stjorthotic Chapter 89 Commander Cao! Your strength is a bit weak, isn't it?
Chapter 89 Commander Cao! Your strength is a bit weak, isn't it?
The next day, at the city lord's mansion.
Cao Keyuan sat behind his desk, with three stacks of documents in front of him that were taller than his head.
On the left is the compensation arrangement, in the middle is the post-disaster reconstruction, and on the right is the settlement of military merits.
He had to personally sign every document and carefully check every number.
He had been up all night.
The ashtray next to him was piled high with cigarette butts, and the tea in his teacup had long since gone cold; he hadn't drunk a drop.
Director Zhou sat on the sofa opposite him, having also not slept all night.
His eyes, behind his gold-rimmed glasses, were bloodshot, and he was scribbling something on a document with a fountain pen in his hand.
Old Zhang leaned against the door frame and dozed off, snoring loudly.
"Old Zhou, have the pension statistics been released yet?" Cao Keyuan asked without looking up.
"He's out." Director Zhou pushed up his glasses, his voice hoarse.
"1,237 soldiers were killed in action, and 456 Night Watchmen were killed in action."
"Including civilians, the total number of deaths," he paused.
"More than 118,400 people."
Cao Keyuan's pen paused on the document.
He paused for a few seconds, then continued signing, but his hand was clearly shaking.
"What is the total amount of the compensation?"
"The fallen soldiers and Night Watchmen will receive standard compensation, plus a special allowance for this major battle, averaging 800,000 per person. The total is 135 million." Director Zhou opened another document.
"The civilian compensation is 100,000 per person. The total is 1.184 billion. Adding it up, it's over 1.3 billion."
Cao Keyuan tapped his fingers lightly on the table. 1.3 billion.
Previously, this amount of money would have been enough to bankrupt Jiangcheng's finances. But this time, the confiscation of assets was so thorough that although the 1.3 billion yuan hurt, they could afford it.
"What about your military merits?"
"Even more expensive," Director Zhou said with a wry smile.
"Based on the number and level of the demons killed, the total exceeds two billion. Adding the military merits of others, the total is approximately three and a half billion."
Cao Keyuan took a deep breath.
Fortunately, the 3 billion yuan fine arrived in their account, but there wasn't much left.
"Put the money aside for now," Cao Keyuan said, rubbing his temples.
"The biggest problem now is not money, but strength."
He stood up, walked to the map of Jiangcheng hanging on the wall, and pointed to the location of the southern mountains with his finger.
"Although factional infighting was severe in Jiangcheng in the past, there were at least ten openly recognized fifth-tier martial artists. There were even five at the peak of the fifth tier."
"And now?" Director Zhou put down his pen.
"There are only five of us left among the fifth-tier martial artists: you, me, Elder Zhang, Meng Hu, and Han Lie. The others are either dead or have betrayed us."
"Eighteen fourth-tier martial artists have been killed, and one hundred and thirty-seven third-tier martial artists have been killed." Cao Keyuan's voice was heavy.
"These losses cannot be replenished in a short period of time."
Silence fell over the office.
"Fortunately, we still have Ye Feng," Director Zhou said.
Cao Keyuan smiled, a bitter smile: "Yes, thankfully we still have Ye Feng. If it weren't for him, Jiangcheng might not exist anymore."
Just then, a voice came from behind.
"What's wrong?"
Cao Keyuan was so frightened that he jumped up from his chair, his right hand already on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Director Zhou also stood up abruptly, his spiritual power spreading out instantly.
Even Old Zhang, who was dozing against the door frame, opened his eyes and grabbed the spiritual weapon broadsword beside him.
Three people, three different reactions, all driven by subconscious fighting instincts.
Then they saw Ye Feng.
Ye Feng stood at the office door, holding a cup of soy milk he'd somehow gotten his hands on, with half a fried dough stick dangling from his mouth, looking at them with an innocent expression.
"When...when did you come in?" Cao Keyuan's voice trembled.
"Just now." Ye Feng took a bite of the fried dough stick.
"You were too focused to hear me knocking."
Cao Keyuan and Director Zhou exchanged a glance, both seeing the same meaning in each other's eyes.
Fortunately, he was one of our own.
If he weren't, all three of them might have died from that attack.
Ye Feng walked into the office, sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and took a sip of soy milk.
"Commander Cao, what were you talking about just now?"
"Let's discuss the next arrangements for Jiangcheng." Cao Keyuan sat back in his chair and pushed the documents on the table aside.
"We have enough money, but not enough people. Especially, there are too few experts."
"It's easy to recruit soldiers, but martial artists of the third rank or above cannot be trained in a day or two."
Ye Feng thought for a moment and asked, "What if we could raise the strength of the three of you to another level?"
Cao Keyuan smiled wryly: "It's not that easy. I've been stuck at the peak of the fifth rank for three years, Old Zhou has been there for four years, and Old Zhang has been there for almost ten years."
"The sixth rank is a hurdle that cannot be overcome simply by wishing to."
"What if I had a way to help you break through?"
"What method?" Cao Keyuan's voice was somewhat tense.
Ye Feng did not answer directly.
He put his hands inside his clothes.
