ASER - Chapter 122
Chapter 122: Benefits
Three minutes later, the dust settled upon the ocean. Blood stained the waters for a hundred li, and the waves surged, wild and unrestrained.
After the bodies were collected and inspected, A'Diao directly retracted her Spiritual Power, mounted her flight device, and said to the still-excited crowd, "Leave this place immediately."
Everyone understood. Such a fierce battle had erupted here, and the stench of blood was too strong; it would easily attract other Demonic Spirits.
"Go!"
A group of cultivators transformed into streaks of light and followed A'Diao, flying away. Sure enough, not long after, the post station was surrounded and slaughtered by a large number of Demonic Spirits. The scale of this group of Demonic Spirits was such that even ten A'Diaos couldn't handle them.
A'Diao sensed the aura of this group of Demonic Spirits and frowned slightly.
Such a strong aura from this far away, and so many Demonic Spirits?
If the situation in B Zone couldn't be stabilized, especially if this acid rain didn't stop, it could very quickly turn into another A Zone.
At that point, the Southern Sea Region of the five prefectures would be indefensible. They would either have to deploy all the forces of the five prefectures or request troops from the Imperial Court. But unless absolutely necessary, the five prefectures definitely wouldn't want the Imperial Court to interfere.
Qingzhou, in particular, would certainly be unwilling.
At dawn, the heavy rain still poured. The crowd's armor was not resistant to acid corrosion. If not for the equipment repair personnel from the Military Department among their entourage, many people's armor would have been ruined.
However, the journey was not difficult because their Commander of Ten Thousand, amidst her despicable moral character, possessed a rare and noble virtue—she would never delay distributing spoils of war if it could be done quickly.
In this wave, she took 3,000 Three-headed Shark corpses. As for the hundred thousand Bloodvine Barnacle corpses, she didn't take them, perhaps accidentally scooping up a few hundred. However, she did specifically capture several live ones and kept them in cages, for unknown purposes.
In fact, for these cultivators, the hundred thousand Bloodvine Barnacle corpses and their Spirit Cores represented an enormous benefit, enough for their thousand members to share. Moreover, there were still 6,000 Three-headed Shark corpses left as spoils.
If distributed according to contribution, even the weakest among the more than one thousand people would receive a substantial fortune, not to mention the 300 A-rank cultivators and ten Forbidden Masters who formed the main force.
Actually, they hadn't expected A'Diao to be so generous. After all, the previous batch of 2,600 might have been due to their joint efforts, but the final large wave was clearly A'Diao utilizing the Bloodvine Barnacles, primarily attributable to her malicious cun... ingenious plan. They hadn't exerted much effort.
So Big Brother was too generous! A Child of Wealth / Big Brother?
In the future, if anyone calls her insidious, cunning, despicable, and shameless, I'll fight them to the death!
However, they didn't know A'Diao's thoughts: Without these thousand-plus people, I couldn't have accomplished this. Even if I was entitled to 5,000 Three-headed Shark corpses or tens of thousands of Bloodvine Barnacle corpses, I couldn't let this group feel that what I alone received exceeded the sum of what all one thousand of them got.
Instead, I need to make them feel like I took a loss. Only then will their hearts most likely lean towards me.
Human hearts are inherently unreliable; don't expect them to eventually be clear-headed enough to think that accounts should be settled fairly and that I deserve more. Even if they think so now, they'll feel disgruntled later, and might even think I used them to escape the pursuit of these two Demonic Spirit groups.
Although that was indeed the case, they would later feel that I owed them.
Therefore, only benefits can move them. However, it's mainly because my current situation is special; I have to sacrifice certain benefits in exchange for reputation, status, and goodwill.
The cunning and treacherous little evil dragon was never willing to cede her due benefits, unless absolutely necessary.
Toilet: "You have other concerns, don't you? The reason you want this kind of reputation and status is because of that Mysterious Person A?"
A'Diao: "Yes. This person could actually contact the giant whale to kill me. It nearly scared me to death. The more I think about it, the more terrifying it is!"
