8.6 – He felt that he was really smart
translation: xiin
editors: alamerysl & BlueBug
This recruitment drive multiplied the size of Snow Fox Mercenary Corps, and fundamental staffing was basically complete. Although Xue Ling wanted to develop, he did not plan to accomplish it overnight. All the recruits had potential, and they had not yet formed their own habits when it came to using their abilities and basic combat routines. There was s.p.a.ce for them to learn and grow, which was relatively more suitable for a mercenary corps at their current stage.
Normally, no one would be willing to let them rise up like this without doing anything. After all, the ability users in the base were all relatively loosely structured as no strong powerhouse was suppressing them. There were as many schemers as there were hairs on a cow, and it was easy for those who were selfish to become reckless with greed, willing to do anything for profit and their own interests. But the previous battle between Xue Ling and Xun Yu had been recorded and shown to to the leaders of the ability users" bases, so all of them put aside their foolish desires.
They did not dare to offend strong powerhouses like those two. After all, the strength of those two people was definitely enough to wipe out the entire Yanshan base.
After formally confirming the members that would be allowed to stay, Xue Ling held another compet.i.tion internally. This time, everyone was categorized according to their strength, and then split into groups to fight. Those who could persevere until the end would become the leader of their group.
Such compet.i.tions would be held once a month. As long as one had the strength, they would be able to climb all the way up. This kind internal team management style made many people excited, and coupled with Xue Ling"s generous benefits of providing both lodging and food, many people were firmly determined to pa.s.s the one-month probationary period.
Having roughly established the Corps" teams, Xue Ling placed the journey to Xingyue Mountains on the agenda.
Xingyue Mountains was the largest mountain range near Yanshan base. Because it had high mountains and dense forests, there were many zombie beasts hidden within. Some parts of the zombie beasts were edible, and people were willing to buy their nuclei in large quant.i.ties, so they had a very high value. The mercenary task board for Yanshan base often had tasks related to the zombie beasts of Xingyue Mountains. Xue Ling accepted most of them, and was preparing to a.s.sign them to each team according to their ability level.
He will guide them during this expedition so that they would learn the proper way of releasing their abilities in order achieve the greatest effect.
Well, first of all, he had to deal with another person.
Xue Ling looked at the person in front of him expressionlessly, his att.i.tude very solemn, very much like a cold-faced boss" style. "Is there something?"
"I can"t sit in your office if there"s nothing?" Xun Yu raised his eyebrows and shifted his eyes from the décor in Xue Ling"s office to his body.
“Yes.” Xue Ling replied gravely.
“All right.” The man’s expression showed an instant of helplessness. His posture while sitting on the sofa was unusually stiff, his entire back straight and upright. "In that case, I did come to find you for something."
“Speak.” In contrast, Xue Ling seemed to be even less verbose than the man. It was perhaps because of this att.i.tude that the man became more talkative.
“You didn’t arrange me into a group, nor did you let me partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion.” This was a statement of fact. In truth, the man had not received any news from the Snow Fox Mercenary Corps after he went back that day. He was a very patient person that could keep calm even in the face of disasters, but in these past three days, he found that his patience had been exhausted.
Based on that person"s att.i.tude towards him that day, he had guessed that he would hang him out to dry for a few days, but up until the Snow Fox Mercenary Regiment was about to set out, he still had not sent over any news, which was not what the man wanted at all. What if this person left him behind when he brought the group to Xingyue Mountains? Then he wouldn"t be able to guarantee that Yanshan base was still intact when they returned.
His temper was not as good as it seemed. When his temper reached a certain point, it was entirely possible that he would ma.s.sacre an entire base"s worth of ability users.
Xue Ling held back his laughter. He had also guessed that the man would not be able to endure for too long, and had been waiting for him to come by since this morning. He really enjoyed seeing him in the state where he spoke so seriously, but was extremely anxious in his heart.
“You’re too strong. None of the newcomers can partner with you. There was no meaning for you in entering the compet.i.tion, so no arrangements were made." Xue Ling curved his lips and looked down at the doc.u.ments. Because there had been too many new arrivals, he had to deal with a lot more things, especially matters regarding money. Deng Sini kept giving him sad looks and telling him that the budget was insufficient.
