Chapter 119: Reserve Cadre

On the day the large force returned.

Baimu went to greet them and sought out Flobo to inquire about the specifics of the stalemate at Mine No. 2.

Although the latter shook his head in silence, it was easy to see from his weary, regretful gaze that the Sand Group had paid a heavy price.

Fortunately, none of Master Liu Ge's squad leaders had been lost; the status of ordinary members was unclear—Baimu simply couldn't recognize all their faces and could only slowly match them by memory.

But he couldn't match up with several.

Yet Flobo's silence didn't mean others wouldn't speak—well-informed Ozuka soon informed Baimu of the casualty figures from the battle.

Upon hearing the details, Baimu inevitably fell silent.

Just in terms of wounded, over a hundred Sand Group members suffered severe injuries and were forced into retirement, including several squad leaders and one cadre. The number of dead wasn't high, but each represented a vivid life.

For the sake of the two mines, the Sand Group had been severely weakened.

If the Crystal Group now came to trouble the Sand Group, could they still maintain their usual advantage?

Baimu didn't know, only that things were moving toward some special direction.

The Dog Pack miners returned to their original mine to resume work; the elderly and children, whose labor was insufficient, were decisively removed—Sand Group didn't value their labor and temporarily housed them in shacks near the mine.

The captured Dog Pack members and those few high-ranking cadres were placed under house arrest; the fact they weren't directly thrown into the underground mine suggested a certain possibility.

A possibility of rapidly expanding the Sand Group.

The next morning.

He received a message from Cang Zhi Lang and was momentarily surprised—this boss should still have countless matters to handle, so why had he time to see him?

When he arrived at the designated location, Baimu understood the general reason—

Cang Zhi Lang was injured, and badly so; a thick bandage was clearly visible around his waist and abdomen.

From the blood seeping front and back as he rose, it appeared to be a penetrating wound.

Clearly this was from his clash with Dog Pack's Luo Qi, yet the latter must have suffered too, otherwise he wouldn't have failed to break through and so readily surrendered.

"You surprised me."

Cang Zhi Lang, reeking of medicine, looked slightly pale, yet his speech still carried heavy authority.

"To be honest, I never intended to fight a cadre—it was purely unavoidable. But fortunately, I survived." Baimu understood this boss didn't want empty flattery; he knew exactly what the man wanted—"honest words."

He might as well oblige him.

Indeed.

Facing such blunt words, Cang Zhi Lang didn't grow angry; instead, he nodded in satisfaction and said: "You defeated a cadre—you've barely earned cadre-level strength. But your seniority is too shallow, your prestige within the group too low; promoting you directly to cadre would harm you."

"So for now, you remain a reserve cadre. Accumulate more prestige within the group, build broad connections, increase the number who support you—and then you'll become a cadre. Of course, before then, I permit you to enjoy partial cadre benefits."

The Arrival of Tian'a

"Cadre benefits?"

"Ask at headquarters yourself—the notice has already been sent. Go." Cang Zhi Lang spoke tersely, handed over the promised pie, and began shooing him out.

Baimu had no choice but to leave.

Cadre benefits? What benefits did cadres get?

As the tier just below the highest cadres, cadres were already high-ranking within the Sand Group—surely their benefits weren't just about going up one floor; they must be several floors higher.

Turning then.

He arrived at the headquarters building and learned from administrative staff what partial cadre benefits Cang Zhi Lang had arranged for him.

First, his guaranteed salary rose from five million annually to thirty million; second, his territorial jurisdiction expanded dramatically—essentially inherited from the forced-retirement cadre, who had taken a pension and stepped down voluntarily.

The swiftness of his choice was astonishing.

Of course, since Baimu was a reserve cadre, he didn't have enough squad leaders to manage territory, so the original Sand Group members still managed it—he only collected money.

That is, he got paid but couldn't expand his influence to cadre level—this was what "partial cadre benefits" meant.

Other potential benefits, like those for children, were set aside.

Most crucially, Baimu could now access the Sand Group's various resources and networks—for instance, new combat uniforms issued by the parent company, extraordinary high-tech gear—he could obtain them at minor cost if his conditions were legitimate.

