reach a level far superior to the zombies outside.
The rest would depend on Zhao Kai's own actions. His soldiers from Wuming City still needed to expand outwards and eliminate zombies in other regions.