Jiang Xu's eyes were full of pride as they looked down on the world with disdain. He swept his gaze towards Bai Chongyi, "Serve me or die!"
Bai Chongyi rushed to speak, "I wish to serve you!"
After Meng Du's death, the soldiers of the Meng Army had decided to follow Bao Chongyi who had then decided to surrender and pay allegiance to Buzhi Ming, but Jiang Xiu killed him, so they didn't dare to offend him. They yelled out together, "We wish to serve Mr. Jiang."
"Long live Mr. Jiang!"
"Long live Mr. Jiang!"
Zhou Hao's expression turned ugly. He had come this time to coordinate with Buzhi Ming to receive the army, but he wasn't expecting Jiang Luoxia to appear and kill Buzhi Ming.
"Mr. Jiang, you are really ruthless. Don't you know that Mr. Buzhi is an elder of Heaven's Gate? Since you killed him, you have made the entire Heaven's Gate your enemy."
"And now you even dare to take away the army my Heaven's Gate wants."
"Can you bear the consequences?"
Jiang Xiu asked him, "Can you bear the consequences of offending me, Jiang Luoxia?" His tone was ice-cold and murderous. The temperature dropped a few degrees when he said these words.
"Mr. Jiang, let me offer you a piece of advice. Your and Mr. Buzhi's grievances are personal so Heaven's Gate won't pursue it, but we want this Meng Army, so it's better for you to not attempt to incorporate them."
"This will only bring doom to you."
"What if I want to do it?" Jiang Xiu replied.
Zhou Hao's expression turned grim, "You can't even fathom how powerful Heaven's Gate is. If you insist on doing this, Heaven's Gate will not rest until you are dead."
"Hmph! I believe you are an intelligent man, Mr. Jiang. You should make the right choice."
Jiang Xiu curled his lips.
Bai Chongyi added in, "Mr. Jiang, Buzhi Ming killed our General Meng, and you killed him. We brothers wish to follow you as you have taken revenge for General Meng but… Heaven's Gate is really too awful. Although Mr. Jiang is a Demigod with surreal power, I'm afraid it would be difficult to withstand against Heaven's Gate."
He wouldn't have said this to anyone else if he were their subordinate yet he had taken the risk and braved himself to face Jiang Xiu's fury by saying these words. His sincerity was evident from this.
A smile rose up on Zhou Hao's face. He didn't dare to act too arrogant in front of a Demigod like Jiang Xiu, but the pride on his face was in plain view.
Jiang Xiu said, "Oh, is that so?"
He moved towards Zhou Hao after saying this, eyes filled with apathetic killing intent. The smile on Zhou Hao's face gradually vanished.
"Mr. Jiang, you must not…" Bai Chongyi yelled.
"You dare?"
Zhou Hao's eyes opened wide as that merciless palm neared him.
He wasn't someone ordinary. He made a seal using both his hands, causing a fantastic power similar to a Buddhist golden light to radiate from his hands which released an incomparably dignified aura.
This seal of his could stop a Demigod.
The words he had mentioned before were true. Except for Meng Du, no one else in the Meng Army could match him.
This seal could even crush an armored car.
But Jiang Xiu merely slapped on his head with ease.
"Slap!"
An ear-splitting sound boomed in the area.
Zhou Hao's head was slapped down viciously, causing his body to sink into the ground due to the force behind the slap. He disappeared into the ground, leaving behind only a deep hole.
"Aaahh?"
Everyone drew in a cold breath.
The entire place turned deathly still.
Zhou Hao was also a person who was on the path to becoming a Demigod yet he was killed by a single slap and even buried into the ground.
This was too domineering.
The shock had left them all breathless.
"What the…"
The one who got killed was the ambassador of Heaven's Gate. Buzhi Ming was dead, and so was the ambassador. This was equivalent to thoroughly making an enemy out of Heaven's Gate.
Jiang Xiu's ice-cold voice resounded in the entire area, "Those who don't accept will die!"
The soldiers were stupefied after witnessing this. Their throats went dry. They couldn't even yell 'Long live Mr. Jiang' like before.
