The Treatment of a Martial Artist

Through Xi Qing's account, Lin Chenxing finally understood everything that had transpired during his coma.

It was now April 26th; counting today, he had been in a deep slumber for exactly three months.

Since the implementation of the Warrior Cultivation Plan, the physical fitness of all base members had steadily improved. The members of the former Elite Squad had also grown stronger through the continuous practice of cultivation techniques; excluding a few who had only broken through to become Intermediate Warriors, most had become Advanced Warriors.

With the construction and allocation of villas, the gap between individuals became starkly apparent, and the status of all Warriors rose significantly.

Looking at history, a sudden rise in status easily triggers psychological shifts, and the Xingyan Group was certainly no exception.

During a day off for the former First Exploration Team—now the Rescue and Material Collection Team—a member, after being rejected by a young woman he was pursuing, quietly followed her, hoping to find an opportunity to force himself upon her and then compel her submission.

However, when he saw the woman go to another man and nestle into his arms, his inner resentment gradually surged, and he lashed out violently, spewing every obscenity imaginable.

Ultimately, thanks to the intervention of the Provisional Law Enforcement Team, the couple managed to keep their lives, though they were severely injured and expected to spend a considerable amount of time in the infirmary.

After investigating the situation, the Law Enforcement Team arrested the Rescue Team member in direct accordance with base regulations.

After listening to his subordinate's embellished report, He Qishun happened to be attending a Board of Directors meeting, where he immediately voiced his dissatisfaction to Gao Zheng. He demanded that the Law Enforcement Team release his subordinate and issue a public apology to the man.

As the person most familiar with the incident and the head of the Provisional Law Enforcement Team, Guo Qichang had to defend his subordinates, as they had acted correctly in this matter. As a member of the Board of Directors, he also had an obligation to maintain his status and authority, so he flatly rejected He Qishun's demands and instead proposed that the member be severely punished to demonstrate that the base treated everyone equally.

After hearing both sides, Gao Zheng stated his own position: merit should be rewarded, and wrongdoing must be punished.

This incident became the fuse for the conflict throughout the entire base.

The privileges of Warriors were officially brought to the table.

Many members of the Rescue Team began to stand up for their teammate, arguing that he had clearly held back; otherwise, the couple would not have just been injured—they could have been killed. That was their first point.

Secondly, they argued that as Warriors and members of the Rescue Team, they ventured into dangerous areas every day for the sake of the base and the Group, risking their lives. If they could not receive commensurate rights within the base, they were no longer willing to make such sacrifices.

The first point did not actually garner much attention, but the second point struck a chord with many Warriors.

Indeed, they risked their lives every day, but upon returning, what did they get besides a large house? Were they just working for those meager rewards? If they couldn't find relaxation and happiness within the base, their constant exploration and mission-running would only make them increasingly repressed.

The resulting discussions grew louder and louder, eventually becoming impossible to suppress.

In another Board of Directors meeting, He Qishun recruited Ma Tianxing and began to jointly demand that Gao Zheng increase the rights and benefits of Warriors.

Gao Zheng naturally could not disagree with this demand, as he himself was a Warrior and understood the hardships they faced. The reason he hadn't increased their benefits previously was simply because the base's resources were truly limited.

However, Gao Zheng flatly rejected He Qishun's demand for reduced penalties for Warriors who committed offenses.

After a certain degree of debate, the proposal to increase Warrior benefits was shelved by Gao Zheng, to be discussed again at a later date.

Ordinarily, such matters would not have leaked, but through the efforts of those with ulterior motives, all the Warriors became aware of what had happened in the meeting.

Already dissatisfied with their treatment, the Warriors began to gather and clamor.

He Qishun, using the pretext of calming the Warriors' anger, once again proposed a meeting to decide on Warrior benefits, further suggesting that the meeting be expanded to include representatives from the Warriors themselves.

This move immediately won the unanimous approval of the Warriors, who began demanding that Gao Zheng step down as Chairman and be replaced by He Qishun.

The ranks of the Warriors had become too large; there were now seven exploration teams with a total of 125 members. Including the Rescue Team, Trade Team, and Law Enforcement Team, there were 194 Warriors in the entire Group.

The demands of these Warriors could not be ignored, and Gao Zheng had no choice but to agree to hold a meeting to re-discuss their benefits and allow Warrior representatives to attend.

During the meeting, because the selected Warrior representatives were essentially supporters of the movement, Gao Zheng and the few who stood with him had little say, forced to watch as these individuals continuously proposed and passed motions favorable to the Warriors by majority vote.

Among these resolutions was the proposal that caused the greatest friction between Gao Zheng and He Qishun: the reduction of penalties for Warriors who committed offenses.

To a certain extent, passing this clause could indeed attract more people to become Warriors, increasing their numbers and helping the base develop further.

However, nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards. If the penalties for Warriors were lowered, it would inevitably trigger a series of problems, such as the oppression of ordinary people, just like the incident with the Warrior who had been locked up.

Gao Zheng watched all of this with great helplessness, but he had no way to reverse it.

If he had overwhelming strength, he could have suppressed them by force, but he was currently only an Advanced Warrior. Although he stood at the top of the Group, the gap between him and the others was not large, especially regarding the other three board members, He Qishun included, who possessed essentially equal strength.

At that moment, Gao Zheng began to have a great desire to improve his own strength. He also saw the support He Qishun had gained through his own squad, so he began to form his own exclusive team under the name of Emergency Support, hoping to use it to bridge the gap in strength with He Qishun.

Gao Zheng began to frequently go to the front lines to participate in the exploration and rescue efforts of various Warrior teams, and through these trials, he successfully became the first Warrior in the Group to break through to the level of a Battle General.

At that moment, his prestige was once again established among the Group's Warriors.

However, He Qishun and the others were not far behind Gao Zheng; within just a few days, they also made their breakthroughs.

That day, the Group received an urgent report from a Warrior exploration team: a survivor settlement had been discovered in Chuilong Town, and they needed to be rescued. However, there were many monsters in Chuilong Town, and a few exploration teams alone could not handle it; it required the strongest teams in the Group to take action.

Considering the danger level of Chuilong Town, the Rescue Team led by He Qishun and the Emergency Team led by Gao Zheng set out together for Chuilong Town to carry out the rescue.