Chapter 775
Chapter 775 - 761: The Legend
1,870 words
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10 min read
"Lu Ping’an, nice to see you still remember how to attend a meeting..."
In the modestly sized meeting room, Wang Xier’s voice of grievance incites a burst of light laughter.
Although she deliberately lowered her voice, almost everyone in the room was in the middle and high ranks of their professions. Her attempts at keeping quiet might as well be a futile attempt.
But the next moment, when Wang Xier’s resentful gaze swept over the room, everything immediately quieted down.
Lu Ping’an looked up from his book... thinking he saw Xue En for a moment!
"... You haven’t been sleeping well lately?" Lu Ping’an put down his book, in his belief he might have mistaken her for a panda ... a zombie.
Those dark circles around her eyes, pale skin, and a soulless look like a corpse, all led him to question whether she might suddenly keel over and die, or if she was already a walking corpse.
"Of course... I didn’t sleep well! I only had two hours of sleep last night. I have so much work. While you... Colonel Qian has an excuse as he’s busy tending to affairs outside. You are hiding and avoiding people, leaving me in charge of all the camp issues - land division, communication with the Red Star people’s officials, logistic arrangement for hunting the Aus people, local development works, and internal disputes..."
"Tsk, just hearing it sounds quite a pain, spare me the details." Lu Ping’an’s remark almost sent the room into a blood-curdling frenzy.
The more people knew Lu Ping’an, perhaps the more they would trust him while also understanding that he often has no intentions of being considerate.
Perhaps he’s the kind to push you until you’re dead, as long as you’re not dead yet?
"Cough, actually I’ve been quite busy too, really busy..."
Probably because the gaze from the other side was overly "friendly", Lu Ping’an still found an excuse on the fly.
The "Three Giants" during the war naturally took over control locally. Although the "official" personnel took over most of the trivial matters afterward, many specific tasks and important decisions still needed to be handed over to them.
Listening to the set of tasks Wang Xier described, Lu Ping’an couldn’t bear beyond two sentences. It’s not that he’s entirely ignorant about the trifles, but he knew that this was far from normal "work".
𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
In the end, the administrative abilities of these civil employees simply steamrolled over those like him. Whether it’s "diplomacy with the Red Star people", "managing hunting teams", or "resolving conflicts within small teams", all these unending issues are escalated to the higher-ups because..."
"It’s hard to work with professionals, especially when it involves their own interests. They could have sacrificed their lives for you when you were in the same trench, but now they wouldn’t hesitate to chop off your fingers for money. The little bit of prestige you had dissipates too quickly in the face of interests. Each failed negotiation is a blow to your prestige. The more you manage, the less they care about you... "
Lu Ping’an’s words immediately silenced the meeting room.
Yes, in the end, it’s all about interest. Along with the end of the war and the dissolution of the regiment, the cost of management increased drastically. Some unlucky eggs forced to "manage" are dealing with "neighborhood disputes" and "grocery shopping wars" every day.
The Red Star people are both allies and "explorers". They came here to earn money, while some places have already been getting rich by the Eastern Country people... When they have disputes, who can stop them?
The bounty on the Aus people is massive, but the exact arrangement is also hot-property, leading to infighting amongst the Eastern Country people... Some have no intention to go back and are already planning their lives.
’...You guys probably find that the more you interfere, the less they respect you. You’re pissed off but can’t resort to violence, and your words fall on deaf ears...err, they selectively listen. Once the tasks you assign involve their interests, they find excuses and wrangle endlessly. Every day there is no progress but new stories.’
This person has been absent all along, but he knows everything? Has he been observing all along? Does he have a plan, just like during the war?
"Me? I can’t help either. Blocking someone’s wealth is akin to murdering their parents- I don’t want to earn their hate, so I didn’t want to manage at all and slipped away early."
Lu Ping’an, with his air of justified negligence, left some of those who had worked overtime speechless in the meeting room.
"If you knew about it, why didn’t you come and help? Among us, you are the one with the most prestige. If you were here... "
"It’s useless, if I’m there they might give me a little face and take a break, but as soon as we leave they continue their antics. Ultimately, we are just a provisional government during the war. Our authority came from temporary authorization during the war. They listen to us only because they want to survive. Now the war is over, who would take you seriously."
Having said that, Lu Ping’an simply continued flipping through his book, he loathed wasting time on senseless matters.
Lu Ping’an, Captain Qian, and Wang Xier had fundamental differences, though they all have the veneer of an official. However, Lu Ping’an has no interest in "performing" and "climbing."
Since he doesn’t pursue progress, he can obviously stay drily righted and happily negligent.
