Chapter 114: with translation of chapter title

Temporary workers, within Omnipresent Company, are a kind of extremely special object; they are not trial‑period workers, but a trump card, specially used to handle important matters that cannot see the light of day or be made public, and those who can become Omnipresent temporary workers are all people with extremely high combat power.

Unless one is prepared to openly turn against the entire Omnipresent Company and the government behind it, one absolutely cannot fall out with the temporary workers, for once you do, the outcome will inevitably be that one side dies and then is nationwide wanted in this world, hunted with no way to heaven or earth, and Zhou Shuo naturally would not casually choose that path; it would be better to give Xia Lao Tou face.

"Trouble, trouble please stay away from me a bit." Xiao Ge gritted his teeth and stood up, looking at Zhou Shuo with sword light floating above his head, and also at Wang Zhenqiu and Xia Liuqing, master and apprentice, who had stopped their hands nearby, he forced out a warning voice.

"Hey, bro, come over here quickly, Xia Ge needs some private space, uh, Xia Lao, no, Master, you still have a friend going to deal with our Central China temporary workers; hurry and call him back, lest we cause trouble." The refined youth Wang Zhenqiu looked at the man gritting his teeth and forcing out words, immediately understood, first waved at Zhou Shuo, then turned and grinned at Xia Liuqing, about to shout 'Xiao Lao Tou' instinctively but corrected himself to call 'Master'.

"You little brat, I'm not your master, you never kowtowed to me, and just now you were rude to me; I asked you to find Jin Feng, but you ran over here to stab me, cut out this kind of nonsense." Xia Liuqing looked at the grinning Wang Zhenqiu and couldn't help but jump with anger.

"This isn't my fault; the orders came from above, and you know Zhou Ge's situation—if the Heavenly Tome were on Zhang Lingyu's body, the company would absolutely not target him like this." Wang Zhenqiu looked at the old man who was jumping with anger but hadn't left yet, and he smiled, trying to ingratiate himself while explaining to himself.

"This matter is indeed my responsibility, but Zhang Lingyu had the item on him that day, and by sheer coincidence it ended up right in front of me—should I not take it when it's delivered to my eyes?" Zhou Shuo looked at the boy finding excuses for himself, nodded without hesitation; an innocent man bears no guilt, but he who hides a jewel invites crime—this is also why he doesn't blame the temporary workers for their sudden attack, for the thing on his person is simply too tempting, and even he felt the urge to strike Zhuge Qing.

"" Wang Zhenqiu looked at the deep, steady aura approaching beside him, squeezed out a smile from his face; he thought he was already steady enough, but compared to this big brother, he seemed a bit lacking, describing stealing others' things in such a fresh way, delivering it to your face? As for Zhang Lingyu, he has become a laughingstock in the whole circle, and those ten elders are searching everywhere for people; even Xiao Lao Tou is flustered, actually having sought him out.

"Little Wang, may I ask you something—how many temporary workers did you guys bring this time?" Zhou Shuo looked at the blue‑haired child as delicate as a girl, raised his eyebrows, and glanced over at Xiao Ge, who had sat down cross‑pressed, suppressing his killing intent; he inwardly nodded, and the flying sword above his head slowly descended and returned to its sheath.

"Five." Wang Zhenqiu replied without hesitation.

"Five! The ones from Southwest, North China, Central China, and East China—I haven't seen the Northwest one yet, just these five? Surely there must be more!" Zhou Shuo counted heads: the Southwest one is Wang Zhenqiu, the North China one is Feng Baobao, the Central China one is the guy who ambushed from there, the East China one is this Xiao Zai, and the Northwest one he hasn't seen yet.

"Hmm, there's still one, from the Northeast, but I haven't seen him either." Wang Zhenqiu looked at the guy who knew everything like the back of his hand and chuckled, offering himself an explanation.

"Little slippery one." Xia Liuqing looked at the unflustered little brat, let out a cold snort, but seeing Zhou Shuo not pursuing the matter, she wiped the colorful pattern from her face and gathered her martial arts.

"Tell me, does your squad have someone named Zhang Chulan?" Zhou Shuo looked at the slippery kid and asked.

"Zhang Chulan, Bu Yao Bi Lian? Has he come too?" Wang Zhenqiu blinked; the name Zhang Chulan is hardly unknown among the extraordinary—Unshaking Jade Lotus, Formless Great Villain, the protagonist of the Luo Tian Grand Rite, heir of the Qi Body Source Flow, who ought to have been the original obtainer of the Heavenly Tome, yet why would he be thought to participate in this operation, and why have I never heard of it?

"He's not here, then sorry!" Zhou Shuo looked at the slippery kid who, despite being evasive, had finally spoken the thing he needed, his brows knitting; he had unconsciously tried to trip Zhang Chulan up, and now things had come to this pass—Feng Baobao, you'd better look out for yourself!

"It's fine, uh, Zhou Ge, it's just between us." Wang Zhenqiu looked at the frowning, contemplative Zhou Shuo, and his eyes flickered slightly.

"Aren't you supposed to be on duty?" Zhou Shuo looked at the boy whose eyes were darting around, keenly sensing that he was hatching some plan.

"You're helping my master find my future master's wife, right?" Wang Zhenqiu asked with a grin.

"You little brat, quit gossiping about nonsense; this is my master's affair." Xia Liuqing looked at the talkative boy and spat.

