Chapter 309: A Small Incident
The high-level officials gathered at the launch site, after a discussion, failed to come up with any effective solution and could only entrust the on-site command authority after landing to Bei Di'en, the only Fifth-Tier powerhouse who had personally set foot on the Moon.
"We have decided," Chen Bo said earnestly to Bei Di'en from the ground command center, "that you will be the general commander of the Moon vanguard army."
Whether it was the Dharma Body projections of the Martial Path, the avatars of Spirit Arts, or the descending projections of the Divine Path, none could escape the obstacle of distance. The three-second delay rendered their combat power to less than a tenth, forcing them to become mere fixed-output turrets.
Thus, during the period from their successful Moon landing to the establishment of the base, the numerous avatars turned into scarecrows, surrounding the base vehicle that had begun its automatic construction mode.
"Why did I, a newcomer, suddenly become the general commander?" Bei Di'en was arguably the biggest beneficiary of this unexpected turn of events. His mood was excellent at the moment, and he was even humming a tune to himself.
Even those two terrifyingly powerful avatars, with a three-second delay, were nothing more than "clay chickens and ceramic dogs," utterly worthless, to him.
For a Dharma Body stage martial artist, whose strength lay in speed and power, a single second was already enough to accomplish a great deal, let alone three seconds.
Nevertheless, he didn't show any disdain towards these avatars, who had become like wooden figures silently guarding the base, because it was pointless. There might even be some petty ones who would personally come up to the Moon for such an unintentional offense.
The cost of launching a single rocket was only about 500 million Huaxia currency. If necessary, they could spend that money to land on the Moon at any time.
Bei Di'en already had a plan: once the second batch of living people arrived, he would hand over the base protection duties to them, and go off alone to the Moon to seek his fortune. It was rare to have this exclusive period; it would be a disservice to this heaven-sent opportunity not to seize some gains.
Although the Moon's civilization was still in a relatively primitive stage according to the previous survey team's data, he was certain that there would definitely be some cultivation treasures hidden there that would even tempt him.
He also knew that his title of general commander was, in reality, merely an honorary position. Without professional command training, it would be extremely difficult for him to lead a battle involving thousands of people. It would be better to hand over the true command authority to the professional military officers who would arrive on the Moon later.
"I still rose too late; all the easily obtained wealth has already been carved up." Floating above the base, he quietly pondered this. As a newly ascended Fifth-Tier, he wasn't exactly a solitary figure, but the wealth he possessed couldn't compare to that of his predecessors who had been operating for a considerable time.
Furthermore, in the broader context of civil peace, acts like killing to seize treasures were difficult to occur at the Fifth-Tier level. As for slaying peers... putting aside whether one possessed the power, the Fifth-Tier circle was so small; everyone knew everyone else, so it would be impossible to hide.
If he were to rob those below him, almost every person of significant status and wealth in Huaxia could ultimately be traced back to the three major factions, and then everyone would lose face.
After seven or eight years of management and reshuffling, the entire upper echelon of the Huaxia Federation had been encompassed by three factions: the Dao Academy faction led by Yun Jie, the Military faction led by Chen Bo, and the Former Officials faction led by Cheng Mu.
Apart from the few individuals possessing Fifth-Tier power who could stand on their own, almost everyone else had to pledge allegiance to one of these factions to have a chance at further development.
It was also somewhat fortunate that, due to some unknown reasons, the stronger a cultivator became, the more difficult it was for them to leave behind descendants. Thus, the fabled "second-generation powerhouses" were still exceedingly rare. However, the strongest individuals themselves possessed the longest lifespans, and they would likely occupy these positions for a long time, making it increasingly difficult for latecomers to break through.
"What a pity."
Bai Mo, who similarly had no solution, after setting simple autonomous defense commands for his avatars, prepared to no longer concern himself with Moon affairs.
With a three-second reaction delay, no matter how strong his avatars' offense and defense were, they couldn't defeat Bei Di'en. Unless he personally made a trip to the Moon, but for now, he hadn't discovered anything that truly interested him.
The thoughts of others were largely the same: without tangible and substantial benefits, it wasn't worth abandoning their various commitments on Earth to take a rocket to the Moon.
Just as all parties were adopting a wait-and-see attitude toward the Moon project, a small incident occurred on a sidewalk in Tianning City, in northern Huaxia.
"Feng Bu Hui, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop bothering me! We've already broken up! My boyfriend now is Zhao Zhisheng!" A young woman, dressed in a sexy and fashionable manner, sitting in a luxury car, said impatiently to the frail young man on the sidewalk.
"Is money truly everything?" Feng Bu Hui, dressed in a white shirt, suddenly asked.
"Money really is omnipotent; now, with money, you can even buy back youth. I've been with you for two years, and every day you're either holed up in that damn lab or buried in the library. Did you ever think about me?!"
"With just a few thousand yuan from your research institute salary each month, I can't see a future with you!"
"There's no point talking so much nonsense with this kind of person. A good beating will fix him." Zhao Zhisheng, wearing sunglasses and looking somewhat impatient in the driver's seat, directly pushed open the car door and walked towards Feng Bu Hui.
The girl, who had been speaking from the passenger seat, merely remained silent upon seeing this.
"You pauper, take that for your nonsense!" Zhao Zhisheng lunged forward, his heavy right fist striking Feng Bu Hui's chest, sending him flying nearly ten meters.
With his Second-Tier strength, his only concern when dealing with this helpless ordinary person was how not to kill him with a single punch.
Passersby also witnessed the argument, but after glancing at Zhao Zhisheng's car, they all pretended not to see anything. In this small city of less than 300,000 people, that half-red, half-yellow sports car was absolutely unique, and most people knew who its owner was.
Given Zhao Zhisheng's background, publicly beating someone, as long as he didn't kill them, was no big deal. His father, Zhao Lin Gang, was the "local emperor" of Tianning City, and could easily smooth over such minor incidents.
The other person was just a penniless researcher; a beating was just a beating.
"Still buzzing, huh? With money, you can do whatever you want!" Without another glance at Feng Bu Hui, who was struggling on the ground, trying to get back up, Zhao Zhisheng returned to his sports car, hit the accelerator, and sped away in a cloud of dust.
He wasn't worried about any retaliation at all. Thanks to a Xuanhuang Fruit bought at a high price, Zhao Zhisheng had gained a super-regeneration ability, and combined with a powerful physique built up by consuming a large number of Spirit Stones, an ordinary person, even wielding a knife, might not be able to wound him.
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