Chapter 750: Bandit Group Neo!

Chapter 750: The Neo Bandit Group!

In the early morning, Karen stepped out from the lounge inside his office. Just at that moment, the maid, Xili, pushed open the door, carrying a large thermal flask, and began to lay out breakfast.

There were four cups of hot soy milk, ten fried dough sticks, ten tea eggs, ten large meat buns, twenty pan-fried dumplings, four bowls of small wontons, and several small dishes of pickles.

Once everything was arranged, Xili left. She would collect the tableware when she delivered lunch at noon.

Although Karen had always preferred a rich and filling breakfast, such a vast quantity was certainly not prepared for him alone.

Philomena walked in, took a seat across from Karen's desk, and joined him for breakfast.

As Karen climbed the ranks step by step toward the position of District Director, his original core team members had also received promotions one after another. Several had already become chiefs and deputy chiefs, and the least among them was at least a director of an office, and not a deputy either.

Only Philomena remained a "group leader," transitioning from her earliest role as leader of the Chief's security group to her current role as leader of the District Director's security group.

Her primary duty was to set up a desk outside Karen’s office door, sit behind it, and keep watch.

There was an anteroom outside the District Director's office, so Philomena now essentially had half an office to call her own.

Far from feeling unbalanced about this work arrangement, she was actually quite satisfied with it.

After all, it was impossible to give her an office all to herself with Richard as her sole subordinate, and she was simply incapable of adapting to other interpersonal interactions and administrative duties.

Though she had softened slightly compared to before after personally seeing her grandmother off, her inherently unsociable and cold nature remained intact.

Karen leafed through documents while eating his breakfast. Reaching the position of District Director granted him the privilege to read higher-level documents, though many of them could only be read within the office and could not be taken home.

Although many people ignored this rule in their daily routines, habitually taking documents home to continue working.

However, an incident had occurred recently in another grand district. After the former Chief Bishop retired, he was purged by the newly appointed Chief Bishop. Members of that grand district's Whip of Order rushed into the former Chief’s manor to conduct a search, uncovering a significant number of working documents that should not have been kept at home. Currently, the former Chief Bishop was being prosecuted for the "crime of endangering the security of the Holy Church."

The essence of this matter had very little to do with the working documents themselves; it was merely a layer of wonton skin draped over a power struggle.

If he himself were to fall from grace one day, the simple act of his maid delivering breakfast to his office could also be characterized as a "corrupt and decadent lifestyle, violating the principle of order and equality."

But what this incident actually implicated was that the resurgent Whip of Order and the Grand District Administrative Office were beginning to show signs of collusion.

The High Priest’s renewed support for the Whip of Order was intended to strengthen the Holy See's centralization of power over local regions through the Whip, not to cultivate new local protective factions.

To this end, the Whip-Bearer and several grandees within the system had issued relevant documents, demanding that the independence and purity of the Whip of Order be strictly guaranteed, hinting at a trend toward a new round of rectification movements.

Having just taken office as the District Director of York City, Karen had written a report yesterday and submitted it upward. The report was titled: "Bear in Mind the Historical Mission, Clarify Present Duties, and Look Ahead to Future Development."

The entire text could be described as clear in its logic, distinct in its theme, and well-supported by evidence.

It traced the meaning of their mission from the history of the Holy Church, centered around the Light of Order, clarified duties within daily operational experience, and then, relying on both, connected the realistic situation of today's Holy Church circles to look toward the future.

Many outsiders would think this kind of report was completely meaningless, nothing more than a superficial formality. Yet in truth, the more seemingly simple a matter appeared, the higher its hidden threshold often was.

To write it well, to write it beautifully, to write it with fresh insight, and to write it precisely according to what the high-level leadership required was a highly profound art.

Eating his wontons, he flipped through the internal journal of the Whip of Order delivered this morning. The second page, remarkably, featured the very report he had submitted yesterday.

Even factoring in the time difference, to be published directly upon submission showed that it had received explicit endorsement. Furthermore, at the very bottom, there was a directive from Andilao, the Head of the Disciplinary Inspection Committee, requiring the Whip of Order in every grand district to carry out an in-depth study of this report.

