Next door, Qin Sheng had also returned home after the card game at the tavern. On his way back, he saw someone seemingly walking with Ren Xiaosu from afar. That person even followed Ren Xiaosu back into his house.

Qin Sheng got excited. Who knew if this could end up as an important clue?

Qin Sheng quickly went home to set up the surveillance equipment. In the end, he was stunned after hearing just a few words.

Right at this moment, the Great Hoodwinker was sitting in a chair in Ren Xiaosu’s house where he continued, “Everyone has already acknowledged you. As long as you go back to Fortress 178, you’ll be the future commander. Do you know what that means? The people in the Central Plains will not tolerate your presence here. But if you return to Fortress 178, with our vast territory in the Northwest in the coming years, wouldn’t you get the final say over this place?”

When Qin Sheng heard this, he was absolutely stunned!

Old Li, he, and even all the other Riders had suspected Ren Xiaosu might be a supernatural being, but he also seemed like an independent force without any organization backing him.

Only now did he realize their hypotheses were totally wrong. Ren Xiaosu’s true identity was way beyond what they had imagined!

What kind of place was Fortress 178? They were famous even here in the Central Plains.

Moreover, Fortress 178 had unified the Northwest. They could be called one of the major powers in the Alliance of Strongholds. The number of strongholds controlled by Fortress 178 was second only to the Wang Consortium. Not even the Zhou Consortium, the Kong Consortium, or the Pyro Company controlled as many strongholds as Fortress 178 did.

However, Fortress 178 had never been judged by the number of strongholds they controlled. Fortress 178 could only be said to have become even more powerful.

After Zhang Jinglin returned to Fortress 178, he made quite a lot of big moves. He unified the Northwest and opened the trade routes. In the early years, a senior member of the Riders even held Zhang Jinglin in high esteem after meeting him only once.

It suddenly dawned on Qin Sheng that Ren Xiaosu was actually going to be the future commander of Fortress 178!

What the hell?! Why hadn’t the rest of the world heard anything about this before? Could it be that they knew he was listening in on them and were just putting on an act for him? This was fucking Fortress 178, after all!

An ambitious young man like Qin Sheng was still very impressed with that group of warriors from Fortress 178. Therefore, he decided to continue listening to the rest of the conversation patiently.

Ren Xiaosu poured himself a cup of water and stayed silent for a long time while the Great Hoodwinker looked at him with anticipation. Then Ren Xiaosu suddenly burped. “Sorry, had too much to eat tonight.”

The Great Hoodwinker did not know whether to laugh or cry. What the hell was this?

Then Ren Xiaosu muttered to himself, “I’ve won quite a bit of money from Qin Sheng today. That kid looks pretty smart, but he’s not so good at playing cards.”

The Great Hoodwinker roared, “Were you seriously listening to me at all? Don’t think that you can conveniently change the subject by talking to yourself!”

On the other side, Qin Sheng’s face darkened. He swore to himself he would definitely win back the money he had lost today!

Ren Xiaosu said to the Great Hoodwinker, “I feel very tempted by what you’ve told me. I’m not someone who can turn a blind eye to such great temptations, but are you really sure that I’m suitable to be a commander? I’m just a poor kid from a refugee background.”

“Our commander was also a refugee.” The Great Hoodwinker said in an extremely sincere tone, “We don’t care about your origins, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any military skill for now. What’s important is that we acknowledge you and hope that you can return to Fortress 178.”

Just how good was Ren Xiaosu’s military skill? In actual fact, he could not at all compare to the experienced commanders. Having military skill was not just about leading a company of soldiers and winning a battle or two.

But after reading Zhang Xiaoman’s battle report, what impressed everyone was Ren Xiaosu’s ability to adapt to the circumstances in the course of the war and how he prioritized his fellow soldiers’ lives.

Wasn’t this the same reason everyone was convinced by Zhang Jinglin back then?

Furthermore, he led a company to constantly keep the enemy at the rear on their toes and also wiped out most of the Zong Consortium’s higher-ups. In the end, he even brought down an entire stronghold by himself. So could it really be said that he did not have any military skill?

Although a lot of what he did was actually handled very badly, and it could even be said that he had achieved everything through his immense individual strength. But could you really say he did not display any military potential in the course of the war?

Therefore, many of the commanders at Fortress 178 recognized one thing. As long as Ren Xiaosu returned to receive systematic military training, he would probably not turn out to be a bad commander even if he might not compare to Zhang Jinglin.

Moreover, the Great Hoodwinker and Wang Fengyuan had also discussed this matter in private. It would be an absolutely good idea to have a “successor” for Fortress 178 as soon as possible. On one hand, it would stop others from laying eyes on Fortress 178. On the other hand, Ren Xiaosu could get familiarized with the military situation as soon as possible. In this way, Fortress 178 would still have a leader should anything happen to the current fortress commander.

It was not that they were hoping something would happen to Zhang Jinglin, but hadn’t they been without a leader for over a decade previously?

Who could know what was going to happen in the future!

Moreover, everyone would feel more at ease if a powerful supernatural being like Ren Xiaosu was stationed at Fortress 178. A lot of troublesome matters would also become much easier to handle as a result.

But in the end, Ren Xiaosu still shook his head. “I still haven’t figured out a lot of things yet. Perhaps I’ll go back there someday, but I can’t promise that. First of all, I have to find my family and friends who I’ve been separated from.”

The Great Hoodwinker became a little happier at the words. At least, Ren Xiaosu did not reject him, right?

He said with a smile, “I’ll think of a way to contact Fortress 178’s intelligence personnel in the Central Plains right away so that they can send over batteries for the satphone. It shouldn’t take too long! Some time ago, Commander Zhang ordered us to help you find your friends in the Central Plains. Who knows, we might already have received news of them! How about this? If we find your friends, you go back with me to the Northwest!”

The Great Hoodwinker had stealthily changed the point of view of his argument. Ren Xiaosu did not promise he would go back with him after finding his family and friends. However, Ren Xiaosu did not bother to refute him either. Otherwise, he would have to waste a long time here bantering with him.

“Go do whatever you were busy with.” Ren Xiaosu chased the Great Hoodwinker out of his house.

Qin Sheng listened to their entire conversation from next door. The more he listened, the more surprised he felt. He suddenly thought of something. Even if Ren Xiaosu were really the heir of the Qinghe Group, was it a more powerful organization when compared to Fortress 178? Although the Qinghe Group’s reputation was comparable to that of Fortress 178’s, the Qinghe Group was known more for its business reputation. Hence, an ambitious person would usually be more inclined towards Fortress 178, right?

If anyone else were to find out they were the heir of the Qinghe Group, they would probably be so happy they could die. Therefore, based on Old Li and the others’ assumptions, Ren Xiaosu would be no exception either. However, they had to be extremely, extremely cautious about this. They would have to verify Ren Xiaosu’s identity before telling him about it.

They only thought about having to be cautious themselves, but they didn’t consider if Ren Xiaosu would even be willing to inherit the Qinghe Group and lead the Riders if they told him.

If he rejected them, that would be extremely embarrassing.

But of course, Ren Xiaosu might not necessarily be that person either.

What should he do? Qin Sheng felt he had to relay this information to his teacher as quickly as possible. The Riders would all have to reevaluate their attitude towards Ren Xiaosu.