Chapter 475: Striking at the Roots

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Why is Zuo Dongting so sure? Qin Fen couldn’t guess for a while. All he could do was continue to listen to the introduction of the next test to know what it would be.

A calm Zuo Lin sat with his arms crossed before his chest and his back leaning against the chair, wearing an expression of inexplicable calmness and confidence.

The lieutenant general with the martial strength of seventeen-stars who had yet not left seemed to be listening with his eyes half-closed, seemingly asleep. He was as steady as a rock.

The remaining two applicants weren’t as calm as the first three. Nervousness could clearly be seen in their eyes.

For the sake of tremendous benefits from Saturn, the two had refused to follow Zuo Lin and eat the leftover soup. They refused to follow Qin Fen even more so, as they had no idea about his future prospects.

Zuo Dongting didn’t speak immediately. He slowly glanced at the five in the audience as if he enjoyed their nervous and confused expression.

“As someone who will be completely in charge of the Saturn military affairs, one needs to have certain leadership qualities apart from having a certain level of martial strength. These leadership qualities can be further branched into many specific skill sets, such as personal charm, negotiation skills, etc.” Zuo Dongting raised his right hand and gently waved his index finger, a 3D image was projected before everyone immediately.

Zuo Dongting slowly continued, “The topic of your assessment this time is: recruiting geniuses from the army. Geniuses of different levels of strength awards different points. For example, a fifteen-star martial dao master would be worth a hundred points at the very least, whereas a fourteen-star quasi-martial dao master will only be worth only ten points. And if one had already finished Nirvana Marrow Transformation but haven’t become a martial dao master, they carry thirty points.”

Zuo Dongting, without caring about the participants looking at the point distribution on the screen calmly, continued in a self-absorbed manner, “In addition to these, talents of other technical fields will also carry points. Of course, there is a limit for this quota and that is ten people. Every participant can recruit ten people. The final total points would be calculated on this basis.”

Qin Fen nodded gently, looking at the screen. This report was very detailed and meticulous. Not only did it calculate the points for various levels of strength and influences but it also accounted for the points for their ages.

For example, between all the fourteen-star quasi-martial dao master who had finished Nirvana Marrow Transformation, if one was fifty years old, he carried thirty points. But if one was forty years old, his point would be raised to thirty-five points. And if one was thirty years old, his points were raised to fifty points!

And if one was twenty years old and had finished Nirvana Marrow Transformation, joining the ranks of quasi-martial dao master, he was worth seventy-five points!

Potential! Unlike Earth Martial God, Song Wendong of Qilin Mountain, the army paid more emphasis to potential. Regardless of whether they had been exploited or not, if they had huge potential, they could be worth a lot of points.

Of course, how many people were there in this world, who could finish Nirvana Marrow Transformation before twenty and become quasi-martial dao master? A sliver of mockery was hidden in the depths of Zuo Dongting’s eyes. There are many geniuses in this world but how many of them can finish their Nirvana Marrow Transformation by the age of twenty? Even those young soldiers recorded in Qin Fen’s intel had only achieved Blood Transfusion Rebirth when they entered the Sacred Martial Hall.

Zuo Dongting leaned his back against the chair slowly while his arms rested on the table with his fingers interlocked with each other; there was a touch of confidence in his eyes. Anyone who can finish Blood Transfusion Rebirth at such a young age is already quite lucky. It’d need quite a bit more luck to complete the Nirvana Marrow Transformation. As for geniuses in other fields? Where would Qin Fen find them?

Suddenly, the two formerly nervous colonels’ eyes flickered with a bit of joy. Recruiting geniuses! Everyone had a powerful family behind them. Naturally, they would have a certain level of support. Even if it would be hard to find extremely powerful martial dao master, fourteen-star quasi-martial dao masters who haven’t finished their Nirvana Marrow Transformation could still be found.

As for geniuses of other fields with values up to forty points, they are free points!

In a flash, the two colonels placed their gazes on Qin Fen. They didn’t need to look at Zuo Lin nor at that godly lieutenant general.

If Zuo Lin wants to expose most of the Zuo Family’s hidden strength, then Zuo Lin might complete this test with an extremely high score. He might shock people so badly they’d faint.

