120: Chapter 120 Decision-Making: Become the Boss!

Chen Chen stared at the two messages on the panel.

Iron Wall's invitation to a district-wide strategic meeting.

Jiang Jiuyou's four-word message.

Over the communicator, Shen Wanbing was the first to speak:

"Iron Wall is jumping out to organize a joint defense line at this time because he wants to integrate the remaining combat power of District 069 before the cross-district barriers disappear. His plan is clear—whoever hosts the meeting is the nominal joint commander."

"Is he worthy?" Jiang Yanxue poked her head down from the fourth-floor stairwell.

Shen Wanbing continued her analysis:

"The third piece of intelligence the proprietress gave just now is key. The rankings for the second map are calculated based on the faction's comprehensive value: population, territory, vehicles, resources, and the average level of core members. Our current shortcomings are too obvious—our population is less than forty, and our territory is zero."

Chen Chen pushed the joystick two degrees to the right.

"So, we have to go to this meeting."

Shen Wanbing was stunned for a moment.

"But not as a participant."

Chen Chen lifted his hand from the joystick and flipped through the resource list in his silver-grade storage ring.

"Iron Wall wants to be the head of District 069, and Jiang Jiuyou does too. The military has fifty armored vehicles, and the Jiang Clan Secret Department has forty talent holders—they indeed have the qualifications to sit down and talk."

"What about you?" Jiang Yanxue slid down from the stairs, her Shadow Instant-Kill Blade thudding against the floor.

"I have S-rank weapons."

The carriage went silent for two seconds.

Chen Chen pulled out the recording of the Bishop of Ashes's cross-district broadcast and played it aloud.

The raspy voice of the preacher echoed through the carriage.

"In forty-two hours, this lunatic from District 068 will step into our territory with his army of believers. The military's Iron Wall can't hold him off, and Jiang Jiuyou's Secret Department can't either. They know it themselves, which is why they're in a hurry to form a union."

Chen Chen turned off the recording.

"A union is fine, but there can only be one person with the command authority."

Shen Wanbing's finger paused on the panel.

She understood.

"You want to be the Commander-in-Chief of District 069."

"Not just the Commander-in-Chief."

Chen Chen leaned back in his seat. "The rankings for the second map depend on the faction's comprehensive value. Everyone left in District 069, every vehicle, every resource—I want it all."

Jiang Yanxue gave a whistle.

Su Xiaoqi poked her head out from a corner on the first floor, her mouth stuffed with half a piece of jerky, and mumbled a question:

"Brother is going to be the Great King?"

"Something like that."

"Then what am I to the Great King?"

"The Great King's eating machine."

Su Xiaoqi chuckled twice, finished chewing her jerky, and continued rummaging through the storage boxes for food.

Chen Chen opened the regional public channel and replied to Iron Wall's message.

"The meeting location is changed to the coordinates I specify. In three hours, it will be held on my vehicle. Those who don't come can find their own way to survive the next forty-two hours."

The message was sent.

The regional channel exploded.

Various IDs flooded the screen; some cursed Chen Chen for his arrogance, some begged to be taken along, and some asked for the coordinates.

Iron Wall's reply arrived forty seconds late—

"...Understood."

Just one word, but Chen Chen could imagine Iron Wall grinding his teeth.

Jiang Jiuyou's reply was faster.

"Interesting. What should I wear?"

Chen Chen didn't reply to her.

He closed the channel and locked the navigation to an open stretch of Gobi desert thirty kilometers outside the abandoned city.

The visibility there was good, and the Radar coverage had no blind spots, making it suitable for parking and holding a meeting.

"Bing-jie, calculate how many people are still alive in District 069."

Shen Wanbing closed her eyes, the concentration ice heart necklace emitting a steady blue light.

She opened them ten seconds later.

"Within the Radar's maximum range, we can capture about six to seven hundred valid life signs. Considering Radar blind spots and signal attenuation at the far end, the total number of survivors in the district does not exceed one thousand two hundred."

One thousand two hundred people.

Initial population: one million.

Survival rate—0.12%.

