Chapter 8

The office door opened, and Bill followed Coyne. "Your office is really... simple."

Coyne signaled her assistant to make some tea. "Of course, it can't compare to Sky City," she said. "The governor probably asked you to deal with the pollution this time to create a more approachable image."

"Even though we've left Sky City, you still know it so well," Bill said straight to the point. "I don't want any of my team members to be killed or injured. Do you know how much money and time it takes to train a single guard? It's more than the people at your base can compare."

Bill refused the teacup offered by his assistant. "Besides, even if there really are casualties, Sky City will provide corresponding compensation. As far as I know, your base has always been short of supplies."

But that was the previous information. Now, thanks to Jiang Fei's appearance, the full truck of supplies shipped back yesterday was enough for everyone in the base to survive the winter, but Coin did not expose this.

Bill must have felt that the base was short of supplies, so he naturally decided to sacrifice base members in exchange for supplies. This was clearly a sophisticated and selfish mindset.

Coyne held up his teacup. "You've done some research? But we won't trade human lives for supplies."

"That's a nice thing to say. I'm giving you a chance. What will you do when you run out of supplies?" Bill crossed his arms. "This is also because you helped me before."

Coyne smiled, his meaning unclear. "Do you still remember that I helped you?"

At the same time, on the other side of the base, Jiang Fei was still in the research institute. The first person to come over was Lucian. He pushed open the door and said, "It's a good thing you stayed here."

Jiang Fei sat in her office chair. She tiptoed and turned it halfway, facing Lucian. "I saw everything. Why is Bill here again?"

"I heard they were here to conscript men. He couldn't bear to see his own men suffer casualties, so he thought of finding some bait to attract the attention of the pollutants. In fact, he was just looking for a few unlucky guys to die." Lucian must have also returned from the training ground, still wearing a dark blue training suit.

"But why did they choose our base?" Jiang Fei asked puzzledly.

"Because our base is notorious for being completely destitute and short of supplies, on the verge of disappearing," Lucian offered kindly, his tone tinged with self-mockery. "But they wouldn't have guessed that transport truck yesterday was loaded with supplies. It's their impression of our lack of supplies that makes them likely to trade lives for them."

Thinking about it this way, Bill's behavior is still very logical. He has calculated the dark side of human nature and is willing to sacrifice others in order to survive.

"Then we can't let him know about our current situation." Jiang Fei said, "But since we have enough supplies, we can refuse him."

Even Leon looked up at these words, and Lucian's mocking smile disappeared. "He represents Sky City, and we, the residents of the underground city, have no right to reject Sky City."

In the end of the world, there will usually be powerful politics and even high-pressure rule. Jiang Fei used to think that it was very far away from her, but now she realizes that it is right in front of her and beside her.

As Coyne said, no one wants to go against Sky City.

"Are we going to let the people in the base die in vain now?" Leon frowned. "Their lives are lives, but our lives are not lives?"

Lucian shrugged. "That's what they think. If we disagree, they'll probably use some old, young, woman, or child as bait."

Hearing this, Jiang Fei couldn't help but said, "Then they are definitely going to die." She thought about it and realized that reputation points can be increased by daily trivial matters, as well as by some major events. Faced with the current situation, she certainly couldn't let the elderly and children go to die, and she was the only one who knew the nature of the pollutants.

Looking at this from another angle, she could actually use the Guards to achieve her own goal of researching pollutants, but the risk is also very high.

She rested her chin on her hand, considering the feasibility of doing so.

"Ms. Coin is currently negotiating with him, but the outcome isn't very promising." Lucian chose an empty office chair and sat down. He glanced at the stapled exam outline, which was clearly handwritten and photocopied. He asked Jiang Fei, "Did you write this?"

"Yes, this is the scope of the tower question I guessed." Jiang Fei nodded. Most of her attention was still on whether or not to go with the guard team to find pollutants.

Lucian flipped through it and said, "I've heard that there are a few elites in Sky City who are proficient in this kind of writing." He said it vaguely. The fact is that even the elites in Sky City could not write out the scope of the question in one breath.

So what is her true identity? He raised his eyes to look at Jiang Fei, then quickly looked away. It didn't matter. She appeared so innocent and simple anyway.

