Chapter 170: Cooperation
It went without saying that feasts ordered by an E-tier apt.i.tude user were usually more on the lavish side of things. While Chi Long was an E-tier gunner, there was also a substantial amount of “the good stuff” proudly displayed on the banquet table.
The table was filled to the brim with intricately prepared food; dishes that would easily burn an arm-sized hole through any F-tier apt.i.tude user’s pocket.
Even so, Qin Feng’s expression remained unchanged, nor did he wolf down everything laid out in front of him.
On the other hand, it was Bai Li that kept on stuffing her tiny mouth with seemingly unchewable bites of food.
Chi Long’s eyes moved over to Bai Li. More specifically, his gaze was fixated on her chest.
Although he had not seen her in action today; Qin Feng bore most of the brunt for today’s fight, but for this young girl to achieve the status of an F-tier user, Chi Long understood very well that she should never be underestimated!
At a certain point after their dinner had started, upon seeing that Qin Feng had s.h.i.+fted his attention away from the food, Chi Long finally revealed his aim for tonight’s discussion.
“I have observed that while Mr Qin hasn’t partic.i.p.ated in any group missions today, you have fared much better than the rest of the teams. Your strength is such that it has put me to shame. However, one man can only do so much, am I wrong?”
Qin Feng, who was quietly listening to the commander’s every word replied with a nod. “No, that’s right. I understand what you’re saying.”
Of course, he understood what the commander was saying. However, at this point, fighting in groups would only bog Qin Feng down whenever he wanted to attempt a swift retreat.
Seeing that Qin Feng was not refuting his statement, Chi Long continued, “I believe that we can achieve much greater if there were someone suitable to be paired with Mr Qin. Then, our chances of recapturing Han Town would be greater.”
“Pairing up?” Qin Feng raised an eyebrow.
In the previous team that he partic.i.p.ated in to encircle and suppress the enemy, the members were supposed to cooperate on the battlefield. In reality however, there were a great deal of men who were grossly incompetent.
But pairing up with another was different from such a rag-tag team.
“That’s right. I will hand-pick a team of men who will be fine-tuned to fight alongside Mr Qin. They will act as bait for the insectoids and only in the most precise conditions will Mr Qin come out and finish off the enemy. This will speed up the process of our campaign by a significant margin. We will also create special task forces to deal with rescuing those who are still trapped within the town!”
Even after hearing this, Qin Feng’s brows furrowed.
“You guys are planning to use baiting tactics? Just who is going to be the bait? Don’t tell me they’re gonna be ordinary civilians!?”
Such instances were not uncommon.
So long as one could run, they would be qualified to work as bait. These people would shoulder the responsibility of attracting the insectoids to a designated area. To ensure maximum efficiency, it was best for them to have a fresh wound somewhere on their body, with blood exposed to the air. The smell of fresh blood from a living person was the perfect bait to lure these bloodthirsty critters into a trap.
Chi Long’s heart started racing as he could sense Qin Feng’s mood going downhill.
Fortunately, his tongue was quick, allowing him to turn the situation around. “Of course not! We will be using apt.i.tude users. It’ll be much easier to use professionals after all!”
Qin Feng was satisfied with the commander’s decision.
In fallen colonies like Han Town, its survivors were extremely difficult to deal with. Some would in such instances, come up with the unethical solution of sending these newly-rescued refugees off to the battlefield. Who cares if they were not fit for battle? Moving in groups of three to five, there was bound to be a casualty or two. The good-for-nothing refugees would then serve as a sponge to soak up the enemy’s attacks instead of the real soldiers.
To send the helpless out on such missions basically made them real suicide-squads. Though, if one wanted to bait the insectoids, specially-made machines would do the trick too.
Qin Feng wanted to avoid such tragedies from happening.
All he needed was a small team of apt.i.tude users. That was enough.
“What about the rewards? How will they be divided?” asked Qin Feng.
This meant that personal interests were involved as well!
Chi Long’s eyes lit up. From today alone, Qin Feng had wiped out a thousand blade mantises. Not counting the beast general, that would already be over 20 million yuan.
How much would clearing the entire Han Town be worth?
For E-tier apt.i.tude users dispatched to fight in ordinary battles, the gains reached upward of a few million yuan.
For this mission, the rewards would be near uncountable.
