Chapter 247: Chad Yates
He had led many difficult campaigns to get Central Command to where it was today.
But the headline wasn’t the only shocking part; the pictures below were even more so.
They were accompanied by crime scene photos of Quentin Carter’s gruesome death at home, taken from various angles. However, Lily Hart’s sharp eyes noticed another person in the corner of a few pictures.
It was the corner of an outfit, a dark gray tunic suit, that looked a lot like... the one Quincy Shaw had been wearing the first time Lily Hart met him.
’It had to be intentional.’
’Someone with a mind as meticulous as Elder Shaw’s would never leave such a ridiculous opening. Someone must have worn the same clothes and "accidentally" appeared in the shot.’
’They were just trying to frame Elder Shaw. What a crude, cliché tactic.’
Never mind Lily Hart; even the average survivor wouldn’t believe it. Rumors like that were a dime a dozen.
Lily Hart paid it no mind. ’Anyone can spread rumors,’ she thought. ’Elder Shaw has weathered so many storms; he certainly won’t let this bother him.’
But unexpectedly, someone immediately replaced Quentin Carter. A new director had appeared.
As Lily Hart sat in the conference room, watching the new director speak with such eloquence about his vision for the future of Central Command and humanity, she felt a bit dazed.
’Things change so fast...’ Lily Hart yawned and shifted in her seat. ’This chair is too hard. It’s so uncomfortable.’
The new director’s name was Chad Yates. He had an ordinary face, but when he started speaking, he exuded a strange, persuasive charisma.
He suddenly singled out Lily Hart in the hundred-person conference room. "Boss Hart, I’ve heard a great deal about you."
Lily was in the middle of a yawn. She ignored him, finished it, and only then gave a placid nod, as if to say, ’Got it. You can get back to blowing smoke now.’
She’d been running her shop just fine when Elder Shaw messaged her to attend this meeting. She had figured that with Quentin Carter dead, there wouldn’t be anyone annoying around, so it might be interesting to see what was going on.
’I guess I didn’t count on another eyesore showing up.’
Lily Hart closed her eyes with a mix of resignation and disgust. Chad Yates’s smile froze on his face.
But he recovered quickly and resumed his eloquent speech as if nothing had happened.
She tried to focus and listen for a bit, but she found he wasn’t making a single point—it was all just hot air. Propping her head on her hand, she let her gaze wander, her interest clearly gone.
But Chad Yates singled her out again. "Boss Hart, even though Elder Corbin is no longer with us, our plans must move forward. Central Command will be purchasing supplies from you. Is that acceptable?"
Lily Hart languidly lifted her eyelids to look at him. "Elder Shaw has always handled the supply purchases with me. Just contact him."
With a single sentence, she put Chad Yates firmly beneath Elder Shaw in the pecking order.
Chad Yates: ...
He could only grit his teeth and force out a single word: "Fine."
The rest of the meeting revolved around how to reclaim human territory. The plan still involved gathering High-level Superpower Users to deal with the High-level Zombies and mutated flora and fauna.
Elder Shaw scoffed internally. ’There were few enough High-level Superpower Users as it was, and just yesterday, they’d lost thirty-seven of them in one go!’
Each one had been painstakingly trained, and Central Command had invested immense effort into cultivating them.
And just like that... they were gone.
Elder Shaw’s face remained calm and expressionless, but inwardly, he was sneering at The Mysterious Clan. By extension, he couldn’t stand the sight of Chad Yates either.
He knew Chad Yates had also been sent by The Mysterious Clan, though he had yet to learn which specific family.
It was another long-winded speech, and Lily Hart was growing drowsy. She propped her head on her hand, feeling just like she did when she used to doze off in class.
Eventually, she just plopped her head on the table and fell asleep. No one around dared to wake her; most of them had bought scratch-off tickets from her shop at some point.
They didn’t dare offend her, nor did they dare provoke her.
Chad Yates’s gaze swept over Lily Hart several times. He looked like he wanted to say something but held his tongue.
"Who is the director of the research institute?" Chad Yates scanned the room. The conference table was so large that he couldn’t quite see the people at the far end, so he raised his voice.
Someone raised a hand. Chad Yates nodded at him. "You need to work harder. I’ve read your research reports from the past three years, and there isn’t a single decent result among them."
Director: ... ’My turn?’
He hung his head, unable to speak. After all, it was the truth...
His beady eyes darted around until they landed on Lily Hart, who was still asleep on the table. A sudden inspiration struck him.
The director shot to his feet, pointed at Lily Hart, and announced loudly, "I’ve heard that Boss Hart has a small vegetable patch with extraordinary soil! Anything can grow in it, and at an extremely fast rate! If you let us study it thoroughly and expand the cultivation area, we’ll never have to worry about food again!"
The moment he finished speaking, everyone’s eyes lit up. This was incredible news!
They all turned to look at Lily Hart, who, blissfully unaware, continued to sleep soundly.
The director cleared his throat awkwardly, gesturing for the person next to her to wake her up.
But no one paid the director any mind. Seeing that the scene was about to become awkward again, Chad Yates himself came down from the head of the table.
He walked over to Lily Hart’s side and gently pushed her shoulder.
Lily Hart’s shoulder twitched a couple of times before she simply rolled over and continued to sleep, completely oblivious.
Chad Yates’s hand was left hanging awkwardly in the air. For a moment, he couldn’t tell if she was doing it on purpose, or on purpose, or *on purpose*!
Undeterred, he reached out to push her again, this time adding sound effects. "Boss Hart? Stop sleeping. Wakey wakey."
"Huh?" Lily Hart mumbled, her eyes still half-closed. "Meeting over? That new director is so long-winded he could bore a person to death."
’Why is it so quiet? If the meeting’s over, why hasn’t everyone left?’
’Are they all that dedicated to their jobs?’
She noticed everyone’s gaze was fixed on something behind her. Lily Hart turned to look, meeting Chad Yates’s fake smile.
"Yikes!" Lily Hart shivered and hugged herself. ’What’s he doing standing behind me? So creepy!’
Seeing that she was finally awake, Chad Yates gestured for the research institute director to repeat what he had just said.
Emboldened, the director repeated his words with even more passion. "I’ve heard that Boss Hart has a small vegetable patch with extraordinary soil! Anything can grow in it, and at an extremely fast rate! If you let us study it thoroughly and expand the cultivation area, we’ll never have to worry about food again!"
"So, would Boss Hart be willing to contribute some soil and crops for us to study?" he asked, his tone surprisingly sincere.
Lily Hart shook her head with equal sincerity. "Nope~"
But she added, as if she were genuinely considering Central Command’s best interests, "However, you can buy it with Crystal Cores or trade supplies for it. As for what supplies, and whether I’ll trade at all—that’s for me to decide."
Everyone looked at Lily Hart with something akin to worship. ’So this is what it means to have real power,’ they thought.
They all knew Chad Yates had been sent by the higher-ups. Even though they couldn’t stand him, they had no choice but to answer him with forced politeness.
Suddenly, they felt a vicarious thrill!
’I don’t care who you are. When you’re dealing with me, you play by my rules!’
Chad Yates adopted a conciliatory tone. "What kind of supplies does Boss Hart want? Let me see what I have."
Lily Hart propped her head on her hand, turning to face him. She said lightly, "How about you trade your life for it?"
’Did you really think I didn’t know anything just because I was asleep? The system was awake the whole time.’
’Scheme against me time and again, will you? Hmph!’