In the end times, being innocent and simple also means being easy to manipulate.

Jiang Fei hesitated again and again. She knocked on the table and stood up. "I want to see Bill."

Lucian asked, "Why are you going to see him? Aren't you afraid he'll embarrass you again?"

"I'm going to go with them to deal with the pollution." Jiang Fei was about to walk out of the office door when Lucian grabbed her sleeve. His eyes widened in surprise. "Are you crazy? You'll die if you do that."

"But if I go, there will be one less person chosen." This is what she convinced herself, and she also had a hunch that the pollutants might have other uses.

"Why are you pretending to be nice at a time like this?" If she died, who would answer the questions later? So, no matter what, Lucian wouldn't let her die.

Jiang Fei pulled her hand back. She noticed that the office door had been ajar for a while. She felt someone standing outside. "Who's there?"

The door was pushed open from the outside, and the person standing outside was none other than Bill, the focus of their conversation. No one knew how long he had been eavesdropping and how much he had heard.

He raised his hands to his chest and clapped them a few times. "I admire your courage and self-sacrifice. If you die, Sky City will also give you an honorary title."

Lucian cursed inwardly, "What the hell."

Jiang Fei followed up his words and said, "Forget about the honors, just give us some more financial subsidies." Giving money and supplies is the most practical thing. As for other honors, they are all empty.

“She just said that casually.” Lucian stood up.

"Oh, really? But Sky City won't reject residents who pledge allegiance to it, so I unilaterally agree to your joining on behalf of Sky City." Bill curled his lips. "It seems we haven't gained nothing this time."

Lucian looked disappointed. He added, "I need to inform Captain Ana about this."

"Go ahead and notify them. The result won't change anyway." Bill looked at Jiang Fei. "I really hope there are more people like you who are aware of the situation."

How can this be called awareness? Jiang Fei just felt like she was being scolded. She resisted the urge to scold back and told herself that she would still need to use this person and his teammates in the future.

So she just smiled stiffly and said, "Haha, you're too kind."

"But there's no need to rush. After Ms. Coyne and I discussed it, I decided to give you three more days to complete the list of participants. I think this amount of time is enough for you to prepare, right?" After saying that, Bill turned and left.

Lucian slumped back into his office chair. "It's over. It's really over now. You really shouldn't have gone."

"Don't we still have time to prepare?" Jiang Fei said.

"Yeah, three days is a long time," he said sarcastically, "I should have told you to talk less."

After Bill left, Coin also called Jiang Fei and Lucian to the office. When they arrived, Anna was also standing in the office with a serious expression. She must have known that Jiang Fei also had to go with the guard team to eliminate the pollutants.

But because Coyne was there, Anna didn't say much, just sighed.

Coyne said, "I was a little surprised to learn that you were going to eliminate pollutants. Can you tell me what you think?"

“If I go, there will be one less person chosen.” She also said this to Lucian, but he obviously didn’t buy it.

"You're kind... but kindness in this world can actually get you killed," she said. "I can ask Bill to change the list so you don't have to go and die. You have no idea how terrible pollutants are. Maybe you don't even know what pollutants are."

She was right. She really didn't understand pollutants. Seeing the confused expression on Jiang Fei's face, Coyne explained, "During the period when the apocalypse began, not only did extreme weather and natural disasters increase dramatically, but many unprecedented things also appeared around the world. They slaughtered humans wantonly, and the injured humans would also be infected and eventually die.

People define it as a pollutant, but no one knows the source of the pollutant.”

"Do you still stick to your decision now?" Coyne asked.

Under the gaze of Coin and Lucian, Jiang Fei nodded, "Well, I have decided to go with you, and I also want to say that there is nothing wrong with kindness itself." Since it is a problem of this world, she will choose to change this world.

"I thought I could convince you. Forget it. Let Anna teach you how to use a gun these days." Coin shook his head helplessly. Jiang Fei left the office and went to the training ground with Anna.

Only Coin and Lucian were left in the office. Lucian watched Jiang Fei leave and commented coldly, "What a hopeless idiot."

"That's not the case. Sometimes, it's people like this who can actually change the world."

Lucian dropped his eyes. "This world is awful. There's no need to change it. Let's just destroy it."