Chapter 438 - Officially Joining
As Shen Mei smiled weakly, she said in a clear voice, "You aroused my curiosity, Bai Zemin.... Let me see what all these people see special about you, since at this moment in my eyes, you look no different than a lunatic who aspires to achieve the impossible."
Bai Zemin chuckled as he heard the words pronounced by Shen Mei. He made a small hand gesture to indicate to his subordinates and reliable soul evolvers that there was no need to worry about Shen Mei's proximity.
Although at this distance it was practically impossible for a First Order existence to respond if taken by surprise by another First Order existence, which would result in death or serious injury to the ambushed, that only worked with normal beings.
But who was Bai Zemin? An anomaly among anomalies. An existence that had been granted a title that allowed him to traverse space and travel between worlds to allow his own world to grow at ease as his own power began to surpass that of the world due to his fast speed of evolution and the purity of his Soul Power.
In that case, if someone like Shen Mei wanted or believed it was possible to hurt him just because they managed to get close enough and catch him off guard, then they were in for a great and rude awakening! One from which ironically they would never wake up!
Besides, Bai Zemin believed that a smart person like Shen Mei would not do something as foolish as that knowing that her life would be over not long after since even if she really managed to hurt Bai Zemin by a miracle there were still more soul evolvers that could kill her soon after.
Regarding Shen Mei's words, Bai Zemin not only chuckled but also said calmly: "You probably won't regret your decision. Although you will start with a level 5 Noble title, with your strength and battle prowess you can easily enter the top 5 soul evolvers of our faction. It won't be difficult for you to climb the ranks while making significant contributions."
This time it was Shen Mei's turn to chuckle. She looked Bai Zemin straight in the eyes and said in a strange voice, "Level 5 Noble? No no, I'm not starting from that low."
The expression of many people changed when they heard Shen Mei's arrogant words. She hadn't even spent two seconds as a member of the Transcendent faction but she was already yearning for a higher position? Wasn't she being too greedy? One needed to know that a level 5 Noble could enjoy a lot of benefits among which was a monthly salary enough to buy 100 kilograms of food!
Precisely because these Noble titles were too beneficial to anyone who received them, Bai Zemin only awarded them to those who held really important positions within the faction he established. There were only about 20 to 30 level 5 Nobles in the entire faction and far fewer level 4, 3, 2, 1.
In fact, there were only about 50 people who had received a Noble title to date. The rest of the members of the Transcendent faction were considered normal citizens and received different salaries depending on how valuable the work they performed was or how many hours a day they put in.
So, the fact that a new member coveted such a high position naturally attracted the discontent of many who hoped to climb the ranks of power and privilege.
Bai Zemin's dark eyes also glittered dangerously for a second before returning to normal. Shen Mei had been able to devise a truly perfect plan that allowed her and those close to her to get away from any kind of danger; such a person would definitely not be so foolish as to get on his bad side when they were just beginning to engage in some kind of relationship.
"I suppose to say such bold words you must have something in return for a higher position than the one I'm offering you now?" he said with narrowed eyes and that slight smile still shaped on his face.
"Before I say anything I want you to promise me the title level 3 Noble. I think the information I'm going to give you now is worth so much." Shen Mei said after thinking about it for a moment.
However, Bai Zemin didn't even hesitate and immediately shook his head:
"No way. The title level 3 Noble is much more valuable than you think and there are only a handful of existences that have received that level of title so far, most of them are people who have followed me since the early days of the apocalypse and have contributed astronomical amounts of resources. If that's all you have to say then forget it."
Bai Zemin didn't expect Shen Mei to have a mouth as big as a lion trying to devour everything.
Noble level 3? That level of title was only held by people like Zhong De, Fu Xuefeng, Kang Lan, Cai Jingyi, etc. These people had not only entrusted their lives to Bai Zemin from the very beginning but had also helped him in countless cases to lighten the burden on his shoulders. It was absolutely impossible for him to give Shen Mei, who was no more than a newcomer, such a high title; to do this kind of thing would only cause disaffection in his troops and none of his soldiers would feel good in their hearts even if no one said anything out loud.
Shen Mei frowned slightly as she did not expect such a firm rejection. However, after considering it better for a moment she realized that perhaps she was really demanding too much about something she had no idea how it worked.
Since Shen Mei did not know about the structural functioning of the Transcendent faction in depth, it was naturally difficult for her to know what level of benefits she would receive depending on her title. That was why she immediately demanded to be a Noble level 3 since she was at least around the middle; between the highest privilege level and the lowest privilege level.
"Noble level 4. I will not accept less than this." Shen Mei said after a moment. She added, "Believe me, you will regret it soon if you refuse this offer from me."
