He Zhou's wording was fairly oblique and restrained.
However, that way of putting it became meaningless once the "local person in charge," namely Priest Yan Gao of the Myriad Gods Hall, boarded the armed vessel and laid out the mission details.
This middle-aged woman, who looked like a school dean, wore pure black robes and read out the orders with an expressionless face:
"The Bodeng Society has maintained long-term cooperation with the Shadow Domain, enabling personnel exchanges and is suspected of creating 'leak points';
"Chengya Company illegally purchased stolen goods from local 'leak points,' provided processing support, and sold them;
"The pan-northern branch of the Wadang Vitality Association has long engaged in interstellar contraband smuggling, some of it transported through 'leak points.'
"...The above seven categories of criminal organizations and individuals must be cleared out before Day 1 of Week 49. Any listed suspects who resist are to be killed without mercy."
"The specific allocation of cleanup missions is as follows..."
"All departments are to obey headquarters' arrangements, carry out orders without deviation, and maintain secrecy; fight boldly and fiercely, regardless of sacrifice; work together and cover for one another; anyone who disobeys orders will be deemed guilty of the same crimes as the suspects."
And so, Ronan understood:
Plane Six had indeed reserved "training space" for those lawless, reckless grassroots types, but that was also the same as building a "pig farm" where the butcher's knife could be raised at any time.
Now, the Leak Plugging Team led by Ronan was equivalent to a "pig-killing knife" that had just been lifted.
The metaphor was too "Earth," but that was the reality:
Whether this "knife" was sharp would also determine Ronan's value as a "rookie commander."
There was more than one "knife," and more than one pen of "fat pigs."