Or, for any underground city shop allied with the Sand Group, he could enjoy VIP treatment; a Pokémon massage parlor offered layered discounts; a professional Pokémon breeder could be arranged to prepare the optimal diet for his Pokémon.

Even if he wanted to find something—a Pokémon or anything else—he merely needed to make a request internally, and someone would help him search, and so on.

These were merely the visible benefits; if Baimu was willing to be greedy and Cang Zhi Lang permitted it, even with massive expenditures, he could easily amass over a hundred million through arbitrage and leveraging connections.

Other material benefits—

As usual, the latest hover motorcycle; now also a hover off-roader, a newly developed high-strength combat suit, a massive penthouse in the core area of the Sand Group, a standalone office building in the underground city, and more certificates for launching businesses.

Lastly, a Pokémon worth under ten million—group-provided, but he could buy it elsewhere and get reimbursed upon presenting a receipt.

Overall, except for lacking actual authority, Baimu enjoyed everything a cadre could. Yet for most cadres, it was clearly the actual authority that drove them mad.

A cadre commanded a hundred-man detachment, controlled nearly half a district, had tens of thousands depending on him for their livelihood, and everyone bowed and scraped before him, daring not speak a word against his whims.

Even across the entire Huang Tie Town, he was unquestionably upper class.

Squad leaders were already beyond the reach of ordinary civilians; cadres were something only dreamed of—like dreaming of becoming Emperor.

After collecting all the cadre-related benefits,

Baimu then received a bonus for missions and achievements—an entire year's salary, thirty million.

Such a high-level reward made him deeply realize that although Huang Tie Town's environment was terrible, one could earn vast sums quickly by risking one's life—no doubt many in his past life had flocked to it.

—

Baimu spent half a day moving into his new home.

The main time sink was the Bonsly's shrubs and the two trees—transplanting them was extremely difficult, and finding suitable planting spots was equally hard—

Because the new house's landscaping had already been completed.

Ordinary people didn't understand the benefits plants provided, but the Sand Group's upper echelon certainly did—so the penthouse gave Baimu not just more interior space, but also a green front courtyard and a massive rear battle arena spanning hundreds of square meters.

The interior decoration, needless to say, was top-tier even by Baimu's past-life standards.

His standard of living had clearly stepped up another notch.

The house even came pre-staffed with several maids, responsible for looking after All Baimu and Bossgodora's daily needs, cleaning, and so on.

Unfortunately, the latter did not want strangers barging into his private space, so he only let those maids come by occasionally to clean before sending them away.

The keys to the old house were still in hand, ownership still under All Baimu's name.

Unable to find a suitable way to handle it for the moment, giving it to Naruhiro or Otsuka both seemed unnecessary and would only cause them trouble, so he simply shelved the matter.

And after moving to the new house, Bossgodora was the most excited.

Because the new house was a single-story ranch-style home with no height restrictions, both the front door and ceiling height were very satisfying for it.

The spacious backyard let it move about freely, no longer needing to keep itself in check like before.

What attracted it most, of course, was the greenery in the front yard; seeing that emerald lawn and the clusters of vibrant shrubs, it was instantly overcome with a feeling that this lifetime had been worth it.

Bossgodora's reaction also made All Baimu especially awkward.

Although he had always wanted to give his own Pokémon the very best, limited by various conditions, he had had to ask Bossgodora and the others to compromise for the time being.

It felt like he was drawing big pies for his Pokémon and then not delivering on his promises.

Not even as good as Cang Zhi Lang.

All Baimu couldn't help feeling another kind of urgency — he had to find a way to make big money, otherwise even if he escaped, he wouldn't be able to fulfill Bossgodora's wish of having its own mountain.

Unless he went to some remote, deep mountain forest to claim one, but whether such a place even existed was unknown.

He learned from the internet that people in other regions had already pushed the utilization of the environment to the extreme, and there was basically no place they hadn't set foot in.

Much of the wilderness was left undeveloped for wild Pokémon, to maintain a balance between wild Pokémon and humans.

If an outsider like him rashly tried to claim a mountain as his own kingdom, something serious could very well happen.