Actually, he took something out of his spatial ring and pulled out a golden jade box.
The jade box is about the size of a palm and is entirely gold in color.
"Open it and take a look."
Cao Keyuan took the jade box, his fingers trembling slightly, and carefully opened the lid.
The contents of the box made him stop breathing instantly.
A fruit, the size of a fist, entirely golden, with mysterious patterns covering its surface.
The patterns didn't seem to be carved on; they looked more like they grew naturally from inside the fruit, each pattern exuding an aura of "meaning".
A faint light seemed to shimmer around the fruit, like a thin layer of golden mist.
"This is... the 'fruit'?" Cao Keyuan's voice trembled.
"Yes," Ye Feng said.
"After being consumed by a peak fifth-tier martial artist, it can help condense 'intention' and assist in breaking through the sixth-tier bottleneck."
The air in the office seemed to freeze.
Cao Keyuan's eyes were fixed on the fruit, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
He had heard of the Wish Fruit, but had never seen one of its kind. A treasure of that caliber.
This is something you can't possibly access in a small place like Jiangcheng.
Forget about buying it, you can't even see it.
Director Zhou leaned over for a look, and his glasses almost slipped off his nose.
Old Zhang rushed over in three strides, his head squeezed behind Cao Keyuan's shoulder, his eyes wide like copper bells.
"With this, the three of you should all be able to reliably advance to the sixth rank, right?" Ye Feng asked.
Cao Keyuan struggled to look away from the fruit, gritted his teeth, and told the truth: "Thirty percent certainty."
"Only 30%?" Ye Feng frowned.
"The Yi Fruit can indeed help condense 'intention,' but breaking through to the sixth level is not just a matter of condensing 'intention.'"
"It also requires the accumulation of qi and blood, physical strength, mental power, and so on." Cao Keyuan paused, somewhat embarrassed.
"Although I've been stuck at the peak of the fifth rank for three years, my accumulation is still insufficient."
Ye Feng understood.
Cao Keyuan felt ashamed for having "wasted" such a precious thing.
After all, a treasure of the Yi Guo caliber would probably have already broken through to the sixth rank in someone else's hands.
Ye Feng smiled, reached into his pocket again, and took out ten more golden jade boxes, which he neatly arranged on the coffee table.
"Ten Wish Fruits, is that enough?"
Cao Keyuan's eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.
Director Zhou's glasses slid off his nose and fell to the ground, but he didn't pick them up.
Old Zhang's mouth dropped open, his jaw nearly dislocated. He'd lived for decades and had never even seen a Yi Guo. Now Ye Feng had given him ten in one go.
"Enough...is that enough?" Cao Keyuan managed to squeeze out these words with all his might.
"That's good." Ye Feng stood up and patted the crumbs of fried dough sticks off his clothes.
"Guard Cao, Director Zhou, and Elder Zhang, take the Yi Fruit and go into seclusion. Don't come out until you break through to the sixth rank."
"And Jiangcheng?" Cao Keyuan asked. "Who will manage Jiangcheng?"
"Leave the trivial matters to your deputies," Ye Feng interrupted him. "I'll only be responsible for killing the alien beasts."
Cao Keyuan remained silent.
He looked at the eleven golden jade boxes on the coffee table, then at Ye Feng, his eyes reddening slightly.
For three years, he has been outwitting and outmaneuvering the powerful families, compromising and yielding at every turn, all in order to protect Jiangcheng.
Now, this young man has given him hope for the resurgence of Jiangcheng.
"Okay." Cao Keyuan stood up and extended his hand to Ye Feng. "Ye Feng, I won't thank you enough."
Ye Feng: "Commander Cao, don't be so polite. Only when you are strong can Jiangcheng be strong. Only when Jiangcheng is strong can I go out and kill alien beasts with peace of mind."
Cao Keyuan nodded vigorously.
"I will now go into seclusion!" came Elder Zhang's voice from behind.
He had already picked up the Yi Guo and a few Yi Guo from the table and walked towards the door.
Director Zhou picked up his glasses from the ground, wiped them with the corner of his clothes, put them on, and then picked up the fruit from the table.
He looked at Ye Feng, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just nodded.
Director Zhou also left.
Only Cao Keyuan and Ye Feng remained in the office.
Cao Keyuan carefully put away the fruit, walked up to Ye Feng, and gave him a serious look.
"Ye Feng, Jiangcheng is in your hands now."
"rest assured."
Cao Keyuan turned and left, but stopped after taking two steps. He looked back at Ye Feng and smiled.
"By the way, how exactly did you train to be this strong?"
Ye Feng thought for a moment and said seriously, "Kill more monsters."
Cao Keyuan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"What a great way to kill multiple monsters!" He strode out of the office, his laughter echoing down the corridor.
Ye Feng stood by the window, watching Cao Keyuan's figure disappear at the end of the corridor. He looked down at the spatial ring in his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips.
When Cao Zhenshou breaks through to the sixth level, Director Zhou breaks through to the sixth level, and Elder Zhang breaks through to the sixth level.
With three sixth-tier powerhouses stationed in Jiangcheng, the city is secure.
"However, I need to cultivate a core group of third- and fourth-tier personnel!"