Chapter 235: Team Rules Established
Xu Sa and Liu Rui clapped their hands, and Lu Weiyi finally relaxed.
The three approached the coastline, confirmed the location, and started heading toward the base. Within an hour, a helicopter appeared on the horizon.
“Damn, is it really sent by Brother Mingxu?” Xu Sa was still a little afraid of Zhuang Mingxu. Back in school, when Xu Yi attacked Lu Weiyi and only knocked him out, Zhuang Mingxu had fought to the death. Xu Sa knew this well and quickly told Lu Weiyi, “Don’t you dare say we attracted sharks, or Brother Mingxu will feed us to them!”
If it turned out sharks were attracted because of Liu Rui, they weren’t sure they’d survive.
“Lu Xiaoyi, you’re the only good friend I have. Do all the hard work,” Xu Sa said as the motorboat honked and sped toward the helicopter.
“Got it,” Lu Weiyi replied happily, watching the approaching aircraft.
Ning Yuan and Wu Yue were in front, with Zhuang Mingxu sitting behind.
Lu Weiyi waved at the three. The motorboat followed the helicopter toward the base.
When the three disembarked, Zhuang Mingxu was already waiting on the beach, stretching out his hand toward Lu Weiyi. The others stopped their work and gathered around. Except for Team One, no one else knew they were late and assumed the plan was always two days, so they just greeted them from a distance.
If it had been before, Zhuang Mingxu would have strode over for a big hug. Now he could only wait where he stood.
Lu Weiyi stepped forward and bent to hug him. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Safe return means it’s never too late,” Zhuang Mingxu said hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot. He probably hadn’t slept all night.
“Daddy, Ai Yi has been waiting for you a long time. You’re late,” little Zhuang Ai Yi clung to Lu Weiyi’s leg, acting spoiled. He didn’t yet understand the consequences of being late.
“Sorry, Daddy will be more careful next time,” Lu Weiyi said as he picked the child up and pushed Zhuang Mingxu toward home.
A crowd happily surrounded them, asking about the situation.
Xu Sa simply said, “We got lost,” then started describing the island.
Everyone was surprised by how much the island’s position had changed. Only Li Zhuang asked precisely, “You kept along the coastline, how could you get lost and end up there?”
Xu Sa paused. Li Zhuang squinted and looked closely. “Your face injury looks like…”
“Brother Li, we met a very charming girl who asked me to give you a message. Your little sister Yu is asking for help,” Xu Sa cut him off instantly.
The team all assumed Li Zhuang had feelings for Lu Weiyi. Hearing this, their eyes flickered between Li Zhuang and Lu Weiyi. Even Zhuang Mingxu, who was walking ahead, couldn’t help but look back.
“…Who?” Li Zhuang reacted slowly.
“Qin Yu and Dong Hongyuan,” Xu Sa raised an eyebrow. “That girl Qin Yu is fiery,” he gestured flirtatiously.
“Wow!” The men all responded immediately.
“…Just friends,” Li Zhuang thought for a moment and said, as if unsure how to describe their relationship.
“How did they know you know me?” Li Zhuang asked.
“They saw a dagger fall out of Lu Weiyi’s bag, asked where it was from, and he said he picked it up. When they left, he told them to deliver a message.”
Lu Weiyi took the dagger out of his space, casually threw it to Li Zhuang, shamelessly saying, “Forgot to return it.”
Li Zhuang caught it with a smile. “You’ve been using it openly for a year. Now you say you forgot to give it back. Not very nice!”
Lu Weiyi turned his head, looking disdainful. “Who knew a broken knife had a tag on it? I was worried your enemies would kill me.”
Li Zhuang laughed heartily and put the dagger away.
Looking at the lively crowd, about to ask more, Xu Sa focused again on Antonio.
“Nonsense, I don’t have a brother…” Antonio paused, silently gestured OK, and said casually, “I’ll think about it after I’m less hungry.”
Among the new small islands, the group was most interested in the oil reserves.
“If we can develop it, will we be able to supply electricity later?” Ning Yuan’s eyes lit up. That island used to supply half a country. Now if they could claim it, it felt like a fortune.
“The reserves are crude oil, which needs processing. We don’t have the machinery yet,” Zhuang Mingxu said calmly while working but still held Lu Weiyi’s hand tightly. “Besides, development is a huge project and can’t start now.”
“So… just leave it?” Ning Yuan asked, looking at the two with family there for their opinions.
“I don’t care. We won’t die in a year or two,” Antonio showed a complete disregard for family.
Li Zhuang shrugged, “Same here.”
Xu Sa thought of Qin Yu stomping her feet and immediately felt sorry for the kid.
“If we rashly go to rescue those people, the settlement and aftermath will be troublesome. More importantly, the social structure there is already fixed. It’s easier if everyone leaves after rescue. If some stay, it will affect here.
Everyone knows leaving is unlikely, especially since they found danger everywhere. They cling to the only safe place. These women are all forced; anyone normal would be seized and exploited by any means. Our base is all men now, which will cause conflicts.”
