As Wang Yao spoke, everyone’s gaze involuntarily fell upon her.

Shock!

Everyone looked shocked, because Wang Yao’s expression and words held not the slightest hint of a joke.

Besides, she had been silent before, looking as though she had something heavy on her mind. It was obvious this was a decision she had made after long consideration.

"Are you really planning to become a Mercenary? It’s an extremely dangerous job. I can even tell you for a fact that Mercenaries die on missions almost every single day," Lin Xinghai said with a serious expression.

"Yes! I’ve thought it through. Besides, it’s not necessarily safe inside the Shelter, either—just look at what happened with the Morgan Conglomerate yesterday. And with my C Level Genetic Assessment, I’m sure I’m not any worse than the Squad Leaders of the major Mercenary Corps, right?" Wang Yao said with a resolute look.

Of course, there was another reason she didn’t say out loud: she didn’t want to be left too far behind by Lin Xinghai and Liu Miaomiao.

She had long since gathered information about the Optimized and understood that her Genetic Assessment was already considered excellent within the Shelter.

As long as she had enough resources and worked a little harder, it was even possible for her to enter the Blood Qi Realm.

After breaking through to the Blood Qi Realm, one’s Cultivation would focus on Blood Qi Power, so Genetic Assessment would no longer be a barrier.

At that point, she would have what it took to truly catch up.

Her job at the Government Hall might be good for an ordinary person, but improving her Genetic Optimization Level required more and more resources at the Late Stage. That job alone was clearly not enough.

So, after considering all her options, she had decided to become a Mercenary.

"Alright! Once you become one of the Optimized, come join our Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps!" Lin Xinghai said after a moment’s silence, not trying to stop her.

He knew more about the situation, especially about the existence of the Abyssal Passage.

In the future, this post-apocalyptic world would only become more dangerous. Even the Shelters might not be safe. In the end, you could only rely on yourself.

"Then I’ll go to the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps, too."

"Me too! I want to go too."

At this, Qin Zixue and Shen Yimei, seeing that Lin Xinghai had agreed to Wang Yao’s request, quickly spoke up.

Even Yang Yi had a hopeful look on her face, but when she thought of her own Genetic Assessment, her eyes dimmed, and in the end, she was too embarrassed to say anything.

However, Lin Xinghai just rolled his eyes at the two girls’ requests. "Being a Mercenary isn’t a game. With your attitude, I wouldn’t dare accept you."

"If you don’t have the resolve to face death, you’ll just panic when you encounter danger, and that will only get you killed faster."

At first, when Qin Zixue and Shen Yimei heard Lin Xinghai’s words, they thought he was just trying to brush them off. But after hearing his last sentence, they fell silent.

’The resolve to face death... do we have that?’

Of course they didn’t. They were just envious of the high salaries Mercenaries earned.

But when they imagined facing Zombies, both girls gave up on the idea of becoming Mercenaries.

"Actually, you could work in the Mercenary Corps’ logistics support team," Liu Miaomiao said at this moment.

Seeing Lin Xinghai look over, she quickly added, "As our Mercenary Corps continues to expand, the logistics support team has also been recruiting. And I heard Captain Fang mention before that once we become a Third Level Mercenary Corps, we can even expand it into a logistics department."

Lin Xinghai was a bit surprised. He actually didn’t know about these things, but since Liu Miaomiao had spoken up, he certainly wouldn’t object. "As long as they’re willing, it’s no problem for them to join our Mercenary Corps."

Qin Zixue and the others, who had been listening from the side, looked astonished. They quickly started asking Liu Miaomiao about the logistics department.

When they heard that joining the logistics department meant their salaries would be at least triple what they were now, and they wouldn’t have to fight and kill, even Yang Yi couldn’t help but look excited.

For the rest of the meal, it was pretty much the five women talking while Lin Xinghai listened.

After they finished talking about the Mercenary Corps, the women actually started chatting about clothes and cosmetics, leaving Lin Xinghai utterly speechless.

...

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, everyone parted ways. Lin Xinghai returned to his villa, planning to relax a bit, maybe watch a romance movie or something with Liu Miaomiao.

But just as he was ready to rest, others wouldn’t let him. After the celebration at the bar ended and the various captains left, quite a few of them started sending him private messages to build connections, asking if they could act together tomorrow, what preparations to make, and so on.

Lin Xinghai pushed almost all of this social business onto Fang Tianhe.

Only when Gao Mountain sent a message did Lin Xinghai show a different attitude, telling him to bring the Mountain and Sea Mercenary Corps and follow him directly tomorrow.

Lin Xinghai was very attentive to his subordinate Mercenary Corps. That way, even if he left Star Shield Shelter, they could provide a continuous stream of funds.

After kicking the ball to Fang Tianhe’s court, he thought he could finally have some peace and quiet. But to his surprise, even Jiang Rui, the task supervisor, sent him a message.

"Looks like I can’t watch a movie with you. I have to make a trip to the Mercenary Guild," Lin Xinghai said with a hint of resignation, looking at the message in his hand.

"It’s okay! Business comes first," Liu Miaomiao said immediately, though she also felt a little disappointed.

Five minutes later, Lin Xinghai arrived at the Mercenary Guild and was shown into a reception room.

"Spit it out! What is it? You’re cutting into my ’private time for two’," Lin Xinghai said, looking displeased.

"Ahem! The zombie-clearing operation starts tomorrow, right? A lot of things are rushed, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered you," Jiang Rui explained with a smile, though he was grumbling inwardly.

’This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone in such a serious setting so blatantly prioritize their personal affairs over official business.’

"Just get straight to the point!" Lin Xinghai said, not caring what the other man was thinking.

"It’s like this. After discussions among the higher-ups, to prevent any more Morgan Conglomerate members from lying in wait, the Military Department definitely can’t dispatch too many people before the Defense system for the Geothermal Energy Extractor is installed." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"The first batch to set out will only be 5,000 people, which will gradually increase to 10,000 later. This means the Mercenary Guild will have to shoulder a greater burden."

"But we at the Mercenary Guild have never tried to coordinate so many Mercenary Corps before. Besides, Mercenaries are different from soldiers by nature. It’s not easy to manage them!"

"What if all these Mercenary Corps just do their own thing and don’t follow the plan set by the Military Department?" Jiang Rui threw the problem out there.

He had only realized this problem after receiving the operational plan from the general staff department.

Although he had identified the problem, he couldn’t think of any solutions, which was why he had so hastily summoned Lin Xinghai.