Chapter 112: I believe in him
At the same time, in Silver Moon City.
Xue Ji was having a headache over a completely different problem.
On the desk in front of her were more than twenty stacks of documents. A map of the western residential district was open on the screen, with a list of guards that needed to be dispatched beside it, reports on conflicts between two markets, the number of new people who had entered the city this week, and three requests to repair the water system.
A northern energy station needed its core replaced.
Two hunting teams had not returned on time.
The eastern grain warehouse reported that reserves were dropping faster than expected.
The new southern residential district had just accepted more than a hundred refugees, making the already insufficient temporary housing even more crowded.
Xue Ji sat behind the desk, one hand supporting her forehead while the other flipped through a report.
She had been sitting here for nearly three hours.
The cup of coffee placed beside her at some point had already gone half cold.
Just as Xue Ji was about to pick it up, the office door suddenly opened.
A black-haired woman walked in.
She had a beautiful face and a tall figure, and she wore a simple dark outfit. But what attracted the most attention at this moment was not her appearance, but the stack of documents in her arms, thick enough to almost cover half of her upper body.
She walked straight to the desk.
Bang!
The entire stack of documents slammed down in front of Xue Ji.
"Explain."
Xue Ji raised her head from the screen.
"What is it?"
The black-haired woman looked at her as if asking why someone so shameless could exist in this world. She pulled out one file, flipped straight to the page marked in red, and placed it in front of Xue Ji.
"The western residential district expansion plan, three new water treatment stations, an Energy Crystal reserve warehouse, reinforcement for the northern barrier wall, repairs to two main roads, and the construction of another medical station."
Her finger tapped hard on one line.
"Look at the projected resource source."
Xue Ji lowered her gaze.
[Resource Blind Box - Annual Trial Gate.]
She nodded.
"Is there a problem?"
The black-haired woman stared at her.
"Is there a problem?"
Her voice rose slightly.
"Xue Ji, have you gone insane?"
Xue Ji did not answer immediately. She lifted her coffee cup and took a sip, then her brows immediately furrowed.
It was very bitter.
There was also a burnt smell.
She looked at the black liquid in the cup, disgust written clearly across her face.
"Today’s coffee is truly awful."
The black-haired woman clenched her hand.
"Xue Ji!"
"I am listening."
"You are not listening to a damn thing."
She snatched the file back and pointed straight at the numbers below. "You took one thousand C-rank Energy Crystals from the reserve warehouse and gave them to a man who has not even been in the city for long. That alone was enough to make the warehouse managers come ask me whether the City Lord had been hit in the head by a monster while hunting."
Xue Ji put the cup down.
"That is an investment."
"I know you call it an investment." The black-haired woman took a deep breath, trying to force her voice down, but the more she spoke, the uglier her expression became. "What I do not understand is that you do not even know whether that investment will pay off, yet you have already taken a reward that does not exist and allocated it to next year’s projects."
She flipped through several more pages.
"Are you really certain Ethan Ashford will win the championship?"
Xue Ji nodded.
"Mm."
The woman opposite her froze.
Perhaps she had prepared many arguments to refute her, but the answer came so quickly that everything got stuck in her throat.
"...Mm?"
"Mm."
"Do you know who his opponents are?"
"I do."
"Safe Zone Number Three has been holding back a Silver Rank stage ten from breaking through for nearly half a year. Safe Zone Number Twelve has someone who once killed a Gold Rank while still at Silver Rank stage nine. Every year, the major families pour so many resources into their representatives that ordinary people would feel their hearts ache just from looking at the numbers."
She leaned forward, both hands braced on the desk.
"Ethan has only just stepped into Silver Rank."
Xue Ji curved her lips slightly.
"Is that so?"
"Is that so, my ass!"
The black-haired woman straightened, both hands clutching her forehead. "One thousand C-rank crystals. One thousand! And now you are even making construction plans based on him definitely bringing the Resource Blind Box back."
She pulled out another file.
"Do you know how much material these three water stations need? How many array cores the energy warehouse needs? The western road alone requires an amount of metal that we would need to save for at least two years at our current rate."
Xue Ji looked at the numbers.
"That is why we need the Resource Blind Box."
"I know!"
"Then we are in agreement."
"We are not!"
The woman gritted her teeth. If the person in front of her were not Xue Ji, the file would probably have already flown straight at her head.
She pointed at Xue Ji’s chair.
"If you no longer want to sit there, say so earlier. I can propose transferring the City Lord position to someone else. At least do not burn through our resource reserves before you leave."
Xue Ji was not angry at all.
She only looked at the coffee cup on the table one more time, then finally decided to push it aside.
"I believe he can do it."
The black-haired woman lowered her hands.
"That is it?"
"That is it."
"Reason?"
Xue Ji leaned back in her chair.
Several images flashed through her mind.
The first time she saw Ethan on the ship, he had not even been the strongest person in the group. But he could see things others could not see and make decisions most ordinary people would not dare to make.
Then there was Laira.
A Partner that even Xue Ji could not completely see through.
Then during this reunion, Ethan had stepped into Silver Rank. Laira had also stepped into Silver Rank. Her injured wing had completely changed, and she now had a type of energy on her that even Xue Ji felt was abnormal.
