A Little Effort

Han Xu's eyes widened as he stared at Chen Fan.

More than three thousand portions of Elite-tier beast materials?

Had he misheard, or had the other party mistaken three hundred for three thousand?

As for the thirty-odd... Based on his few interactions with the man before him, saying he had only brought thirty-odd portions of Elite-tier beast materials would be looking down on him too much. If it were thirty-odd Commander-tier beasts, that might sound more plausible.

Chen Fan, seemingly oblivious to his gaze, looked around and said casually, "President Han, space here is limited. We need to find a more spacious area."

"A more spacious area? Well... we certainly have one, but..." Han Xu swallowed hard. "Brother Li, you aren't joking with me, are you? Did your squad really kill over three thousand Elite-tier beasts this time?"

"Do you think I'm the type to joke around, President Han?" Chen Fan turned to look at him, his eyes as calm as deep well water.

"No, of course not," Han Xu said hurriedly, then gestured with his hand. "Brother Li, please follow me."

The two walked out of the room, turned left and right a few times, and arrived at a large hall. Quite a few beast materials were displayed on the floor, and several association members were nearby, handling them with various tools.

"President."
"President."

Seeing Han Xu arrive, everyone stopped what they were doing to greet him, while also secretly sizing up Chen Fan behind him.

"President, is something the matter?" A man who appeared to be a manager quickly walked over and asked with a bow.

"Get more people here. We'll need their help in a bit," Han Xu ordered. In front of Chen Fan, he was always polite and amiable, but before his subordinates, he maintained a cold and aloof demeanor.

"Understood, President." The man quickly left, returning a moment later with over a dozen people, who stood quietly to the side.

"Brother Li, everything is ready. We can begin." Han Xu smiled, filled with both curiosity and anticipation.

Beast materials were highly valuable and always in high demand. With the outbreak of the beast tide, the wilderness had become increasingly dangerous, making harvesting materials much harder. Over three thousand portions of Elite-tier beast materials would not only solve their urgent current needs but also help him stand out among the other association presidents.

"Alright." Chen Fan didn't waste words. He directly took out a spatial ring, lightly swiped his finger, and a massive pile of beast materials instantly appeared on the ground.

The onlookers were startled. Looking closer, they were even more shocked, for the materials on the ground all belonged to Elite-tier beasts! The quantity easily exceeded a hundred!

Before they could recover, another pile of beast materials appeared. Then a third, a fourth, a fifth...

"They're all Elite-tier beast materials! Heavens, how much is this pile worth?" someone couldn't help but exclaim in excitement.

"Normally, one set of Elite-tier beast materials goes for about two to three thousand contribution points. With this many, there must be at least a thousand beasts, so that's two to three million points?"

"Two to three million points?" Gulping sounds echoed continuously around the hall.

Their monthly salary was only about twenty to thirty thousand Yuan, which converted to a mere two or three contribution points... Two to three million contribution points was a sum they couldn't even earn a fraction of if they worked themselves to death. Even so, a salary of 30,000 Yuan in Juque City already surpassed 90% of the population.

"It's still not over, he's still going..."
"Heavens, just how many does he have on him?"
"Just that pile of spatial rings must have cost a fortune, right?"
"Of course. The cheapest spatial ring costs at least 100,000 contribution points."

Han Xu was also deeply shaken, thinking: *How did he kill so many Elite-tier beasts? Did he charge into a beast tide in the wilderness to launch a surprise attack? But for a beast tide to have over thirty Elite-tier beasts, the total number of mid-to-high-level beasts must exceed 100,000, right?*

Chen Fan swiped his last spatial ring, and the final batch of materials fell to the ground.

"President Han, please have them tallied," he said, turning around.

"Right, right." Han Xu snapped out of his daze, frowned slightly at the crowd behind him, and ordered the leading man, "Go get more people. The rest of you, start working."

"Yes, sir." The man quickly ran off. Over a dozen others stepped forward and began cataloging the beast names, grades, conditions, and valuations. Almost all the staff in the hall were mobilized.

"Brother Li indeed wasn't joking. It was my vision that was too narrow," Han Xu laughed heartily, then asked with concern, "Brother Li, your squad must have faced immense danger to kill so many Elite-tier beasts this time? Did anyone in the team get injured?"

Chen Fan shook his head.

"That's good." Han Xu breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the pile of materials that occupied almost the entire hall, he probed, "Brother Li, I remember you are the president of the Anshan City Awakened Association, right? Please don't take offense, I didn't investigate you on purpose; it was recorded in your personal profile."

Chen Fan glanced at him, nodded, and asked, "Does President Han want me to relocate here?"

Han Xu paused, his pupils shrinking, clearly caught off guard. He smiled bitterly. "As expected of Brother Li, you understood my intention before I even spoke. To be honest, I indeed have that idea."

"Currently, with the outbreak of the beast tide, it's only a matter of time before the small cities on the outermost fringes are breached by beasts. Even medium-sized cities will find it hard to escape that fate. The final battle of our Da Viet will surely revolve around a dozen or so major cities. Anshan City, where you are, is just a small city. It might displease you to hear this, but the destruction of Anshan City is inevitable. Since that's the case, why don't you bring your family and relocate to Juque City early? Although the threshold for entering the city has risen, that's only for ordinary people. For you, Brother Li, all regulations can be bypassed."

