Stronger with More Jobs

Core district of the City of Injustice.

Skyscrapers stood tall, with the headquarters of the Desolate Bone Corps occupying one of the buildings.

Top-floor meeting room.

Outside the large floor-to-ceiling windows, the entire city gradually lit up under the onset of dusk, resembling a sprawling galaxy.

However, this magnificent scenery.

At this moment, could not bring any warmth to the meeting room.

The indoor lighting was dim.

Only the neon from outside outlined a solitary figure.

He was shrouded in a large black robe, seemingly merging with the shadows below, silently overlooking the city beneath him.

The meeting room door was suddenly flung open, breaking the dead silence.

A group of figures entered in single file, their steps imbued with an unmistakable anxiety and a travel-weary atmosphere.

The black robes they wore varied in style.

Yet without exception, they emanated the aura of Tier Three Martial Saint or Apostle.

They were the core leadership of the Desolate Bone Corps.

However, at this moment, these powerful individuals, whose mere footstep could shake the Gray Rock District, had faces filled with weariness, anger, and even an indescribable fear.

The leader, tall and burly, wore a fierce fang mask, none other than Deputy Leader Gu Yan.

He hurriedly walked to about ten meters behind the black-robed figure, forcibly suppressing the turbulent Qi Blood, his voice tinged with an almost imperceptible tremor, hastily reporting:

"Leader! Those lunatics from the Celestial Punishment Association... their onslaught is too fierce! We’ve lost our strongholds in East Third District and South Seventh District... completely lost! Counting the two squads we lost today... our manpower... has suffered losses nearing forty percent!"

The black-robed figure at the window remained unmoved.

Only an extremely faint response arose in the silence:

"Mm."

Just one word, and nothing more.

Gu Yan maintained his reporting stance, but beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

He waited for several seconds, seeing no reaction from the leader, and his inner anxiety could no longer be suppressed. He suddenly raised his head, his voice rising in plea, almost desperate: "Leader! We can’t keep fighting like this! Our brothers are human too, they’re not stones filling a pit! If we continue clashing head-on like this, in less than two days, the foundation of the Desolate Bone Corps will be completely depleted, even Tier Three can’t withstand such consumption!"

From the crowd behind, a lean figure, with eyes sharp as a hawk, couldn’t contain himself and stepped forward quickly.

He was the head of the Punishment Hall for internal discipline and member management within the Desolate Bone Corps, codenamed Blood Fang.

He walked to Gu Yan’s side, addressing the leader who still had his back to them, with a more restrained and rational tone, advising: "Leader, Deputy Leader Gu Yan is not wrong. I’ve reviewed the statistics, the battles over the past three days... have resulted in a loss ratio approaching ten to one!"

"Those black-robed bastards from the Celestial Punishment, fearless and cunning, and those... those monsters like Shi Hao! The brothers are all feeling uneasy, morale is low, and privately someone has already started saying we’re sending them to their deaths! People are uneasy, leader!"

Blood Fang took a deep breath, observing the leader’s back, cautiously offering his suggestion: "I dare to suggest, is it possible... to temporarily halt direct conflict with the Celestial Punishment? Stabilize first, reassure the people, pull back the wounded to recuperate. Once we stabilize, understand the Celestial Punishment’s reality, then plan further? Or..."

He paused, attempting to throw a bait, "Or, can we contact other forces who are also eyeing the Celestial Punishment? If we can pull them into the fray too, share the pressure, maybe we can..."

His words abruptly stopped.

Because that statue-like black-robed figure.

Suddenly turned around slowly.

The bone mask concealed his features, revealing only his eyes.

His gaze was calm and unwavering, bypassing Gu Yan, landing precisely on Blood Fang’s face.

"Who else is interested in the Celestial Punishment?"

A voice, plain without any rise or fall, clearly entered everyone’s ears.

Blood Fang was momentarily stunned.

He had only thrown a bait in haste, attempting to divert focus, there was truly no one interested in the Celestial Punishment.

Those forces saw the Desolate Bone Corps now being beaten back, suffering heavy losses, and were eager to avoid involvement.

How could they actively jump into this muddied water?

His mind raced, trying to fabricate some names, but in the face of this gaze, any lie seemed feeble.

He opened his mouth, his throat seemed blocked.

Ultimately, he could only fall silent awkwardly.

The cold sweat on his forehead instantly multiplied.

This brief silence felt like torture.

The black-robed leader quietly looked at him, suddenly, after a few seconds, shook his head gently, letting out an extremely faint sigh:

"You people... if not... for your decent combat power, I truly want to dismember you and feed you to the fish."

???

What the hell!?

Dismember... feed to the fish?!

The air in the meeting room instantly froze.

All the leaders, including Gu Yan, were struck like lightning, their bodies stiffening in place, pupils contracting to needlepoint size.

A chill shot from their tailbones straight to their Celestial Spirit.

The leader... wants to kill them?!

Just because of suggesting a truce?!

How... how is this possible?!

The Desolate Bone Corps is his foundation! Is he insane?!

Shocked and impossibly absurd thoughts seized everyone instantaneously.

They fixated fiercely on the cold bone mask.

Trying to find some hint of jest, or a wave of anger.

However, there was nothing.

Only an expanse of icy cold silence.

In this silence, under everyone’s focused gaze.