As for these unlucky ones, they can’t. They were entrusted by the "shadow government", expected by ordinary explorers, and actively sought out for "diplomacy" by foreigners. Important documents and policies assigned under their watch, they can’t stop for a moment.
Is there really no way out? Not necessarily.
Establishing a set of teams and mechanisms, finding some tough characters to become the "Big Bro" of the temporary regions, delegating duties level by level, passing the responsibilities down... and keeping the conflicts at the grassroots level... Cough, moving problem-solving to the place where the problem originates, thereby avoiding escalation of conflicts.
No joke, this is actually achievable. With the authorization from the shadow government, the influence of Princess Wang Xier, and military support from Captain Qian, establishing authority and organizing teams, making a few examples out of some chickens to warn the monkeys, is just...
"In a few days, we’ll be off, so what’s the point of going through all this trouble?"
Lu Ping’an could say this because he really had no plans to level up. On the other hand, if Wang Xier and Captain Qian said and did the same thing, they would likely be labeled as "lazy" or "lacking ambition" upon their return.
Wang Xier also sighed helplessly. Could it be that they genuinely couldn’t see it? Not necessarily. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place with no way out.
Someone always had to take care of certain things, someone always had to take responsibility, and they, with their official backing, had to do their part as much as possible.
Wang Xier shook her head, her dull eyes blinked rapidly, and in the end, her aggrieved expression turned into a helpless bitter smile.
"At least come and have a look. Some things are better if you handle them."
"I am really busy, I don’t have enough time..."
"You’re always squatting in the camp, what can you possibly be busy with..."
"I’m advancing... uh, first I’m getting a part-time job. Almost done."
As he said this, Lu Ping’an patted the thick book at his waist, which already contained over half of the "Decrees".
"Part-time job?!"
The first to react was another high-level professional in the conference room. He looked at Lu Ping’an in astonishment.
Carrying a book or notebook around is a habit of scholars or painters. But he only knew of three professions who wore an obviously "contaminated" scripture hanging from their waist with a chain.
Among them, the "Scroll Caster" is a fifth-tier profession and hence not consistent with Lu Ping’an’s part-time job (downward), and the other "Scripture Holder", though starting from the 2-tier level, is mostly a fanatic with strong religious connotations. Lu Ping’an didn’t seem like one.
So, as unlikely as it seemed, was Lu Ping’an intending to take up that legendary profession..."
"Lu Ping’an... Your Excellency, are you planning to become a... Lawyer?"
At this point, the room burst into uproar. Although they had never seen certain things before, they knew how outrageous they truly were.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Lu Ping’an yawned and nodded.
"Yeah, I’m almost done. I’m over halfway through. It should take less than a week."
The conference room was absolutely boiling now. A "Lawyer" under twenty years old appearing before them - was there anything more outrageous (the Sophist’s path is only determined after death)?
"...Are you planning to change your mastery to scholar?" Wang Xier was somewhat shocked and disbelieving. From various aspects, the man in front of her seemed very different from a pure scholar.
He had shown astonishing strength in his roles as a warlord, beast tamer (?), and battle-professional. Was he giving it all up just like that?
"No, I’m still a Gardener, the type that plants crops and tills fields. The Lawyer is just a support profession. Many of you are not also part-time scholars, accelerating the growth of your main profession."
In an instant, everyone fell silent.
Indeed, part-time scholars were common, but those who took it up were low-level scholars, integrating it into their fundamental professions. Who would choose an average fifty-year-old Lawyer profession? Even if they hadn’t seen it, they had heard about it.
The so-called "Decree Qualification Exam" that was reportedly impossible to pass in a lifetime was by no means meant for ordinary people to understand.
Seeing that no one believed him, Lu Ping’an snapped his fingers.
A purplish-blue flame rose flower slowly bloomed on his finger. He then casually handed it to a lady at the side of the table.
"Tsk, you all don’t believe me. I can’t lie as a Contractor. Actually, despite its reputation, the Lawyer profession is quite weak. The ’borrowed’ abilities are completely useless in battle, just trinkets..."
That was "Hell Rose" Ding Lan, and the "Purgatory Fire Rose" with its toxic flame and curse was his signature.
And she was Lu Ping’an’s "customer" from a few days ago.
She emotionlessly accepted the rose, staring blankly as the flower that was originally hers extinguished in her own palm.
"...It really is my ’Purgatory Fire Rose’. The Lawyer profession is even more outrageous than the legends!" In the midst of her scream, there was a mixture of fear and disbelief.
Uh, seemed like there was a new misunderstanding?
— End of Chapter 775 —