The Gathering of Superfunction Possessors & The Strife among Troops

The capacity of Southwest Base was about one hundred thousand survivors yet lots of survivors swarmed in every day. The survivors didn't just come from Lingjiang City, but also Longping, Tongyang, Yiling, and all the other cities in the province. The base had gotten more and more developed and was no longer solely controlled by the military. Its defense forces consisted of the soldiers from three major armies and the police force controlled by the government. The three armies assisted the government, which played the main administrative role, in overseeing the base. The supply-collecting and many other important tasks, however, were the three armies' shared responsibility. This gathering of superfunction possessors was initiated by the three armies.

There were more than one hundred superfunction squads in the base and quite a few badass individuals that didn't want themselves in the army or any squads. However, just like Yun Che and Lei Dashan said yesterday, the military had a high standard of choosing squads, they thought very little of the weak squads. They alleged that every squad was invited while in fact, only the top-20 squads and super-strong individuals were invited.

Even so, there were nearly 70 people in the conference room, including the captain and deputy captain of each squad and the delegation of each army. Every delegate's ranking was at least major general or higher. The government had sent the Head of Base Defense Jiang Wanshan to the conference. It was obvious that there would be a large-scale operation.

The conference table could hold up to 30-ish people in this large room, there were two circles of people around the table already. Many chairs had been placed in the conference room in advance in case those squads brought too many people here. Those chairs were for common squad members. The conference was set to begin at 9 o'clock, superfunction possessors started to show up after 8. It was now nearly 9 and the room was already full before the delegations of the military and government came. Those who knew each other sat in small groups. Everybody wore a mask, chatting and socializing.

"Are Chaoyang and Peak not here yet?"

It was 5 to 9, all superfunction possessors wondered as they looked at the chairs next to the seat of honor. Those empty chairs were reserved for Chaoyang and Peak.

"I heard that, yesterday before dark, Peak and Chaoyang drove two vehicles out of the base. They came back after 8 o'clock. I wonder what happened."

"Who knows? And only Peak and Chaoyang get the privilege. The Base Defense wouldn't open the gate for us."

"That sounds like sour grapes to me. What's wrong with them getting the privilege? They deserve it. You take us to quests and equally dispense the supplies if you're as good as them."

"Yeah. Think about the life we used to live! Two meals a day, always hungry. Ever since Chaoyang and Peak started taking us to quests, we'd get a great number of supplies every time. We aren't starving anymore at the very least."

"Right. Everyone knows that there're a lot of supplies downtown but who dares to go there? We wouldn't dare loot the factories if they didn't lead us there."

"Whoa, guys, please stop. I was just saying. You know what? I apologize. Sorry for saying something stupid like that. Just give me a pass."

Someone brought Chaoyang and Peak up, then the whole room started discussing them. One of the captains made a sarcastic remark, which incurred everybody's criticism. In the end, he had to apologize to everybody. Although everybody stopped pointing fingers at him, they were still unhappy with him. The delegates of the government and three armies had arrived by now. When they heard the conversation from outside the room, the looks on their faces were nuanced. However, when they opened the gate to walk inside the room, they all put on a professional fake smile.

"Mr. Jiang."

As soon as they came in, all superfunction possessors stopped talking to each other and greeted the Head of Base Defense Jiang Wanshan who walked in the front of the line. The man greeted the room back with a beaming face, "It's OK, everybody. Please sit."

Before the doomsday, Jiang Wanshan was the Secretary of Shizhong District of Lingjiang City. He was a slick man who knew how to build connections very well. Both superfunction possessors and civilians held him in high regard.

"Why aren't Peak and Chaoyang's representatives here?

A major general raised the question. He looked 30-ish, not tall, and had a square face. There was nothing special about him except for his pair of eyes, which were distinctly characterized with the traits of a soldier. He glanced at the empty seats with his arrogant, disdainful eyes. All superfunction possessors loured. But seeing he was a military delegate, everybody held in their distaste and said nothing.

The entire room quieted down after he asked the question. It also made Jiang Wanshan awkward. Mo Wenyang, the delegate of the Mo Army walked straight to a chair next to those empty seats and sat down. "So? Perhaps they ran into something. Emergency happens, right? What if it was a life-and-death matter? Are you expecting them to drop everything for this stupid conference, Major General Wang?"

Talking people back was Mo Wenyang's favorite thing to do and he was good at making stuff up. Average military guys who lacked specialized training wouldn't stand a chance in the battle of words with him.

"It seems you know something. Why don't you share the information with us, General Mo? We might be helpful. After all, Chaoyang and Peak are the best two squads in Southwest Base, the military is supposed to make exceptions for them if they are in trouble."

