Xu Feng's expression grew somewhat grave. "Foreign martial artists? Why? What about the Wumeng Mountain Region has caught their attention?"
Lu Fei shook her head as she ate. "Apart from the mineral deposits, I don't know what those people are after either. But it can't hurt to be careful."
This woman had been coming around more often lately. Watching her eat so much, Xu Feng felt a pang of sympathy for his wallet.
"By the way, how did the cleanup team do? Did they finish the mission? How many casualties?"
Xu Feng changed the subject and asked.
Without looking up, Lu Fei said, "The losses were neither light nor severe. The team was ambushed, and quite a few Martial Servants died. The martial artists didn't suffer many losses, though. You were right not to go."
Xu Feng sighed. If only he'd known sooner.
But he had something important to ask Lu Fei. "By the way, do you have any more of that Blood Qi Potion from last time? If you do, I'd like to buy some."
"We have some, but it's not for sale." Lu Fei shook her head.
"Why?" Xu Feng asked, slightly taken aback.
"Because the base is short on it too." Lu Fei's words carried an implication.
Xu Feng's heart tightened. "Are we getting ready for war? With those people from the Eagle Alliance?"
"We're just preparing early. There definitely won't be a war, but there'll certainly be some conflicts.
"But with the Earth Martial Artist Alliance keeping a lid on things, they won't get out of hand."
Lu Fei didn't hide anything, briefly letting him in on the situation.
Xu Feng felt a little weighed down by her words.
Danger had never truly gone away.
Compared with the Alien Race and Mutated Creatures, he was actually more worried about humanity.
At the end of the meal, Xu Feng raised a glass of water to Lu Fei. "By the way, do you know anyone in the base's Maintenance Department?
"I'm fairly good at repairing communicators. Could you put in a word and get me in?
"The pay for being a porter is too low. Even with my Quasi-Warrior certification, it's still low."
Lu Fei glanced at him. "You've gotten pretty bold. Since when did you dare to ask me for this kind of favor?"
"Life's been putting a lot of pressure on me," Xu Feng said with a smile, unbothered. He was just being honest.
Lu Fei gave a snort of amusement. "Heh. Fine, I'll ask around. As long as you keep improving, it'll always be a good thing for Xiao Dan."
"I really appreciate it!" Xu Feng said sincerely, cupping his fists.
"I'm not making any promises." Lu Fei waved a hand.
The next day.
"Brother Xu, you must have some impressive connections. To get into our Maintenance Department, you'd usually need to have graduated from a top university or have extensive work experience."
"Come on, you're flattering me. I just applied for the job. The base has been short-staffed lately, so I managed to slip in. I'm almost embarrassed to say it."
Inside the base's Maintenance Department workshop.
The room, nearly a hundred square meters, held nine workbenches.
A repair technician in blue work clothes sat behind each one.
Xu Feng stood at the entrance, chatting and smiling with a fifty-year-old man dressed in work clothes.
The manager smiled slightly at Xu Feng's confident reply. "The work in our department isn't difficult. We just repair communicators damaged in combat.
"We mostly deal with Weihua's Series 6, along with Dami's Series 66.
"Of course, some frontline units also send in Series 9 communicators. Have you worked on those before?"
Xu Feng was surprised. "Oh? What a coincidence. I specialized in Series 9 before."
The middle-aged man gave a faint smile. "Heh. You sound pretty confident, kid. But this is a technical interview. Talk alone won't cut it."
"Then let me give it a try," Xu Feng said with a smile.
"Good. Come this way."
An hour later.
"Phew!"
As he walked out of the Maintenance Department, Xu Feng felt as if the sky had turned bluer.
The air was fresh, and his spirits were high.
He'd passed the interview and would start work tomorrow.
Eight hours a day, weekends off, and a monthly housing allowance of 2,000.
After insurance and other deductions, his monthly salary came to 25,000.
His eyes suddenly welled with tears.
"Damn it, I'm still just a wage slave. Why am I getting emotional?"
That evening.
At Xu Feng's home.
"What? Someone broke in and got killed?"
A group of people had gathered together, their expressions grave.
Besides Xu Feng, Huang Sen, Wang Long, and Liu Yu, three other people had joined them this time.
They were all new neighbors who lived nearby.
After the earlier third-level war alert, many people had moved out of the residential area.
Now, every household in the neighborhood had a bunker.
Liu Yu sighed. "What a troubled time.
"The threat from the Alien Race has only just eased a little, and now those damn foreign devils have brought us more trouble."
Wang Long sighed. "Because all the bases are required to stay in close contact and help one another, Sky Moon Martial University couldn't refuse visits from martial artists of the Eagle Alliance.
"But that's also brought some criminals who cause trouble.
"A lot of those people from the Eagle Alliance have terrible manners, and they're ruthless."
"Doesn't the Martial University's Patrol Squad do anything about it?" Liu Yu asked, puzzled.
The elderly Zhao Qian frowned. "They can't keep up. The Shanty Town is simply too big.
"Nearly a thousand people live here, and there are only ten people in the Patrol Squad. How could they manage it all?"
"Uncle Zhao, you're already so old. Why haven't you retired?" Wang Long, the Fatty, asked curiously.
Old man Zhao Qian shook his head. "Sigh. My younger son still needs to buy a house and a car, and cultivate. The family's short on money."
Huang Sen interrupted their idle chatter. "It's the same for every family. We can talk about that later. First, let me share what I'm thinking.
"If we want to put a complete stop to the trouble those foreign devils are causing, that's like asking an old woman to do the splits—pretty damn difficult.
"And if something happens and we call for help, waiting for the Patrol Squad to show up is like hoping to get lucky in bed with Pan Jinlian—dream on."
Huang Sen's crude jokes made Xiao Dan struggle to hold back a laugh.
"So I suggest everyone keep an Internet Alarm at home, and we can watch out for one another. If anyone runs into trouble, we'll all help out.
"We can also set up some surveillance devices around the street corner, connect them to the internet, and keep our little neighborhood lit up."
At that, Wang Long was the first to nod. "It'll only cost a bit of money. I'm in."
"I'm in too." Xu Feng had no reason to refuse.
"I-I'm in too." Liu Yu hesitated, then nodded. "But I'm sharing a place with a coworker right now, so I'll have to ask what she thinks."
"Then ask her first." Huang Sen turned to the other three.
The other three, including Uncle Zhao, had no objections, so they tentatively settled on the plan.
Since Xu Feng was the only one with any technical expertise, everyone unanimously agreed to leave the matter to him.
They'd split the cost evenly when the time came.
Xu Feng naturally had no reason to refuse.
After that.
He spent two days busy with the preparations, as well as all the new-hire formalities.
By the time he'd finally finished setting up the surveillance system and had time to cultivate, his Flying Blade technique had broken through first, reaching a new level.
[Secret Blade Art · Grandmaster (3/10000)]
Whoosh!
Bang!
A flash of cold light flickered from Xu Feng's hand.
The target, made of composite materials, exploded in an instant, breaking into several pieces.
The ordinary alloy practice blade had vanished as well.
He didn't know if it had shattered or flown off into the distant woods.
Xu Feng nodded slightly. This kind of power could definitely match a firearm. It even seemed a little more exaggerated than one.
As for exactly how powerful it was, he no longer had any frame of reference.
But he knew this much.
Once this blade flew, either you died or I lived!
(The End of This Chapter)
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