Chapter 112: Working for Free

After Lv Guangrong left, Lian Ruixue sank into deep thought.

After a long while, she sighed softly, picked up the phone, placed her fingertips on the buttons, but hesitated for a long time without dialing the string of numbers in her heart. If possible, she would never want to dial this number in her life, but she had no choice, because she bore the mark of the Lian Family.

After hesitating for a few minutes, Lian Ruixue finally gritted her teeth and pressed the string of numbers.

The call connected quickly, and an old man’s voice came from inside, sounding very excited: “Is that Xue? Grandpa thought you would never call Grandpa again.”

Lian Ruixue was silent for a moment before speaking in an icy voice: “Chief of General Staff Lian, Lv Guangrong came to see me just now.” She used a business-like tone to explain Lv Guangrong’s plan. She did not hide anything, but once she finished, she closed her mouth again.

On the other end of the phone was Lian Ruixue’s grandfather, Lian Chengshu, the current Chief of General Staff, a man who could be said to hold the highest rank among officials.

Lian Chengshu listened to his granddaughter’s report, pondered for a moment, and tapped the table lightly, thinking about something. Lian Ruixue knew her grandfather was serious about official business, so she said nothing and held the receiver obediently, not disturbing Lian Chengshu.

After more than half a minute, Lian Chengshu finally spoke: “This is a good thing. Since he wants to create heroes, then let’s cooperate with him. Hmm, I think the higher-ups will approve it, because just as Lv Guangrong said, the people who are currently in panic need inspiring news, need a spiritual anchor. If this matter is handled well, it can indeed reduce the probability of riots occurring. People who have a spiritual anchor will be content and won’t wander around aimlessly all day.”

Since Lian Chengshu said so, Lian Ruixue knew that Lv Guangrong’s matter would definitely be passed by the higher-ups. As the Chief of General Staff, he still had that much influence.

Lian Chengshu sighed and said: “Actually, this method has been proposed before, but the timing was not ripe back then. Now, the number of Fierce Beast Warriors has reached a formed scale, and it is time to display them before the public. This Lv Guangrong is very smart. Promoting him by one rank is impossible, but letting him grasp a bit more power is doable.”

Who was Lian Chengshu? To be able to sit in this position, he would see through the little thoughts of those below with just a turn of his mind. He knew Lv Guangrong; in fact, he had information on everyone who held sufficient power in his mind, and was extremely clear about their characters and ambitions.

What scheme was Lv Guangrong playing? Wasn’t it just wanting to climb to the position of General before retiring?

But a General was different from a Lieutenant General; this was a true watershed. At certain times, out of ten Lieutenant Generals, not necessarily even one could become a General. That was why in the current military, there were no few Lieutenant Generals, but only a dozen or so Generals, and that was across several different branches under the system.

Lian Ruixue got her answer and didn’t hesitate, wanting to hang up the phone.

“Wait!” Lian Chengshu naturally knew what Lian Ruixue would do next and quickly stopped her.

Lian Ruixue said coldly: “Does the Chief of General Staff have anything else? If not, I’m hanging up.”

Lian Chengshu changed his serious tone from earlier and sounded like a kind old man: “Xue, do you really refuse to call me Grandpa?”

“Do I have a Grandpa?” Lian Ruixue said in an icy tone: “In my world, Grandpa is a very distant word.” Then she hung up the phone without hesitation.

Lian Chengshu smiled bitterly and shook his head, putting down the phone. He knew his granddaughter would never forgive him. Sent to the army for training since childhood, and then handed over to Ren Zhigang, undergoing a Fierce Beast Gene Genetic Modification with only a 15% success rate using a risky method. “Xue, Grandpa owes you too much, but you must understand, all this was for the interests of the family. When you are a bit more mature, when you reach this level, you will understand Grandpa’s painstaking efforts.”

※※※

Returning to the station at night, Zhou Liming didn’t feel anything special. Although people’s emotions were a bit fanatical at the time, with his and Huang Dazhuang’s abilities, they naturally fled the moment they noticed something was wrong. The rescue team at the scene had already arrived, so even if they left, someone was controlling the order at the scene.

