“I wanted to send you an invitation letter after Dusk Island, but I took a look at the registration in Top of the Giant Tree and found out that you’re in another district.”
Dong Zheng said, “We were in District XII before and had just arrived here three days ago.”
Heinrich glanced at the people behind Dong Zheng. He didn’t see the red-haired young man that he’d remembered. Somewhat perplexed, he asked, “Are you all here?”
Dong Zheng nodded. “We’re all here.”
Heinrich was silent for a moment, and then he said in a low voice, “Sorry.”
The loss of a companion in the Pure White Realm was commonplace. It always seemed that no matter where they met, this was something that they all knew too well.
None of them mentioned Allen again.
Lin Hangzhi’s head was almost twisted to the back of his neck. The figure of the woman who he’d been watching disappeared from his line of sight. He had a persistent feeling that he’d seen her somewhere before.
He scratched his head, his eyes full of doubts. Just as he was about to raise his legs to follow, he tripped on the threshold and fell flat onto the floor.
A grown man like him fell to the ground with a thick, muffled noise, startling both Beverly and Heinrich. Heinrich’s lips twitched and he reminded him, “There are many steps on the threshold. Be careful.”
Lin Hangzhi rubbed his forehead and quickly got up, smiling, “It’s okay, don’t worry about me. I’m used to it.”
“It seems that your all-colored Heavenly Hand still hasn’t passed yet.” Cui Zuojing patted him on the shoulder. Normally, he would laugh, but he didn’t know why today, he just couldn’t be happy. His heart always felt stifled.
He thought about it, and quickly found a reason for himself: It was Dong Zheng’s fault. If Dong Zheng hadn’t said anything, would he himself think that anything was wrong? Them being friends was already good enough. Now he found himself considering whether Dong Zheng’s every move had other meanings.
Talking to him now felt strange. It was beyond maddening!
This was the first time everyone else aside from Cui Zuojing had stepped into the headquarters of a serious organization. Heinrich took them to the front desk to register in the visitor records. Seeing that there was no one at the front desk, Dong Linhai asked, “What if someone comes in without registering?”
“The intelligent system will remind the visitors, and if there are any accidents, it will report directly to the management terminal.” Heinrich shook his mobile phone and said, “Most of the pilgrims are busy with their own affairs. We think this is good enough for now, so we haven’t bought many NPCs. When the scale of the organization becomes larger, we’ll probably get real people to staff the front desk.”
After registration, Heinrich led them to the back and explained, “Everyone normally won’t be required to complete a certain amount of missions. Regardless, the organization will share informational intelligence so you won’t have to spend points to buy it from an intelligence agency. Regarding props, if both parties are willing, they can lease or buy each other’s props. If a team doesn’t feel at ease in a group box, then they may cooperate with a team they’re familiar with and both can rely on each other to pass.”
“What do members of the organization need to do?”
“After joining the organization, 10% of the points you obtained from a box will automatically be deducted and given to the organization. After all, maintaining the organization requires a lot of money and energy. There are other rules. Everyone who joins the organization must contribute at least 4 points every month. This is weighted by successfully completing a box.”
Heinrich paused, “The rest… is that if the organization suffers some force majeure or crisis, all members must help unconditionally.”
Wang Que wondered, “Is only 10% of points enough to maintain operations?”
“The Pure White Realm also supports the establishment of the organization to a certain extent. Take our building, for example. We rented it for free with only some guarantees. Just like every newcomer to the area can get living quarters. If it needs to be maintained, we can use NPCs. In general, management only needs to worry about recruiting members, maintaining order, dealing with people, etc. That’s all.”
Heinrich said, pointing to a large room beside the corridor. “These are all lounges on the first floor. Each member has his own ID card. You can swipe your card when you need it. Generally, everyone likes to get together here to discuss intelligence and key information.”
There were four people already in the lounge. They were probably from the same team. They saw Heinrich and nodded to him in greeting.
Not far from the lounge was the kitchen. The huge room housed three to four refrigerators, a microwave oven, and various pots and pans. After obtaining Beverly’s consent, Wang Que opened one of the refrigerators and saw many little cakes. She let out a surprised “Wow.”
“Eat whatever you want.” Beverly remembered that she had other things to do. “I have to report this month’s allocation of funds. Let the scumbag take you around first. Visit as you please. These are all things officially supplied by the Pure White Realm anyway.”
Heinrich said in frustration, “I already told you all their names, you can’t bring that up again.”
“Okay, rotten scumbag.” Beverly gave him a big eye roll and turned away.
Dong Linhai felt it was quite interesting. He whispered, “Do you have that kind of relationship?”
“Yes,” Heinrich confessed freely. He said, as if with a headache, “It’s fine. That’s why when she heard Dr. Lin said in the box that I have 19 ex-girlfriends—in fact, I only have 17 ex-girlfriends—this is what happens after we got back.”
Lin Hangzhi said weakly, “Ummm…I just used my ability to guess something…Sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s a kind-of fun getting along like this.” Heinrich waved his hand dismissively and added, “As long as she’s not really angry.”
“That’s not angry?” Cui Zuojing poked his head out the door to look at Beverly’s retreating back. He’d never had a love relationship before so he didn’t understand.
Was shouting with such a cold face still considered not angry?
And it seemed that these two people were also enjoying it.
Before coming to the Pure White Realm, he was just an ordinary 16-year-old high school student. He was a good child who was focused on his studies and had no thoughts of falling in love. Likewise, his three years in the Pure White Realm was concentrated solely on survival.
