Chapter 151: Holding a Big Meeting

【Host, my suggestion is not to wade into these muddy waters; they do not have enough value. You should focus your energy on business trade and the development of the Shengli Group; there is no need to waste time on these inconsequential humans.】

【A Shuai, as your host, I'll teach you a principle today: doing business relies on people. Only when there are enough people is it easy to harvest the leeks. Do as I say and design the joint base; stop trying to look cool in my field of vision.】

Liu Mu sat at the head of the table, propping up her head and appearing to watch a show. Yet, on her retina—or perhaps it was the part of her brain that managed vision—Heitao A had projected a handsome man in a tuxedo, tentatively called A Shuai, which was the system's own anthropomorphic form.

While chatting, A Shuai acted like a competent architectural magician, his hands waving elegantly in the air as three-dimensional figures floated out of thin air and converged one by one into a complete map.

The map took the Shengli Group as the starting point and final service center, radiating out to the Haicheng Barrier, Haicheng Port, the two nearest Survivor bases, and the more distant Sunshine Energy.

If one were to plan this with manpower, it would take at least several months to a year. But Heitao A only took one day to collect Liu Mu's requirements, combine them with the actual geographical situation, and account for the prevention of known future disasters; a plan integrating the map and construction development was completed just like that.

Most people had been talking for a long time, only to find that the person being targeted was not paying them any mind at all; instead, she was like someone watching a play, and they were just a group of performing actors.

"Boss Liu isn't speaking. Is it because you also feel your ability is insufficient and you cannot act as the current head?"

With Yang Shuo away, Business Minister Jiang Hanzhong stopped being low-key, believing that his chance to step forward had finally arrived.

"Oh?" Liu Mu was very accommodating; she put down her hand and, just like Yang Shuo, folded her hands on the table. "Then which person does Minister Jiang think can act as the head?"

"That would naturally..." Jiang Hanzhong naturally wouldn't say himself directly; he had already arranged for someone beforehand. "It should be for everyone to choose."

Liu Mu nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing with Jiang Hanzhong's words.

At this moment, someone stood up. "To act as the head of our Barrier, one must be someone who has stayed by the Commander's side, contributed the most to the Barrier, and is sufficiently familiar with the situation. Of course, one cannot be too young; if there is no hair on the face, one cannot handle things firmly. I propose that Minister Jiang Hanzhong take on the position of Commander. Since the army was stationed here, he has actively established order in the Barrier and planned for supplies from many sides so that everyone can have enough to eat. I think he is the most suitable."

"What kind of talk is this? If we are talking about who has been with Commander Yang Shuo the longest, it should be our Internal Affairs Minister. Without him, who could keep the interior of the Barrier in such good order? I propose Minister Zhang Qingling!"

"I support Minister Jiang!"

"I choose Minister Zhang!"

For a time, the conference table was as noisy as a vegetable market, rarely so lively.

The two people with the loudest support were not feeling guilty at all, seemingly certain that they could each sit in the top position. And rightly so; as high-ranking officials who did not have to go out on field missions, they had both spent the most time and effort managing the interior of the Barrier.

On the other hand, the Logistics Minister Qin Han, who was sitting to the side, looked worried. "Everyone, calm down. Commander Yang's arrangements naturally have his reasons. Stop arguing, stop arguing..."

Liu Mu found it funny. This Qin Han had bargained with her for a long time when he wanted a Water Purifier, but now he didn't have any momentum at all.

However, more interesting than him was the Chief Confidential Secretary left behind by Yang Shuo—the one others called the Political Commissar—Jiang Wenjun, who had lost an eye. His entire head was covered in Bandage, and he was lying on a recliner, still on an IV drip when he was carried in.

He wanted to speak, but his face was swollen, and his eye sockets bled whenever he got excited; he had lost all his spirit.

Seeing that if they kept arguing like this, no result would come out, the Political Commissar would probably kick the bucket first.

Liu Mu tapped the table, but the crowd was arguing so noisily that they wouldn't listen to her. So, she drew the handgun left behind by Yang Shuo, smiled at Jiang Wenjun, and raised her hand to fire two shots.

The huge sound finally made the scene quiet. People with different expressions looked over, only Qin Han looked at the ceiling with a pained expression. Fortunately, the two bullets hit the same spot, so the repair work would be halved.

"If you ask me, I don't meet even half of the conditions you mentioned. But if there is anyone present who can meet all of them, forgive me for speaking bluntly, but I'm afraid it's only the injured Political Commissar Jiang, right?"