Andilao was one of the three academic titans who had met him at the Lakeside Manor, and had even taken him to see the Whip-Bearer.

Karen had not given any advance notice; the other party had simply helped set things in motion after seeing his signature. This was the benefit of having connections in high places.

"Heh."

Karen could not help but chuckle.

Philomena, who was currently dipping a fried dough stick into her soy milk, paused for a moment, then lowered her head to continue eating.

The reason Karen laughed was that he could imagine how the leaders of the Whip of Order in other grand districts would react upon seeing this report and its signature. Their expressions would undoubtedly be quite uncomfortable.

The guy who held the firmest grip on his local Whip of Order forces—who could even be called the most powerful District Director among all the grand districts—was actually taking the lead in writing an article calling for everyone to maintain their purity.

This was wanting both the substance and the appearance; the manner of consumption was truly too unsightly.

Karen, however, harbored no psychological burden regarding this. He wrote the report merely to satisfy his professional obligations.

Nowadays, he had Alfred managing the overall situation beneath him, with Vic, the student of the former High Priest, and Leon, the grandson of the former Chief, serving as deputies. Even though the recent work of establishing the new department was highly complex, they coordinated all parties and handled everything in an orderly fashion.

It reached the point where, for Karen as a leader, not offering specific guidance on the work was the best guarantee for the work itself.

This might sound a bit unpleasant, giving off the impression that Karen was useless, but in truth, a leader possessing the self-awareness not to blindly issue orders just to assert their presence belonged to a genuine minority.

However, Karen had his own duties to perform. Writing reports and actively catching the frisbee on behalf of the York City District Whip of Order to satisfy the higher-ups was only one part of it.

He also needed to constantly make phone calls or hold meetings through the image transmissions of communication arrays with colleagues and executives from other grand districts, as well as grandees from other systems.

From time to time, he even had to personally use the teleportation arrays to travel over and drink tea face-to-face with people.

He needed to sustain a protective umbrella, creating a better environment and situation for the work of his subordinates.

The academic faction's network of relationships played an undeniable role in this. With this faction, providing timely help in times of distress was almost impossible, but when it came to adding the finishing touches to success, every single one of them was exceedingly enthusiastic.

In addition, the ultimate foundation of security came from that meeting with the Whip-Bearer.

Karen had long since read through numerous speeches and articles by the Whip-Bearer. Possessing a photographic memory, he would occasionally drop a quote or two from the Whip-Bearer when communicating with others.

That half-hour "private audience" was like a piece of sugarcane; Karen was determined to chew it thoroughly until nothing but pulp remained.

As for when to spit it out, that would depend on when the Whip-Bearer summoned him alone again.

"This afternoon..."

Hearing Karen speak, an expression of slight misery instantly washed over Philomena's face.

"Heh, what's wrong?" Karen asked.

"Drinking tea again?"

Every time Karen went to meet with people, Philomena had to stand beside him. It was very tedious and incredibly boring.

"Yes," Karen replied.

"Sigh," Philomena let out a sigh. "I still think our past life was more interesting. Like in the desert, for instance."

Karen said, "There is a saying: generals who truly know how to fight wars rarely achieve wildly exaggerated casualty ratios."

"Why?"

"Because they do not need to resort to speculative and risky methods. Through steady operations and meticulous planning, they can pocket the victory safely."

"Oh."

"Besides, if I still had to personally go to the front lines to fight and kill now, then what was the point of all my fighting and killing in the past?"

"Oh."

Philomena swallowed the last gulp of soy milk. The breakfast on the table had been basically cleared out by her.

Karen asked, "Should I have Xili prepare a bit more tomorrow?"

Philomena nodded very seriously. "Yes."

For someone walking the path of a warrior, relying on physical bursts to fight, the body's food consumption was also immensely vast. This was especially true for Philomena, who, under her grandmother's training, was still in a phase of rapid development.

Her grandmother knew this as well, so she often had Richard bring over afternoon tea pastries made by her own hands from home.

Karen's portion came in a small box; the one given to Philomena came in a bucket.

Often throughout the entire afternoon, sitting behind her own desk outside Karen's office, Philomena could empty an entire bucket.

And this was under the premise of not missing a single meal, including supper.

