Chapter 776: Xi City Takes Shape

Chen Ye had called this meeting partly to show off, but that was only a side benefit.

The patrol plan they had drawn up earlier was unreasonable. After his fight with You Hu, they could finally get things back to normal.

“Starting today, everyone below me will patrol in groups of four. Each group will patrol for one day, then the rotation will repeat every three days! ...”

Hearing Chen Ye’s new plan, everyone nodded in agreement.

Although the old patrol plan hadn’t given anyone too much work each day, it had still left them feeling uncomfortable.

It was a little tight for one captain to patrol all of Xi City in just two hours.

Besides, under the old plan, the other captains couldn’t get proper rest, nor could they do a proper job of patrolling.

Now that four people would make up each patrol team, everyone’s workload would be much lighter.

On future patrols, each person could simply keep an eye on one area.

Of course, with so many people arriving now, each captain would surely recruit some new people under them later on.

By then, most of these patrol duties would probably be overseen by the deputy captains under each captain.

For example, during today’s patrol, Jiang Rou had already sent the convoy’s centaur to take her place.

The centaur had been very reluctant, but under Demoness Jiang’s fists, it had no choice but to give in.

You Hu had originally planned to have other Superhumans from his convoy help with the patrol, too. But since it was the first day, he decided to do the Chief Seat a favor.

Then the Chief Seat beat him up, and beat him until he cried.

Actually, from that perspective, You Hu had taken a somewhat unfair beating.

“I know what you’re thinking. Most of you are probably planning to hand your patrol duties off to the people under you!”

“I don’t care how you arrange things, but the patrols must be carried out seriously!”

“If anything happens while you’re on duty, don’t expect me to go easy on you!”

As Chen Ye finished speaking, his gaze swept coldly across everyone present.

Apart from familiar faces like Jiang Rou and Sun Xixi, everyone else quickly avoided his eyes.

It wasn’t that Chen Ye was being unreasonable.

It was simply that taking Xi City had been far from easy.

If some strange, terrifying thing really got inside, Xi City would be in serious trouble.

“Does anyone have any objections to this plan? You can speak up now!”

The room fell silent. No one said a word.

“Good. On to the second matter...”

“This isn’t exactly an order, but everyone, there will be a lot of convoys coming to Xi City in the future!”

“Some of them will have quite a few experts!”

Hearing this, Jiang Rou licked her lips. Her sexy, fiery red lips looked like a flame.

A glint flashed in You Hu’s eyes.

He was someone who craved a fight, too.

“Guard Team Thirteen is Xi City’s enforcement force. I don’t want all my subordinates to be a bunch of weaklings.”

“If any of you lose your seat, as long as your opponent isn’t an Anomaly, don’t expect me to stick up for you!”

At Chen Ye’s words, several people in the room tensed up.

The importance of Guard Team Thirteen was obvious.

If they wanted to rely on Guard Team Thirteen to keep order in the future, then its captains had to be among the strongest people in all of Xi City.

Besides, Chen Ye wasn’t close to most of the people sitting there.

Naturally, he had no reason to help them hold on to their seats.

There was no need to mention Jiang Rou and Sun Xixi. They didn’t need Chen Ye to stand up for them in the first place.

Even if they were tossed into a much bigger pool, those two would still be among the very best.

You Hu was no pushover either.

After all, he was a main combatant in a five-hundred-person convoy.

A convoy’s strength could be estimated to some extent from its population. It wasn’t a very accurate measure, but it was still a useful reference.

The people looked at one another.

Some were uneasy, some were excited, and others were indifferent.

“All right, everyone. There’s one more thing!”

Everyone stopped murmuring and turned to look at the Chief Seat.

“Starting today, Lin Qingge and Sun Xixi will no longer hold the fourth and fifth seats in Guard Team Thirteen!”

The announcement caused an immediate uproar.

Guard Team Thirteen had only been established a few days ago, and already its fourth and fifth seats were stepping down?

That very morning, Lin Qingge had gone to Chen Ye and told him she wanted to leave Guard Team Thirteen.

She had never been particularly good at fighting, and she knew her position as fifth seat wasn’t all that secure.

So she had simply gone to Chen Ye and told him she was resigning.

Chen Ye agreed without much hesitation.

Sun Xixi’s resignation didn’t surprise him either.

Sun Xixi said she had never wanted to be a captain in the first place.

She didn’t even have enough time each day to cultivate. Asking her to worry about Guard Team Thirteen’s affairs would be asking too much of her.

The main reason Sun Xixi hadn’t refused on the spot earlier was that she wanted to help Chen Ye.

But after Chen Ye defeated You Hu, she felt that he could fully control Guard Team Thirteen on his own, so there was no need for her to remain.

Hou Junji had previously assigned her the fourth seat, but that placement hadn’t been accurate.

Sun Xixi’s true position should have been second. At the very least, she should have been on equal footing with Jiang Rou. At the very least...

But this woman didn’t care much about which seat she held.

“Starting today, the seats will be adjusted!”

“Jiang Rou and Wu Zehui will keep their seats. You Hu will take the fourth seat, and Wang Yu will take the fifth.”

“Everyone else will naturally move up two seats!”

“As for the remaining twelfth and thirteenth seats, you can nominate candidates yourselves. People from the other convoys can apply, too.”

“...”

Everyone began murmuring among themselves.

Chen Ye continued, “One last thing. Starting today, every captain and deputy captain in Guard Team Thirteen will receive a salary!”

“As for the other members you recruit yourselves, you’ll have to handle their salaries on your own!”

The moment he said this, the room erupted again.

They could get paid?

What was a salary?

In an apocalypse like this, a salary meant supplies.

Supplies were the most important thing in the apocalypse.

Although Xi City had a large amount of expired supplies left behind, those supplies were limited, and they would eventually run out.

And now... the Chief Seat was saying they would get salaries?

“Starting today, Xi City is establishing the Xi City Alliance. Guard Team Thirteen, the Convoy Alliance, and the Silent Council will all be member organizations.”

“Xi City will also begin collecting taxes. Every person and every convoy will have to pay a portion of their income in taxes each month. Those taxes will be used to keep Xi City running day to day.”

“This hasn’t been officially announced yet. I’m giving you all a heads-up in advance so you can prepare.”

His words immediately set off a buzz in the room.

No one had expected Xi City to start collecting taxes already.

Some people opposed the idea. They felt that Xi City had only just stabilized, and that it was clearly too soon to start collecting taxes.

Others supported it. If Xi City was going to last, it needed reasonable, sustainable policies, and a stable system. Taxes were necessary.

But everyone present was a central figure in their respective convoys, so their opinions mattered.

You Hu frowned. His convoy had the most people, so it seemed likely they would have to pay the most in taxes.

After a moment’s hesitation, You Hu said, “Chief Seat, how much tax will we have to pay? If it’s too much, our Superhumans won’t have a problem, but the survivors probably won’t be able to afford it...”

At this, the others all looked at Chen Ye as well.

Chen Ye thought it over and said, “Don’t worry. The taxes shouldn’t be too high. We’ll discuss the exact amount together!”

“When the time comes, you can attend the meeting and see for yourselves!”