Chapter 82: Negotiation Breakdown

At 9 PM, the Meeting Room was brightly lit with candlelight.

The tables and chairs originally destroyed in battle have been replaced with new ones.

Not only that, over ten girls were summoned to the Meeting Room holding candles made of grease to serve as lighting.

It has been only ten days since the Apocalypse broke out; the scene now, reminiscent of ancient ladies lighting lamps, makes everyone somewhat unaccustomed.

Unlike the first meeting, this time Jing Tian, Wen Ya, and Zhang Tie were honored as seated guests.

Good‑looking, they appeared to be dance‑department girls wearing revealing outfits, moving back and forth in the Meeting Room.

It seems the institute side places great importance on this meeting.

In the Apocalypse, people might be the least valuable thing.

Jing Tian took the tea carefully offered by a girl and nodded slightly in thanks.

Team voice:

"Jing Tian, you say why did the institute side suddenly change its mind and summon us over, saying they're willing to join us?"

Zhang Tie's loud voice boomed in the voice chat, sounding doubtful.

"Perhaps they've figured it out; after all, their strongest Awakened One is no match for you."

Jing Tian hesitated, scanning the room; the number of Awakened Ones on the institute side hadn't decreased, only an old‑looking female student had vanished.

"Pay attention: if they really have figured it out, that's a good thing. Lin Dui is resting at the station; without him holding the line, we must stay alert."

Wen Ya slowly enveloped the entire Meeting Room with a covert mental power, ensuring she would detect any movement immediately.

Not long after, the Vice Dean glanced at Huang Zheng, whom Zhang Tie was pinching in his hand, and a feigned worry flickered in his eyes.

"Cough cough."

"The external Awakened Ones, after our institute's meticulous, detailed, and thorough discussion, have decided to agree with your plan."

"After all, under the Apocalypse, we Survivors naturally ought to unite and make full use of… "

"Cut the bureaucratic nonsense and get straight to the point!"

Zhang Tie, his face full of impatience, interrupted the Vice Principal's endless bluster; if he kept going, it wouldn't end in under two hours.

Lin Dui gave them only one day; if he let them keep blabbering, the whole group would be hanged from trees by the next day!

The Vice Principal's face flashed with annoyance, which he quickly concealed.

"After our discussion, we all agreed to jointly build Linjiang Academy and create a Safe Zone, which is feasible."

"But regarding management, we must have someone participate; it's impossible for you to dictate everything just by saying so."

"Moreover, you're only three Awakened Ones and lack the energy to manage so many people, right?"

After hearing this, Jing Tian nodded slightly; before coming, he had already asked Lin An what the utmost limit was.

"We can let you send people to participate in management, but only in basic personnel management, and your original benefits can remain unchanged."

This is already the greatest bottom line in Lin An's plan.

On the way here from the station point, the three had already noticed that the institute's internal atmosphere was extremely poor.

Awakened Ones can freely insult ordinary people, and almost every Awakened One occupies more than one person of the opposite sex.

At dinner, Zhang Tie even saw an Awakened One dump precious food on the ground, causing ordinary people to scramble for it like dogs.

As the saying goes, 'a glimpse through a tube reveals a leopard'—this shows how dire the institute's material distribution has become.

If this continues long term, it will not only severely affect discipline; ordinary people and Awakened Ones will completely diverge into two separate species.

This is highly detrimental to Lin An's vision of establishing a Safe Zone where everyone is a soldier.

"No problem, our people can assist you. However, we cannot take out the supplies we previously obtained, after all, they were earned through everyone's desperate efforts here."

The second‑in‑command of the student faction readily agreed, which somewhat exceeded Jing Tian's expectations.

"If you want to be the boss, you'd better be able to help us solve the food problem, right?"

Jing Tian fell silent for a moment, then ultimately chose to agree, and proceeded to explain the upcoming matters.

The top priority is to integrate the Awakened Ones; these issues can be resolved later. As long as we first set the tone, Lin Dui should be willing to proceed step by step.

The Vice Principal, seeing Jing Tian agree, couldn't help but let out a cold snort.

Half an hour has passed since Zhang Tie and the others left the station point; the Awakened Ones they summoned back from the rear mountain should already have begun to act.

"You want the institute to obey your commands? Dream on!"

"Don't even talk about keeping the benefits unchanged; even if they were better, agreement would still be impossible."

He knows all too well that bunch of Awakened Ones in the institute—once they have power, everyone wants to become a local tyrant; how could they possibly accept militarized management?

As for future dangers, he doesn't believe a word of Jing Tian's; if there's danger, he'll just run and hide.

As long as one has power, where in the vast world can't one become a local tyrant?

Stop wasting time on irrelevant talk—let's move in directly!

The Vice Principal pretended to listen to Jing Tian's talk about future Safe Zone construction, including personnel adjustments, then suddenly asked:

"That's right; we heard you mention before that the institute has a Spiritual Energy Node—we don't know where it is."

"You also know that the sooner we boost our strength, the better we can build our Safe Zone… "

Jing Tian was momentarily stunned by the interruption, but didn't pay it much mind.

The Spiritual Energy Node isn't a secret; it's simply meant for everyone to enhance their strength.

"The institute's Spiritual Energy…. "

"I oppose jointly building the Safe Zone!"

Outside the Meeting Room, a sudden angry shout rang out, and the lacquer‑red wooden door was violently kicked open.

"You killed our people and still want to take over our territory?"

"Delusional fantasy!"

Li Hua strode into the Meeting Room, his gaze filled with killing intent as he looked at Jing Tian.