When other boys pursue girls, taking them out to a high-end restaurant is already considered a major expense; for Richard, merely providing this sort of plain, unadorned food is an immense cost.

Last night during the family dinner at grandmother's house, grandmother mentioned right at the table how Philomena had such a massive appetite lately, making her feel as though she were feeding pigs every day now.

Old Man Delong, for some inexplicable reason, actually chimed in, saying that raising pigs was also a very joyful thing.

He adopted the posture of an experienced veteran who had once deeply enjoyed and found happiness in it.

Consequently, grandmother's face remained dark for the entire evening.

After finishing the internal publication, Karen read some of the latest information regarding the desert battlefield.

Following the Order Realm's formal intervention in the desert civil war, they reclaimed almost all the holy lands occupied by the desert rebels within nearly three days.

However, they did not experience much actual combat, because the desert rebels did not defend the cities at all, abandoning the holy lands after evacuating supplies and personnel well in advance.

The Order Realm did not allocate forces to garrison the holy lands

"Yes, they are already being mobilized. I've submitted a report, applying for our regional militia regiment to be in the first batch to enter the desert."

Neo pursed his lips. "Actually, if we spent a bit more time running training drills together, the results would be better."

Karen expressed a hint of surprise. "I thought you'd have been unable to wait any longer."

"The nature of it is different; being better prepared allows one to enjoy the game to the fullest."

"We can't afford to wait; the economic pressure right now is somewhat heavy."

"Don't lie to me. Is the financial power of our York City region really about to collapse just from supporting a militia regiment of this size?"

"The issue is that it's not just the militia regiment; the expenses for establishing the new department are the real drain. If I hadn't had you lead a sweep of our local black market when I took office to harvest a windfall, we might already be bankrupt by now."

"Then what does that have to do with me setting out early? The equipment is fully provided now, and the training wear-and-tear isn't great. Are we really doing this just to save on the daily food expenses for these remaining thousand men?"

Karen shook his head. "It's not to cut costs, but to open up new sources of revenue."

Saying this, Karen handed a scroll to Neo.

Neo opened the scroll, sensed it for a moment, and then immediately grew excited. "Oh, heavens, things are becoming more and more interesting."

Karen said nothing.

Neo rolled up the scroll, leaned closer to Karen, and smiled. "I really find it hard to imagine that you would give me something like this."

"Is it that surprising?"

"It is very surprising. For you to actually give me the open and undisclosed coordinates of protected areas, forbidden zones, mausoleums, and religious ritual sites in the Desert Pantheon's territory—you want me to dig up people's temples and rob their tombs."

"A living person can't let a bladder full of urine stifle them to death; when we lack money, we have to find a way to earn it. Besides, war is highly destructive, so we are doing this to protect cultural relics."

"Hey, hey, hey, given your status, do you think it's appropriate to issue such a directive?"

"As the regional director, is it not perfectly normal to proactively secure side income so that everyone's allowances and the operations of various departments remain unaffected?"

"I'm not talking about that aspect of your identity."

Karen smiled slightly and countered, "How else did so many divine artifacts in the sealed space come to be?"

"Heh, fine, so it turns out to be a tradition passed down the line."

"There are some things that the regular knight orders find inconvenient or beneath them to do; it's more suitable and convenient for us to do them, though we should still pay some attention to stealth."

Neo waved his hand and said, "Rest assured, this is my specialty."

"Furthermore, after you take the militia regiment to the desert, I will find a way to procure a second piece of intelligence for you. The major orthodox churches are all covertly supporting the desert rebels to wear down our Church of Order."

Neo smiled. "That's an open secret. The major churches are even publicly bickering with each other over how many war machines one house should provide, how many desert believers another house should help train, and how many refugees of desert believers the remaining houses need to take in.

In fact, the high-level officials in charge of the major churches have even been sneaking off one by one to the desert to hold meetings with the leaders of the desert rebels; their internal newspapers openly publicized it long ago."

"The future intelligence work of the Whip of Order will focus on gathering information on their aid supplies and personnel transit points. I will find a way to synchronize this intelligence with you."

"Tsk, those locations might not be within the desert region."

