Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 181 - 101: Terrible Workplace Atmosphere

Chapter 181: Chapter 101: Terrible Workplace Atmosphere

Fu Ling’s arrival made Duan Mingyuan realize that the internal structure of the company had never been solid. Facing defeated colleagues, Fu Ling not only had no intention of lending a helping hand to Qing Hua but was also eager to give a thrashing to those already down.

Such a treacherous workplace was even worse than the companies he had worked for before.

At least, the relationships among co-workers had not deteriorated to the point where they wished each other dead.

"In the matter of Blue Star, the Life Science Department and the Cosmic Coordination Department had always been competitors, and Qing Hua certainly didn’t hesitate to trip us up back then."

Fu Ling shrugged his shoulders.

Take the Royal Hunting Court as an example, the Life Science Department was the biggest sponsor of the Royal Hunting Court. If it hadn’t been for the sabotage by the Cosmic Coordination Department, the Royal Hunting Court wouldn’t have been wiped out overnight. To this day, Fu Ling believed it was Qing Hua who had leaked the information to the hunters, concealing it from the Life Science Department from within.

They did so because they believed that the growing power of the hunter groups threatened the order of the Imperial Court.

Unfortunately, they could not find conclusive evidence.

Within the company, as long as there was no concrete evidence, even if everyone knew who was responsible for the crime, it had to be treated as if nothing had happened.

"If you can’t stand Qing Hua, I can responsibly tell you that he’s done for this time. The Huagang Consortium has completely abandoned him."

"The Huagang Consortium?"

This was an organization Duan Mingyuan had never heard of before, but after a few days of catching up, he had roughly understood that the highest authority of Universe Company was made up of four Consortiums.

Among them, Western Wind was directly affiliated with the Mandala Consortium, which also stood behind Fu Ling.

"Their names are easy to identify. Those with porcelain and jade in their aliases are from the direct lineage of the Huagang Consortium, which monopolizes almost all of the mineral industries in the universe. Qing Hua should only be considered a promising young talent within the Consortium, and he still has a long way to go before entering the core circle."

According to the future designed for Qing Hua by the Huagang Consortium, after serving his full term in the Cosmic Relations Coordination Department, he would be called back to headquarters. It wasn’t expected to take many years for Qing Hua to advance further, but no one expected that he would take such a big fall on Blue Star.

Not to mention that the company’s flagship was blown up, he also nearly lost three "Long Branch" Imperial Guards.

"So, you mean..."

"The Mandala Consortium, here you are identified by codes of herbal materials and floral languages. Apart from research in the field of life sciences, the Consortium controls the most advanced medical facilities in the entire universe."

Fu Ling continued, "In any case, the Guardian Committee is also aggressively looking to hold him accountable for his mistakes. What they fear most is engaging in battle without knowing the intelligence."

Whether the need arises to fight Transcenders, or to carry out purification actions on planets that have become "Cocoons," they must first conduct extensive intelligence gathering and only proceed when assured of absolute safety.

Qing Hua presumably had been too arrogant for too long, dispatching the entire department’s living strength in a single maneuver without adequate intelligence.

"In recent years, the Guardian Committee’s position within the headquarters has almost caught up to that of the Consortiums. Behind them stands the support of the Sixteen Stars. They also have you to thank for this incident. If it had happened during a purification action on a ’Cocoon,’ neither the three guards nor the reserve armored soldiers would have survived."

Once reaching the "Long Branch" level, one is no longer just a soldier of the company, but becomes part of Universe Company’s highest combat force department, holding a status akin to that of a general.

"I simply did what a doctor is supposed to do."

"Indeed, a support-type Transcender, you’re the first of your kind."

Fu Ling spoke with profound implications.

What had happened in the Imperial Court forced her to reconsider the death of Bai Kou and Western Wind, who had remained out of reach to this day.

However, as per the long-standing company principle, without conclusive evidence, the incident might as well have never occurred.

Moreover, she wasn’t here to settle scores after the fact, Blue Star was not only a major source of a Class-I energy, but had now also given rise to a Transcender. Unless absolutely necessary, the headquarters did not wish to turn this planet into a battlefield.

Even if the Company were to wage war, it would be the result of meticulous calculations of interest. Now, the situation on Blue Star couldn’t be more obvious; once a battle started, it would be a lose-lose scenario, and they still didn’t know how many flagships and Imperial Guards they would have to invest.

"Have you discovered any other Transcenders?"

"Three."

Fu Ling gestured the number "3" with her hand, "One is a brawler who likes to fight, another is a fish dodger who is never to be seen, and then there’s you, who claims to be a doctor. You are the one with the strongest willingness to communicate at present."

Being able to meet with someone and sit down for a conversation, without showing any obvious violent tendencies, seemed to be a plus.

"By right, all these are company secrets, but I’ve always believed that sincerity is the foundation of mutual understanding."

Whether it was due to the spicy chicken kebab or not, Fu Ling had become much more talkative during the meal, rattling off many things that might get her summoned by the headquarters for a talk.

She had to admit that Duan Mingyuan’s ambitions were grand. Having blown up the Company’s flagship and taken three Imperial Guards as hostages, he still hoped to sign a non-interference treaty with the Company to become the seventeenth civilization.

Such an outrageous demand usually invited the Company’s Destruction Fleet.

Unlike the flagship that served dual purposes, as an office and for combat operations, the Destruction Fleet specialized in purification and eradication operations and was also the main force against the "Cocoon".

"If the inspector agreed, it would be because of you."

Having had their fill of food and drink, Fu Ling pulled out a notebook. After all, she was the vanguard of this negotiation and serious business still needed to be addressed, "Aside from the non-interference treaty, do you have any other demands?"

"To cease human trafficking on Blue Star and return the Monster species that were previously sold to your Eco-Ships back to Blue Star."

"That’s quite direct."

Fu Ling sighed.

What was to come, would come. Although this Transcender gentleman seemed reasonable, signing the non-interference treaty meant that many of the previous methods used by the Life Science Department would no longer be an option.

"Especially the 67th batch that you forcibly took aboard the flagship, the disaster-causing Ruihu and the auspicious Ruihu."

"Is this for Miss September?"

Fu Ling glanced at Jiuyue, and after returning to the Eco-Ship, as per the agreement, she had investigated the contents of batch 67, only to find that the disaster-causing Ruihu and the auspicious Ruihu from that batch were Miss September’s parents.

"The situation is a bit complex, as the Company has high hopes for this project. Its results are benchmarked against two ’Long Branch’ Imperial Guards."

The other "cargo" might still be negotiable, but as a newly appointed official, if she were to let go of two potential ’Long Branch’ Imperial Guards right away, she might just become the shortest-serving director in the history of the Life Science Department.

Moreover, the Mandala Consortium would not agree to such demands even if it meant her dismissal.

"They benchmarked two, and I returned three to you."

Duan Mingyuan felt it was still a profitable transaction, and he was beginning to understand, for the Company, that ’Long Branch’ Imperial Guards seemed to be the highest Universal Currency.

If three weren’t enough, he could try capturing a few more wild ’Long Branch’ Imperial Guards to trade with the Company.

"However, it’s not entirely impossible."

After a moment of contemplation, Fu Ling said, "But this can only be done on the premise that the non-interference treaty is successfully signed. That way, you can bring up the demands at the Sixteen Star Summit. If you get more than half the votes in support, the Company will be under pressure to adopt the proposal."