21

Just ten minutes after recruiting Zhao Chuan, Cheng Yang had rescued an additional twenty people. At this point Cheng Yang no longer dared to stay in the ruins of Huimin and quickly gathered the other members of the group he brought in order to return to Phoenix Village.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to rescue the other citizens?" A forty year old man that had been rescued asked blocking Cheng Yang's path.

Cheng Yang only spared the man a single glance. He was a pudgy man wearing a nice suit. He probably had a bit of status before the apocalypse but Cheng Yang couldn't care in the slightest. "We can only save this many people." Cheng Yang said indifferently, "If we try and rescue too many people it will only result in all of them dying."

"Can't you save just one more? I want you to go rescue my son, don't worry I'll definitely reward you. How much do you want? A hundred thousand? A million?" The man said getting in Cheng Yang's face.

"If you want to live then just shut up." Cheng Yang gave the man an incomparably cold look, "If you keep getting in my way I don't mind leaving you here."

"You little…" The man felt a little fear after being berated but he had never been the type to concede to others. "How dare you not help me, I a-"

Before he could finish speaking another survivor in a red shirt stood up and clapped a hand on his mouth. "Please pay no mind to the gibberish of my brother. you have saved our lives so naturally we won't impede your plans."

Cheng Yang gave the man in the red shirt a deep look. "Can you tell me your name?"

"My name is Hu Yang and this is my brother Hu Jun, we're from Huimin." The man in the red shirt answered.

"Hu Yang, I hope you remember what was said today." Cheng Yang walked past the brothers.

"Sure, sure." Hu Yang said in a rush.

Cheng Yang didn't spare the brothers another thought. He couldn't care less what they thought about him or planned to do. As normal people, what could they do to him?

It took them far longer to reach Phoenix Village while guiding civilians but it wasn't a difficult journey. Although they ran into a few lone monsters they were powerless in front of Cheng Yang and his followers.

When they were safe within the village walls Cheng Yang chose not to immediately have those they had rescued perform class change ceremonies. Rather he fed them using the meat Yu Kai and the others had gathered from the monsters outside the walls that they had roasted using the ever burning braziers in the Meditation Halls. Having not eaten since lunch the day before the survivors from Huimin village were incomparably happy to have a Hell Pig barbecue.

After settling the small group Cheng Yang immediately returned to Huimin.

Their main task was to save people but they didn't spare any effort to retrieve any food they could from the ruins. The new rules god had made dictated that only those with the Farmer Profession would be able to grow food thus the few bags of rice they found were precious treasures.

Cheng Yang made several trips between Huimin and Phoenix Village ferrying people and supplies. The originally empty field the comprised Phoenix Village now lively. In addition to the original twenty or so people eighty had been rescued from Huimin. It was at the point that not everyone present would be able to go through a class change ceremony.

Even so Cheng Yang didn't hesitate to continue bringing people back to Phoenix Village. After all, it may take several weeks to increase the number of soldiers Phoenix Village could have and by then there would be no one left to rescue. If Cheng Yang wanted to increase the population of Phoenix Village he had to grasp this opportunity now.

Cheng Yang spent the entire day transporting people back to Phoenix Village bringing its population up to two hundred people.

Only when night fell did they stop their operation. Huimin had a number of large monster hordes roaming around which were a ticking time bomb. If they were to accidentally run into one due to the darkness of night they would surely all die.

That night Cheng Yang called Liu Hau, Yu Kai and Lau Hui into his personal Meditation Hall. Although it was only the second day of the apocalypse Phoenix Village's population had grown explosively. They would need to set up some rules before something went wrong.

"Yoko, what did you call us together for?" Lau Hui asked when the final person arrived.

Cheng Yang rolled his eyes seeing how straight to business Lau Hui was, "Don't you have questions you want to ask me now that we're alone?"

Lau Hui shook his head, "What use is there in asking? The only important thing now is to continue living another day. The only thing occupying my mind is worry for my parents since I don't know their fate."

Cheng Yang's other friend felt the same way but unlike Lau Hui there was no point in even worrying. Their families lived in a different province. How could they save their families when they can't even reach Cloud City?

"Yoko, do you think I'll have a chance to see my parents again?" Liu Hau asked, his voice cracking.