"You don't need to confine yourself solely to the desert region either. Find a way to use the existing conditions there and leverage the temporary teleportation arrays of the knight orders to launch raids and robberies on the periphery."

"Then we would need connections on the side of the knight orders."

"I will attempt to arrange it. One of my mentors is a retired deputy commander of a knight order, and I also have a brief experience working alongside a knight order commander who is currently leading troops in the desert. Although we aren't close, I believe he should be willing to grant a favor."

"Aren't you afraid of escalating the situation too much?"

"It wasn't our Order's people who raided them; clearly, it's the remnants of Light who don't want the war in the desert to hog all the exposure, unable to bear the loneliness and looking for a sense of presence."

"Heh, damn it, I knew it—remnants of Light again."

"That's why it is most suitable for you to do these things."

"Fighting a war, digging up temples, plundering graves, and even launching raids on the periphery—Karen, I'm leading a militia regiment, not a regular knight order. I only have a thousand men in my hands, not ten thousand.

Come on, teach me, how am I supposed to accomplish so many of the aforementioned tasks?"

Karen shook his head. "That day in the bedroom of Allen Manor, you said it yourself—once on the battlefield, you wouldn't listen to my orders."

Neo: "..."

"I only want to see results. The cash flow for my new department's reforms will have to rely on you to be provided anyway."

"So I'm out there hustling just to support you?"

"Without my backing from behind, you wouldn't have the opportunity to play this big either."

"Fine, but there is one in a coffin whom I must take along with me."

"Count Recar?"

"Since we're going into the robbery business, how can we not bring a great pirate along by our side?"

"He has been busy relocating graves at home lately."

"I believe that when he was down and out during his lifetime, he would have been willing even if you asked him to dig up his own ancestral graves; that is the basic literacy of a pirate."

"You cannot let him fight; if he gets into a single fight, he will have to be bedridden."

"I know, I'll be careful."

"I will notify him, and he will meet up with you to go together. Is there anything else you need?"

"I recall that the skeletal remains of that Grand Necromancer are still kept in Allen Manor. If we had her in the team, it could effectively solve the problem of insufficient hands. For instance, she could summon the masters of the tombs to carry their own burial goods."

"I haven't decided whether to awaken her yet, and her identity is delicate. After all, she was once a member of the High Priest's team, so I worry that her active presence outside might attract the attention of relevant higher-ups."

"Then it's nothing. Your stock is still too meager, and you don't even think about stocking up on more goods."

"How could it be that easy? After outstanding higher-ups die, they also enter the First Knight Order."

"Hahaha." Neo laughed out loud. "True enough. Alright, let it be. Rest assured, I will do my utmost and strive to dig up the desert until nothing is left but sand."

"In this regard, I never question your ability. Furthermore, there is one more person who might be able to provide some assistance for your operation this time. Although I haven't asked it, there's no need to ask; it will definitely wag its tail and agree."

"A tail? You can't possibly be talking about that black cat of yours, can you?"

"A great explorer, familiar with the rules of most secret realms and forbidden lands. With it around, when you lead people inside to move things, it will be as effortless as going home, which can greatly improve the efficiency of cultural relic protection."

"I trust its experience and ability in this regard, but can you really bear to let it join me on the battlefield?"

"Yes."

"Hey, if it were the version of it when it was a human, I would trust its ability to protect itself; after all, it's someone whom even the temple elders couldn't hunt down.

But right now, it's just a cat—a cat that can talk and rub together fireballs.

And the battlefield changes unpredictably; it's hard to say if even half of these thousand people currently training will come back. If I make a single oversight, this cat of yours might just... drop dead suddenly."

"I've obtained the latest surgical plan. As long as the surgery is successful, it will gain the ability to briefly turn back into a human."

Neo teased, "Just when it's about to gain the ability to briefly turn back into a human, you can bear to send it to the battlefield?"

"I can't bear to."

Karen was unwilling to let Pu'er go to dangerous places. It was the "pet" that Dis had entrusted to him to protect well. If possible, Karen instead hoped it could always leisurely enjoy afternoon tea and drink coffee.

"Then..."

"But I know that once it possesses this ability, it will be like a prisoner whose century-long sentence has ended; it will yearn deeply to go out, wander around, and take a look."