"What does this mean? It means his cooperation with the Demonic Spirits is very deep, and a mere Transcendent Upper Rank cultivation isn't enough. This person must hold an extremely high position within the five prefectures and have a powerful force behind him; it's definitely not just him alone. Right now, I'm in the open, and he's in the shadows. I can only sacrifice certain benefits to establish a certain reputation and status to guard against his future schemes against me."
Before, when she first arrived at the post station, showing off didn't matter because the highest-ranking personnel there were only Commanders of a Thousand and those Forbidden Masters who were inferior to her.
But once the target expanded to Mysterious Person A, she had to consider things carefully. Because when one wasn't strong enough to ignore all human relationships and interactions, one still had to play within the larger rules.
Toilet: "You suspect he's from the Military Department?"
A direct hit.
A'Diao didn't say anything, which meant she tacitly agreed.
This person maintained communication with He Luo yet wasn't afraid of being investigated by the Military Department. This indicated he might be a high-ranking official within the Military Department itself, possessing a dedicated satellite signal, or he had privacy immunity, making him untraceable by the military.
For such a person, conducting counter-surveillance on them would be extremely difficult for her, and she could easily be classified as hostile by the military.
Since she couldn't beat them, then... join them!
Similarly, establish her own status and reputation within the military.
However, A'Diao was willing to make such a huge sacrifice because she had a backup plan. For example, she deliberately asked the Commander of a Thousand how much Military Merit was needed to raise the rank of Commander of Ten Thousand to Major General.
After the Commander of a Thousand stated the amount, A'Diao deliberately frowned, a worried look on her face. "It's still that much short."
The Commander of a Thousand was straightforward. "Milord, this battle was entirely your great achievement. Distributing so many resources to us... if other colleagues in the Military Department find out later, we'll be ridiculed. Logically, it wouldn't be excessive for you to take half."
"What kind of talk is that!" A'Diao said with feigned righteousness, "Without your cooperation, this matter couldn't have been accomplished. How could I do such a thing?"
Commander of a Thousand: "It can't be calculated like that. Raiding lairs is inherently a risky endeavor for everyone involved. How can something like cooperation be counted as merit..."
At this point, the others had probably also sobered up from the ecstasy of suddenly obtaining huge benefits and felt a bit embarrassed.
Partnering up to raid lairs indeed followed this principle.
A female Forbidden Master cultivator suggested, "Since Milord lacks Military Merit, and this great victory was largely due to Milord's funding, effort, and strategy, and our losses were minimal, why don't we give all the corpses to Milord? As for the Spirit Cores, we'll shamelessly accept them. What do you all think?"
A'Diao needed to win their hearts, and in truth, these people also wanted to show goodwill to A'Diao. After all, she far surpassed them, and they also wanted to form a positive connection.
This way, both sides were satisfied, and everyone was happy.
A'Diao put on her innocent act again. "This..."
I can't possibly, I really can't.
Although some greedy individuals were still reluctant in their hearts and wanted to keep the Military Merit as well, overall it was within an acceptable range. After all, weighing it up, compared to the value of the Spirit Cores, Military Merit was rather secondary. Moreover, saying it this way wouldn't make them seem too shameless, as if they had just been carried to victory.
Then... let it be so.
So, A'Diao finally accepted these corpses and showed a touched expression.
"I've been away from home training for some time and have met many greedy and immoral individuals. I never expected to meet all of you. This so-called camaraderie is unforgettable."
Originally, everyone just felt embarrassed about being too shameless. Suddenly being put on such a pedestal by A'Diao, their sense of self-morality elevated, and they felt even closer to her. Especially seeing A'Diao effortlessly storing so many corpses, it made them speculate even more about her background: Such a terrifying storage space, what kind of family must she come from? At least not just a background like a hegemon family of the five prefectures, right?
Then this closeness became even more sincere.
For a moment, the camaraderie among the group truly strengthened considerably.
Only when material needs are met can people ascend to the level of spiritual needs.