Chi Long was engrossed in thinking about the rewards when he was interrupted by Qin Feng’s voice. “Leave the fighting to me. Instead of fussing over this, It’ll be easier for me to hire people to work with. I’ll offer half a million yuan to gather recruits for the mission. Also, please get the top bra.s.s to fork out a bit as additional compensation for these people. For those working the logistics to rescue Han Town’s residents, I’m offering a hundred thousand per person and ten thousand for ordinary civilians. I need your help in gathering some resources and the reward that follows the rescue attempt would be theirs to divide.”
Qin Feng’s words snapped Chi Long out of his reverie. Although he felt slightly pained about the lost chance to profit, hearing Qin Feng’s explanation, he could see clearly the man’s n.o.ble intentions.
Chi Long courteously scooped another bowl of fancy pottage for his guest. He did so with utmost caution, fearing that he would stir up Qin Feng’s anger.
It appeared that not only would Chi Long lose the chance to profit off this mission, he would also have to hand out some reward to Qin Feng.
“Aye! We’ll do as Mr Qin says!” Chi Long responded.
“I will deal with the recruits myself! That way, Commander won’t be tied down too much! Still, I hope that you’ll provide us some support in the form of military equipment and the likes.”
“That won’t be a problem! Apologies for troubling you, Mr Qin!”
The discussion drew to an end with Qin Feng making the final decision instead of the Commander.
After dinner had ended, Qin Feng left the battle operation headquarters and arrived at a spot just outside the building to sell the loot he had gathered today.
They spa.r.s.ely littered the ground and despite them looking like your average loot, they yielded Qin Feng a profit of over 20 million yuan.
Qin Feng’s gains for today did not just end there. Chi Long also made sure to add his kills for today to his battle record, which allowed him to leap up the list of elite users. His achievements now topped that of the people who had arrived at Han Town a week prior.
After he was done with that, Qin Feng finally made his way back to Zhou Hao’s team.
“Qin Feng, why did Commander Chi ask to see you?” Zhou Hao questioned.
While Chi Long was merely an insignificant character in Qin Feng’s eyes, growing up in the colony of Chengbei, the strongest man, Mayor Zheng Yang was also just another E-tier user, not to mention the famous Deng Nian who also stood shoulder-to-shoulder with both of the aforementioned.
“We discussed clearing Han Town’s streets. Instead of partic.i.p.ating in tomorrow’s operation, how about following me?”
It was better to keep the benefits to one’s own people. Qin Feng knew this well and did not wish for his friends to miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. While Zhou Hao and his team were not able to fight high-tier monsters alone, they possessed enough stamina to outrun these monsters.
“Okay!” Zhou Hao saw no issues with Qin Feng’s proposition. Zhang Tianche and Zhao Yu also wanted in on Qin Feng’s plan. Lu Meng, a member of their small team, was also blessed with the chance to partic.i.p.ate in this mission.
And so, with the addition of w.a.n.g Chen and Bai Li, they had formed a six-man bait team.
Yet another noise-filled night pa.s.sed. Come the next morning, prepared by Chi Long and waiting for them were a handful of hoverboards, a large truck and a buffed-up bus. This was the technical support which the Commander was able to offer to Qin Feng.
Standing outside the door of the battle operations room, Qin Feng issued his orders.
It did not take too long before a large group of ordinary civilians had gathered in front of Qin Feng.
From their perspective, Qin Feng was nothing but a walking money bag!
“Mr Qin! Pick me!”
“Pick me Mr Qin! I’m gonna die from starvation soon! I’m not planning to llive on any longer if you don’t pick me!”
“Mr Qin! Mr Qiiiin!”
Qin Feng cleared his throat. Focusing internal strength into his voice, his orders boomed like the eruption of thunder.
“I want twenty ordinary civilians! I want those who I’ve pointed out to step forward! I don’t want to hear your protests! Do you think I’m operating a charity?”
At that moment, the crowd stared silently at Qin Feng.
Qin Feng’s eyes scanned the crowd like a predator.
“You! You! And you too!”
While the people who Qin Feng had selected appeared ragged, they were at the very least, physically fit. He paid no heed to their gender. Even if their mission was as simple as gathering loot, they would need to possess enough strength to haul supplies around, hence the importance of one’s physical condition.
Qin Feng’s eyes scanned the crowd the second time. Suddenly, his eyes stopped at the weak woman he had rescued the day before.
After only a day’s time, this woman appeared to have recovered most of her strength. The only part reminiscent of her previous condition was her soulless thousand-yard stare.
“You! What’s your name!?” Qin Feng boomed.