"Don't worry so much Koko." Cheng Yang said giving his friend a hug, "When I foresaw the end of the world I didn't just receive the knowledge of how to reach this village I also saw a way for your parents to survive. In the cities there will be a safe-zone in the center, that is why I urged you all to get your families as close to the city center as possible."

Having been given a way to conceal the fact that he had been reincarnated Cheng Yang fully committed to the lie that he had a precognitive dream. Liu Hau and the others didn't suspect his story in the slightest.

"Yoko, my friend, I won't thank you and in this new world I'll stick with you until the end. I believe that as long as my parents aren't dead we'll be able to find them." [1]

Lau Hui also shared his emotions having been caught up in the atmosphere, "After everything we've experienced these last two days how could we not be brothers for life? Yoko, I won't bother with formalities but form now on I owe you my life. Even if you try and chase me away I'll always come back."

Yu Kai looked between Lau Hui and Liu Hau with a wry smile on his face, "Since these two have already bared their souls to you if I said nothing wouldn't I seem cold hearted? I don't know why you were able to see the future nor why the world became like this, the only thing I know is that Yoko saved me from having to live through the same tragedy Huimin did. We cannot rely on any external force to save us since this catastrophe was global. At this moment I think only you are qualified and competent enough to lead our group Yoko. As long as you don't think I'm dragging you down from now on I'll follow any order you give and my fate will forever be tied to yours."

Cheng Yang looked at the three of them holding back tears, having them all entrust their life to him was a heavy feeling. If he couldn't allow his brothers to live a wonderful life despite the apocalypse their goodwill would be entirely wasted. He also didn't doubt their words in the slightest, after all they had made similar pacts with each other in Cheng Yang's past life.

"Since you trust me so much how can I reject your feelings." Cheng Yang said full of emotion, "When I brought you all to this village I was already determined to change your fates, now I can only hope to never let you regret this decision."

"Yoko, what are we going to do next?" Yu Kai asked.

"Right now the most important thing is to raise the strength of the entire village and upgrade it to the Standard Grade. At that time we should have the numbers and power to return to Cloud City. We'll rescue the families of Old Lee and his employees and continue getting stronger. Then, as soon as we can, we'll rescue your families too." Cheng Yang gave his friends a heartfelt smile.

"Yoko," Yu Kai said after thinking for a moment, "Have you given any thought to the fact that all the people you brought back to day are only here because they had no other choice and not because they view you as their leader? In they future, when we make it to Cloud City, will they still follow us back here? Even if they return to the village will they stay loyal to us? I'm afraid that if there are any overly ambitious people the four of us here may not be able to stop them."

"That's actually what I brought you all here to talk about tonight." Cheng Yang replied, "Starting from tomorrow I'm going to sort each Professional into one of five teams. Each of us will lead a team and Old Lee will lead the fifth. Although I'm still not sure if Old Lee is a reliable person his Innate Ability makes him too valuable."

"Whats the point of that?" Liu Hau asked, "How can it stop the scenario Yu Kai described?"

Before Cheng Yang had a chance to reply Yu Kai rapped Liu Hau's head, "All those games from before sure made your brain rot, naturally there is a reason Yoko is making us each lead a team. As long as we're leading them when they're weak we'll be able to identify who is loyal and create a group of people who are absolutely trustworthy, that way we can firmly suppress the ambitions of others."

Lau Hui let out a loud laugh, "Of course! If we can gather a few loyal people and give them benefits the rest will follow their example."

"Yoko, although this might solve some of our troubles what if the ambitious people just leave and join the people in Cloud City?" Liu Hau asked, still not convinced.

"You don't need to worry about that one bit." Cheng Yang said with confidence, "Compared to Cloud City our Phoenix Village is a paradise. Anyone would know which one to choose. There is another key point. If a person performs a class change ceremony in a village their fate is forever tied to it. I have the ability to revoke a person's status as a soldier of Phoenix Village and unless they can reach a level above Apprentice before that they will never be able to advance a single step forwards again. Even if they try and perform a class change ceremony in a safe zone, it will be useless."

Cheng Yang went silent for a moment, "After opening up a path to Cloud City I plan to tell everyone this. I don't think anyone would risk their future at that point."

[1] In China it is considered rude for close friends to be overly polite to each other as it is seen as creating distance between them