The crowd, who had been prepared to belittle and argue no matter what Liu Mu said, all fell silent.

No, you bring out the Barrier's original second-in-command, who is also someone who just performed a meritorious service while being seriously injured—how can one argue with that?

"Let, *cough cough*, *hiss*, let Liu Mu act as the head," Jiang Wenjun, who had finally managed to speak, waved his hands repeatedly and pointed at Liu Mu. "Military orders are like mountains!"

Military orders are like mountains!

These four words were like four great mountains, completely crushing the dissent at the scene into the ground.

"Political Commissar, that's not what we meant, it's just..."

"Do you want to disobey orders?" Jiang Wenjun was worthy of being someone who worked in ideological affairs; he subdued this group of people in two sentences.

By comparison, Liu Mu's approach was too crude, too rough, and lacked any technical skill.

"No, I wouldn't dare, you are joking."

Jiang Hanzhong probably hadn't expected the Political Commissar, who had lost half his life, to come out and cause trouble. He could only grit his teeth and swallow his unwillingness. "I wonder what plans Acting Head Liu has for taking office?"

The other unwilling person was naturally the Internal Affairs Minister, but this lean, middle-aged man was clearly more calculating than Jiang Hanzhong. He didn't speak himself, only cast a glance at the subordinate who had nominated him earlier.

"That would naturally be to first repair the damaged buildings. The Acting Head is best at doing business; you should have plenty of resources that can be mobilized to help everyone, right?"

"Let me tell you," Liu Mu placed the handgun on the table, her tone as smiling as before. "What I am best at is not doing business—though doing business is also my strength. It's not the first day everyone has known me; you should also know that what I am best at is killing."

"Don't, don't joke," Jiang Wenjun saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart. However, his injuries were truly serious, and he was powerless, wishing he could handle this mess for Liu Mu himself.

Looking around, judging by the expressions of these people, they really weren't very afraid of threats of force.

"Alright, Uncle Jiang, don't worry, get some rest."

Liu Mu stood up and tucked the gun back into her belt. "Hey you, yes, yes, the Little Brother with the most opinions, go get the projector out. I will report to the leaders about what we are going to do for the next ten years."

"The next ten years?"

The young man who was pointed out was sitting behind the Internal Affairs Minister. He was the latter's confidant and held a small but not insignificant official position in the Internal Affairs Department, but Liu Mu didn't remember the specific title.

Of course, she didn't care what he did either.

"In this day and age, only our Barrier can use computers and projectors at will; it's hard to even see them in other places. I didn't expect Boss Liu to know how to make a PPT. I must learn well from you."

"Is that so? Then you learn well," Liu Mu tapped the tabletop with her finger and had someone place the laptop in front of her. "However, I estimate you won't be able to learn it."

"Don't look down on people. As the Minister's secretary, I have made work plans before; after all, I am a graduate of a formal 985 university." The young man sneered, almost pointing out that Liu Mu was uncultured.

Others also chuckled to themselves, and Jiang Hanzhong even laughed out loud. "Why are you talking like that, child? If our Acting Head Liu wants to do something, you should help her; it's not a difficult task."

"Stop with the lip service. You have time to blabber, but I have no interest in listening. Everyone, watch carefully!"

Liu Mu had already lost patience with these people and retorted directly.

Jiang Hanzhong was just about to show his displeasure, but the light on the projector in front of them suddenly changed, and a magical scene appeared.

"This..." The young man who handed over the computer was the first to lose his composure. His facial muscles moved too violently, and the black-rimmed glasses on his flat nose fell off directly.

"3D projection? No, really?" Jiang Hanzhong also lost his composure. He reached out and touched the image in front of him, and was still shocked after confirming it wasn't a physical object. "This machine can project such a realistic three-dimensional image?"

He asked this of the secretary sitting behind him, who wiped his sweat and shook his head slightly. "This subordinate is also unclear."

The three-dimensional figure, as realistic as a physical object, did not fall onto the screen on the wall, but instead displayed directly on the spacious conference table, becoming a three-dimensional sand table.

"No, in order to save electricity, this machine can only project on the screen, and we use it very little!" The young man who had just picked up his glasses said they used it little, but everyone knew that their Internal Affairs Department loved holding meetings the most, and they would spend several hours in the conference room for both big and small matters.

Jiang Hanzhong couldn't help but sneer, "It's your Internal Affairs Department that uses it the most. You say you don't, so what is this now? Don't tell me you don't know how to use it?"