"Now he's calling himself master again." Zhou Shuo looked at Xia Lao Tou, who just a moment ago had denied being a disciple but now called himself 'your master me', and he rolled his eyes; this old man truly has no shame, thinking a single line about a future master's wife would settle things?

"Go, go, go, don't mistake kindness for ill intent; this little brat always harbors bad thoughts, and he changes face faster than flipping a page—I'm afraid you'll be screwed by him." Xia Liuqing's old face flushed a little, and she scolded and warned.

"No matter, I just like people who change faces faster than flipping a page—let's see who can out‑flip whom." Zhou Shuo looked at Xia Lao Tou, who had just scolded and reminded him, grinning broadly as he glanced with the corner of his eye at the exquisitely delicate blue‑haired child, his hand pressing on the hilt of his sword at his waist; whether bound by duty or caught in scheming plots, he didn't care, and if they really turned hostile, he'd simply never come back to this world.

"Uh‑hehe..." Wang Zhenqiu looked at the guy sizing him up from the corner of his eye, hand on his sword hilt, feeling inexplicably a chill, forcing a smile while inwardly wondering just how capable this fellow is to act so lawlessly—when did the Quanxing sect produce such a lunatic!

"Well, Zhou Ge, I'll just tell you straight about this Azure Tour Village affair—our temporary workers have basically all been mobilized, and the target is clearly the whole Azure Tour Village, because there is something in the village that extremely disrupts the balance." Wang Zhenqiu looked at Zhou Shuo and let the information out bit by bit.

"The Self‑Cultivation Furnace, right? It's already finished over there—I just saw it and learned a bit about it." Zhou Shuo gave a slight nod; a furnace that can turn ordinary people into extraordinaries, namely the one jointly forged by Zhuge Qing and Ma Xianhong, placed in the Self‑Cultivation Hall and similar to that chemical furnace.

"Zhou Ge, you've got good tactics, but our temporary workers can't just move in now—the specific reason, I'm sure you've seen it too: everyone in that village is ordinary, not extraordinary, and we're worrying about that; otherwise, upon receiving your news, I, Xiao Ge, and Guan Ge would have rushed over immediately—ah, Guan Ge?" Wang Zhenqiu looked at Zhou Shuo, finding it hard to express everything, but then suddenly recalled something, his face changed, and he turned to look at the foreigner returning from the grass patch.

"He ran away; that guy is formidable, and I can't fully suppress him." Balun looked at the scene, now calm and seemingly reconciled, showing no surprise, while answering Wang Zhenqiu's question—he had clashed with the Central China temporary worker, the opponent was quite formidable, and he fled.

"That's great; if casualties occurred, there would be no room for settlement between us, so let's continue." Wang Zhenqiu looked at the earnestly explaining foreigner and let out a big sigh of relief—if the two sides forged a grudge, it would be a loss.

"Or should we keep going? How is it, on the company's side, that even ordinary people aren't wanted to stay?" Zhou Shuo looked at Wang Zhenqiu and Balun, who communicated without hindrance, and steered the conversation back.

"They didn't give detailed instructions for this matter; they just dispatched all of us temporary workers en masse, the implication being obvious—this time, besides carrying out the mission, we also have the sense of being made to take the fall." Wang Zhenqiu spread his hands, hiding nothing, his tone tinged with regret.

"Isn't the point of being temporary workers exactly this? You take the company's benefits, so naturally you have to work." Zhou Shuo looked at the boy whose words carried regret, gave him a sideways glance—hard labor, dirty work, tiring work all have to be done, taking the fall is also natural, benefits were agreed upon beforehand, and it all depends on everyone's voluntary participation; that's what makes them temporary workers.

"But this situation is different—above there's no formal, clear order, we really don't know how far to go, could it truly be…" Wang Zhenqiu's face turned a bit awkward.

"So what's your plan? You want me to take the blame for you?" Zhou Shuo looked at the awkward kid and curled the corner of his mouth.

"No, no, I don't mean that—I just don't know how to put it; I'm not asking you for a plan! My meaning is merely that our objectives overlap to some extent this time, and the matter of my future master's wife also falls under it—could we cooperate?" Seeing Zhou Shuo's grin, Wang Zhenqiu hurriedly shook his head to explain; he's not that stupid, he just wants to cooperate, after all, Ma Xianhong is not easy to deal with.

"Xiao Lao, what do you say? I'm here to help you; I haven't been able to find Jin Feng Po Po, and Balun, how about you?" Zhou Shuo looked at Wang Zhenqiu, who had extended the invitation, and tossed the decision to Xia Liuqing and Balun.

"I haven't found it either, but I've noticed that the people in this village have a magical device—a red‑and‑yellow speckled small ball that contains an enormous amount of stuff; that's the only thing we haven't checked yet." Balun shook his head expressionlessly and offered a clue.

"Little brat? The company would cooperate with us Quanxing demons? And you'd better think it through—under no circumstances can we let Jin Feng get dragged into this." Xia Liuqing glanced askance at her beloved disciple.

"I don't intend to drag this cooperation upward; I'll discuss it with Xiao Ge, Guan Ge, Feng Baobao, Lao Meng, and the folks from the Northeast…" Wang Zhenqiu shook his head, hesitated a moment, began to name the companions who had come together, but before he could finish, his phone vibrated in his pocket; he pulled it out and saw a WeChat message.

"Agree (′v｀)." The WeChat chat displayed two characters and a satisfied emoticon.