It had been one year since the end of the world, and currencies were already back in use. Crystal nuclei and energy nuclei were helpful for cultivation, so generally, no one took them out to use as money. Most regions already had a unified currency. Previously, the few of them and Chu Han had a lot of savings, but after Xue Ling took over and started to spend, there wasn’t much left.
The phrase "spending money like running water" was probably made for Xue Ling; only, this money must be spent. Before they managed to recover their losses and break even, they will probably be poor for a while.
“There are no newcomers that can partner with me?" Xun Yu keenly grasped the meaning in Xue Ling’s words. He repeated it to savour the profound meaning. “So, there is someone who can work with me?"
“Me.” Xue Ling closed the folder and raised his eyes to glance at him. “If you don’t want to, you can also choose not to go.”
The man"s eyes brightened, and his gaze was especially heated when it fell on Xue Ling"s body.
Xue Ling calmly ignored it and acted as though nothing had happened. He had not forgotten the fact that his b.u.t.t had been pinched by the man last time. This time, he had decided to play the role of someone with a low EQ. As long as the other party did not directly press him down onto the bed and do him, he would be d.a.m.ned if he let the other party learn of his feelings.
“I’ll go.” The man’s mouth was tilted upwards slightly, and he looked to be in a very good mood. “By the way, where do I live?” The place he had lived in before was his subordinate"s place, and as far as he knew, the Snow Fox Mercenary Corps provided both food and lodgings. As long as he could be with this person, he was very willing to live in the same building with a group of people he did not know.
Xue Ling opened another book, thought about it, and said, “The rooms have basically all been divided up. If you don’t mind, you can stay with me. I have a spare room."
Fireworks began to explode in the man’s heart.
Xue Ling continued to say, “But, you have to pay rent. I"ve been short on money recently, and you are not included in the category of those whose food and lodgings are provided."
With an opportunity like this, anyone who would nitpick with him about whether food and lodgings were included had to have a problem with their brain. Xun Yu agreed without having to think about it.
“These are all minor tasks. In fact, there won"t be much for you to do if you go. If you can, you can help me with training these newcomers." Xue Ling handed over a separate list to the man. "These people"s awareness in a fight and thinking ability are not bad, and they should become pretty good helpers after they"ve been trained."
The man looked at the names, his eyes and eyebrows still filled with traces of pleasure. It was obvious that he had not yet gotten over the joy of being able to live together so quickly. "Alright." It was only after he answered that recalled another key question that needed to be answered. “How large are your plans for the future of the mercenary corps? How do you want to develop?
Xun Yu told himself over and over again that there was still too much left unknown between them. He had found this person by following his scent, but in fact, the information that he had managed to gather about this person so far was not much. Previously, the only information he had been able to discover while wandering around the base and asking around was that he had a fiancé. It would be wrong to act too rashly now, when he did not have absolute confidence that he could win this man"s heart.
He still remembered the weighty advice that his subordinates had given him. It was no use just getting a person’s body. If he could not get their heart, and only shut that person up all day so that they could look at him, he would not be happy either. It was better not to do things that would mutually torment each other. He had not understood back then, but now that he fervently wanted this man to keep smiling, he understood.
Although it would be wonderful to put him in a place where only he could see him, if that made him unhappy, it was still better not to do it. Xun Yu"s original purpose for coming to Yanshan base had already been tossed to the back of his mind, and now, he just wanted to please him and make him happy. So, helping the other party to develop his forces was naturally added onto his agenda.
“I plan to develop the mercenary corps for the time being.” Xue Ling rubbed his chin. He felt that this body"s original owner"s development plan was not bad. Using the Yanshan base as his foundations, and then cooperating with the zombies and expanding to other bases in the perimeter. The day would come where the two parties would truly be able to sit down together and have a proper discussion. As long as time went on, the ability users would eventually discover that they had no way to reproduce.
By then, the importance of the zombies would become obvious. Perhaps soon, love would save this world?