"Among them, no more than two hundred have vehicles, and no more than fifty have A-rank talents or higher."

Shen Wanbing added.

Chen Chen nodded.

This was the pie he intended to swallow.

"Alright, we'll talk about strategy tomorrow."

He stood up from the pilot tower, looked down at Shen Wanxing curled up asleep in the co-pilot seat, and took off his tactical jacket to cover her.

Then he went downstairs.

In the first-floor carriage, Blood Rose occupied the left side of the sofa, her burgundy curls spread across the cushions and her long boots crossed on the armrest; she was already dozing.

Su Xiaoqi was curled into a ball, hugging a storage box as a pillow.

Jiang Yanxue was sitting at the folding table wiping her blade, her dark red pupils lifting slightly.

"Everything arranged?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'm going to sleep."

She stood up, walked to the right side of the sofa, laid her blade beside her, and her breathing became even three seconds later.

Chen Chen scanned the room.

A very faint sound of metal friction came from the direction of the second-floor sniper position.

Qin Hongye.

He headed upstairs.

In the second-floor levitation cabin, the pale blue glow of the c-rank mental soothing bed seeped from the edge of the bed.

The bed was empty—Shen Wanxing was on the fourth floor, while Su Xiaoqi and the others were on the first.

Qin Hongye sat at the firing position by the window on the second floor, her back against the wall, with a Gauss Sniper Rifle lying across her knees.

She was performing maintenance on the barrel, her fingers stained with gun oil. A cleaning rod was pulled out and pushed back into the barrel in an extremely smooth motion.

Chen Chen's footsteps made her look up.

Her dark brown pupils held a layer of alertness within the pale blue glow.

"Not sleeping yet?" Chen Chen leaned against the stairwell.

Qin Hongye pulled the cleaning rod out of the barrel and wiped her fingers with a cloth.

"I'm used to it. I worked a lot of night shifts when I was in the Black Dragon Society, and I can't change my biological clock."

Her ear-length short hair looked sharp under the light.

Standing at 1.8 meters tall, she felt more imposing even sitting down than an average woman did standing up.

Tight leather pants wrapped around those impossibly long legs, flawless from knee to ankle.

Chen Chen walked over and sat on an ammo box opposite the firing position.

Less than a meter separated them.

Qin Hongye's hands paused for a beat.

She had been on the vehicle for about ten days, spending most of her time at the second-floor sniper position; the number of times she had been alone with Chen Chen could be counted on one hand.

"How many rounds did your gauss rifle fire today?"

"Eleven rounds," Qin Hongye answered quickly.

"Four for the Centipede King, two for the beetles, and the rest for those scumbags underground. The temperature control of the electromagnetic coils is still stable, but the acceleration rails will need replacing after about twenty more rounds."

Chen Chen checked his storage ring.

"I have spare parts for the acceleration rails here; we'll swap them tomorrow."

Qin Hongye was stunned for a moment.

The acceleration rails for this D-rank gauss rifle were custom parts that were impossible to find in the wasteland. She had already prepared herself to make do with manual repairs.

"...Thanks."

Chen Chen leaned against the wall and checked the system panel.

Qin Hongye's 'Beauty Bond' slot was hanging quietly in the last row.

Bond Level: Lv.1 (10%).

Exclusive Affix: Purple Epic Grade—Fatal Lock and Weak Point Break (Lv.1).

Of the six women, five had their Bond Levels raised to Lv.4 or higher.

Only Qin Hongye was still stuck at Lv.1.

The current base trigger probability for this purple affix was 15%.

If the Bond Level reached Lv.3, the trigger probability would double. At Lv.5, it would triple.

A 45% weak point marker generation rate, combined with 100% true damage.

This meant that one out of every three strikes would ignore all defenses.

Whether fighting the Bishop of Ashes, the alien races on the second map, or the seeds of the Lord of Flesh—the evolution priority of this affix was higher than even the golden ones.

Chen Chen closed the panel.

"Hongye."

Qin Hongye's fingers tightened around the gun oil cloth.

Since she joined, Chen Chen had called her by her full name far more often than by her nickname.

But his tone tonight was different.