Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 67: Proving Loyalty

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Proving Loyalty

In his confession, Liu regarded himself as an idealistic martyr, claiming all his actions were for the sake of freeing the land from Extraterrestrial control, yet the actual effect was no different from that of a terrorist.

Moreover, he naively thought that after he was taken away, the company would turn a blind eye and deaf ear to those who had last interacted with suspects affiliated with Wangxu.

Duan Mingyuan guessed that the two followers had reported their contact with Liu to the higher-ups the moment they left, and in less than the time it took to have a meal, the company issued an order.

He returned the cell phone to Tang Qianqian, the mobile phone adorned with a cartoon cat pattern turned into a pack of napkins.

"It can change back."

Duan Mingyuan said.

"Please come with me."

The polite choice of words, yet it was an unmistakable tone, fully armed security personnel encircled the table, seemingly unwilling to leave them time to finish dinner.

What was to come would come sooner or later; to avoid disturbing others, Duan Mingyuan stood up first, settling the bill for dinner before leaving.

This was the first time he formally rode in a Hover Car, which was a military model and lined with electronic projection screens inside.

The Hover Car headed straight for the company building’s rooftop, where Fu Ling was already waiting on the helipad.

"I’ll take them over."

After giving the instruction, Fu Ling led the three into the elevator. Her expression was complex; she pondered for a while before murmuring, "You never mentioned before that you had dealings with people from Wangxu."

Although from a macro perspective, things were still heading in the direction she hoped for, Liu’s emergence turned it all into a stark choice.

"This is our first meeting."

Duan Mingyuan said, not wishing to be labeled as a terrorist’s accomplice without any reason; nor did he believe Wangxu’s plan of "survival of the fittest, survival of the strongest" was the only option at present.

Yet the whole affair had indeed become complicated due to Liu’s sudden appearance.

On one side were terrorists who caused turmoil by plotting to murder Bai Kou, and on the other was a large human trafficking organization that treated them as an Energy Source.

In a situation where every party was malevolent, it was exceedingly difficult to choose sides.

"I trust you, but what you need to do next is to convince the chief executive of Bai Kou of your stance."

Fu Ling paused, reminding him, "There are only two choices: friend of the company or accomplice of Wangxu. Please also believe that I never intended the situation to reach this point."

"The reason you and Da Jiang issued a commission wasn’t initially to use me as a trump card."

This could be discerned from Bai Kou’s attitude toward them; with Long Branch members serving as personal guards, the company didn’t need these "country bumpkins" to fill their ranks, the gap was that of the countryside to the Cosmic Level.

"Not entirely."

Fu Ling said, "I told you last time we met, the company is indeed in need of talents like you, and the chief executive of Bai Kou will explain the specifics to you in a moment."

As they spoke, the group stood in front of the imposing office door. Bai Kou’s personal guards remained stationed at the door like door gods, a pale blue light scanned them. As Duan Mingyuan entered, he took a step across, blocking everyone else outside the office door.

Inside the office, after finishing a meeting, Bai Kou lounged on the sofa with his legs crossed, an obviously expensive bottle of champagne on the glass coffee table in front of him. In front of him was a giant screen displaying the star map of Blue Star, densely marked with data. In the rankings of Seventh Class Energy Source production, Yunlong City had moved up into the top three, with a recent growth rate steadfastly in the first place.

In the eyes of the company, this city had leapt to become a "premium farm."

"I originally had no intention of conversing with you, but Fu Ling repeatedly recommended you to me, believing you to be the most suitable candidate,"

Bai Kou said without turning her head, "Beyond personal ability, your background is the cleanest."

Beside the expensive champagne, there was a stack of thick documents.

Duan Mingyuan was no stranger to this, when Mister Lu San and the Drummer came into the company’s view, their histories were laid out just as meticulously as they were now.

"You have been a loner since high school, worked in the company for four years after graduating from college, with outstanding work ability, and what’s more, you haven’t been involved with people from the Royal Hunting Court or Wangxu... But now it seems Fu Ling’s judgment was incorrect; I didn’t expect her to misjudge,"

Bai Kou said, "Fu Ling is someone I promoted from the junior department, and I entrusted her with the affairs of Yunlong City with complete confidence, it seems indeed, the elites trained by the company are more fit for the task than the primitives."

"The content of the commission was to assist you in the event of a Night Disaster raid."

"I’ve said it before, I don’t need it."

Bai Kou scoffed, she had never taken the intelligence received by the branch office seriously from the start.

A few petty thieves still stuck in a primitive society actually dared to dream of shaking the heavens.

"Then, Fu Ling must have also guessed your attitude, yet even so, she still insisted on issuing the commission to Da Jiang."

As far as Duan Mingyuan was concerned, Fu Ling was a shrewd person, and she was promoted by Bai Kou, aptly described as being from the direct lineage. Therefore, Bai Kou’s likes and dislikes, the standards for judging things, as well as her plans for the future, were crystal clear to Fu Ling.

And during their first meeting, Fu Ling proposed to this "stranger" that he was the talent the company needed.

At "Cloud Fragrance Pavilion," he had been pondering what role exactly Fu Ling hoped he would play in this matter?

The captor of the Night Disaster’s special troops?

The disruptor as a third-party force?

The moment he saw the star map on the screen, Duan Mingyuan finally understood the question, "The true purpose of the company is to rebuild the Royal Hunting Court."

The fall of the Royal Hunting Court and the disintegration of the hunters directly led to a steep decline in the production capacity of the Seventh Class Energy Sources across many regions, and that was why someone of Bai Kou’s stature would bother to come to this "primitive society" he so scorned.

The purpose was to restore the productivity of this gradually declining "farm."

Bai Kou said, "At last you’re catching on, keep going."

"The Royal Hunting Court, which previously held a favorable view of the company, has been destroyed, with the original organization splitting into Wangxu and the Neutral Faction. But the Neutral Faction definitely doesn’t want the new leader of the Royal Hunting Court to be an Extraterrestrial, they must elect a puppet as the leader."

A clean background, a solitary nature.

As well as an understanding of devils and monsters.

Plus his relationship with Da Jiang, if the new Royal Hunting Court were established, under the company’s operation, he would naturally be pushed into this position.

"Everything is in place, but one thing is still missing."

Bai Kou turned her face, giving Duan Mingyuan a cursory glance, and said lightly, "A letter of challenge, which is a term I heard from this planet—how are you going to prove yourself different from the previous bunch of failures, having sufficient ability to manage this planet well?"