Ou Youning: "Right, why is that?"
Zheng Tian glanced at Ren Zhong.
Ren Zhong nodded slightly, signaling her to speak.
Zheng Tian took a deep breath and said word by word, "Starting today! We are no longer a substandard semi-professional team in Starfire Town! We just signed a Second Level professional team contract with the company! We have become the fourth professional team in Starfire Town! And the only Second Level professional team! Got it?"
A loud gulp echoed in everyone’s throat.
Ou Youning, being the Blast Master, finally had his mind turn fast enough.
He was the first to react, "Meaning we’ve completely torn things apart with Lin Wang and his gang?"
Zheng Tian nodded, "You could say that. Although General Manager Yang said he would mediate, who can say for sure what Lin Wang’s temperament might lead him to do?"
Ou Youning looked a bit dumbfounded, "This..."
At this moment, it was Bai Feng who spoke, "These things were actually destined the moment we set foot in the abandoned mine pit."
Ren Zhong clapped his hands with a smile, redirecting everyone’s attention back to him.
Everyone looked at him.
Ren Zhong’s face revealed a profound and confident smile, "I know there’s fear in your hearts. You used to be so cautious, but also... hmm, had an unwilling flame burning inside. Living here, you wish to scale mountains you’ve never climbed, see sights you’ve never seen, and cross chasms you’ve never crossed. Simply retreating won’t ensure survival, even a fallen feather from the sky can fracture your skull. If you want to live, you can only fight with your life. At this point, there’s no turning back! Understand?"
Ren Zhong: "Whether stretch your head or shrink it, it’s the same blade. So what’s there to be afraid of, right?"
Everyone understood in their hearts.
They had made their own decision, opting to join Ren Zhong’s pirate ship; indeed, they had no choice.
Having unanimously abandoned the illusion and prepared for resistance, the courtyard burst into another round of celebration, even more boisterous than yesterday.
But amidst this festive atmosphere, Ren Zhong noticed Chen Hanyu smiling quite reluctantly, with a heavy-hearted expression.
He approached her and asked, "What’s wrong? You seem not very happy?"
Caught off guard and lost in thought, Chen Hanyu quickly waved her hand, "Nothing, nothing. I was just recalling the feeling of dismantling the Level Four Ruined Beast Crystal today."
"You’re lying. You’re worried about Lin Wang making a move on us?"
"You definitely have something on your mind."
Chen Hanyu gritted her teeth, "No, truly no. By the way, are we continuing with our morning routine? I feel it may no longer hold much significance for you."
She began to change the subject.
Ren Zhong shook his head, "Of course, we’ll continue. Even if I’m busy alone, I can still earn at least a few hundred points; even the smallest mosquito leg is still meat. And..."
"And I promised Yujin that I would lead him in the future. I never break my promises; I always do what I say."
"Including the promise I made to you, I will not break it either. I now give you a clear new commitment. Although you don’t want to tell me now, I already have some guesses in my heart, so I won’t say it directly. After all, Starfire Resources and I are merely using each other, and Yang Bingzhong keeps me only for experimentation. I have no loyalty towards him. What I pursue, Yang Bingzhong can never provide."
Ren Zhong added another inconvenient thought in his heart.
Now, he even believed that Yang Bingzhong was the source of most of the current tragedies in Starfire Town.
Such a person, how could one not kill him?
"Never mind. Anyway, no matter who your enemy is, as long as they indeed made mistakes, I will help you make them pay."
Chen Hanyu shivered slightly, her face gradually blossoming into a smile once more, "Mm!"
Seeing her smile, Ren Zhong secretly thought that he might indeed be a backstabber.
Within an hour, he defected from the professional team, barely counted as backstabbing Lin Wang, and then prepared in advance to backstab Yang Bingzhong, who had just begun to draw him in.
Even Lv Bu would have to call him an expert.
"Thank you, Mayor Ma, for your trust. Especially since I just signed a professional contract with Yang Bingzhong."
Sitting at the tea table, Ren Zhong grinned as he accepted the data storage disk handed to him by Ma Dafu.
Ma Dafu smiled and shook his head, "Last time, I already made a spectacle of myself; I won’t fall into the same pit twice. Besides, no matter what plans you have, accepting this professional contract was what I hoped for. If it weren’t for the fact that my relationship with Yang Bingzhong isn’t as harmonious as other mayors’ with recycling company bosses, I would have wanted to push you forward."
"With Yang Bingzhong’s method of operation, starting tomorrow, he’ll loudly broadcast your story. The news of Starfire Town finally having a fourth professional team in recent years will spread among the wanderers. Then you’ll be famous. No matter what timing you’re waiting for, or what plans you have, I have a contingency plan as backup."
Ren Zhong took a sip of tea, "Mayor Ma, you do trust me. Normally, one would worry about me being bought out by the benefits offered by Yang Bingzhong, right?"
Ma Dafu chuckled, "I’ve always been a good judge of character. I certainly believe someone who holds nothing back, even at the cost of disrupting their biological clock, just to help a humble young Genius Mecha Warrior, must be a kindred spirit of mine. Right?"
"Nothing escapes your eyes, indeed."
"Nonsense! Every morning, it’s my Guard that allows you through! If I want to know what you’re up to within a ten-kilometer range in the wild, all I need is to check the central monitor to see it clearly."
Ren Zhong laughed awkwardly, engaging enthusiastically in verbal sparring with this old strategist, forgetting about that detail.
Ma Dafu: "Also, now that aside from trusting you all, I have no one else to rely on. Being mayor is actually a failure for me."
Ren Zhong: "Not a fault of war."
"Huh? There’s been no war."
"Uh... By the way, I’m curious, why did you say previously that it would be pointless to ask Yang Bingzhong for a survey map when only you have it in the whole town?"
"Because Starfire Town was founded by my father."
"Your father was truly remarkable, willing to abandon a comfortable urban life to create a refuge for wanderers here."
Ma Dafu shook his head, "It was just a laughable self-redemption. The irresponsibility for the debts he left behind is still being repaid by his sons and granddaughters."
"Nothing. It’s getting late; you should leave. Remember to take my daughter’s car. No one in the town can monitor her vehicle."
Ma Xiaoling’s voice drifted from the front, "Making me a porter and always keeping me in the dark? So annoying! Aren’t you being too much! Ren Zhong, you’re not my dad’s illegitimate child, are you?"
Hugging her waist, Ren Zhong rolled his eyes, "You’re really imaginative."
In some sense, by lineage, Ren Zhong felt he had to be at least Ma Xiaoling and her father’s eighteenth generation ancestor.
Ma Xiaoling really knows how to elevate herself.