In the office, Brown Jonathan reclined on the sofa, slightly lifting his eyelids to scrutinize Ren Zhong across from him.
Brown knew that the new trainee he had to ntor this ti was a big shot, but he didn't care. After all, he wasn't a small fry either, with ample financial resources and family protection backed by the ngdu Group.
Most importantly, he had also received benefits, promises, and an advance paynt from the ngdu Group. Over the phone, Hugh Augustus personally gave the instruction to use these three years to hold back Ren Zhong and to freely tornt and humiliate him. If anything happened, the ngdu Group would cover for him. If these words had co from a regular ngdu Group employee, Brown wouldn't believe it, but since it was Hugh on the other end, it was convincing enough.
Brown slowly sat up straight, "I know you, Ren Zhong. You're quite famous now."
Ren Zhong stood up, cupped his hands, "Thank you, ntor."
Brown Jonathan: "You are exceptional, probably the fastest-ever graduate in the history of the Census Official College, unprecedented."
Ren Zhong: "You're too kind."
Brown Jonathan shook his head, "I'm not complinting you. I acknowledge your past excellence, but the fact that there hasn't been soone like you before doesn't an there won't be in the future. Besides, the coursework at the College is quite simple. To beco a competent census officer, what's more important is your performance in real work."
Ren Zhong did not argue, just sincerely said, "Thank you for the reminder, ntor."
Brown: "A month ago, I was training another intern. She brought a lot of joy. Because of you, I've lost a lot of happiness, so I'm going to need compensation from you. Understand?"
Ren Zhong suddenly laughed, "I don't quite understand, please clarify."
Brown Jonathan was taken aback.
It was such a simple conversation, yet he imdiately recognized the difference between Ren Zhong and ordinary interns.
After pausing for a mont, Brown Jonathan waved his hand, "No rush, you'll find out in due ti. Head back to your dorm and get so rest; tomorrow I'll start taking you on assignnts. The new annual global census is about to begin, and there's a heavy workload. This year's census will be quite fun."
"Alright."
Back in his dorm, Ren Zhong shrugged nonchalantly.
It was quite amusing, really. Brown Jonathan thought of him as fish at on the chopping block, ready to be diced at will, unaware that he was the only true outsider.
The next day, Ren Zhong received so shared docunts from Brown, detailing ten towns located deep within a vast rainforest in the middle of the Fifth Continent.
Compared to the First Continent, the density of Ruined Beasts was much greater there. Hundreds of years ago, the Fifth Continent was sparsely populated, with small towns, but as weaponry continued to advance, the abundant Ruined Beast resources ironically supported more people.
However, with pros co cons. Transportation in the Fifth Continent's tropical rainforest region was less convenient. Normally, these towns were largely self-sufficient, with only expensive scarce resources acquired via air transport, while other needs like ammunition and food were self-supplied.
After the network was cut off, logistics in the rainforest towns were disrupted for longer periods, yet no major incidents occurred, and they remained quite flourishing.
Ren Zhong briefly glanced over the nas of the towns, then shifted his focus to the census outline with eyes slightly narrowing, feeling a twinge of shock.
The elimination rate specified for Brown Jonathan by the Association was surprisingly high at 50%.
This essentially ant the trip equated to sentencing nearly a million people to death.
By noon, Ren Zhong headed to the landing pad in Lower Origin Capital City and found Brown Jonathan and several other personnel in an Airship cabin.
These were all Brown's assistants and would be Ren Zhong's senior colleagues over the next three years.
Brown stood up to begin assigning the tasks.
The tasks for others were to survey economic conditions, birth rates, ntal outlook, developnt potential, productivity assessnt, and other paraters.
Brown finally turned to Ren Zhong and said, "I know your combat skills are extraordinary, so the combat assessnt is your responsibility. It doesn't require much brainwork, which is perfect for a rookie like you."
Ren Zhong frowned, "With my strength, doing combat assessnt seems overkill."
Brown waved a hand dismissively, "That's your problem. If you sympathize with those wilderness people, you can always scale your strength down to the Fifth Level and go easy on your opponent. But it makes little difference. You know we must eliminate half the people this ti. Strictly following orders from superiors is the first lesson every intern census officer must learn. Working in our field inevitably ans continuously sentencing people to death, strictly implenting the Association's intentions to create an optimal social structure. Clear?"
Ren Zhong suddenly realized Brown's sche.
He read through his "character design," trying to provoke his compassionate side.
Simultaneously, he aid to stain Ren Zhong's hands with the blood of innocents.
No matter which choice he made, it was all a part of his trap.
Ren Zhong: "Understood."
What happened next on the Airship was an eye-opener for Ren Zhong.
Shortly after the Airship took off, Brown perford a trick, having guards pull out from the cargo hold a group of scantily clad n and won, cheerfully allowing his subordinates to indulge and even pressuring Ren Zhong to remove his Red Blade Armor to join the dirty ga.
Brown chuckled, "To be a census officer, you must learn to mingle, to blend in. You first need to..."
In the next second, Ren Zhong stood up straight, extending the chanical arm of the Red Blade Armor, gripping Brown's neck tightly.
Ren Zhong shrugged helplessly, "I initially planned to placate you, quietly coast through these years, but you've thoroughly disappointed . Enough, I'm done with the pretense."
With that, Ren Zhong, with one hand, dragged Brown to the small conference room at the back of the Airship.
Brown Jonathan struggled, roared, even attempted to command the guards to open fire on Ren Zhong.
Wearing the Red Blade Armor, Ren Zhong turned his face coldly away, watching the guards, causing them to involuntarily lower their guns.
Entering the conference room, Ren Zhong slamd Brown onto the conference table and, in front of him, dialed a video call with Hugh Augustus.
"Mr. Hugh, I'm tired of Brown Jonathan's gas. It's better for you to make him restrain a bit. We don't need this."
Brown was stunned on the spot.
About half an hour later, Ren Zhong and a refreshed Brown Jonathan stepped out of the small conference room.
Brown had regained his freedom by then.
The guards hurried forward, intending to shield him at the center.
Yet Brown weakly waved them off, "No need, we reached an agreent."
He was once the infamous 'pit stone' in the Census Officer Association, known for being unbearably stubborn and odious.
But now, he finally realized what kind of entanglent he had gotten himself into.
Beside him, Ren Zhong casually spread his hands, "We're all friends, no need to be nervous. In the coming years, we'll still work together happily, but under my rules."
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