Chapter 21
Jun Shutong was gradually growing.
Only then did the two men dare lift their heads. Seeing that Lu Li and Jun Shutong had already gone some distance, they scrambled to their feet and hurried after them into the safe passage.
Fatty Lei had long since vanished. Apparently, he had not lingered in the safe passage but had run straight back to the Camp.
"That Chubby Boy is pretty cautious," Lu Li quipped with a smile.
Jun Shutong said nothing, carefully checking her pistol and magazine instead.
"Only five bullets left," Jun Shutong said.
Lu Li reassured her, "One bullet for Fatty's life. That's a pretty good deal."
Jun Shutong glanced at Lu Li, then said meaningfully, "That's not what I'm worried about."
The people in the Camp did respect Jun Shutong, but more importantly, she held the Old-Era Truth, which kept the dissenting voices in the Camp in check.
Without that deterrent, dissent would surely arise in the Camp, perhaps even threatening Jun Shutong's position.
Lu Li realized this too, so he continued reassuring her. "Don't worry. This was an accident. If Fatty Lei hadn't run off so fast and in such a panic, there would've been no need to waste that bullet."
Yellow Hair and Old Xu both nodded in unison.
"Fatty Lei is such a coward. If he'd listened to Brother Lu, Sister Jun wouldn't have had to waste a bullet," Huang Jiafei complained as well.
The two men were now thoroughly convinced of Lu Li's abilities. After all, he had saved their lives through genuine skill.
Old Xu, standing beside Yellow Hair, asked curiously, "Deputy leader, how did you know that magical beast wouldn't attack anyone who stayed still?"
"Observation," Lu Li replied calmly.
Old Xu and Huang Jiafei immediately turned to look at him. Even Jun Shutong watched him with open curiosity.
"If you'd looked carefully, you would've noticed that the magical beast had no eyes and looked a lot like a bat. That made me eighty percent certain the Bat Magical Beast located its targets using ultrasound."
Jun Shutong could not help asking, "But what if you'd been wrong?"
Lu Li laid out his reasoning calmly. "We would still have been fine. The Bat Magical Beast was clearly going after Fatty Lei. Even if we stopped where we were, Fatty Lei would still have been its primary target."
Lu Li made no attempt to conceal his "sinister intentions." Fatty Lei was not there, for one thing. For another, his whole reason for bringing Fatty Lei along had been to use him as a target.
Or, to put it another way, someone to die in their place.
After hearing Lu Li's explanation, Huang Jiafei and Old Xu instinctively exchanged a glance. Each saw a deep wariness of Lu Li in the other's eyes.
Someone like Lu Li was shrewd to the core. Still, as long as you were not the target of his schemes, following him actually felt rather reassuring.
When the four returned to the Camp, they found Fatty Lei sitting in a chair, gasping for breath.
Seeing Jun Shutong and the others return safely, Fatty Lei greeted them with delight. "Sister Jun, thank goodness you're all right!"
"You're not hurt, are you?" Jun Shutong asked with concern.
"It's all thanks to you, Sister Jun. If you hadn't drawn your gun to help at that crucial moment, I'd already be meeting my great-grandma."
"You have no idea how close I just came to meeting her! That magical beast nearly sank its teeth into me. It brushed right past my shoulder!"
Lingering fear still colored Fatty Lei's voice. Every word conveyed his relief at surviving and his heartfelt gratitude toward Jun Shutong.
"Brother Lu, please don't call me for anything like this again. Being bait is way too much trouble. It's not my fault I'm fat," Fatty Lei said, looking pitifully at Lu Li.
Lu Li: "..."
"Don't run so fast next time! That Bat Magical Beast only attacks things that move. If you'd run a little slower and heard what Brother Lu said, Sister Jun wouldn't have had to waste a bullet," Huang Jiafei grumbled from beside them.
"Huh? Seriously?" Fatty Lei stared at Huang Jiafei, wide-eyed and bewildered.
Lu Li did not blame Fatty Lei. After all, he had been the one to act unfairly in the first place, so he stepped forward to smooth things over. "All right, what matters is that everyone came back safely. If there's nothing else, go get some sleep."
"Sure, we'll head back now. Brother Lu, Sister Jun, you should get some rest too." Fatty Lei gave Lu Li a series of knowing winks, then grabbed Huang Jiafei, who looked as though he still had something to say, and pulled him toward the dormitory.
"Damn fatty! Why are you dragging me away? I wasn't done talking!" Huang Jiafei cursed, frowning in frustration.
"Are you trying to get on their bad side? Didn't you see Brother Lu telling us to leave?" Fatty Lei rolled his eyes at Huang Jiafei, who clearly did not appreciate his good intentions.
Old Xu agreed wholeheartedly. "Huang, you should listen to Little Lei on this one."
Huang Jiafei stared in confusion at the two men, who seemed to be speaking in riddles, and was dragged back to the dormitory without understanding a thing.
Once the three had left, Jun Shutong asked, "Want to sit in my office for a bit?"
Lu Li nodded and followed Jun Shutong to her office.
After sitting down, Lu Li asked curiously, "Was there something else you needed, Sister Jun?"
"I'd like your opinion on some rules for the Camp," Jun Shutong explained. "More and more people are coming here. We can't keep managing everything as haphazardly as before."
Lu Li's eyes immediately lit up. Even if Jun Shutong had not mentioned it, he had planned to raise the matter himself in a couple of days.
Lu Li promptly offered his thoughts in earnest. "First, we need a clear division of labor. We never clearly defined anyone's responsibilities before, and we've been supporting a bunch of people who just sit around doing nothing. That does the Camp nothing but harm."
"The elderly might not be able to go out searching for supplies, but we can give them work around the Camp that they're capable of doing. As for children, those over ten can be assigned lighter tasks too."
"Second, we need to organize proper supply-gathering teams and appoint team leaders to coordinate things. Ideally, we should also establish a contribution points system."
"People can exchange their contributions for resources in the Camp. As for the specifics, you can discuss those with the people here."
"I didn't study management, and I don't know much about it. I can only offer you a few suggestions."
Lu Li had no intention of getting involved in any of this. His position as deputy leader was already settled, anyway. He hardly had the energy to waste on the minutiae of managing the Camp.
As someone who had transmigrated to this world, Lu Li knew that Feebas was his real ticket to success.
Jun Shutong nodded. This was not the first day she had thought about these matters. She had considered them before, but had kept hesitating over where
to begin.
After listening to Lu Li today, she finally made up her mind.
After saying goodbye to Jun Shutong, Lu Li returned to his room, fed Feebas, and went to bed.
It was the sixth day since the arrival of Pokémon.
As soon as Lu Li arrived at the Camp to get his meal, Fatty Lei gave him a report-more newcomers had arrived at the Camp today.