As for lieutenant general… He didn’t even bat an eyelid in the face of the Zuo Family’s warning and threat, having a seventeen-star eternal-star level lieutenant general. This already was proof in and of itself of the power behind him.

A basic intel on Qin Fen had been gathered by many interested people in the army. As such, an approximate intel about him was readily available. Civilian background; no power to back him up. Apparently, he reached today’s enviable position through hard work.

Unfortunately! A look of lament appeared in the eyes of the two colonels. Qin Fen’s strength was indeed amazing, but unfortunately, he was doomed to fail this assessment. Unless one was a divine beast martial artist, it was more important to have a team strength in this era. Martial artists without team strength could only have a strength which would be the target of others’ envy, but they were unable to form an influence with it.

In the Federation, without heaven-defying strength like a divine beast’s, influences had become existences of paramount importance.

The projected image began to distort after three minutes before disappearing.

“Alright, memorization is also a kind of test.” This time, a black general spoke. “We will not send you data about the personnel points again. Now, you have five days to find and invite the most suitable teammates. After the five days, you will gather here.”

Apparently, the six five-star generals were extremely busy. They immediately got up after having finished with their orders, leaving only the participants sitting quietly in the room.

Zuo Lin, having got up and sorted out his uniform, snapped his fingers casually before he started speaking to the person beside him with a confident smile on his face, “If you know someone suitable for the team, you can recommend him or her to me. Saturn is very big; it’s impossible to be occupied by the entire Zuo Family, don’t you all think?”

The eyes of the few participants attached to Zuo Lin flickered with excitement immediately. It seems things aren’t as simple as the Zuo Family says. They are actually willing to split the quota of ten people with others. It seems, the sooner the first batch enters Saturn, the greater the benefits obtained will be.

The two colonels insisting on taking part in the assessment turned stiff at once. Zuo Family is actually ceding so many benefits? It seems that Zuo Lin didn’t want just the Zuo Family to eat meat, other forces might eat a little bit of meat as well.

Qin Fen, noticing the little regret in the eyes of two colonels, improved his evaluation of Zuo Lin. If words that were spoken anywhere at any time could hit close to the enemy’s home, it was a sign of an outstanding commander.

Winning outside the battlefield! Qin Fen recalled Squad Leader Hao’s words. This Zuo Lin is using means of winning outside the battlefield. This discourse had blown the confidence of the two colonels once again, causing them to have regret. Then, if he encounters them in a duel next time, he would have already occupied an absolute advantage in momentum. It would even cause the opponent to have the notion that if they throw in the towel and seek refuge under the opponent, they might still get the benefits.

If one had such thought before the fight, Qin Fen could not think how could such a person not be defeated.

Zuo Lin organized his dress before he led a team of people out of the room. From the beginning to the end, he never paid so much as a glance at Qin Fen, not even a side glance.

“Lieutenant Colonel Qin Fen…”

Clark, the tall and robust black man clenched his big fists and said, a nervous and anxious look on his face, “Can I provide a candidate?”

Qin Fen nodded with a smile. It would be strange if Clark and anyone else would not be worried when faced with this kind of situation.

“Alright, I will look for someone, and you can also look for someone.” Qin Fen got up, yet he still had to look up to see Clark’s face. “At that time, we will choose the person with the highest point, what do you think?”

“Fine with me!”

While Clark’s voice was still lingering in the room, his people had already bolted out of the room, leaving a strong gale when they ran, causing Qin Fen’s black hair to flutter non-stop.

“Alright!” Qin Fen accelerated his step towards the exit as well. Lin Ling, as always, followed quietly behind him. If not for her striking appearance, she looked more like Qin Fen’s shadow sometimes.

Qin Fen came to Zhao Huzi’s room, who was a lieutenant general now.

“Kid, if you’re here for help, don’t even speak about it.” Zhao Huzi shrugged his shoulders, helplessly. “The biggest difference between the Snake King and Lion King is that the Lion will take care of its cubs. Although it might push the cubs down the cliff to get them to climb up, it would still take care of the cubs as long as they climbed their way up the cliff. But the snake is different. Have you ever seen a snake taking care of its hatchlings? If the Snake King took care of its hatchlings, Du Zhanpeng would not be dead.”

