Pu Jiaobai was the oldest among the representatives, but he barely talked during the discussion. The other two were women, one was in her early forties, and the other woman was in her late twenties. The three looked at each other and realized the negotiation brought them nowhere, and the Tang Empire no longer had the patience to deal with them.
This was the final choice for them and the people who trusted them to negotiate things.
The woman in her late twenties raised her right hand, "Speak!" Li Shuang nodded.
"In the contract, it is mentioned that we will be given free food and lodging for one month until we settle down, then we have to earn money to afford our food and lodging. Does that mean you still accept the money? But how do we earn money?"
The woman's name was Wan Zexi. She had short black hair, and it was obvious that she had just cut her hair recently as it was roughly cut.
"We are wasting time with this lawmaker thingy and forget to explain this to you," Li Shuang sounded frustrated as she replied, "First of all, we use the System's currency, Game Coin. How do you obtain the Game Coin? Kill the zombie, finish the mini-game, Survival Game, and quests from the System. Is there another way to earn the Game Coin?
Yes, work for the Tang Empire, and we will pay you with Game Coin."
"We have opened a farm for a permanent food source, and you can work there. We have the Medical Division if you previously were a doctor or nurse. The Tang Empire also had the Justice Division, and the lawmaker we talked about was part of this division.
There's also Tang Empire Academy, where we hire teachers and instructors for the children to ensure the children are educated despite the circumstances. We will soon establish an Economy and Finance Division and a Land and Infrastructure Division. But again, you must pass the test to be hired."
"I hope you are telling the truth, Ma'am," Wan Zexi chose to believe Li Shuang, "Then I will join the Tang Empire and do my best to persuade the others to sign the contract."
"I don't know how many times I have told you, but you can come to Shanghai and see it yourself, with your own eyes. Also, if you sign the contract, then you all have to move to Shanghai. We are still redeveloping Shanghai and can't split our focus to the other areas.
If you still want to stay in Zhenjiang, then wait until we redevelop this territory, then you come and stay here until then," Li Shuang took a deep breath as she thought the issue was over.
She did have the heart to drive the thousands of people from Zhenjiang only to meet their death. She did not have Tang Shaoyang's steel heart, so she spent three days convincing them to stay with the Tang Empire. But everything was ruined by someone who could not accept the result of the discussion.
"How can you betray me, Zexi!?" Peng Qigang slammed the table as he felt betrayed by Wan Zexi, who suddenly agreed with the Tang Empire's terms.
"I am sorry, but I can't keep this up when thousands of people's lives rest on my shoulder, Sir Peng," Wan Zexi shook her head, "Also, it's a fair idea for you to take a test if you want to join the Justice Division. Just like us who want an assurance, they also want an assurance that you are capable enough to join. Also, we live under their protection, and they gave us free food.
It's just fair if we follow their rule because they have no obligation to protect or give us food in the first place. This is my decision."
The woman in her late thirties nodded in agreement with Zexi's statement, and Peng Qigang's only hope was on Pu Jiaobai. However, the old man agreed with the two women, "Just like Zexi said, thousands of lives are on my shoulder, so I will not take the risk and follow the procedure. We will be convinced to sign and explain the necessity of the contract to them."
Peng Qigang slammed both of his hands onto the table and rushed out of the room. As soon as he came out of the room, Li Shuang shook her head and muttered, "I don't variable that can bring instability to our society. I have encountered a lot of people like Peng Qigang, and he must plan something crazy in his head."
"Do you want me to file a request to the Intelligent Division to watch over him?" Cao Jingyi asked.
"Please do that for me," Li Shuang rubbed her forehead as she looked exhausted. She was exhausted because she had to go back to Zhenjiang, then return to the main base the next day for her work, just to convince these people.
They had the conversation in front of the three representatives. They did not know what the Intelligent Division was for, but it sounded scary to them.
Surprisingly, Peng Qigang did not make any scene despite his extreme reaction earlier in the meeting. The three representatives announced the result of the discussion. In fact, half of the members of the Zhenjiang Community had agreed with the contract and moved to Shanghai.
These thousands were half of the Zhenjiang Community, and Li Shuang managed to secure these thousands of people to be part of the Tang Empire.
"We will soon reach one million people. It's quite an achievement for me," Li Shuang muttered by herself as she watched the thousand people from the smart base, "So, how many populations do we have now, Origin?"
[The Empire currently has 971,963 members. I think we will soon reach the million mark once the expansion team in this area continues their exploration. I predicted The Empire will reach one million population before Master comes back from the trial.]
Li Shuang let out a sigh when she heard the number. She was not happy with the number because they had explored several cities, yet only less than a million people survived the Game. Shanghai alone had over twenty million people, and less than two percent survived the Game.
"It's amazing that I managed to survive," She muttered to herself.