A slight smile touched the corners of Xu Yi’s mouth. From Yu Dong’s speech, he could tell that this young man... cared deeply about his reputation. He was one of those self-righteous saints, always showing off how fair, just, and selfless he was.
With people like him, you could use their moral high ground to pressure them. It worked every single time.
It was a direct path to a position of power.
He had thought it over last night. The world had changed... This place had vast supplies and equipment. In the future, they just needed to venture out a little, and they could rescue a huge number of people.
It might seem like they were only managing about a hundred people now, but if he really made it into the leadership, he could be managing over a thousand people in the future... or even several thousand!
At that point, what numerical advantage would his crew have?
While he still had some prestige and could rally the men to his side, the young leader, Yu Dong... would have no choice but to compromise to secure the workers’ support and protect his own reputation.
Besides, he’d noticed someone from the student team who was also very close to Yu Dong, hadn’t he?
Then the two of them would become Yu Dong’s second and third-in-command.
He was smart and strong, and all the other workers listened to him. Cashing in on his prestige for a position right now was clearly a very profitable move.
He was willing to bet that even if Yu Dong was unhappy about it, he wouldn’t dare to refuse him in front of everyone.
Lin Mo looked at Yu Dong, slightly worried.
’He has a group of 50 people. If we just shut him down, it might antagonize his entire faction... We just said we’re all one big family. This isn’t the right time for a conflict.’
’Besides, if Yu Dong keeps all the leadership roles for his own people, it really would be indefensible...’
Considering the group’s composition, it was only right for the large contingent of workers to have a representative in the leadership. At the very least, their interests would be considered during decision-making. It was a reasonable demand, and Xu Yi had timed it perfectly.
He had brought it up right after Yu Dong finished sharing his vision and magnanimously stated he was open to suggestions.
Zhao Youcai shot Xu Yi a displeased look. This guy who interrupted Dongzi really thought he was hot stuff. They should just kick people like him out. ’What a piece of work!’
Jiang Zhuoyu glanced from Xu Yi to himself and gave a bitter smile.
This wasn’t something he could easily speak on.
In everyone else’s eyes, he was the leader of the Ocean University team. These were the classmates he had gathered, and they clearly listened to him more.
But Jiang Zhuoyu didn’t dare make a move. He had voluntarily handed all authority over to Yu Dong and made it clear to everyone that Yu Dong was the one and only leader. He was just working for him.
Rather than being the representative of the student team, he was more interested in being Yu Dong’s secretary.
That very morning, he had gotten up early and dragged every last student out of bed to prevent anyone from getting lazy and being made an example of. This also bolstered Yu Dong’s authority a bit—at least the students were all following orders.
Of course, if Yu Dong wanted to make a move on this Xu Yi, he had ways to coordinate... It all depended on what Yu Dong was thinking.
He still wasn’t very familiar with this leader of his.
Gao Yan sighed.
He could understand what Yu Dong was thinking, but Yu Dong still wasn’t... autocratic enough. He never should have added that third point about welcoming suggestions. It was just asking for someone to exploit the loophole in his wording.
Then people could say all sorts of inappropriate things and just laugh it off with, "Hey, I’m just offering a suggestion. You’re not so sensitive you can’t even hear that, are you?"
What kind of leader constantly listens to others questioning them?
You either pool everyone’s wisdom and manage things together, or you go full dictator and rule with an iron fist.
What’s the point of being a dictator who also has to listen to suggestions?
Gao Yan felt that if he were building a team, he wouldn’t do it this way... He would only recruit people who would listen to him and follow his lead. As for everyone else, they could do whatever they wanted.
Xu Yi’s speech made everyone present turn to look at Yu Dong.
They wanted to see what kind of position Yu Dong would give him, or what other promises he might make...
Surely he couldn’t have just finished saying people were free to offer suggestions, only to not even listen to the very first one, right?
"Jiang Zhuoyu, Zhao Youcai, Huang Zhiqiang, Yan Yikai, you come over too."
Yu Dong pointed at the four men, having them stand behind him.
Xu Yi asked with a chuckle, "So, are these my future colleagues? What are your responsibilities? I’m pretty good with human resources, managing people and all that."
"Sun Yu and you two, and Liangzi. The four of you, get over here."
The eyes of the three blond punks and Liang Mian lit up. ’Is it time?’
They had received a secret mission the day before.
The four of them walked over with savage grins, reaching their hands inside their jackets.
Yu Dong pointed at the still-smiling Xu Yi. "Get him!"
The four men pulled high-end, Gwangju-made police batons from their jackets.
Liangzi grabbed Xu Yi and brought a baton swinging straight down on his arm.
Xu Yi cried out in pain and tried to break free, but Liangzi was a mass of toned muscle and pure power!
Even a master fears a young powerhouse, let alone a student athlete who channeled his daily frustrations into fuel for his workouts.
Xu Yi couldn’t escape Liangzi’s grasp at all and could only struggle futilely.
"What are you doing! Are you crazy!"
But his only answer was the other three batons.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
Sun Yu and the other two weren’t as strong as Liangzi, but they were incredibly fast, their batons a blur of motion!
The four of them pinned Xu Yi to the ground and beat him viciously!
The crowd erupted in an uproar!!!
"Fuck! Let go of Xu!!!"
The workers flew into a rage, rolling up their sleeves and charging forward.
BANG!
Lv Sheng fired a shot straight into the air, then aimed at the others.
"Back off!"
Lin Mo also drew his pistol.
At the same time, Zhao Youcai, Huang Zhiqiang, Yan Yikai, and Jiang Zhuoyu all drew their pistols in unison, aiming them at the workers.
Lv Sheng’s eyes were resolute, his voice ice-cold. "I’ll say this one last time. Everyone! Back off!!!"