Benefits

"Opening up a new settlement is difficult, and it may bring danger. But this isn't just about opening up a settlement for the company. It's also about saving yourselves!

"The company has supported you until now, and it's time for you to repay it! And the company's generosity has also given you special benefits for this pioneering mission! There are even spots in the Inner City!..."

Like Uncle Hu before him, Zechuan started by feeding them some poisonous chicken soup, while also offering a few benefits and promises.

As soon as he mentioned "spots in the Inner City," it was obvious that many people in the crowd had changed their expressions.

Many of the Outer City residents who had come here might have just lost loved ones, but now they were perking up their ears to listen to Zechuan.

Tao Yu listened too. The Inner City had a better environment, and if he really became strong enough to hold his own, of course he'd want to move there with his family. But that wasn't something he needed to consider just yet.

The so-called spots in the Inner City were just bait for now. They were still a distant prospect, and even if he did get one, Tao Yu didn't want to go there and be pushed around, given the gap between his strength and that of those two young masters from the Inner City.

By comparison, some of the other benefits on offer might be more practical.

The first was "skill training"!

There were plenty of dojos in the Outer City where people could learn skills, but Tao Yu's family couldn't afford to send him to one. The only thing he'd learned was the Basic Breathing Technique, which Third Brother had taught him by hand.

The first relatively practical reward this time was that anyone with a Combat Talent, or an approved Support Talent, could choose one skill to learn for free at any of the many dojos in the Outer City!

If their Combat Talent was high enough, they could choose two free skills!

Beyond those free skills, the first additional skill would be half price. This discount wasn't limited by talent and applied to all pioneers who survived in the new settlement.

The interest rate on loans for learning a first skill would also be lowered, to borrow nine and repay eleven. They couldn't discriminate based on a person's circumstances, either. Any pioneer from the new settlement who wasn't already in debt had to be allowed to pay in installments.

And on top of the money the siblings had mentioned earlier, those who met the requirements could receive a thousand units of willpower. If they chose an ordinary skill, that would be enough to cover even the discounted training fee.

It was a genuine offer of some benefits.

After the miserable conditions they were usually used to, benefits of this magnitude suddenly had the whole crowd singing the company's praises.

"...Besides that, the company's Urban Construction Department is setting up a new subsidiary division called the Pioneer Division. The Pioneer Division will have a newly established Outer City Section, split into a Combat Brigade and a Support Brigade. Anyone who returns alive from the new settlement can join, regardless of talent! Pay attention: regardless of talent!"

At this, Tao Yu even heard people around him gasp. Many eyes lit up.

Tao Yu understood why they were so astonished.

His parents earned only three hundred units of willpower a month between them, but given how relatively safe their jobs were, that was already a dream job for many Outer City residents!

Tao Yu's family income was only slightly below average, but one reason they lived so miserably was that there were so many of them. His parents also cared a great deal about Awakening Day, and made sure every child received roughly the same preparations.

They'd just finished saving up for Tao Yu, and before long they'd have to start saving for Eighth Brother. He'd turn eighteen in two years.

In normal times, people fought tooth and nail for even relatively stable jobs.

They had to go around looking for work at various departments or factories themselves.

Only those with suitable talents and abilities had a chance of being hired.

Otherwise, they had to find a way to venture into the fragments of the world outside the settlement.

Some low-ranking pioneers might occasionally earn a hefty income through these adventures, but the dangers and instability were obvious.

Often, they couldn't even take proper care of their children, who then lacked enough points and ended up as cannon fodder.

Tao Yu's mother worked at a leather factory. She'd made the sturdy, durable leather armor he wore. His father, meanwhile, worked as a Sentinel in the city guard office of the Abyss settlement.

The city guard office in the Abyss settlement wasn't the same as the Outer City's Security Team. The conditions were much worse, but compared with other jobs available to Outer City residents, it was still pretty good.

But from what Zechuan had said, it seemed that anyone who chose to go to the new settlement and returned alive could join a department under the company!

Many of the settlement's factories weren't actually part of the company. They were owned by Inner City residents who simply paid taxes regularly!

The factory where Tao Yu's mother worked was one of them.

Getting into a department directly under the company was a rare opportunity.

At the very least, a steady salary was something many people couldn't turn down, and they could also earn cannon-fodder points.

But...

There was no denying that opening up a new settlement was dangerous. And cannon-fodder points were awarded according to rank; if everyone could earn them, then there was no point if the group wasn't large enough.

Still, the New Frontier hadn't introduced the cannon-fodder system yet because it didn't have enough people. That was one piece of good news.

Tao Yu rapidly weighed his options. He was quite happy about getting skills for free. He could Deify skills, and as long as he used his B-rank Talent, he could get two for free.

But he had no interest in joining the company's Urban Construction Department, Pioneer Division, Outer City Section, Combat Brigade, or whatever it was called.

He did need a place to settle down and rest in the Abyss, but after one unsuccessful attempt at joining a team, he was still cautious about that sort of thing.

He had plenty of secrets. He didn't mind teaming up temporarily now and then, but joining a place where he'd be under restrictions long-term was out of the question.

He hadn't seen much of the world before, so he didn't know much about organizations, jobs, or how things worked.

His family's greatest hope had been for him to awaken a C-rank Combat Talent and join the Outer City Security Team, bringing honor to the family. Their fallback plan was for him to find a steady factory job and work on an assembly line.

Well, that was no longer an option.

"I'll ask Uncle Hu for advice later. And I need to find somewhere to sell the goods I'm carrying."

Tao Yu, holding two wolf legs and carrying a bulging backpack, had decided what to do next.

"Hey, Tao Yu, I'm so glad you're okay. That backpack looks heavy. Let me carry it for you. After all, Uncle Tao Hu asked me to look after you..."

Just then, a delighted voice came from the side. Li Le walked right over. His eyes burned as he looked at Tao Yu's backpack, and he reached out to grab it.

Li Le was filled with excitement and delight. He hadn't expected this kid to make it back alive too!

Only he and Tao Yu knew the Blood Orchid's properties!

With the little connection his family had with the Inner City, he could definitely sell it for a good price!

He didn't think Tao Yu would resist. He'd surely give him some of the proceeds.

Put simply, would you dare to take this thing out and sell it yourself?

You'd be crushed under its weight!

Tao Yu glanced at him and tapped his hand with one of the wolf legs.

"Don't bother looking. I ate it all."

Feeling the pain in his wrist and astonished by Tao Yu's strength, Li Le went dumb at those words. His eyes reddened.

"You ate it?! How could you waste something so precious!"

Li Le didn't believe him, but the pain in his hand told him that Tao Yu really was very strong!

Glancing at the way people around them were looking, Li Le decided not to say too much. He suppressed his anger and calmed himself, then walked over and lowered his voice.

"I was wrong about what happened with the team before, but the guy from the Inner City had me under his thumb. I couldn't do anything. You can't handle that thing on your own! Let's work together!"

"I really did eat it. I knew I couldn't hold on to it, and absorbing its willpower felt like a waste, so I ate it."

Tao Yu smiled. He seemed completely unconcerned about Li Le's attitude, both back then and now.

Back in the Real World, even if things were still chaotic, there were basic rules. He couldn't just kill Li Le in broad daylight, and saying a few nice things wouldn't cost him anything...