Chapter 991
Chapter 991 - 977: The Choice
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8 min read
"What’s this? Slacking off again?"
"Heh, I’m just a blind man flipping through a book... uh, the more I look, the blinder I become?"
After cracking a joke that he himself couldn’t laugh at, Lu Ping’an lifted the book in his hand, which was his notebook brimming with extraordinary knowledge.
He was indeed very idle now... and among his team, he was probably the only idle one.
"I’ve delegated the projects and work assignments. How they complete them is their business, and if they don’t, I’ll just replace them..."
Experience from two lifetimes had given Lu Ping’an a management philosophy slightly different from this era’s.
He wasn’t the traditional type of leader who thought, "I build an organization, I am responsible for it, and for its operation, I need to divide responsibilities bit by bit and hire people to work."
He was more like, "I have a project, so I need some people to complete it. If they do well, we can form a stable working relationship," a sort of new era "outsourcing company."
He didn’t start by dividing departments and then assigning tasks.
Instead, he threw out projects and handed them to department heads, letting them take care of it.
Handing over the projects in advance also meant letting them start thinking, preparing, and recruiting for the work now.
If they did well, they could take charge of the department; if not... he would recruit from outside, and they would become his deputies.
"...Do you think they can handle it on their own?" Xia Qin sighed. Only she would take the initiative to come over and inquire about what Lu Ping’an, the hands-off manager, truly meant.
"They can’t. It would be good if they could complete ten or twenty percent during this rest period."
Lu Ping’an shrugged. He was quite self-aware of his colleagues’ capabilities.
"But the point isn’t whether they can complete the project. It’s that in the process of starting it, our accumulated capital, materials, and human resources will integrate towards accomplishing the goal, turning into something that can yield certain results..."
At this, Xia Qin began to understand.
"...Set a goal first and use the process of achieving it to build the team?"
"Pretty much, what they achieve counts. During the process, we also assess their management and organizational skills. They will definitely need to recruit specialists to succeed, which saves me the hassle of recruiting myself."
Lu Ping’an saw things clearly; he knew that people at the core of his team were not qualified leaders.
He didn’t set up a company and structure a society to play old games of claiming kingship and dominance.
"You’re asking me, so it’s surely not just about their tasks... An Xin, I have no wild ambitions, nor would I go against the times to become a warlord. I just want to expand the avenues for resource acquisition, and at the same time, advance further along my own professional path."
"...Is that so?" Xia Qin paused for a moment. She didn’t want to tackle this subject, but she had to get it clear.
"Yes." Lu Ping’an was sincerely rare.
"Then you... have been somewhat strange, both while there and even more so after leaving, always pondering something."
Xia Qin didn’t beat around the bush and just asked directly.
In her view, Lu Ping’an had indeed been a bit odd these days... He wasn’t a proactive person, nor one to plan so far ahead.
He had the ability but lacked the motivation to use it.
Was it because of the great gains this time, changes in status and identity, that he wanted to change his attitude? No, that wasn’t like Lu Ping’an.
What puzzled her most was that lately, he was always hiding away reading books or silently gazing into the distance.
Faced with Xia Qin’s straightforward questioning, Lu Ping’an fell silent for a moment.
"... That’s because I’ve seen a higher view."
The young man with blindly eyes looked up at the sky.
There was the sky of the Deity’s Divine Kingdom, but in Lu Ping’an’s eyes, it seemed as if he saw the wing that obscured the heavens, that fiery and beautiful Firebird.
"Want to become stronger?"
"No, I just want to live longer and live better..."
Lu Ping’an’s answer was as realistic as ever.
For him, life was like a bitter quest; since one would eventually reach the end, why care about the trivial matters?
But now, after all his travels, he was no longer alone.
"Does all life eventually reach its end..."
At least, Lu Ping’an didn’t think human civilization had a chance of witnessing the end of the "Firebird".
This time, the greatest gain had actually come shortly after he first arrived in this ring world.
He saw the "Firebird" and experienced a glimpse of the "higher level" of existence.
"...I just know that, following my path of development, merely relying on normal progress, that kind of solitary, intense training, I could at best become a ninth-order, and with some luck, a Tenth-order..."
The words of Lu Ping’an might have made others laugh, as such wild claims typically belonged in dreams.
At most a ninth-order Quasi-God? Lucky enough to become Tenth-order? Why don’t you just ascend to heaven?
"Do you think doing this will allow you to go far enough? Do you need to start so early..."
"It’s necessary,"
Lu Ping’an confirmed his answer.
What he needed was not only the resources and sense of security brought about by the "industry," but more importantly, the "Order" that comes from the rules, and the rules that Order brings.
Although it seemed like a cycle, the fact that the "logic" could cycle through also meant that it was a self-consistent "rule," and rules could become his Path.
Put in simpler terms, Lu Ping’an was crafting his own "trade" rules; he needed this industry.
"...Can I talk about this with the higher-ups?"
"Of course, you can. Your hesitation already means a lot to me."
Simple words, yet loaded with much to ponder.
But before leaving, Xia Qin couldn’t help but ask...
"Really, is it just for climbing higher, living longer..."
Hearing her say this, Lu Ping’an laughed. Despite Xia Qin being a grown person, she seemed more childlike than himself.
"It’s also about living better, not just for us, but for everyone..."
Are the two in conflict? In pursuit of higher power inherently leads to a better life, doesn’t it?
Some things are better left hinted at. The main beneficiary of establishing a company isn’t necessarily the professionals themselves.
Previously, Explorers and professionals worked for themselves, nominally for their country, but self-sufficiency was essential. For those who died in battle, at best, they might receive a condolence payment, and in case of a "disappearance," they might end up in a stalemate.
But now, by establishing a company... then, even if Lu Ping’an himself died, someone would take his place, and if the company didn’t collapse, the successory would have to acknowledge Lu Ping’an’s "shares" and provide his parents with adequate treatment.
Not just the mid- and high-level staff with shares, but even the grassroots employees now had a subject of "allegiance." Thus, their contributions and overtime needed to be recorded, and if something did happen, at least the company would look after their families to some extent.
Lu Ping’an saw all of this clearly; he just couldn’t be bothered to explain.
He could have used this as a result, to deceive others, but since Xia Qin asked, he offered a sincere answer.
"...So this is the road to the supreme heights."
The books spread open before Lu Ping’an contained the Taboo knowledge of the professions like the Juggler, the Red Meteor, and the Pale Hand.
Was it just for the Runner Path? No, it was not that simple. In fact, he had already completed the fourth-tier form of the Red Meteor, but at the moment he was about to step out, he hesitated.
He could feel that it wasn’t just the fourth-tier; he was always on the threshold of a higher level.
Fifth-tier? Even a Sixth-tier might have been just a thought away.
He received a warning from his spirituality that, with his current accumulation, once he made up his mind to break through the fifth-tier, he would complete a Sixth-tier Combination within three months... His accumulation was already sufficient; it was just a matter of cashing it in.
But had he really done so, he might have missed the stairway to even greater heights.
Perhaps there would be another chance to choose later, but the cost would likely be a hundredfold, a thousandfold greater, and it might never come until his death.
Reality is brutal, and sometimes "choice" is far more critical than "effort," and it was time for Lu Ping’an to make a decision.
"Eternal Moving Spirit? I must leverage the shoulders of the Big Cat to have a chance to advance further..."
— End of Chapter 991 —