"Noble level 4? No problem." Bai Zemin nodded easily this time since that level of title was received by those people at Xiao Ming's privileged level.
Besides, considering how powerful and smart Shen Mei was, she would definitely not take long to climb between the different privilege levels. On the other hand, Bai Zemin felt that he would really regret it if he continued to waste his time here.
Shen Mei nodded slightly and then looked Bai Zemin deep in the eyes as she said in a serious voice, "Mayor Bai Yong and Commander Jin Shun will take advantage of the fact that you are in charge of the armed troops to escape. I have no idea what Commander Jin Shun's plans might turn out to be since I don't know him well enough, but I know that Bai Yong keeps in the basement of his villa a large amount of supplies. He will probably take some of his trusted men and sneak out through the west gate as it is the closest to the area where he is staying."
Bai Zemin's expression sank when he heard this.
"It seems I overestimated this lord mayor." Bai Zemin's eyes flashed coldly as he spoke these words before looking behind him and casually giving an order, "Who wants to go and take care of this?"
Honestly speaking, Bai Zemin sincerely expected Bai Yong to put up some more resistance. After all, the fall of Baiquan Camp meant losing everything for Bai Yong. However, little did Bai Zemin expect that the former mayor of Baiquan Subdistrict actually possessed a personality decisive enough to abandon everything to plunge into the dangerous and mysterious outside world.
"Big Brother Bai, let me go!" Luo Ning leaped forward and raised her tiny little hand.
"You?" Bai Zemin frowned and said earnestly, "Forget it."
Seeing Luo Ning make puppy eyes and looked as if she was about to cry, Bai Zemin waved his hand and said impatiently, "It's okay, I already said no. If I say you're not going, then you're not going."
"Ugh...." Luo Ning grunted and kicked the ground while puffing out her cheeks. "Big brother Bai, you're too mean!"
"No matter how much you complain." Bai Zemin ignored her and looked at the rest with a frown.
Just as he was preparing to say something else, a slightly cold but with a slight tinge of closeness voice sounded a short distance away from him:
"Let Luo Ning take care of capturing Bai Yong. I'll go with her to make sure nothing bad happens to her."
Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and the frown on his face slowly relaxed.
"If that's the case then I guess it's okay." He said nodding.
"Argh! Big brother Bai, stop treating me as if I'm a nine year old girl!" Luo Ning stomped the ground beneath her feet again and complained loudly.
"But you're nine years old, little Ning." Wu Yijun put a hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter even though her shaking shoulders exposed her.
Everyone immediately chuckled and looked at Luo Ning affectionately as the little girl clung tightly to Wu Yijun's arm and swung it from side to side as if she was retaliating.
Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and said to her in a low voice, "Bing Xue, be careful."
Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes shone strangely when she heard his words. However, she suddenly thought of something and unconsciously looked at Shen mei; it was only then that she finally realized the reason why Bai Zemin said such words to her so she could not help but shake her head while laughing at herself.
Shagguan Bing Xue said nothing more and instead walked towards Shen Mei before saying in an authoritative voice, "You lead the way."
Her voice was not only authoritative, her words were cold as was the look in her sky-colored eyes.
Shen Mei did not know what to say about such a noticeable change in attitude. While chatting with Bai Zemin, this young silver-haired woman looked like an ordinary girl; but when she spoke to her, her first words were thick with orders and even well-hidden arrogance.
But seeing the normal looks on everyone's faces, as if they didn't notice anything strange with this, Shen Mei assumed that either this girl was arrogant as hell with those below her position, or perhaps her personality was cold and aloof with those she didn't know. Shen Mei was more inclined to the second option since she still remembered Commander Jin Shun's report while they were still in the command center; but if the reason behind Shangguan Bing Xue's attitude was her first theory, then Shen Mei could only secretly shake her head in disappointment.
Soon and under everyone's eyes, Shen Mei charged into the distance and disappeared in a whirlwind of wind and dust in the direction of the walls of Baiquan Camp. Not far away, Luo Ning was galloping furiously on one of her shadow cats with an excited expression and seemingly undisturbed by the blood and destruction in the area. As for Shangguan Bing Xue, her expression was cold and indifferent and she simply took it upon herself to watch Shen Mei as she protected Luo Ning.
After the three ladies completely disappeared from everyone's line of sight, Bai Zemin turned to look at his trusted troops and said loudly, "From now on Wu Yijun will be in charge of leading the Blood Spear Legion temporarily. Chen He, Fu Xuefeng, Cai Jingyi, Kang Lan, Zhong De, and Evangeline will be the people to support her when needed. The rest... I think you already know how things work so I won't waste time explaining anything else."
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