There was also Ruo Yan by Ethan’s side now.
Xue Ji did not know what the three of them had experienced.
She did not need to know either.
The thing that made her decide to gamble was not a specific piece of information.
It was speed.
Every time they met again, Ethan was stronger than before.
And not just by a little.
This time, when he heard the conditions of the deal, Ethan had not even needed to consider for long.
He only said one sentence.
"You will not regret it."
Xue Ji smiled faintly.
"I have seen him fight. That is enough."
The black-haired woman looked at that smile for a few seconds, and her face finally twisted completely.
"Fuck."
Xue Ji laughed.
"You are insane."
"Maybe."
"What if he loses?"
"Then we revise the plan."
The woman widened her eyes. "You make it sound so easy."
"Would crying make the resources appear on their own?"
"I could strangle you."
"You cannot beat me."
The room was silent for two seconds.
The black-haired woman pulled out a chair and sat down, her hollow gaze falling on the pile of documents.
"I hate working with powerhouses."
Xue Ji smiled. "But the salary is very good."
"I am considering whether it is worth it."
"Then keep considering."
The woman gritted her teeth, pulled out a pen, and dragged the city map toward herself. "Fine. Suppose I go insane with you this once. Which parts do we begin implementing first?"
Xue Ji immediately sat a little straighter.
"The three water stations do not need to be built immediately, but the locations must be cleared. Especially the western district. The population there is growing too quickly. The old system cannot survive another hot season."
The woman wrote it down.
"The energy warehouse?"
"Clear the land and reinforce the foundation. There is no need to install the cores yet."
"The northern barrier wall?"
"Have the technical team survey it. Keep the sections that can still be reused. Do not tear everything down and rebuild from scratch. We are not that rich."
The woman raised her head and looked at her.
"Oh, so you do know we are poor?"
Xue Ji smiled.
"I have always known."
"Judging from the way you handed someone one thousand C-rank crystals, I could not tell."
Xue Ji ignored that jab. "Prepare the design for the main road in advance. If we really receive the Resource Blind Box, I want construction to begin immediately, not wait several more months because of procedures."
The woman stopped writing.
"You have already thought that far ahead?"
"Of course."
"You really consider him to have already won?"
"I am preparing for the possibility that he wins."
"What is the difference?"
"It sounds more reasonable."
"..."
The woman lowered her head and continued writing.
After a while, she finally spoke again. "I still do not understand."
"Hmm?"
"You are not someone who trusts people easily."
Xue Ji paused slightly.
The woman was still looking at the documents, and her voice was less harsh than before. "The people in the city have followed you for so long. Some hunting teams only received a share of valuable resources after making contributions for years. Ethan has only met you a few times."
"I do not trust him."
The woman raised her head.
Xue Ji propped up her chin.
"At least, not the kind of trust you are thinking about."
"Then?"
"I trust benefits."
She pointed at the city map.
"Ethan needs to become stronger. I need the Resource Blind Box. He does not need to betray me to obtain something better, because if he wins, the other two Blind Boxes already belong to him. And I do not need to seize his share either, because what I want is only the Resource Blind Box."
The corner of Xue Ji’s mouth curved up.
"A deal where both sides have reason to complete it properly. I like that kind of relationship more than oaths of loyalty."
The black-haired woman thought for a few seconds.
"That sounds much more reasonable than your earlier sentence, ’I believe in him.’"
"I also believe in him."
"...Do you have to add that sentence?"
"Mm."
The woman held her forehead again.
"Fuck."
Xue Ji laughed.
The woman gathered the documents into her arms and stood up to walk toward the door. Before leaving, she still could not help but turn back.
"If Ethan does not win the championship, I will count those one thousand crystals against your personal budget."
"Fine."
"I am serious."
"So am I."
"And you will explain this pile of plans to the citizens yourself."
"Fine."
"I will not help."
"Mm."
The woman stared at her for a few seconds before finally giving up.
"You are truly insane."
Bang!
The door closed.
Xue Ji sat alone in the room.
She looked at the pile of documents in front of her, then picked up the coffee cup out of habit. Just as she brought it to her lips, she suddenly remembered the taste from before and immediately put it back down.
"Truly awful."
Xue Ji muttered softly, then leaned back in her chair.
Her gaze shifted to the map of Silver Moon City.
The western district.
Water stations.
Barrier wall.
Resource warehouse.
New roads.
There were too many things that needed to be built.
There were too many people waiting.
One thousand C-rank Energy Crystals was indeed a massive gamble for the city in its current state. But if it could be exchanged for enough resources to sustain Silver Moon City for more than ten years, then it was a gamble worth taking.
Xue Ji remembered Ethan.
The corner of her mouth slowly curved up.
"Let me see how far you can go."
In a place completely beyond Xue Ji’s sight, five lines of sand were simultaneously charging toward Ethan.
Laira had already raised her hand.
Ruo Yan summoned the Necromancer.
And inside the Primordial Armor on Ethan’s left arm, the first arc of lightning had just lit up.
Xue Ji’s gamble had begun.