In the eight years outside, he’d stayed 16-years-old. Those years consisted of staying home with Victor and regularly moving houses. Going out and making new friends was close to zero, let alone falling in love.
In fact, Cui Zuojing was already almost 27 years old.
He was only three months younger than Dong Zheng. He rubbed his nose, wondering what kind of magical experience it was like to fall in love? After a while, he suddenly reacted and thought, why was he thinking about it in relation to Dong Zheng?
Cui Zuojing became even more upset.
Wang Que couldn’t help but eat a mango mousse. Afterward, she stopped in front of a glass shelf filled with small jars of scented tea. They were labeled with what looked like a woman’s very careful handwriting: rose, jasmine, magnolia, stevia… There were also many flowers whose names Wang Que didn’t recognize. The dried flowers were sealed in fist-sized glass bottles, stuffed with corks and tied with colorful ribbons.
“Did Sister Beverly do this?”
“What?” Heinrich looked over and couldn’t help but laughed and said, “She is not so affectionate. It was made by another girl. We all called her Xiao Xia. Since her team just came back from the box, you might still be able to meet her.”
After this, they went to the information study, which looked like a small library. Books with various information were categorically placed on wooden shelves. To borrow the books, they merely needed to register their name by scanning the QR code with their cell phone.
Aside from the large conference room, the rest of the entire second floor was set up as a training room. There were more complete sets of equipment here than at Fu Zhe’s castle. After all, the things in Fu Zhe’s castle were all purchased by them. Why would the Pure White Realm provide such things for free?
The final third floor served as the office and rest area for management. It was not open to visitors. Heinrich leaned on the stair railing and said, “That’s about it. Our organization has only been established for seven months, and there are still many areas we need to develop. But this is already pretty good for a new organization. I heard that other big organizations won’t give new members very much resources. In which case, it would take at least a year for them to get ahead.”
Dong Zheng said, “Do you want us to join?”
Heinrich smiled and said, “This is still unclear? To be honest, our organization currently lacks a strong team. Right now, we only have five teams whose strength is on the same level as our team. There is also one that is not quite right. So, we need to absorb fresh blood.”
Dong Zheng laughed. By this time, he had already made a general decision, and he joked, “If you treat this as a business discussion, it’s not good for you to reveal such a strong need.”
Heinrich said, “I’m not treating this as business. I’m inviting you from the standpoint of a friend. Of course, that is, if you’re willing to be my friends.”
“Then what can the organization provide us?”
“In the organization, the team with the highest level can use all intelligence, venues, and rental items at will. Of course, you have to participate in an assessment, otherwise the other teams may not be satisfied. Although I know your strength, you also need to convince the others.”
“What do we need to do?”
“Let me think…” Heinrich rubbed his chin and said, “Become such a strong team that when the pilgrims thought about joining an organization, the first names that came to mind would not only be Shiratori and Valkyrie, but also Heimdall too.”
“Just to advertise you?” Dong Zheng couldn’t help smiling. “Then why don’t you do it by yourself?”
Heinrich said, “I don’t want to go any deeper. The difficulty in the Top of the Giant Tree is just right for my team’s level. If we go down, the risk of death would be too great. For the three of us…we feel that life here is already very good.”
He paused and said in a low voice, “But we all believe that you and your team can go very far.”
“Indeed, no matter what accidents happen in the middle, we will keep moving forward.” Dong Zheng asked his last question, “If we leave the Top of the Giant Tree in the future, how can we communicate with you again?”
Cui Zuojing, as someone with experience, couldn’t help but interjected, “Each organization will set up branches in various areas. After arriving in the area, pilgrims can go to the branch, and even open a transfer portal when necessary, and travel for a short time to other areas without a ticket.”
“Yes.” Heinrich knew from Dusk Island that Cui Zuojing was definitely not an ordinary prisoner. He’d also observed that Dong Zheng and his group’s attitude towards Cui Zuojing was completely the same as that of a companion rather than a prisoner. “If there is a branch, you can conveniently communicate at any time.”
Dong Zheng nodded, having understood most of the whole picture. He turned around and asked everyone, “Any comments?”
Dong Linhai said, “I think it’s pretty good.”
Lin Hangzhi assented. “Second.”
Wang Que also nodded in agreement. Cui Zuojing naturally had no opinion. He thought the same as Fu Zhe. Since they couldn’t join Shiratori, and Valkyrie’s treatment of newcomers wasn’t very good, it was better to be the backbone of a newer organization.
It was better to be a chicken head than a Phoenix tail.
Dong Zheng looked at Cui Zuojing as per his habit and saw that he also had no objections. Cui Zuojing saw him looking, subconsciously widened his eyes, and dodged his gaze.
Dong Zheng stretched out his hand and solemnly said to Heinrich, “Thank you for the invitation. I wish us a happy cooperation in the future.”
Heinrich finally revealed his most frequently used fox-like smile. Shaking Dong Zheng’s hand, he said, “Happy cooperation.”
Hoh? They joined almost immediately after being invited. Dong Zheng must have thought about it carefully.
I don’t know but CZJ being 26/27 years old without knowing what romantic love feels like is sad. Not even a crush? Granted, he gave up his emotions, so he shouldn’t really develop any of those feelings by himself.
CZJ questioning himself if shouting with a cold face is not considered angry is so funny. He might as well have called himself out