Xue Ling did not have enough resources on hand, and the system had not revealed too much to him. All it had provided was this world"s plot across both timelines that the original owner of this body had experienced. Although he had a guess about the man"s ident.i.ty, there was no way to confirm it. In order to make the other party confess by himself, Xue Ling was still pretending to be fooled. "After that, slowly gain control over Yanshan base, and then take over all the ability users" bases." His smile was very attractive, but at the same time, his confidence made itself known. "By the time I"ve taken control over all the bases, I should be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the zombie emperor.~ This is the tentative goal. I’ll change it if I encounter other things I want to do.”
Xun Yu finally recalled that him and this person were not the same type of "people"…
Oh, they weren"t even "people". They couldn"t even be considered as living. The only reason why he had body temperature and breathed was because he had made some special changes in order to blend in with the ability users.
“Why do you want to be shoulder to shoulder with the zombie emperor?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because people say that he"s the most powerful person now." Xue Ling shrugged indifferently, sorted out the doc.u.ments that he had dealt with, and carried them out to toss them over to Deng Sini.
“We will set out tomorrow morning. Go ahead and let them know first, since it"s related to whether or not they can stay on a month from now."
“Yes.”
“Right.” Xue Ling went back inside and closed the door before speaking to Xun Yu again. "I"m very poor right now. You might not get any money as an external helper."
“I have money.”
“That"s great then. After we"ve gotten through this period, I"ll give you a big red packet." Xue Ling smiled widely. It was probably because he had deliberately controlled himself, but there was no trace of the charm that made people fascinated with just a casual smile. His current smile was very attractive, but there was no enchantment.
Even so, the man felt his own heartbeat speeding up again.
He really wanted to confess and tell him that he had a lot of cities, and a lot of money, and could definitely support him and even his mercenary corps. But he knew that he would not want to hear those kinds of words.
The system was settled on Xue Ling"s desk, lazily waving its tail. When he it saw Xue Ling sitting down in front of itself, it praised him, "Lord host really has potential – it looks like I can choose some straight male roles for you in the future. I feel that you can come across as very straight."
It was answered by Xue Ling"s cold sneer.
No matter how straight the body was, it would still turn bent as soon as he transmigrated over. There was no point in making such a choice.
The mercenary regiment was divided into five teams, and each team had five people. Every five people had one car, and Xue Ling and his team took the lead, driving straight out of Yanshan base.
The fatty and Xue Ling"s old bodyguard stayed behind. Deng Sini was in charge of all the miscellaneous matters, so she had come along. Other than her, the only other person in Xue Ling"s car was Xun Yu, and Deng Sini felt a little uneasy sitting there. She didn"t know why, but she kept feeling a little cold. How come it seemed like the cold aura on great external aid"s body kept coming towards her…? What had she done to provoke him?
A group of six cars left in a grand manner. Many people had been holding back and hoping for them to encounter some chaos on this trip, and it would be best if most of them did not come back so that Chu Han could experience the feeling of taking a hit and stop thinking about making big waves.
In addition to their departure, another man also followed them out of town.
After He Yan went back that day and had his world outlook refreshed by his system, he no longer planned to rely on Chu Han. His brain was now filled with another plan. But, even before his plan could start, he discovered that his target of attack had entered Chu Han"s mercenary corps, and had followed him to Xingyue Mountains…
He Yan gritted his teeth in anger. He found that after starting over again, Chu Han seemed to be specifically opposing him, getting involved in all of his matters!
“Follow them, then.” His system advised him so. “Find some trouble for them. That way, you can push up your sense of existence, and if you can save their lives, perhaps that person would look at you with interest?"
“But, why did he join Chu Han’s mercenary regiment?”
“You also know that before turning back time, the two of them had tried to work together to change the relationship between the ability users and zombies. It’s not surprising that they are now in contact.”
“So it turned out to be so early.”
“Actually, it’s not a bad thing.” The system advised him thus, “Now they are still in the early stages of an alliance. If you make it so that they have a falling out at this point in time, it will definitely help with our task.”
“Right!” He Yan was suddenly inspired, and felt that he was really smart. No wonder he was the savior of the world.
alamerysl: Wow, what an absolute idiot.