Qin Fen listened to Zhao Huzi’s grumbling-like speech calmly. “What I want to ask is, will the army reimburse the expense for recruiting the personnel?”

…

Zhao Huzi’s eyes went as wide as the size of bull’s eyes, staring straight at Qin Fen for a long while before he could regain his wits. Immediately after, his every facial muscle twisted into an inexplicable bitter smile.

Zhao Huzi could not believe that, at the critical junction when everyone was having a headache about the scores, Qin Fen had run to him to ask him whether his travel expenses would be reimbursed or not.

“Kid, I know you are acquainted with those genius martial artists from the recruit tournament.” Zhao Huzi shook his head gently with a very unhappy look. “But my personal suggestion would that you better not rely on them. First, they are too young. Even if they had entered the Sacred Martial Hall, they have been there for only a short period of time, it hasn’t even been a year. How strong they are now… Only the people of inner Sacred Martial Hall would know about it, but I am not so optimistic about them.”

Looking at Qin Fen’s Lin Ling-like expressionless face, Zhao Huzi took a long breath before he could speak, “Second, even if their strengths have soared, even if they are seventeen-star martial artists, if you went looking for them, it’s not guaranteed that they would help you… because..”

Helplessness flickered in the depth of Zhao Huzi’s eyes. “Almost all of them have a backing. As such, there are many things for which they can not make a decision personally. If these people’s families want to carry out a certain transaction with the Zuo Family, their patriarch or matriarch would only need to issue a command and they would have to obey it unconditionally. Therefore…”

Zhao Huzi rubbed his temples and the bridge of his nose. “If you put pressure on them, I’m afraid you will be disappointed this time. Take this list, you have not come in contact with them. They all are worth many points. You can see it for yourself. You can recruit them one by one.”

“I want to try.”

“Try?” Zhao Huzi furrowed his brow tightly. “Kid, I know you have a good relationship with them but don’t forget, sometimes the higher your hopes are, the greater your disappointment is.”

“I want to try.”

“Why don’t you understand?” Zhao Huzi’s pair of eyebrows were raised erect. “They have families, and many times, they must submit for the best interest of the family first.”

“I want to try.” Qin Fen repeated for the third time. “Would I be reimbursed for my travel expenses?”

“You will be!” Zhao Huzi’s hair was standing on their roots end from his anger. Although he had known a long time ago that Qin Fen may appear very easy to reason with but in fact, will not budge once he had made a decision, he was still very unhappy watching him walking in the wrong direction, step by step.

With only five days, every second was precious. The list Zhao Huzi had given was devised after a long and thorough consideration. As long as Qin Fen had the patience to explain the invitation to these people, nothing was impossible.

But, five days! Zhao Huzi believed that even if he himself went immediately, it would be impossible to convince them all. And Qin Fen was still wasting the time to go to the Sacred Martial Hall to look for those youngsters who had the backings of their families.

“Kid!” Zhao Huzi said Qin Fen, who turned around and walked towards the entrance after giving a military salute and saying ‘thank you’, “I’m not afraid that you can’t invite them, I’m afraid that you will be disappointed after you fail to invite them. Them more you trust someone, the better it is, but it is equally unbearable the moment he betrays you.”

Qin Fen shook his head gently, a smile that was rarely seen these days appeared on his face. “They are my friends.”

Zhao Huzi, looking at Qin Fen who had already left through the door, pursed the corner of his lips into a helpless smile of agony, “Friends!? The person who hurts you the most in the world isn’t your enemy. The person who can truly hurt you is only the one person you believe him to be your friend.”

Serenity returned to the room, once again. Zhao Huzi opened the drawer and took out a dust ladened photo. Immediately, an inexplicable sadness appeared on his face as he rubbed his fingers back and forth on the photo gently. The mumbling voice coming out of his mouth sounded even sadder. “Friend… friend…”

In another room of the army headquarters, Zuo Lin was listening to various reports from everyone. His index finger was spinning an expensive golden pen with an expression of remunerating plastered on his face. “Zhao Huzi is usually careless but quite sharp at times. As a straightforward person, he has many contacts. As a soldier of Du Hen’s clique, he should not do something which would go against everything Du Hen stands for. Therefore, he should not have found candidates for Qin Fen in advance. So, he will submit a list of people who haven’t made any contact with Qin Fen for him to invite.”