Bai Chongyi revealed a bitter smile. It seemed like he could only follow after this master of his now.
The captive troops looked at this youth standing in the arena with stupefied expressions. They had mocked Jiang Xiu a few moments ago, and now he had so killed the people from Heaven's Gate so easily and even taken over the army.
Their lives were in his hands now.
"General Meng, how should we handle these Chinese captives?" Bai Chongyi asked him. He had heard them talking and knew that Jiang Xiu was an adviser within the army.
The captives gave a pleading gaze towards Jiang Xiu.
"Release them."
They all relaxed after hearing this.
"Phew!"
Wu Guiyong laughed in his mind. He was terrified, but it turned out that Jiang Xiu was an earnest patriot. Moreover, as he was a high-level adviser in the army and had incorporated these troops into his branch, it was equivalent to pacifying the nation's borders and bringing relief to this frontier which had suffered for 20 years.
This was a huge contribution.
The people of the Western Region's frontier would live in peace after this.
"Send a group to take these people back. The two girls who left must not have reached the base as well, pick them up on the way as well."
"Understood!"
Bao Chongyi arranged a few vehicles to deliver them back.
Jiang Xiu spent the entire day in the army to meet a few significant people among the army consisting of nearly ten thousand people. "Deputy General Bai, you'll lead this group from now on. Your job is to wipe out desert bandits and patrol the Persian, Korean and Japanese frontiers."
From his words, Bai Chongyi understood that Jiang Xiu was planning to leave the troops to him and take his leave.
"Understood!"
Jiang Xiu asked him, "Where do your funds come from?"
"Some of the neighboring states pay a fee for maintaining peace while some of it is seized from traveling merchants. We also work as mercenaries by going to war in Southwest Asia. The main source of the money was General Meng. He had a way to earn money, but this subordinate doesn't know the details."
It took a lot of money to maintain an army of such a scale.
Bai Chongyi continued, "Only, this subordinate heard that there's oil underground at an area nearby our base. The reason Heaven's Gate wished for General Meng to join them was to exploit this land. However, we don't have the technology to extract the oil."
"We can just buy it if we don't have it."
Bai Chongyi shook his head, "We don't have the money. It requires a huge amount of funds to extract oil from underground, and no one will lend money to an army like us which isn't recognized internationally."
"Money is a trivial matter. You don't need to worry about it. Just handle the troops properly as a regular army must look like one."
This army was governed very strictly by Bai Chongyi. If it were Meng Du, these troops which had given a headache to China's frontier would have ended up like a bandit group instead of a proper army.
"Understood, General!"
"Give the materials regarding the location of the oil deposit and everything else related to it to me."
Meng Du had been preparing this for over a decade, so there was extensive data on it. The only problem was the capital as well as the tech. This was no problem to Jiang Xiu. He had money, and as for the tech, he could just buy it.
However, it was best to have the coordination of the government for an oil extraction project. The best way to do that was to meet with the nation's military.
On that day, Jiang Xiu met a few other leaders of squads then set down the rules. After that, he had one of them drive him back to the frontier town.
"Big Brother Jiang!"
When Jiang Xiu returned to the Medic Station, he found Xie Ting waiting for him at the entrance. She had guessed that if he returned, he would come here. Qiu Yinru also stood at the doorway at a distance. She hesitated a bit but didn't welcome him in the end.
On the other hand, that female medic ran over and saluted, "Mr. Jiang, your teacher, and classmates are on IV drips already. Their vitals don't have any problems so they should be fine."
After experiencing so much today, she didn't dare to act recklessly towards Jiang Xiu again.
"Okay!"
Xie Ting revealed a sweet smile, "They told me that Big Brother Jiang was quite amazing after I left. If I had known it, I wouldn't have escaped first. It's such a waste of your reputation."
"Hehe!"
Jiang Xiu said, "It wasn't me who was amazing but rather that they were too weak."
The medic standing on the side couldn't even disagree with his words.
"Mr. Jiang, the commander has arranged a room for you separate from your classmates. It's a guest house not far from here. If you are tired, you can rest there." The medic said politely, "It'll take some time for them to wake up."
"Alright!"