Chapter 28: A Frenzy of Demons

In the office filled with the fragrance of tea, the rare astonishment of an industry giant left Wang Ji in a particularly good mood. He flashed a confident smile—after all, the information he had just presented had cost him 500 energy points to materialize. How could it possibly be impossible?

Wang Ji tapped lightly on the desk, considering Li Qing’s skepticism. He searched for the most persuasive reason he could offer.
“You say it’s impossible? The world changed overnight—wasn’t that impossible too, in your eyes? So, Mr. Li, don’t rush to conclusions. Take your time and read through the materials carefully.”

Li Qing furrowed his brows, but maintained his positive job-seeking attitude and continued reading.
The next half hour passed in a chorus of disbelief and sudden realization from Li Qing.
Seeing Li Qing still immersed in the technical documentation, Wang Ji reminded him gently.
“Well, Mr. Li, do you have the information needed to help me build this?”

Li Qing tore himself away from the documents, his eyes brimming with shock and fervor.
“Yes!” He paused, then added, “Captain Wang, assuming we have enough manpower and resources, it can be built. These materials are too astounding—three months ago, this would have been unimaginable, a revolutionary technology.”

“Great! Mr. Li, just tell me simply—if you were in charge, how many people and how much time would you need?” Wang Ji asked with a smile.

Li Qing organized his thoughts and after a moment, spoke in a low voice:
“After the catastrophe, manpower and resources are scarce. I estimate that building this small communications tower and the corresponding server management system would take two to three years.”

There was a hint of dejection in his words. To have a complete, executable theoretical technology before him, yet lack the means to quickly verify it, was a torment in itself.

Wang Ji pulled a hard drive from his desk drawer and slid it across to Li Qing, who looked at him in confusion.
“If I told you that the supporting software system is all in here, how long would it take then?”

Li Qing was astonished.
“Captain Wang, the system’s already developed?! Where did it come from?”
“That’s not your concern. Just tell me your plan and estimate.”

With the full set of construction materials and software system, Li Qing spoke with newfound confidence:
“Three months! If there’s enough manpower and resources, three months is plenty.”

“Three months?” Wang Ji frowned slightly, thinking it over. “One month. I want to see the communications tower and a fully operational terminal system in one month.”

Li Qing smiled bitterly at Wang Ji, helpless.
“Captain Wang, one month is really tight.”

“No worries. Just tell me if you can do it. Get started!” Wang Ji took a sip of tea, smiling encouragingly.

Li Qing hesitated for a moment. Finding a job that suited his strengths in the base was difficult—he had to seize this opportunity.
“Alright! I’ll do it!”

Wang Ji laughed heartily, raising his teacup.
“Very good. Welcome aboard, Li Qing.”

---

“At the moment, we have zero personnel in communications, so I’ll leave the Communications Department to you. You’ll be the acting Communications Director, with a monthly salary of ten crystal cores. Discuss the other benefits with Secretary Chen Lin. I hope you can start as soon as possible. I plan to build the tower at the nearby farmers’ market. For manpower and materials, coordinate with our logistics chief, Xiao Liu.”

“Alright… alright, Captain Wang. I’ll give it my all.” Li Qing was stunned by the salary—at the base, one crystal core could buy a hundred jin of meat!

“Good, then. Here’s to a fruitful partnership.” Wang Ji shook hands with Li Qing and promptly called Chen Lin to arrange things for him.

After Li Qing left, expressing his gratitude, Wang Ji welcomed the second interviewee, Liang Jingyang.

Before the disaster, Liang Jingyang was the marketing general manager of a corporate group. Having started as a frontline salesman in the factory, he was a hands-on manager, forty-seven years old, struggling with his family after fleeing here with the army. Only when Wang Ji started recruiting did he get his first chance at a second interview.

Liang Jingyang, carrying a faint scent, entered Wang Ji’s office a bit nervously.
With Wang Ji’s guidance, after a few minutes he relaxed and spoke freely. As a manager who had risen from the ranks and was familiar with overseeing a group of over a thousand people, Liang Jingyang quickly earned Wang Ji’s approval.

Wang Ji offered him a monthly salary of five crystal cores, recruiting him for Xiao Liu’s logistics department, with responsibility for the impending munitions factory and other production affairs.

Liang Jingyang, moved to tears, thanked Wang Ji earnestly and, clutching his advance of a level-one crystal core, followed Chen Lin to complete the paperwork.

Wang Ji then interviewed over a dozen more candidates, recruiting several management talents and assigning them to the training camp office to assist Li Chengming and Haozi with military clerical and logistics management—also easing Xiao Liu’s urgent manpower shortage in logistics.

Finally, as night fell, Chen Lin brought in a steaming hot dinner and placed it on the coffee table in Wang Ji’s office.

