Chapter 54 - 52: Those Who Obey Live, Those Who Defy Die!

Chapter 54: Chapter 52: Those Who Obey Live, Those Who Defy Die!

Liu Zimo’s gaze swept over the dozen or so people seated in the room one by one.

Aside from the green locks floating above the heads of Liang Luojun, Zhou Yiren, and Zhao Shijie, the remaining thirteen individuals all had a swath of golden yellow hovering above them.

"Not a single Red Shadow Lock?" he thought, feeling a little disappointed.

Despite there being so many Iron Bone realm Martial Artists, in terms of potential and aptitude, not a single one could compare to Yang Sisi standing at the door.

"Never mind," he thought. "Having something is better than nothing. Thirteen it is. I’ll bind them first!"

Liu Zimo sighed inwardly. When the quality was lacking, he could only make up for it with quantity. Although golden Shadow Locks were somewhat underwhelming, as long as there were enough of them, the benefits should still be decent. It was definitely better than leaving these slots empty.

After his cultivation base broke through to the Fetal Breath realm, his available binding slots had expanded again, reaching a total of fifty. Following this pattern, by the time he broke through to the next realm, the number of slots would inevitably increase once more. There was absolutely no need to worry about running out of slots when he encountered better talents in the future.

[Binding successful! Your Good Brother Cai Jianghong is now online. Currently available binding slots: (11/50)]

[Binding successful! Your Good Brother Lan Tianbao is now online. Currently available binding slots: (12/50)]

[...]

[Binding successful! Your Good Brother Sun Hao is now online. Currently available binding slots: (23/50)]

In a mere instant, all thirteen attendees with golden Shadow Locks hovering above their heads were successfully bound by Liu Zimo, turning into his "Good Brothers" and "besties."

"This... sir, how should we address you?"

Seeing that Liu Zimo remained silent for a long time, only sweeping his sharp gaze over them one by one as if ready to devour them alive, Liang Luojun, the host, finally couldn’t hold back and took the initiative to speak. He asked in a probing, emphatic tone, "I would like to know, what is your purpose in gathering all of us here at this moment?"

SMACK!

Liu Zimo didn’t say a word. He threw his previously prepared work credentials onto the table in front of Liang Luojun. At the same time, he flipped open his jacket, revealing the Advisor Badge hanging on his chest.

SWISH!

The moment they saw the Martial Arts Consultant Badge, before Liang Luojun, the director of the Military Staff Department, could even react, the three Military Staff Department Inner Guards seated further down stood up in unison.

"Military Staff Department Special Training Battalion, Class One Inner Guard Sun Hao, greets Advisor Liu!"

"Military Staff Department Special Training Battalion, Class One Inner Guard Liu Guangsheng, greets Advisor Liu!"

"Military Staff Department Special Training Battalion, Class Three Inner Guard Yuan Bin, greets Advisor Liu!"

The three of them stood up straight and, with booming voices, took the initiative to state their identities. At the same time, they stared intently at Liu Zimo, their eyes filled with reverence and fanatic zeal.

Liu Zimo’s gaze slowly shifted toward the three of them. With a casual wave of his hand, he severed the ropes binding them.

"One mid-stage Iron Bone realm and two early-stage Iron Bone realm. Not bad at all.

"Since you’re one of our own, return to the ranks. Until we head back to the Shangjing Headquarters to report in, you will take orders directly from me!"

Without any unnecessary nonsense, Liu Zimo issued the command, taking the three men under his wing.

For these three to confirm his identity as an advisor so quickly—and even deduce his surname from the engraving on his Advisor Badge—they were clearly extremely familiar with its existence. Without a doubt, they were from the Military Staff Headquarters.

Moreover, Liu Zimo had heard of the reputation of the Military Staff Inner Guards in his previous life during his time in Shangjing City. In Wu Songyang’s words: The loyalty of the Inner Guards is absolutely trustworthy. You can confidently entrust your back to any one of them to protect.

"Understood!"

Sun Hao and the other two simultaneously straightened up to accept the order. After raising their hands to salute Liu Zimo, they swiftly stepped out of line and stood behind him with utmost reverence. The excitement and joy in their eyes were self-evident.

As Inner Guards of the Special Training Battalion, no one understood better than them the level of martial prowess required to become a specially invited Martial Arts Consultant for the Military Staff Department. This Advisor Liu before them, who was almost absurdly young, must have possessed the cultivation and strength of the Golden Body realm even before the disaster struck, just like Elder Hong!

This also explained why, during their earlier scuffle, the three of them couldn’t even withstand a single encounter against Advisor Liu and were completely powerless to fight back. Being able to directly serve alongside such an overwhelmingly powerful advisor was absolutely something every Inner Guard dreamed of!

As for why they had never heard of or seen this Advisor Liu before, that was not something they needed to worry about. As long as they could confirm that the Advisor Badge was not a fake, all they had to do was follow orders!

"Military Staff Department Specially Invited Martial Arts Consultant, Rank... Internal Advisor?!!"