Judging by the state of those women, quite a few of them want to leave, but not all the men are willing to let them go. How to resolve that part of the conflict was still an open question.
Their base was just starting up, and internal matters were far from stable. They really didn’t have the energy to deal with these unprofitable issues.
While the helicopter was preparing to take off, Zhuang Mingxu had someone mark the terrain map of the surrounding thousand nautical miles, roughly confirming the oil island’s location. As a gesture of goodwill toward Li Zhuang and Antonio, they air-dropped some living supplies there.
After Lu Weiyi pulled out a shark for everyone to try, Zhuang Mingxu already had a good idea of what they’d encountered.
Right now, everyone was fully engaged in building the passage. Without Lu Weiyi’s space ability supporting them, it was impossible to retrieve the ship. If they stopped, it meant the whole project would be shelved. Zhuang Mingxu didn’t even want to say what would happen if Lu Weiyi went out again.
At this moment, he wished Lu Weiyi were still the pampered young master who couldn’t do anything, with no abilities — that way he could be kept somewhere safe, without daily fear and worry.
The operation couldn’t stop, so more people were sent out together: Ning Yuan, Wu Yue, Li Zhuang, Antonio, and Gu Qingji — all high-level ability users effective in water combat.
They left early and returned late for five days, towing all usable vessels in the surrounding sea.
On the day they returned, the team held another ability-users meeting.
With the formation of other teams, Lu Weiyi was promoted to overall captain of all personnel. Zhuang Mingxu managed logistics and base development. Ning Yuan became honorary captain of Team One, and Li Zhuang was vice-captain.
This meeting no longer involved every single member of the original sole team but only the heads of the different teams.
Besides Team One’s captain and vice-captain, there were Team Two’s captain Li Qing and vice-captain Lei Jun; Team Three’s Li Yan and Lin Sheng; Team Four’s Zhou He and Zhao Li; Team Five’s Wood-type Bai Miao; Team Six’s Earth-type Wu Yue; Team Seven’s Water-type Gu Qingyue, plus Antonio, Liu Rui, and Gu Qingji.
The West Island’s office area was rebuilt into three floors using containers and Earth-type ability users’ skills, serving as the office space.
By the time Team One arrived, everyone else was already there.
The benefit of the new teams was that factional disputes were eliminated, and meetings were straightforward.
“The theme for today’s meeting is improving abilities and future treatment,” Lu Weiyi got straight to the point as usual.
“In half a month, I’ll lead the team on a trip, return date unknown. Before then, try to improve your abilities as much as possible,” Lu Weiyi announced, looking at everyone. “Starting tomorrow, no ability user can be left behind.”
Some from Team One already knew, others hadn’t caught on yet when Lu Weiyi continued:
“Metal-type find Antonio; Fire-type find Liu Rui; Wood-type handled by Bai Miao and Gu Qingji — one focuses on attack, the other on support and planting, depending on their ability direction; Water-type by Gu Qingyue and Ning Yuan — Ning Yuan attacks, Gu Qingyue supports; Earth-type split between Wu Yue and Li Zhuang,” Lu Weiyi said, pointing at each person. “They will have specialization directions, inform your teams.”
“The crystal cores used during training will be provided by the team and deducted entirely from future salaries. Each team leader must keep records and report for reimbursement,” Lu Weiyi finished, handing several purified crystal cores to others. “These purified cores are more suitable for human absorption. The daily absorption can reach the maximum tolerance, so—”
“I hope you cherish this half-month!”
“Do we have a way to purify the crystal cores?” Lei Jun couldn’t help but ask. He picked up one core and noted it was different from those he’d seen before.
Li Qing held one and recalled a few cores Lin Yimu had once given him.
No wonder…
No wonder the entire original team’s upgrades had been so fast.
“Yes,” Lu Xi said. Besides some instability, the research on snow water had already achieved preliminary purification effects, though efficiency was low and required constant supervision.
Amidst whispers and some skepticism, Lu Weiyi stressed, “These cores are for internal team use only. No one is allowed to leak information. Everyone must supervise their own people. If leaked, the entire team will be expelled from the base.”
Li Qing, having used such cores before, remained calm and asked, “Does the team cover upgrade costs?”
“No,” Lu Weiyi said. “You can get an advance but remember to issue an IOU.”
“How to repay? Deduct all cores or part of them?” Li Yan thought it needed careful consideration. If all were deducted, then no cores would be left for daily absorption, making upgrades difficult.
“Depends on team income,” Lu Weiyi explained. “Each outing requires a fixed amount of cores or materials submitted to the team for expenses. Anything extra is considered personal income.”
This was a plan designated for the original sole team. At that time, 70% of the team’s income came from Lu Weiyi alone. Without restrictions, all members’ IOUs would be meaningless.
Now it could be put to use directly.
“Do you have any private savings?” Lei Jun whispered to Ning Yuan.