Several colonels who had quit the assessment midway looked at Zuo Lin with admiration. In just three seconds after he had received the news that Qin Fen had entered Zhao Huzi’s room, he had already made a sound, plausible speculation.

Zuo Lin’s fingers swiftly danced on the virtual keyboard, seemingly having entered a highly concentrated mental state. He quickly went through various personal information. From time to time, he would retrieve someone’s information and classify it into a new document.

This went on for thirty minutes. Zuo Lin heaved a long breath and rested his back against the chair as he picked up a glass of cold lemonade to moisturize his lips. “Print and distribute this list. Go and talk with the people on it, tell them that our Zuo Family is interested in inviting them for the second batch to go to Saturn.”

The few colonels who had withdrawn from the assessment were stunned after going through it. They looked at the calm Zuo Ling and the list on the screen once again. Immediately, everyone felt a chill in their hearts despite trying to suppress it as they realized something.

That’s right! Zuo Lin’s martial strength might be only at the fourteen-star level, it might not be as good as Qin Fen’s martial dao master level, but when it comes to strategizing… The few colonels felt beads of cold sweat dripping down their temples. In such a short time, not only has he discerned Zhao Huzi’s probable choices, but he also managed to speculate the list handed to Qin Fen by Zhao Huzi and immediately used the resources in his hand to send out the invitations. As soon as he had done the matter of striking at the roots, Qin Fen really might not find anyone.

“Also!” Zuo Lin thought for a moment before he typed out the data of a few people. “Talk to the family of these people, tell them that our Zuo Family is very sincere.”

The several colonels looked through the list, stupified. They stared at each other with a look of disbelief in their eyes. This Zuo Lin is too cautious, isn’t he? Caesar!? Brooks!? Yang Lie!? These young recruits had shown outstanding performance in the recruit tournament, but judging by their intel, they were only in the ten-star realm before they entered the Sacred Martial Hall. And now, it has not been a year since they had been in the Sacred Martial Hall. How could they be worth any points? Even if Saturn has abundant resources, do you need to gift them like a prodigal son?

“Qin Fen was in the Sacred Martial Hall for a shorter period of time.” Zuo Lin, staring at the screen, said in a low voice as if he was mumbling to himself. “But he had killed three martial dao master after he came out. The Elysium martial dao master found dead in the suburbs of Shengjing was also killed by him.”

The few colonels were stupified once more. The Zuo Family’s intelligence network was too strong. Many people still didn’t know who killed the fifteen-star Elysium martial dao master. Who would have thought they would get the proof from Zuo Lin today?

“Since Qin Fen could make such rapid progress in the Sacred Martial Hall in a short period of time,” Zuo Lin turned his seat and gazed into the eyes of the colonels. “Then, why can’t the other people who had joined Qin Fen do the same? Although the data on the star-class of Sacred Martial Hall martial artists is very tightly controlled, we can’t get accurate information, it’s still better to be prepared.”

Zuo Lin turned his seat back to the computer screen as he raised his index finger of the left hand and shook it from side to side gently. “You can despise a person for doing anything but you can’t underestimate him, ever. Although Qin Fen is not my opponent, he has entered this competition. As such, it’s necessary for me to temporarily treat and strategize against him as my opponent. Don’t forget how hard it is to finish True Inborn Blood Marrow Transfusion, and these people had been with Qin Fen only for so long, yet they had rapidly advanced through the star-classes.”

“Therefore!” Zuo Lin stood up. “I despise him but I will never underestimate him since he’s become my temporary rival! A lion will hunt even a rabbit with every ounce of his strength!”

The colonels were somewhat pleased with their previous choice of withdrawing from the assessment.

A commander may seem wildly arrogant after getting his hands on such a huge amount of resources but in fact, a commander still treats his opponent carefully. And this was a very unpleasant thing.

The colonels, looking at Zuo Lin’s confident back, began to look forward to the abundant resources they would be enjoying from Saturn. At the same time, they began to mourn for Qin Fen, the youngster who had become a rising star in the military world after he joined the army, for he did not even have a half a percent chance of winning now.