"Who uses it a lot? We don't even use it often in our meetings!" Internal Affairs Minister Zhang Qingling immediately retorted. What is the most feared charge to be saddled with in the Barrier today?

Naturally, it is wasting resources. Let alone within their own officialdom, even if the masses found out, they would be reviled by everyone.

Although being an official no longer relies on popular elections, influenced by traditional thinking, officials still care about whether a large number of people support them. If the approval rating is low, the ground beneath their feet is empty; they cannot stand firmly.

Reputation remains extremely important.

"Yes, yes, yes," the bespectacled young man originally wanted to return to his seat, but after being stared at by his direct superior, his eyes rolled as he defended himself, "Even added together, it doesn't consume as much electricity as this 3D projection."

Liu Mu really wanted to kneel to this bunch of people; she almost cursed out loud. She didn't know how Yang Shuo usually tolerated these idiots who fought for power and profit.

"Whoever dares to talk nonsense and delay official business again, drag them out and give them ten Army Whips," she swept her gaze coldly over the few of them, "regardless of rank."

Instantly, Jiang Hanzhong and the others became mutes. They really didn't dare to provoke this 'murderous Rakshasa' again—Yang Shuo still used rules and regulations to discipline people, but this Liu Mu was just a reckless illiterate, and they all believed she truly dared to drag people out and beat them.

"Everyone take a look, this is the construction plan for the next ten years," Liu Mu hooked her finger at the bespectacled young man, "A top student from a 985 university, why don't you explain it to everyone? Such a simple plan, I believe you should be able to understand it."

Zhang Shirong, who had failed to return to his seat, was forced to stand before the table again, "I, I need to look at it first."

It was called simple, but many of these successive architectural drawings didn't even have names labeled, let alone construction schedules. How could one understand it at a glance?

Let alone a glance, Zhang Shirong, along with the dozen or so people present, stared for ten full minutes without making heads or tails of it.

It wasn't that they couldn't understand it at all; those factories, residential areas, and trading markets were actually distinguishable. Of course, the road design was also concise and clear, but...

Zhang Shirong thought he had grasped the weakness of the plan, thinking to himself that Liu Mu was indeed bluffing. The map was made to look fancy, but many important things were missing entirely.

"Acting Chief Liu, which unprofessional person helped you make this map? You must have been deceived. With so many facilities, why isn't our Barrier Headquarters here? Just that one residential area, how can it accommodate tens of thousands of masses?"

"Look again," Liu Mu's finger moved in the air, and the holographic map immediately changed accordingly. The other buildings faded away, leaving only a few factories.

Everyone, including Zhang Shirong, finally saw the accommodation buildings supporting the factories. Unlike the factory dormitories before the disaster, these buildings were all square and only three stories high, but they occupied a significant area.

Looking closer, one would find that there were no partitions like before, but rather individual beds—the kind of bunk-bed iron frames.

"This is too..."

"It's good enough to be alive; what more do you want?"

That's right, it's good enough to have a place to live after the disaster; wanting a detached house is indeed a bit too demanding. Moreover, many families only have one or two people left; if they lived in a whole house, it would be too much of a waste of resources.

"What about the Barrier?" Zhang Shirong was unwilling to give up. He didn't even heed the look from Internal Affairs Minister Zhang Qingling and asked with his neck stiffened, "You can't just distribute everyone to various places and not need our Barrier Headquarters, right?"

Liu Mu looked at him with some sympathy. She rubbed her thumb and index finger together, and the buildings on the map instantly turned into points of light and moved downward.

"Isn't it right here?"

Underground, a full eighteen stories of architecture, extending downward from their current location.

"Underground City?" At this, the others could no longer remain calm, "To build something like this would take so much manpower and material resources; it's simply unrealistic!"

"Even in the pre-disaster era when materials were extremely abundant, this amount of engineering would take at least several years. Acting Chief, you really are joking."

Liu Mu's finger was still moving. As the various levels of the Underground City became clearer, underground passages extending to various surface facilities also appeared.

"What kind of joke are you all making?"

The crowd was confused, only to hear Liu Mu say, "How could it be finished in a few years? This will take at least fifty years!"

"What? That long? What is the point of building it?"

Liu Mu was confused instead. She glanced at the Commercial Minister who asked the question, "Does Minister Jiang mean that humanity only consists of our generation? The predecessors plant the trees and the descendants enjoy the shade. You wouldn't be thinking only of yourself and ignoring your descendants, would you? Or do you intend to leave after serving for a few years?"

Once these words were spoken, they hit the mark of someone's hidden thoughts, while making the others suddenly realize the truth.