The aroma made Wang Ji realize he hadn’t eaten lunch, surviving on a single chocolate as he worked into the evening. His stomach now protested with a couple of growls.

He hurried to the coffee table and began to devour his meal. Chen Lin poured him another cup of warm tea.

“Mmm… thank you. Chen Lin, you’ve been busy all day too—go home early and rest!”

Chen Lin shook her head slightly, took an envelope from her backpack, and pushed it toward Wang Ji.

“It’s still early. I’ll go home after you leave. This is a message from Commander Chen of the army. A soldier came to find you today, but seeing you were busy, he left this note and went back.”

“Oh, Commander Chen is looking for me? Let me see.” Wang Ji opened the envelope, reading as he ate.

The message was simple: telling Wang Ji to arrange a meeting in Commander Chen Yu Kai’s office tomorrow for a matter of importance.

Wang Ji put the note away, pondered for a while, then instructed Chen Lin about tomorrow’s tasks before leaving the office to return home for his daily training and rest.

The next morning, Wang Ji brought a guard with him and drove to Chen Yu Kai’s office.

Inside, after Chen Yu Kai finished some matters, the captain of the guards, Sun Guoyao, came out, greeted Wang Ji politely, and left.

“Good morning, Commander Chen,” Wang Ji said with a smile as he entered.

Chen Yu Kai stood up, and after a brief handshake, the two sat at the coffee table, each taking their seat.

“Captain Wang, every time I see you, such a heroic young man, full of spirit—I envy you,” Chen Yu Kai began, handing Wang Ji a cigarette.

---

“Commander Chen, you flatter me. I see you in your prime—an example I aspire to,” Wang Ji replied, lighting the cigarette with a gentle laugh.

Chen Yu Kai hadn’t expected such a response; he laughed heartily. “Alright, let’s cut the compliments. I called you here for serious business.”

“Of course, Commander Chen. If there’s anything you need from us, please say so.”

The smile faded from Chen Yu Kai’s face, replaced by gravity.
“The camp now has over 113,000 people. Thankfully, you helped secure supplies, but we’re facing shortages of fuel and ammunition. I hear you’ve recently sourced another batch of arms?”

Wang Ji sensed that Chen Yu Kai was probing for the source of his weapons. He straightened his expression, silently reminding himself to keep the X System secret.

“Commander Chen, your information is impressive. It took tremendous effort to acquire this batch of weapons and ammo. For now, I can’t supply the base on a large scale. When things stabilize, I’ll be able to meet your needs,” Wang Ji replied, mentally calculating the urgency of establishing the munitions factory.

“That’s good. Even a small supplement would help. Since the headquarters moved north, it’s been harder to contact them,” Chen Yu Kai said, visibly relieved at Wang Ji’s promise.

“Alright. Give me a list of needed supplies, Commander Chen. I only accept crystal core transactions—at seventy percent of market price,” Wang Ji said, his demand for crystal cores growing by the day.

However, Chen Yu Kai hesitated.
“Our research department also needs a lot of crystal cores.”

After a moment, inspiration struck him.
“Captain Wang, how about this? We’ve made progress in crystal core research—energy applications. The technology will be ready in three months at most. Interested?”

Energy! Wang Ji’s heart stirred. Fuel production had ceased after the disaster; electricity generation relied on fuel. Solving the energy problem would open up a vast market.

“Energy? No problem. If Commander Chen provides the technology, the manufacturing facilities I’m building outside the base can handle production needs. What do you think?”

Chen Yu Kai had sought Wang Ji for cooperation, seeing his drive for construction, a well-staffed team, and an official status far superior to other armed factions in the base.

“No rush, Captain Wang. We need three more months. Prepare in advance. Most importantly, we must solve the fuel shortage in the interim. Take a look at these documents.” Chen Yu Kai exhaled smoke and handed several sheets to Wang Ji.

Wang Ji glanced at them, his brows knitting tightly.

“A cult…? Human trafficking? What is this…?”

Chen Yu Kai chuckled.
“The world’s gone mad—every kind of monster and demon is out now. My men are stretched thin keeping the base safe; I can’t spare anyone for this.”

“The cult leader is Ye Rongsheng. Before the disaster, he was just an old fortune teller. Now he’s become someone important.”

“The core followers number about 120, with around 2,000 other believers or coerced individuals. The key is, they’ve seized F City’s only large underground fuel storage, trading with nearby bases.”

“I want you to take them down, free those enslaved people, and secure the fuel for us to survive the next few months. For the fuel split, I’ll take forty percent, you take sixty. I won’t interfere with how you sell it.”

Wang Ji didn’t bargain—he nodded and agreed immediately.

To him, this cult was nothing but a fat sheep ripe for slaughter.