At this moment, Liang Luojun had also flipped open the ID credentials in front of him. When he saw the words "Internal Advisor" written in the rank section, he couldn’t help but raise his voice!

"Is this some kind of joke?!" he thought in disbelief. "A kid in his early twenties actually holds a position at the rank of an Internal Advisor?!"

This realization made Liang Luojun—who had spent half his life fighting in the military, was pushing fifty, yet was still only a Junior Advisor—feel incredibly defeated.

"Even if it’s just an honorary title, it’s still an Internal Advisor, second only to the General Staff!" he lamented inwardly.

Seeing the grand seal of the Military Staff Department stamped on the credentials, along with the three handwritten characters for "Wu Songyang" in the signatory section at the bottom, Liang Luojun knew that this ID couldn’t possibly be fake!

The official seal might be forgeable, but Chief Wu’s handwritten signature was not something just anyone could copy. Moreover, unless one was an insider within the military staff, they wouldn’t necessarily even know Chief Wu’s full name.

SWISH!

Liang Luojun also suddenly stood up straight, raising his hand to salute Liu Zimo as he reported, "Director of the Luozhou City Military Staff Department, Liang Luojun, greets Advisor Liu!"

"Deputy Advisor of the Luozhou City Military Staff Department, Zhou Yiren, greets Advisor Liu!"

"Thirteenth Legion Commander of the Northwest, Zhao Shijie, greets Advisor Liu!"

"..."

Following Liang Luojun, Deputy Advisor Zhou Yiren, Thirteenth Legion Commander Zhao Shijie, and Director of the Police Bureau Lan Tianbao also stood up in unison, saluting and reporting loudly to Liu Zimo.

In principle, they all belonged to the military staff system, and their ranks were all below Liu Zimo’s "Internal Advisor" status. There was absolutely nothing wrong with them standing up to salute.

Even though they had all harbored some ulterior motives previously, entertaining thoughts of dominating Luozhou and crowning themselves kings, right now, facing Liu Zimo—an incredibly powerful existence whose rank was far above theirs—yielding and submitting had become their only viable way out. Otherwise, according to wartime regulations, even if Liu Zimo executed them on the spot, he wouldn’t have to bear any responsibility.

Right now, among the people present, anyone who wasn’t a fool had mostly guessed that the mysterious powerhouse who had slain Jing Yong and Xuanqing, stringing their corpses up on the commercial building in the city center, was most likely this Advisor Liu right in front of them.

If he dared to mercilessly kill and publicly exhibit the corpses of disciples from Dragon Tiger Mountain, there was no need to even mention what he would do to them. Therefore, upon seeing top military staff leaders like Liang Luojun, Lan Tianbao, and Zhao Shijie choose to surrender and pledge their allegiance at the very first opportunity, the heads of the other factions couldn’t help but feel a shudder in their hearts.

They knew that with the appearance of this Advisor Liu, the power dynamics in Luozhou City had completely changed!

At this moment, seeing Liu Zimo’s gaze slowly sweeping toward them, Cai Jianghong was the first to stand up and declare his stance.

"From now on, everyone in the Jiang Hong Martial Arts Hall will follow Advisor Liu’s lead! If Advisor Liu has any tasks in the future, just give the word!"

"The same goes for my Mountain and River Gang; we will follow Advisor Liu’s lead! We will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

"The same goes for my Freemasonry..."

As the saying goes, a wise man submits to circumstances. They had all become damn prisoners anyway, so what was the point of preserving their pride? Saving their lives was what truly mattered!

And so, led by the Martial Arts Master Cai Jianghong, everyone present successively bowed their heads in submission. From beginning to end, before Liu Zimo even had the chance to say a single harsh word, he had already obtained actual control over all the factions in Luozhou!

Regarding this, Liu Zimo didn’t find it surprising in the slightest. In the Post-Apocalypse, strength was king! As long as one’s strength was formidable enough, suppressing an entire city single-handedly—or even ruling a nation—was not impossible.

Liu Zimo didn’t dilly-dally with these people, directly issuing his commands, "Starting today, Luozhou City will implement wartime regulations, prioritizing Military Merit! All resources and personnel will fall under the control of the military staff!

"Within one hour, I want you to purge all the Demon Beasts within the city!

"Before dawn tomorrow, I want to see the defensive fortifications outside the city basically formed. Never again will a single Demon Beast be allowed to casually barge into the city!"

SMACK!

With a casual toss, he threw a pre-marked map onto the conference table and said indifferently, "On this map are the areas each of you needs to be responsible for.

"If the time is up and you haven’t completed the two tasks I mentioned, then I will have someone else take your positions!

"As for your previous actions in the city, I will settle those scores with you one by one!

"Remember! For those who pay lip service, disobey regulations, or act recklessly, the fates of Jing Yong and Xuanqing are your best examples!"

Everyone’s hearts trembled, and they responded in unison. They had heard and understood Liu Zimo’s words clearly. In short, it all boiled down to one sentence:

Those who obey live; those who defy die!

If they didn’t want to end up like Jing Yong and Xuanqing, they had better work hard and not try to play any petty tricks.