Not only was Ye Zhongming exhausted, but Li Daqian was also worn out.
Li Daqian had been busy organizing the recent event while managing the daily operations of Thousand Beast Villa. Even as an evolved, the mental strain was taking its toll.
Today, he had experienced betrayal, battles, and negotiations, all while his son lay severely injured and unconscious. The physical and emotional toll was immense.
After parting ways with Ye Zhongming, Li Daqian spent some time by his son’s bedside before retreating to a nearby room to sleep.
Tomorrow, he would need to bid farewell to the guests and discuss important matters. He forced himself to maintain a good state of mind.
As for his son, Li Daqian believed that there was hope as long as he was alive. Figuring out how to wake him up was another issue.
However, Li Daqian hadn’t slept long before his subordinates awakened him. Glancing outside, he saw that the sky was just beginning to turn bright.
Annoyed, he asked what had happened, but his subordinates hesitated, unable to explain clearly. They simply urged him to see for himself.
Cursing their incompetence, Li Daqian followed them to the reported location. When he arrived, he was shocked.
Skeletal warriors, skeletal hounds, zombies, dark spirits, ghosts, bone birds, corpse tigers…
At a glance, there were no fewer than three thousand of them!
Had some necromancer used their abilities to summon an undead army?
But this was supposed to be… the temporary camp of Cloud Peak, right?
There were no sounds of battle. With Ye Zhongming’s strength, he couldn’t be silently overwhelmed by an undead army!
As Li Daqian pondered what to do, he noticed a group of people emerging from the undead horde—Ye Zhongming and his female guards.
The two exchanged greetings, and Li Daqian, puzzled, asked about the undead creatures.
Ye Zhongming awkwardly scratched his nose.
He hadn’t expected the massive fissure he had left unattended to spawn so many undead creatures.
When Ye Zhongming woke up, he, too, was startled. But upon reflection, he understood.
The Spectral Rift ability’s summoning speed and number of undead creatures were tied to the user’s evolution level, mental strength, and the attack power used to create the rift. Given Ye Zhongming’s vast mental energy, it made sense that thousands of undead had emerged.
After a brief explanation, Ye Zhongming expressed his intention to leave.
Li Daqian glanced at the thousands of undead creatures behind them, guessing that Ye Zhongming had likely been testing some new equipment, which had led to this situation. However, Li Daqian couldn’t help but feel that this summoning equipment was too powerful. Although these undead creatures didn’t have demon crystals to indicate their level, they seemed to possess the strength of at least level four or five mutated lifeforms.
Once again, while marveling at Ye Zhongming’s strength, Li Daqian led him to Thousand Beast Villa’s stables to select the promised battle beasts.
Ye Zhongming walked around the stables, knowing this wasn’t where the Beast Manor bred high-level battle beasts. The highest evolution level here was only level four.
He chose several battle beasts, mostly for Cloud Peak’s laboratory, including dozens of flying types. The rest were load-bearing types, intended to serve as laborers on the journey back. These battle beasts were a small but valuable gain from his visit to the Thousand Beast Villa.
Just as Ye Zhongming was about to leave, Li Daqian suggested taking him to another location. Curious, Ye Zhongming followed him deep into Thousand Beast Villa, through a hidden passage, and into a secluded valley.
Upon entering, Ye Zhongming was stunned.
The valley was a vibrant paradise, filled with blooming flowers, singing birds, lush grass, a babbling brook, distant mountains, and even common domestic animals.
A beautiful four-story building stood at the center of the valley. Before entering, Ye Zhongming heard the sound of children reciting lessons.
The voices were young, some even stumbling over their words, but this scene, reminiscent of peaceful times, deeply moved Ye Zhongming.
Several women were doing light chores in the small square in front of the building. Most were young, speaking softly to avoid disturbing the children inside.
As Ye Zhongming and Li Daqian approached, Ye Zhongming noticed the women’s bellies.
They were all pregnant.
“Brother Ye, have you noticed the fertility rate among evolved since the apocalypse began?” Li Daqian asked.
Ye Zhongming nodded.
He couldn’t help but notice.
In his previous life, he had heard about this issue, but back then, he was constantly on the brink of life and death. Such concerns were beyond him, and he paid them no mind. Besides, it wasn’t as if people stopped getting pregnant after the apocalypse; the fertility rate had simply dropped.
But in this life, the issue had become increasingly important to him.
He had been intimate with Xia Lei, Liang Chuyin, and Miya for some time now without using any protection, yet none of them had become pregnant.
Ye Zhongming hadn’t been concerned at first, but the women were, and even others around them began to worry.
The apocalypse had caused society to regress into a structure resembling feudal clans, and Cloud Peak was no exception. Ye Zhongming was the absolute leader, both in power and spirit, with the entire faction revolving around him.
Although Xia Lei could take his place in his absence—partly due to her abilities but more importantly because she was Ye Zhongming’s woman—if something extreme happened, like Ye Zhongming’s death, it was uncertain whether Xia Lei could maintain control over Cloud Peak. It might very well fall apart.
While such a scenario seemed unlikely now, many had considered it, including the leaders of Cloud Peak’s various combat teams. Many stayed because of Ye Zhongming.
Ye Zhongming was their boss, friend, idol, savior… All these feelings combined made him the object of their loyalty.
But Xia Lei, Liang Chuyin, and Miya couldn’t fill his shoes. They each had their shortcomings and could never become figures like Ye Zhongming.
Thus, many began to consider the issue of succession.
Aside from Ye Zhongming, no core member of Cloud Peak had the prestige to command universal loyalty.
But there was one who could—Ye Zhongming’s descendant!
That would be the most legitimate and widely accepted successor!
Once such a person appeared, Xia Lei and Ye Zhongming’s other women would naturally protect him. Xia Bai and the female guards, who were absolutely loyal to Ye Zhongming, would guard him. Those who had fought alongside Ye Zhongming from the beginning, seeing him as a brother and comrade, would support him. This included people like Little Tiger, Mo Ye, Park Xiuying, Tonghu, Shengyuan, Young Master Yun, Sister Rong, Lu Yi, Ah Yang, and Le Dayuan. Their loyalty would inevitably bring along others closely connected to them, such as Candy, Tang Tian, Little Li, Ah Tao, and Liu Zhenghong.
Cloud Peak would remain stable with these people in place, along with special entities like Red Hair, the twin sisters, Yellow Ball, the Three-nosed Elephant, and Jiu Bao.
Thus, the desire for Ye Zhongming to have a descendant, a legitimate heir for Cloud Peak, became a common wish.
Such a person would make Cloud Peak even more stable, as it would signify Ye Zhongming’s legacy and continuation in this world.
The topic of when Ye Zhongming would have a child became a frequent joke among many.
With none of Xia Lei, Liang Chuyin, or Miya showing signs of pregnancy, Ye Zhongming was at a loss. He and Liu Zhenghong had even surveyed the faction’s pregnancy and newborn survival rates.
The results were disheartening.
The numbers were shockingly low.