Parking the motorcycle, a logistics soldier naturally came over with a fuel hose to fill the motorcycle up.

This motorcycle was flashy to ride, but it was also a gas guzzler; its consumption wasn’t much less than a 1.6T displacement car. If it were the Zhou Liming of the past, even if given such a motorcycle, he wouldn’t dare take it. An ordinary person’s salary, after paying for gas for this thing every month, he wouldn’t know if he could even feed himself.

Driving all day, even with the stop-and-go, once the novelty wore off, it felt boring.

Back in the room, after taking a cold shower, Zhou Liming thought for a bit, found Lian Ruixue’s room number on the Communicator, and then went out. Soon he arrived at the door of Lian Ruixue’s room, hesitated for a moment, and knocked on the door.

Quickly, the door opened, and Lian Ruixue appeared behind it. Seeing it was Zhou Liming, she revealed a trace of awkwardness and said coldly: “What is it?”

Zhou Liming’s personality had changed slightly recently; he no longer showed the shy look he used to have. He got straight to the point: “Captain, I want to know what my salary is.”

Hearing this question, Lian Ruixue was completely stunned. She never imagined Zhou Liming would ask this. What made it even more awkward was that she had no idea how Zhou Liming’s salary was calculated. Everyone who entered the X Squadron came from various units; their salaries were already known to them. The X Squadron hadn’t mentioned this because they felt there was no need.

But Zhou Liming was different; he was a latecomer. Although he became a Lieutenant Colonel, no one had really paid attention to his salary issue.

“This…” Lian Ruixue hesitated for a moment, then spoke truthfully: “Actually, our X Squadron doesn’t have a concept of salary. Perhaps I’ll reflect this to the higher-ups tomorrow.”

Zhou Liming almost jumped up and reacted intensely: “What? No salary? Are you saying we are all working for nothing?”

Lian Ruixue was embarrassed; she had indeed overlooked this problem. She thought for a moment and said: “How about this, I will apply for Lieutenant Colonel salary treatment for you. You know, the other members of our Squadron have their salaries, benefits, subsidies, and so on borne by their original units, which are deposited into their bank accounts every month.”

Zhou Liming calmed down a little and asked: “How much is the Lieutenant Colonel salary treatment?”

Actually, Lian Ruixue didn’t have much concept of money either. Growing up in the military camp since childhood, with the family behind her, she had never cared from start to finish whether her salary was deposited into her card. If she needed it, just one word, and even a sports car worth tens of millions would be delivered to her in the shortest time. Materially, her grandfather always satisfied her without hesitation, even if it was something very flashy.

“It seems to be around ten thousand or so. I don’t know the exact amount.”

Zhou Liming scoffed, pointed at the city in the darkness, and said: “Ten thousand? Do you know what ten thousand can do now? Today, Brother Huang and I spent over two thousand in one day, and we only ate lunch boxes with just a few slices of meat.”

There were too many rich people in this world. After they escaped, since the banking system was still operating normally, their savings hadn’t decreased at all. Stimulated by this, under the mindset that if they didn’t spend the money they might not live to spend it, coupled with the shortage of supplies, prices naturally changed by the day.

Who knew if the fast food eaten today would double in price tomorrow?

Lian Ruixue had never cared about this. Hearing Zhou Liming say this now, she couldn’t believe it and said in shock: “How is that possible?”

Zhou Liming crossed his arms and said coldly: “Why is it impossible? I suggest you go for a walk in the city tomorrow. Only then will you know that the outside world isn’t just about Fierce Beasts running rampant. The issue of prices is also what people care about most. If not for the government’s relief, I’m afraid the whole world would be in chaos.”

Lian Ruixue hesitated for a moment, then turned back into the room. Shortly after, she came out holding a bank card and said: “How about you take my money and use it for now?”

Using a woman’s money, Zhou Liming wasn’t about to do that. He shook his head, said nothing, turned around, and left.

Lian Ruixue opened her mouth, but in the end, said nothing. In this matter, the Squadron had indeed lacked consideration. The Squadron members were humans too; they needed material life. No matter how high their power, they couldn’t just use violence to rob a bottle of water or a lunch box, then flash their license, wipe their mouths, and walk away arrogantly, right?