A satisfying victory in battle, slaying demons and enemies, the bonds of comradeship, flawless righteousness—this is the true essence of team pioneering!
After the spoils were distributed, from over a thousand people +++...
A'Diao appeared calm on the surface, exuding the air of a big shot, but inwardly she was dancing with joy: Wow, I received twenty million Mental Power points when I led them to fight the Demonic Spirits, and now another wave from distributing the spoils.
Forty million Mental Power points now.
Adding the original six million, it's now 46 million!!!
Quick, quick, quick, let me put on my grass skirt, strike up the music, and dance a round.
Although I lost quite a few Spirit Cores, at least I gained more Military Merit and Mental Power, and I also made these people grateful and biased towards me. It's not a loss.
My beloved 404! You truly cannot escape my dragon claws!
Toilet: "???"
And here it was, just thinking A'Diao had genuinely sacrificed benefits due to Mysterious Person A. Turns out, she had calculated these people's emotional fluctuations as meticulously as a honeycomb.
"Post Station No. 3 is just ahead, Milord. We're almost there."
"Alright, you go on."
"???"
A'Diao explained to the Commander of a Thousand, "Although I am a Commander of Ten Thousand, I am not, after all, Military Department personnel. Moreover, the powers in this Southern Sea Region are a mixed bag. You are affiliated with Qingzhou, but there are military personnel from other prefectures. If they learn about this battle and insist on dividing my spoils, can I really contend with them? I wouldn't dare face that. It's better to part ways with you here. By the way, apart from the Commander of a Thousand who can report the truth to superiors, the rest of you should stick together to protect your interests. If anyone asks, just say you fought desperately, suffered heavy casualties, and fled in disarray... Otherwise, there will be a lot of trouble."
She wasn't the type to join a faction, lead a group to do a few things, and then integrate herself into the collective. For matters she settled herself and benefits she obtained, unless it stemmed from her own weighing of pros and cons, no one could dream of getting money out of her.
The Commander of a Thousand probably hadn't expected A'Diao to see things so clearly. He was slightly embarrassed and wanted to say that his legion absolutely wouldn't, but thinking about the affairs of the other prefectures, he didn't dare to make any guarantees.
"Then, Milord, how will your Military Merit be redeemed?"
Out of respect, he still addressed her as Milord, as if she were now truly his superior, rather than an external contractor.
If strength couldn't explain everything, then battle achievements could.
He truly revered her.
"Let's wait. The situation in B Zone is too unstable, and people's hearts are restless. Unless a superior asks, don't mention me much. I'm a low-profile person!"
"And to all you brothers, be careful. I look forward to fighting alongside you all again in the future. We'll meet again!"
With a wave of her hand, she departed dashingly.
The crowd was filled with emotion on one hand, and on the other, they each raised their guard.
Milord was right; they indeed needed to be careful.
People often die at the hands of others.
"But I really hope we can fight alongside Big Brother again next time."
"Commander of a Thousand, sir, when will you apply to your superiors to have Big Brother transferred over?"
Commander of a Thousand: "..."
You think I don't want to? But my position is too low and my words carry no weight, I can't do it! Ahhh!
A'Diao didn't dare go to other post stations partly because she was wary of Mysterious Person A.
Because she wasn't sure if the information about the giant whale's death had already reached him, or if he would connect it to her. Since that was the case, it was better to hide temporarily and focus on developing her strength first.
As for why she didn't return to Sea-Sky One Hue, it was because there were definitely his spies there too. She wasn't sure if she could hide well enough to avoid them. If she couldn't, and he arranged another ambush, she wasn't sure if she could fight her way through.
So, she still had to get resources and immediately develop her strength.
Only true strength could withstand more risks.
A'Diao found a desolate island southeast of Post Station No. 3. It had likely been ravaged by Demonic Spirits, leaving it a desolate mess with dilapidated houses and skeletal remains everywhere. A'Diao found a deep cave dug by someone before her, took out her Space Spirit Plant Body, and entered it.
Come, come, come, the little evil dragon is going to count her money.
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