As the recruitment director of the Seventh Sub-Star Spiritist Association, he had truly experienced the fickleness of human relationships these past few days.
Let alone the First Training Institute—anyone who could make the outstanding graduates list politely declined the Spiritist Association's invitation. Only three or four of the top ten from the Second Training Institute expressed interest, and even that didn't rule out the possibility of them treating the Spiritist Association as a backup. As for the Third Training Institute... there were no graduates there that needed advance communication or booking.
The recruitment director was in agony. He could understand the students' concerns.
After all, when an organization's second-in-command betrays it without anyone noticing, it's hard to believe the organization has any future.
If it were him...
He'd want to jump ship to the military too!
Yet his foolish colleagues still hadn't realized that now was not the time for them to be arrogant and picky!
"The vice president has been dead for ten days, wake up!" The recruitment director slammed his hands on the alloy table, spittle flying in excitement. "In this battle, we lost a full third of our personnel, not counting those severely weakened! And we still haven't recruited a single backup rookie!"
"Look at the empty seats around you. Their souls being with us is utterly useless! Of course, I hope their souls remain forever in the First Prison!"
The high-ranking member who had spoken earlier couldn't help but scoot back. Was he resorting to physical attacks now?
He sneaked a glance at their gloomy president and defended himself, "The association might be in a slump now, but as long as those graduates don't want to join the military, they have no other choice. I, I think it won't be so difficult after a while."
Hearing this, the other high-ranking members who had agreed hesitated.
That was true.
If the Spiritist Association didn't collapse, then the Seventh Sub-Star Spiritist Association wouldn't collapse either.
Although this time was a huge embarrassment, all those who deserved death or arrest had been dealt with. Over time, the association's reputation would recover.
"Besides, the StarNet comments about the president are mostly positive..."
Edwood rarely appeared at major events; most of the time, the vice president handled everything. Over time, most people on the Seventh Sub-Star knew who was really in charge, so only a minority blamed Edwood for the Zerg invasion.
As for the Central Star inspection team... a beating was better than actually being charged with dereliction of duty.
Although Edwood wasn't the one who dealt the fatal blow to the Zerg during this invasion, no one could deny that he played a crucial role in stabilizing the overall situation.
If we're being fair, he killed more Zerg and Zerg Beasts than Lei Jianguo, and the special nature of the Death Mother allowed him to hold his own against the S-class Zerg Life Cicada.
Edwood didn't lift his head. "I agree to Chu Ran becoming an honorary high-ranking member of the association."
If he could, he'd even let her be the honorary president.
Speaking of willingness to jump ship, the Spiritist Association's president might be even more eager than the recruitment director.
At his words, the recruitment director won the crucial round, and the other high-ranking members quieted down.
The recruitment director didn't press his advantage. He sat down and said earnestly, "I know you think the association will recover eventually, but a power vacuum is terrifying. This time, we're not the only ones who suffered heavy losses; the military also urgently needs to replenish its forces."
"With the former corps commander's influence, it's hard for us to compete with the military. A year might not matter, but who can predict how long the military's advantage will last? Compared to the military, our biggest advantage is personal freedom. But if the Zerg threat grows, personal freedom is meaningless in the face of species survival. No matter the situation, we must maintain the association's voice on the Seventh Sub-Star."
"Combat strength is the only factor determining that voice."
"The strong make the rules; the weak have no choice!"
"Congratulations, user Chu Ran, for passing the basic trial. Time: six minutes and thirty-four seconds. Rank on the Seventh Sub-Star: 498."
Suddenly, the system voice came from the screen.
The high-ranking members in the meeting room looked up and saw Chu Ran standing calmly before the pile of not-yet-disappeared Zerg Beast corpses, holding a black long staff, with only her eyes revealing killing intent.
The recruitment director sighed. "I checked her records from a year ago. Her time was about half an hour, and her rank was around twenty-thousandth. This rank means nothing to you, but at that time, Chu Ran was just an E-level Spiritual Power who hadn't received systematic training. All her training came from external training halls."
"And now, her Spiritual Power has recovered to B-level. After experiencing, well, just two battles with the Zerg, she can enter the top five hundred," the recruitment director swept his gaze across the room and said seriously, "Everyone can see that this result was heavily affected by the terrain limitations. But how long does it take a training institute student to become familiar with common terrains? A diligent student only needs one month!"
"She has already chosen the Third Training Institute. I believe that within a month, her basic trial rank will enter the top ten, or even take first place."
"Smart people wouldn't choose the Third Training Institute," the stubborn high-ranking member who had spoken earlier muttered. "With her current reputation, she could quickly improve her physique in any training institute."
"But the power struggles in those two institutes are more obvious," the recruitment director snorted. "Do any of your families' key trained juniors go to the Third Training Institute?"
The stubborn high-ranking member fell silent.
"The person with the biggest background at the Third Training Institute," the recruitment director paused to think of someone he still remembered, "is probably Chu Dao's niece's son. You see, does anyone else who entered dare to openly clash with Jian? And the instructors at the Third Training Institute... are all blockheads. No background, no connections—don't worry about them being turned."
"What's Chu Dao's niece's name? Do you know? Does anyone here know?"
The high-ranking members in the meeting room fell into thought.
Chu Dao's niece? How many nieces did he have?
It wasn't that they had no impression; it was that the only somewhat famous member of the Chu Family in that generation was Chu Dao himself. After Chu Dao stepped down, the other Chu family members who relied on him to live decently were basically ignored.
The recruitment director's eyes showed satisfaction. He continued, "Whenever you're weak, you need to find a quiet place to lie low and develop."
"Every genius who survived did exactly that."
All the high-ranking members fell silent.
The recruitment director had won a complete victory. He looked at Edwood. "What do you think?"
"Invite her," Edwood said in a deep voice. "...But don't offer too high a salary."
Because the traitor came from their own ranks, the Seventh Sub-Star Spiritist Association was forced to bear eighty percent of the post-disaster reconstruction costs. To make matters worse, when the government inspectors checked the accounts, they found that the former vice president had embezzled a large sum of money at some point.
Edwood had been beaten and called a waste—this was largely the reason.
With everything settled, the high-ranking members prepared to go home.