“King! I come from the tenth zone!” Suddenly, a man shouted but then hung his head low, ashamed. “I know that my people have disappointed you. In actual fact… I was given to the old lady as a tribute too. I hated them too…” His voice quivered and he shook his head sorrowfully. “But, but… I want to change them. Seeing them again, I suddenly felt that I don’t hate them anymore; instead, I feel that they are pitiful. They are my people after all. There is my family among them. I hope that they will change one day. With King leading us, I feel that there’s hope for them!”

He gazed at me with anticipation as he pleaded.

I knitted my brows. I really didn’t want to see the people in that zone again. But if I abandoned them, wouldn’t I be the same as how they had abandoned Earth Monster back then?

I had abandoned them like they were monsters too.

They had been lost during the chaotic time, just like the people who had once joined the Ghost Eclipsers. With no hope in the world and seeing how only the Ghost Eclipsers could survive, they had joined the Ghost Eclipsers.

Seeing the young man’s fervent desire and his kindness, I felt that there was still a strand of hope for the tenth zone. The young man was their hope.

I nodded with a smile.

He let out a breath of relief. “Thank you, King, for not giving up on the tenth zone.”

“No, you shouldn’t thank me.” I smiled at his confused look. “The tenth zone should thank you. You are the one who gave them a chance with your hope to change.”

The young man looked at me gratefully, his tears welling up in his eyes. He suddenly lowered his head and cried. The surrounding young men hugged him and comforted him.

“So, your decision is…” Ah Zong supported himself with one hand on the exquisite gemstone table, his other hand resting on his waist. Every single movement of his was flirtatious.

“We want to stay back!” Their determined reply reverberated in the palace, making the gemstones hum.

The scent of alcohol filled the palace. We took out the old lady’s collection and drank it all. After drinking, everyone became brothers. We would advance and retreat together. We would share honor and disgrace together.

“Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!” The men in the palace shouted.

Fat-Two and Silver Snake were competing in drinking.

Ghostie quickly brought the baby away.

“It’s too noisy here. I’m leaving first,” he told me softly. He was responsible and loving.

I glanced at him gratefully and watched him leave swiftly with the baby in his arms.

He Lei smirked. “How could Silver Snake be Fat-Two’s match?"

Exactly. Fat-Two’s superpower was his ability to store food as well as his endurance.

“Alcohol might be different.” Ah Zong raised his eyebrows at He Lei. His pink hair veiled his beautiful bicolor eyes. “And… Silver Snake’s superpower is replication. It is hard to say.”

“Want to place a bet?” He Lei crossed his arms and looked at Ah Zong with a smile.

Ah Zong smiled. “Sure… If I win, I get to keep Bing company tonight…”

He Lei’s expression stiffened. His gaze flickered and he avoided eye contact with me.

“Ah Zong!” I sent Ah Zong an eye signal. “Go ahead and place your bet. What does it have to do with me?”

“Lieutenant He Lei will only be serious if the bet involves you.” Ah Zong leaned on my shoulder lazily.

Raffles blushed and became nervous. “You, you, you, would you really… Ah Zong… tonight…”

“What are you thinking about?!” I said hastily. Seeing Raffles’ anxious expression, I knew that he had to be thinking about something else. He constantly felt insecure in our relationship, as though he could be easily replaced by other men. As if he believed it was only a matter of time until I would kick him out.

In this aspect, Haggs was doing much better than he was. If it was Haggs, he would definitely say, “Don’t even think about entering Bing’s room!”

“What about you, Lieutenant He Lei?” Ah Zong smiled as he watched He Lei’s glum face. “I understand. How about this? If you win, I will not disturb Bing tonight.”

“Mm!” He Lei responded glumly.

“Should I help you tell the truth… along the way…” Ah Zong winked at He Lei and bit his lower lip, behaving rather flirtatiously.

He Lei tensed and stared at him. “I will take care of my things. I don’t need you to get involved!”

“Oh!” Ah Zong covered his mouth. “Now, that’s more like it. Then… we shall see. I bet on Silver Snake.” Ah Zong turned around to lean against the side of the gemstone table.

“Let’s begin!” Xiao Ye shouted. Then, Fat-Two and Silver Snake scrambled to be the first to drink while Pelos and Gru counted by the side.

“Go for it! You can do it! Fat-Two! Silver Snake!” Xiao Ying cheered them on.

I pinched her in silence.

She looked up aggrievedly. “Brother Bing, why did you pinch me?”

“It’s all your fault!”

Xiao Ying stuck her tongue out and smiled playfully.

“Calm down! Where are Joey and Sia?” I glanced over at where they’d been and realized that both of them had disappeared. Sigh. They must have been depressed from the pressure of competition.

Xiao Ying hung her face low in guilt. She suddenly held my hand. “Let’s go and look for them together. And… let’s chat along the way?” Then, without bothering to see if I agreed with her plan, she pulled me along behind her.

We ran out of the palace filled with the smell of alcohol, and were greeted with the refreshing air outside. We felt much better in the fresh air.

Moonlight poured over the tender sprouts. They were fighting to grow up too.

Xiao Ying sat down and supported her cheeks with both hands. She smiled happily.

I sat next to her and asked, “What are you going to do? There are four men now.”

Xiao Ying smiled and looked in front of her. “Captain, thank you for bringing me out of Noah City.”

I glanced at her confusedly. “What’s there to thank me for? You wanted to come, so you followed me.”

She turned to look at me. “Do you really not know? Look, Princess Arsenal is going to give birth to her third child.”

“So what?” I was confused. What should I know?

Xiao Ying pouted and looked at me. “In this world, there are more men than women! Men can’t give birth. So, if men and women don’t work hard on reproduction, there would be a smaller population. The tribe would grow weaker and eventually disappear.”

I was stunned. Then, I finally understood. “Oh, yeah.” Men couldn’t give birth but women could. So, even if a woman worked really hard to give birth, the population would still fall eventually. For the past ten years, the population had been diminishing.

Only when there came a time when there was an equal ratio of men and women, would the population increase again.

Of course, there were places with an equal ratio of men and women. However, they were isolated by radiation zones, which made it difficult to intermarry between zones. For instance, Geenna’s livable zone had rescued hundreds of women over the years. His zones should have more women than men.

Forget about Silver Moon City. They would only watch the people on the ground rise and fall on their own, without lifting a hand either way.