Chapter 232: Who Has Such Nerve?
The conference room door opened again. Rose Rhodes entered first, then stepped slightly to the side, revealing the figures behind her.
A man and a woman, both with an extraordinary air about them.
Showing no shame or inclination to apologize for their tardiness, they calmly took their seats at the head of the table. Rose Rhodes stood by the woman’s side.
The man spoke coolly, "Let’s begin."
As he spoke, he propped his legs up on the table and leaned back, his chair tilting to an almost unbelievable angle.
It looked as if he might topple over at any moment, yet he maintained this precarious, teetering balance, rocking gently.
Logan Holland glanced at the man, then at Lily Hart. ’Damn,’ he thought, ’they both act like they own the place.’
Seeing that the meeting was about to start, Lily Hart put away her playing cards and folded her hands on the table.
She looked like a model student, if not for the fact that her legs were crossed and a bit of pomelo was stuck to the corner of her mouth.
One might have actually thought she had been waiting patiently and obediently this whole time.
The woman at the head of the table had long, straight black hair and was dressed entirely in black. She scanned everyone present, her gaze pausing for a moment on Lily Hart.
Then, she laced her fingers together on the table and said gravely, "The main purpose of this meeting is to discuss the future direction of human development."
Elder Shaw frowned. He didn’t recall the agenda for this meeting ever being what she had just stated.
’It was supposed to be about...’
Before he could dwell on it, Quentin Carter spoke up. "As you all know, there are several places on the map of Cathaya that we have never set foot in."
As he said this, a current map of Cathaya slowly descended behind him.
It wasn’t a pre-apocalypse map of cities and towns, but one marked with the precise locations of the major bases.
In addition to the base locations, some entire regions were marked in red.
Someone stood up, walked over to the map, and picked up a long, thin metal rod.
Seeing this, Quentin Carter nodded in satisfaction and continued, "Meridia."
The rod pointed to the area as he spoke. "Here, there is a mutated plant that has been entrenched for a long time. We’ve heard it has already reached the Ninth Rank."
"The nearby superpower users can’t do anything about it, and the bases are built quite far away. It would be one thing if we could just live and let live, but this plant has dared to encroach on our territory!"
Quentin Carter grew more incensed as he spoke, slamming his hand on the table and rising to his feet, his voice booming.
But he wasn’t finished. After talking about Meridia, he moved on to the southernmost region, where a giant mutated octopus was coming ashore daily to eat ordinary survivors.
After the giant mutated octopus in the south, he started on about some Zombie King in the north who was running rampant and had destroyed several bases.
Lily Hart’s brow furrowed as she listened. ’I have a bad feeling this is all aimed at me,’ she thought.
Sure enough, once he had covered all four corners of the map, Quentin Carter got to his main point.
"Therefore, we can no longer tolerate these things! We must fight back!"
"Today, we will formally establish a superpower user team dedicated to eliminating these High-level mutated plants and animals. We are also extending an invitation to all superpower users on the rankings, and all bases must prepare to report their superpower users."
Everyone was stunned. They hadn’t expected such a bombshell right at the start.
Taking on High-level mutated plants, animals, and zombies?
’Who gave you the guts for that? It’s always been a "you stay on your side, I’ll stay on mine" kind of situation. We leave each other alone.’
’Besides, we can’t even win. How many superpower users would we have to sacrifice just to eliminate one of them?’
The Base Commanders from the major bases all fell silent. No one spoke up, each of them silently processing the news.
But Quentin Carter quickly continued, "Not only must we gather superpower users to fight these High-level mutated creatures, but we also need to prepare more supplies to lay the groundwork for next year’s war between humanity and the zombies!"
He was really getting fired up.
But he was the only one. Everyone else remained silent.
’What’s this all about now? Humans and zombies have been "coexisting peacefully" for ten years. What’s the big idea, suddenly trying to start a war? You think you’re hot stuff now?’
But these were thoughts they only dared to mutter to themselves.
Standing behind Lily Hart, Owen Warren couldn’t help but scoff internally. ’A war between humans and zombies? What a joke.’
’Never mind that zombies outnumber survivors by tens to one. At the same rank, a zombie’s combat power is far greater than a human’s.’
Lily Hart was maintaining a blank expression when Quentin Carter suddenly called on her.
"Boss Hart, I hear your convenience stores have an endless supply of goods. Would you be willing to make a contribution to the development of humanity?" Quentin Carter asked with a smile.
His words were dripping with the intent to guilt-trip her. Everyone turned to look at Lily Hart, eager to see how she would respond.
Would she be forced to agree? Or would she refuse and burn the bridge?
Just as Elder Shaw was about to speak, he heard Lily Hart’s crisp voice.
"Sure. Here’s the price list," Lily Hart agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
She then pulled up a price list on her Light Brain and maximized the screen, making it even larger than the map.
This allowed everyone in the conference room to see it with perfect clarity.
The chart was straightforward, showing product names, prices, and images.
The prices were identical to those in her physical convenience stores—no tricks, just the plain truth.
Quentin Carter’s smile froze on his face. It took him a moment to say, "What I meant was, provide them for free. Make a contribution to humanity. Everyone would be so grateful to you."
Lily Hart shook her head and waved her hands, her refusal sharp and clear. Mimicking his fake smile, she replied, "Oh, I can’t do that. I need to make a profit. How can I run a business at a loss?"
"As for making contributions, you’ll have to find someone else. I won’t be joining in on that. I don’t need the empty praise."
She was displaying the true nature of a merchant to a T.
Everyone actually found it perfectly reasonable. ’Trying to talk a merchant into giving things away for free? What a joke!’
So, everyone sat back to watch the show. How would Quentin Carter try to guilt-trip her next?
"Look at them, these young people today! So inconsiderate! All they think about is themselves—their own food, drink, and fun—without any regard for the bigger picture!"
"And another thing, she brings fruit for herself but doesn’t even offer to share! Tsk, the youth of today are nothing like we were in our time. Isn’t that right, Elder Shaw?"
The sheer force of Quentin Carter’s condescending lecture was practically radiating onto Lily Hart’s face, his expression full of sanctimony.
He jabbed his finger forward repeatedly, spittle flying from his mouth.
Elder Shaw, having been called upon, replied, "No."
Quentin Carter’s expression darkened instantly. ’How dare this old fool embarrass me in front of everyone?’
Just as Lily Hart was about to fire back, the woman at the head of the table tapped the table lightly. "That’s enough. What’s all this arguing about?"
She said forcefully, "Boss Hart, I’ll have to trouble you to provide the supplies. Someone will coordinate with you shortly. As for the bases, provide your superpower users. We need to reclaim our territory from the zombies."
With that, ignoring everyone’s opinions, she stood up and declared, "All right, that’s settled. Meeting adjourned."
A look of utter bafflement crossed Lily Hart’s face. "Well, aren’t you full of yourself," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Frost Shaw clenched his fists, ready to fight, and the others also shifted into a combat-ready stance.
"Pfft..." From the back, Roman Rowe couldn’t help but let out a laugh.