Major General Wang was jeered by Mo Wenyang but another major general joined the conversation by hypocritically offering help. Compared to Major General Wang, this person looked much more refined. With a pair of glasses on his nose, he seemed like an elite. The man was the delegate of Wei Army, one of Wei Kan's most trusted assistants, Lin Xian.

"I like what you said. We soldiers are supposed to safeguard our people, aren't we? When Chaoyang and Peak are here, please ask them very carefully, General Lin. If they're indeed in trouble, you can solve their problem in case it affects their performance."

Mo Wenyang wasn't an easy opponent. He struck back immediately. It sounded like he praised Lin Xian for being nice but in fact, he put him in a pickle. For Major General Lin, neither yes nor no was a good answer.

"Come on, Mr. Mo, the three armies are a family. It's all the same whether who gets their problem solved."

Major General Lin calmly pushed the glasses up his nose, then took his men to sit next to Mo Wenyang. Major General Wang took his men to sit on the other side of the table in a sulk. Jiang Wanshan had to sit in the middle without anything constructive to say. It was a quarter past nine already. After taking a look between the delegates of the three armies, Jiang Wanshan put on a smile and asked in a low voice, "Generals, shall we start?"

"No worries. Chaoyang and Peak guys aren't here yet. I'm not in a rush. Let's wait."

Beyond everybody's expectation, Major General Lin rejected Mr. Jiang's proposition with a smile. And he intentionally raised his volume so that the entire room would hear him loud and clear. Most superfunction possessors had an inclination for him because most military high-ranking officials were haughty whereas Major General Lin was a casual guy. Everyone would feel flattered when talking with him.

This was what Major General Lin expected from the crowd. Who wouldn't like the support of superfunction possessors? If the superfunction possessor community was in favor of one party, then half of the base could be controlled by the party. The three troops had been fighting over such favoritism for long, or else the government wouldn't have stolen the power.

"OK, let's wait. We've got nothing better to do anyway."

The truth was, Mo Wenyang was worried because today was the most important day in their plan but Xing Feng and Yun Che still hadn't shown up. His bluff mustn't be caught by the other two major generals, so he acted like he didn't care all along. But he really couldn't hold on much longer.

"Since you can wait, I can wait as well."

Major General Wang regained his composure and acted unhurried even though he kind of lost his cool a minute ago.

Now that the three armies didn't mind waiting, Jiang Wanshan had to give out a laugh to cheer up the room. The superfunction possessors, however, wondered what the hell was going on. Yes, Chaoyang and Peak were indeed powerful and way above average level but this was the military, the most influential and domineering force in the base. Were Chaoyang and Peak that important to the three armies? The superfunction possessors couldn't help but guess what this conference was really about.

At 9:30, the stagnant conference gates finally moved. Xing Feng and Yun Che came in side by side, followed by Gu Mingxuan, Ye Xingchen, and Jiang Shang in a line. The room was dead silent as they walked.

"Huh? You guys are all here? I thought it was going to start at 10 am. Did I remember it wrong?"

Yun Che put on a surprised look on the face. With a rotation of wrist, an ordinary letter of notice showed up in his hand. After a quick glance, Yun Che muttered, "It says 10 am. I got up early this morning in case I run late."

It sure wasn't a normal muttering, Yun Che made sure the entire room heard him. All superfunction possessors took out their own letters of notice right after he said it. But they all said 9 am. Everybody was confused. Did someone play a prank on Chaoyang and Peak?

"You must be joking, Captain Yun. We bulk-printed and handed out the letters of notice. Everyone's letter says the conference shall start at 9 am." Said Jiang Wanshan.

When being stared by the questioning eyes of the delegates of the three armies, Jiang Wanshan had no choice but to stand up. He heard that Yun Che, a seemingly frail, friendly man, was, in fact, a tricky guy to deal with and that he'd do whatever he wanted to do. It was a real eye-opener that he bullshitted in front of the crowd.

Having heard Mr. Jiang's self-justification, Yun Che frowned. "You make me sound like I'm bullshitting, Mr. Jiang."

"Well, you are bullshitting!"

Jiang Wanshan complained inside, but he still kept up his smile. "Nah, you're…"

"Take a look for yourself."

Before he finished talking, Yun Che shoved the paper to him. Jiang Wanshan took a look at the words on it. "Well, it says… Uh, 10 am?"

When he read the 10 am on the piece of paper, he opened up his eyes in astonishment and his grip on the paper tightened. No matter how many times he read it, it was 10 am. His forehead started to perspire.