"I appreciate President Han's kind intentions," Chen Fan interrupted. "If it were anyone else choosing to flee in times of crisis, it would be understandable. But as the president of the Anshan City Awakened Association, I truly cannot do such a thing."

Han Xu was astonished upon hearing this, and his gaze toward Chen Fan changed completely. Most presidents of associations in other small cities had long since fled to major cities with their trusted aides; those who stayed to defend could be counted on one hand. And those who didn't leave weren't necessarily unwilling, but rather had nowhere else to go.

After a long silence, Han Xu said with a complex expression, "Brother Li, I admit I underestimated you before. Your sense of responsibility is truly not something an ordinary person possesses; even I feel inferior. However..." He sighed. "The geographical location of Anshan City is too disadvantageous. In my opinion, it will be attacked by a beast tide in a few days. When that time comes..."

Chen Fan looked at him meaningfully and asked, "Where do you think these beast materials came from, President Han?"

"Huh?" Han Xu was stunned, failing to react immediately. The next second, his body shuddered as a thought flashed through his mind. *Could it be that a beast tide has already attacked Anshan City, and these materials were harvested from those invading beasts?*

"Anshan City has already been attacked by a beast tide?" his voice trembled.

"Yes," Chen Fan nodded.

Han Xu gasped and asked further, "How... how many beasts were there? What's the situation?"

"All the beasts combined exceeded 200,000, led by three Commander-tier beasts..."

Hearing this, Han Xu turned his head stiffly like a robot, looking at the three sets of Commander-tier beast materials in the distance. So Brother Li had brought three sets of Commander-tier materials not because he couldn't carry more, but because only three Commander-tier beasts had come to attack the city?

"The situation is fine. Anshan City held its ground."

"It's good that you held it." Han Xu nodded, but his heart was filled with even greater shock. Having experienced a beast tide siege himself, he knew the situation back then was definitely not as light as Chen Fan made it sound. This also proved that the strength of the other party's squad far exceeded his estimates. After all, in a small city, the strongest was only a C-class Awakened. How could they block a beast tide of 200,000?

"Brother Li, holding it is a good thing, but the current situation is probably not very optimistic, right?" Han Xu probed.

"Indeed, it's not very optimistic. Anshan City's location is truly terrible," Chen Fan nodded.

Han Xu sighed. "Even if you survived the first wave, there will be a second and a third, until you can no longer hold out. However, I deeply admire your character, Brother Li, and..." He paused for a moment, as if making up his mind. "I am willing to lend you a hand."

Chen Fan looked at Han Xu in surprise. "What do you mean, President Han?"

"If you agree, I can send a few people from the association to accompany you to Anshan City. First, to help ease your pressure, and second, to give them some training. After all, the beast tide will reach Juque City sooner or later, so it's better to prepare early."

"So that's how it is." Chen Fan couldn't help but be tempted upon hearing this. Anshan City was currently severely lacking in manpower. Earth-type beasts frequently appeared in the city. Although they had Meng Xue's prophecies to evacuate the citizens, they still needed people to deal with them. Wang Lingling's strength was limited; if she encountered a strong enemy, she might not even survive. Old Wang was strong, but they couldn't always rely on him to take action. If Han Xu sent a few powerful Awakened to patrol, it would ease his burden, and he wouldn't have to cultivate while constantly keeping watch to deal with beasts.

"I wonder how many people you plan to arrange, President Han, and what is their strength?"

Han Xu was delighted but also slightly worried, speaking honestly, "They are all B-class Awakened. There are also A-class Awakened free in the city, but with my status, I might not be able to invite them." He smiled bitterly. B-class Awakened were not common; a B-class squad in a major city was enough to sweep through 80% of medium-sized cities. But the person before him was different. Although his file listed him as B-class, his strength had definitely reached A-class, because an ordinary A-class squad couldn't possibly bring back such a massive amount of spoils.

"Only B-class?" Chen Fan frowned. It was indeed a bit weak. But after all, it was a squad. They would be more than enough to handle a raid of this morning's scale, and even if a Commander-tier beast appeared, they could hold it off.

"Alright," he nodded. "But there is a prerequisite: they must obey my instructions. Otherwise, I'd rather they not come."

"Rest assured, Brother Li," Han Xu patted his chest reassuringly. "If any of them dare to be double-faced, just call me. I guarantee I will handle it properly."

"Great. With your word, President Han, I can rest easy. How about this: I will post a bounty mission worth a total of one million contribution points later, and you can have them accept it."

"What? A bounty mission?" Han Xu gasped, waving his hands repeatedly. "Brother Li, you are being too polite. There's no need. They are going there to receive your guidance, so how can they take your contribution points?"

"Business is business," Chen Fan shook his head. "Going to Anshan City is highly dangerous. Even I cannot guarantee I will return alive. They are taking a risk by following me. Besides, I don't like owing favors."

Han Xu was speechless. He felt that the latter sentence was the real reason. Although he wanted to do Chen Fan a favor because he highly valued his potential, the other party was unwilling to accept it.

"Alright, then," he sighed. One million contribution points to hire a six-man B-class squad for a few months was a reasonable price. This man was indeed not lacking in money.

(End of Chapter)