Chapter 96: Martial Artists' Meet-and-Greet (Seeking Subscriptions)

Chapter 96: Martial Artists' Meet-and-Greet (Seeking Subscriptions)

The bathroom had no bathtub, so Chen Shouyi could only fill the sink with warm water.

He removed Shell Woman’s clothes and tossed them into the trash.

"My clothes!" Shell Woman cried out in distress, her face full of heartache.

"I’ll buy you new ones next time," Chen Shouyi said.

"They have to be just as pretty as these!" she demanded.

"Fine, fine!"

Seeing that Chen Shouyi had agreed, she didn’t even wait for him to urge her before she walked to the edge of the sink and sat down. Then, like sliding down a playground slide, she swiftly slipped along the porcelain surface into the sink, splashing water everywhere.

She dove underwater, stayed submerged for over ten seconds, then resurfaced and spat a mouthful of water at Chen Shouyi. She walked around in the sink, constantly splashing and playing, occasionally even doing a doggy paddle.

After all, she was a creature that lived by the sea—how could she possibly be afraid of water?

Looking at her petite yet curvaceous figure, Chen Shouyi felt nothing.

What’s the point of having those?

"I want nice-smelling bubbles!" she shouted after a while.

Sighing, he grabbed a packet of shower gel, tore it open, and poured it into the sink. "Stop playing around and hurry up!"

...

More than ten minutes later, Chen Shouyi dried Shell Woman off and dressed her in fresh clothes.

Then he turned on a cartoon for her and left her to it.

Meanwhile, he was stuck miserably scrubbing his briefcase clean.

He felt like he was raising a daughter.

...

Hedong Grand Hotel.

A renowned five-star hotel in Hedong City.

Today’s Martial Artists' Meet-and-Greet was being held here.

"Welcome!" Two hostesses in cheongsams greeted him in sweet, charming voices.

Chen Shouyi walked through the entrance. To dress more formally, he had bought a suit, which made him look noticeably more mature.

He pressed the elevator button and soon arrived at the fifth-floor hall, which was already quite lively.

Representatives from various counties and cities in Jiangnan Province had set up their recruitment booths.

Apart from the fact that there were far more recruiters than martial artists, the scene was no different from a job fair.

Chen Shouyi spotted Dongning City’s representative booth among them.

"You’re here!"

"Yeah!"

The greetings came from fellow martial artists from the same batch. After a brief exchange, they passed each other by.

Chen Shouyi noticed that the attendees weren’t just from their group—there was another batch of about twenty to thirty people. But compared to the nearly fifty or sixty representatives from various counties and cities, it was still a case of too many recruiters and too few martial artists.

One representative from a county-level city even stood up and began loudly promoting:

"Choosing Louhua City is your best option! Though we may not be as developed as Hedong or Ningzhou, our commitment to martial artists is unmatched. Come to Louhua City, and you’ll receive a relocation allowance of 5 million, along with a villa..."

Seeing Louhua City’s shameless pitch, a neighboring county-level city’s representative also started loudly advertising:

"Luoshan City offers even better conditions! I’m here under the mayor’s orders—we’ll spare no expense to recruit martial artists. What’s 5 million? We’ll offer 6 million, plus a villa! And if you come to Luoshan City, all terms are negotiable!"

"Pingqiu City also offers 6 million, with the same conditions..."

Chen Shouyi listened with growing confusion in his heart:

"Didn’t Director Fang say Hedong City had the highest relocation allowance, which was only 3 million? How is it that a county-level city is now offering 6 million, and if negotiations go well, the allowance could be even higher?"

However, as soon as he thought about the current chaos in Dongning City, Chen Shouyi immediately understood.

With the invasion of mysterious forces from the Otherworld, satellites had lost connection, mobile signals were cut off, and communication was almost entirely disrupted except for landline telephones. Most counties and cities were still without power, and regional surveillance had become utterly ineffective.

The defensive capabilities of these counties and cities against the Otherworld had plummeted. The invasion of just a few barbarians was enough to cause complete havoc and upheaval.

At this point, the role of Martial Artists became immediately apparent.

...

The last two booths belonged to two Martial Artist departments.

One was the Third Category Affairs Investigation Bureau, which had appeared during the first cult ritual incident Chen Shouyi encountered.

The other was the familiar Martial Arts Notary and Discipline Inspection Office.

"Hey, Chen Shouyi! Over here!" Director Fang, sharp-eyed, spotted Chen Shouyi and quickly called out to him.

Chen Shouyi sighed inwardly but had no choice but to approach.

"So, have you made a decision?" Director Fang asked.

Beside him sat a young and beautiful assistant, who glanced at Chen Shouyi with curiosity.

Chen Shouyi replied tactfully, "I haven’t decided yet. I’d like to look around a bit more."

"Tell me, what’s on your mind? Let me analyze it for you!" Director Fang said with a sly, fox-like smile.

"Ah, Old Fang, it’s not right for you to exploit your position like this."

Suddenly, a voice came from the Third Category Affairs Investigation Bureau’s booth nearby. Soon, a square-faced middle-aged man walked over with a smile.

"Young man, what’s so great about the Notary Office? It’s boring there, and they’re swamped with work every day. Why not join our Third Bureau? As long as nothing happens, there’s nothing to do."

Anyone the Notary Office took an interest in was undoubtedly top-tier talent. Moreover, this young man looked quite youthful—youth itself represented potential.

"Get lost! You’re always butting in. When something happens in your department, it’s always a major incident with the highest mortality rate," Director Fang retorted coldly.

"And yours is any better? You lost two people last year alone," the square-faced man shot back before adding, "But our benefits are the best, and our subsidies are the highest. Besides the city’s relocation allowance, our department also provides housing solutions."

"Housing solutions?" Chen Shouyi couldn’t help but ask. This was currently a major concern for his family.

The square-faced man flashed a victorious smile. "That’s right. Our department has its own residential area—directly offering villas."

"Your place is practically the countryside. What’s there to boast about? And you might even get assigned to county-level cities, making it hard to return," Director Fang said with a cold expression. "We’re different. On top of the city’s relocation allowance, our department will add another 10 million."

"Are you just trying to one-up me now?" the square-faced man said, his expression darkening.

"You’re the one starting trouble!" Director Fang lightly slapped the table and stood up.

The two men were now at a standoff, the atmosphere tense and hostile.

Seeing this, Chen Shouyi quickly said, "Thank you for your kindness, leaders, but let me explain. As you can see, I'm still underage and have no immediate plans for employment, so neither department is quite suitable for me. I'll go check out other places first!"

He stood up and swiftly made his exit, not wanting to get caught in the conflict between the two big shots. Agreeing to either one would offend the other, and though the offers were tempting, they weren’t so easy to accept.

Seeing Chen Shouyi leave, the two men snorted coldly, their faces darkening as they each took their seats in the exhibition area.

......

Chen Shouyi let out a sigh of relief and soon arrived at Hedong City’s recruitment booth, only to find the spot empty, with quite a few Martial Artists gathered nearby.

"What’s going on here? There’s no one around!"

"The Hedong City representative is on the phone applying for a higher relocation allowance," a well-informed Martial Artist explained.

Ah, so that was it!

Hedong City had always offered the highest relocation allowance, but today’s Martial Artist recruitment event was unexpectedly competitive. Various counties and cities below had driven up the prices, disrupting the market order, making the original 3 million relocation allowance seem embarrassingly low.

After just a few minutes, the Hedong City representative hurried back.

Without even catching his breath, he grabbed correction fluid and a whiteboard marker, quickly updating the display.

"8 million—Hedong City’s relocation allowance has been raised to 8 million."