If such a thing really happened, it would be too ridiculous.

So, after closing the door, Lian Ruixue also filled with anger and dialed that number she didn’t want to dial once again.

Leaving Lian Ruixue’s quarters, Zhou Liming also felt somewhat angry and viciously kicked a stone away. The terrifying power directly knocked a hole in the opposite wall. Amidst the “crash” sound, almost the entire wall collapsed.

“Working for free? Damn, I didn’t expect my first job to end up like this.” What Zhou Liming missed most now was that woven bag of gold he lost in Wan J City; that was over a dozen kilograms. You know, the price of gold had now risen to over eight thousand per gram. If he had that dozen kilograms of gold, what wouldn’t he have?

If not for the Dean and the others… would Zhou Liming give a damn about the X Squadron or whatever?

Zhou Liming was not an ungrateful person. Although looking after orphans seemed to be the Dean’s job, he had grown up in the Orphanage she managed, after all. To just ignore her life and death like that, how was he different from a beast? Yes, it was the Fierce Beast Era now, but did he not need family affection in a crisis?

Perhaps like in some novels, once the apocalypse arrived, the previously well-behaved protagonists would all become cold and ruthless, killing as easily as eating, even casting aside their relatives. Zhou Liming knew he wasn’t that kind of person. Many things couldn’t just be changed on a whim. Being able to kill calmly now was already a transformation for Zhou Liming from an ordinary person to a special one.

Seeming to think of something, Zhou Liming looked at the night sky and smiled.

Back in Zhe B City, when his ability wasn’t as strong as now, he already knew to acquire some ownerless things. Now that his ability was stronger, what was wrong with making a little extra income? The X Squadron’s regulations didn’t forbid going to cities occupied by Fierce Beasts to get some ownerless wealth, right?

Besides, so what if there were regulations?

Zhou Liming suddenly realized his sense of belonging to the X Squadron was indeed very poor. Tracing it back, he wasn’t a military person to begin with. If he didn’t possess this ability, he would probably be like thousands of ordinary people now, wandering the streets, getting up early every day just to queue at the government relief distribution point to receive a pitiful amount of food. Then after eating, shrinking into a corner, staring blankly at the sky with a numb brain, unwilling to even think about tomorrow?

“What they value is merely my ability. As the number of Fierce Beast Warriors increases, the status of people like us will probably decline day by day, right?”

Actually, deep down, this was the effect Zhou Liming wanted. Once people like him were of little use, and Fierce Beast Warriors were all over the streets, holding the Dean and the others captive would lose its meaning. Naturally, they would let the Dean and the others go wherever they wanted. By then, he would leave the X Squadron, and presumably, who would care?

He just didn’t know how the Dean and the others were doing in the distant Qing Province.

Zhou Liming felt a bit like a failure. Since entering the X Squadron, he had only called the Dean and the others once. Perhaps his relationship with them was just that of an orphan and a dean, but if there was anyone in this world Zhou Liming still held memories of, it was them, and they were the only thing he couldn’t let go of.

He found it strange that every time he wanted to talk to the Dean and the others, he had to get approval, and the Dean and the others didn’t have a way to contact him directly? Take the last phone call, for example; Zhou Liming seemed to feel that the Dean didn’t want to talk to him much. The conversation was limited to some trivial life matters, and then she hung up in a rush.

Zhou Liming didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to think about this. He should think about how to get some money, so when he went to Qing Province to see them, he wouldn’t arrive empty-handed. He should give them some money. With current prices, their food and shelter were secure, but having money to spend was difficult.

Thinking about a mess of things, some people poked their heads out from the balconies; they must have heard the noise Zhou Liming made just now. But upon seeing it was Zhou Liming, they all shrank their heads back. As for what kind of madness Zhou Liming was venting just now, what did it have to do with them?

Just thinking for a moment, Zhou Liming suddenly tore his clothes open. Then, under his will, the Fierce Beast Gene instantly generated wings on his back. After spreading them with a flap, stirring up the airflow, he shot into the sky and disappeared directly into the night sky.