Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 68: Third-Class Citizen

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Third-Class Citizen

"Every failure has its traces. The Royal Hunting Court had ample time to deal with the unstable elements within the organization, but those people were too sentimental, thinking they could persuade everyone to accept the status quo. In the end, they paid the price for their kindness and their self-righteousness."

Bai Kou sipped champagne and started talking about the past.

Whether it was the company or him personally, they valued reciprocal cooperation very much, even if the partner was a monkey, and even if it meant letting a monkey manage the affairs of a planet. They would provide assistance that even monkeys would find worry-free, on the condition that the monkey they put in charge also understood the importance of cooperation.

"Hunting evil spirits and monsters is fraught with danger, and it’s not uncommon for hunters to fall prey during the hunt. We never even asked them to do the dirty work themselves; all they had to do was draw up a list and submit it to the company. We would take care of the rest for them. Now that I think about it, my superior was also too kind, naively believing that a group of monkeys could properly resolve their internal conflicts."

Bai Kou looked at the clear liquid in the glass and smiled ironically, "That’s why he was dismissed by the company, and I should learn enough from that lesson... Mr. Duan, the company has investigated some people around you; Tang Qianqian and Yang Ping seem like young people full of a sense of justice. So what would you choose if, one day, they were to repeat the same mistakes?"

In the midst of speaking, Duan Mingyuan’s cell phone vibrated.

The text message was from Yang Ping.

Bai Kou seemed to have anticipated this and gave Duan Mingyuan time to check his phone.

"Senior, there are strange people in the neighborhood, and it seems they are targeting me."

"They are not evil spirits; they are human."

"They brought weapons."

"If I were you, I would advise him not to resist. The company’s orders are only to capture him alive, but if others interfere with the operation during the capture, they may decide on their own whether to eliminate those who get in the way," Bai Kou said.

"My style differs from my predecessor’s. I prefer to nip all threats in the bud. You qualify in terms of background and ability. The next part of your interview will test your decision-making."

"You go with them first; I’ll follow shortly," Duan Mingyuan replied to the message.

So this was the test that Bai Kou had mentioned, to sever that personal sentimentality from the start to avoid making wrong judgments due to puppetry.

Every time he wanted to view the Extraterrestrials without the "evil subspecies" filter, they always proved through their actions that his definition was correct.

"It seems you have made the right choice," Bai Kou said as he received a report through his earpiece and nodded approvingly. "Even though it’s a test, the company won’t make you do something as meaningless as ’killing a friend’ in public. According to the company’s evaluation, they are very good third-class citizens. The company won’t waste energy on them."

"Third-class citizens?"

"This is the company’s categorization for the inhabitants of this planet. First-class citizens are people like you who have realized the existence of seventh-class energy and have found a way to control it. To the company, you are considered outstanding talents. Second-class citizens are all the primitives you encounter in daily life who neither possess nor know about seventh-class energy. The company has promised to provide them with basic living infrastructure. Third-class citizens, like Tang Qianqian and Yang Ping, are aware of the existence of seventh-class energy but lack the talent to use this innate gift effectively. Therefore, the company will take over and develop and utilize the energy within them in the most appropriate way," explained Bai Kou.

To ensure Duan Mingyuan didn’t miss the details, Bai Kou also displayed the company’s classification of the three types of citizens on the screen in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.

"Don’t let personal feelings cloud your judgment when assessing the value of others. And as for you, Mr. Duan, once you pass the interview, your status will be even higher than a first-class citizen. My predecessor once advised people from the Royal Hunting Court not to become too emotionally attached to this planet since from the moment they were chosen by the company, they no longer belonged to this planet but were official employees of Universe Company," continued Bai Kou slowly. "This means that after working for ten or twenty years, the company will recall you to headquarters. You will enjoy all the benefits the company offers, and if you request it, you will never return to this planet again—meaning no matter how much dislike for your actions you generate here or how many enemies you make, it won’t affect your retirement life."

As for the retirement life of company employees, that was something all the inhabitants of the planets aspired to.

With countless planets and countless encounters, naturally, there were countless people like Duan Mingyuan.

Continuously drawing fresh blood from each planet to strengthen the company’s power was the secret to Universe Company’s enduring success.

Bai Kou could no longer remember how many such talks he had conducted; regardless of the process, he always got the results he wanted.

Suddenly, Duan Mingyuan asked, "What if I refuse?"

"You are a rational person, so I hope you won’t ask such meaningless questions," said Bai Kou.

"Fu Ling thinks highly of you. I guess she must have given you a heads-up before you came here—become the new head of the Royal Hunting Court, or be seen as an associate of Wangxu. Please choose one," Bai Kou stated.

"If this is a job interview, your company hasn’t shown me the future office location yet."

What he referred to as the office was naturally the place Liu Paishè visited.

The warehouse for storing third-class citizens; he could imagine that the primary task of this job would be to concentrate the evil spirits and monsters in the warehouse, neutralize them, and then hand them over to the company in a unified manner.

Quite the Prison Governor feel.

Huh?

For some reason, Duan Mingyuan suddenly remembered Da Jiang’s text message from that day.

He didn’t expect "prison Duan" to have such an extended meaning.

But he had never been interested in a jailor’s work, not to mention that of a Prison Governor. If he had to do something in a prison...

Turn the controls and set all the prisoners free; he felt that such a scene would likely be much more spectacular.

Upon hearing this, Bai Kou said, "You will see it soon enough, as there’s still the final part of the interview ahead. Tang Qianqian, Yang Ping, and your accompanying monster—you have to package them yourself. Only then will your submission be complete."

He treated Duan Mingyuan’s question as a positive response.

All the intelligence showed that Duan Mingyuan was a rational person. Even if there was some discomfort during the interview process, he could quickly discern the ins and outs and make the wisest choice.

And the new head of the Royal Hunting Court had to be someone uninfluenced by personal feelings.

"Get ready to leave; there’s only one final phase left in your interview."