Chapter 517

Chapter 517

Lorant walked in with Fa Meng in his arms, as relaxed and smiling as a child holding a sleeping plush toy.

Even if he were to walk in here wearing pajamas, no one present would dare to show any sign of surprise.

"Everyone, long time no see," Lorant said slowly as he strolled to the solitary seat at the front of the conference hall. "How’s everyone been?"

The conference table was long, with those already present seated on either side, leaving the main seat at the front for Lorant.

He walked over at a steady pace, giving everyone enough time to adjust their posture and look more composed.

After sitting down, Lorant carefully placed Fa Meng in front of him, as if setting down a cup of hot tea. He positioned the little fat dragon facing the crowd, tail towards him, before speaking leisurely.

From the moment he entered until he sat down, the conference hall remained completely silent.

It wasn't until Lorant broke the silence that the crowd finally stirred.

"Long time no see, boss. I heard you went to the Merpeople's territory recently. Those Merpeople must be as beautiful and elegant as the legends say," a bold Legion Commander chimed in, engaging in small talk with Lorant.

Lorant didn't mind such jokes and responded with a smile, "Indeed, I spent some time in the Merpeople's territory recently. I must say, it's quite different from where we usually live, both in terms of local produce and the Merpeople themselves. It’s a breath of fresh air."

"The Merpeople’s territory is stunning, like a paradise—perfect for a getaway."

"As for whether the Merpeople are elegant, it depends on which type you encounter. There are many Merpeople youths so beautiful you can't take your eyes off them, but I've also met a few formidable Merpeople warriors whose looks and builds wouldn’t be out of place among the orc warriors," Lorant joked, his gaze sweeping across the room. The formidable orc and half-orc warriors were the ones who laughed the most.

For orcs, describing them with words like 'strong,' 'ugly,' or even 'ferocious' won’t offend them.

Orcs don’t care as much about their looks as humans do, and they have their own unique sense of beauty that other races just don’t get. Over time, orcs have learned that other races have different tastes, so they don’t take outsiders’ comments to heart. However, there’s one thing orcs dislike: being called small.

That would make them feel severely insulted. Even the smallest orc warriors, like those from the monkey or rabbit tribes, are remarkably large.

To the orcs, Lorant’s words felt like a compliment, filling them with pride. To the other races, it was amusing, and the tension in the room eased.

Of course, the formidable warriors relaxed not just because of a small joke, but more because Lorant's demeanor eased their nerves for a moment.

Although the boss had unusually called for a meeting today, he seemed to be in a good mood.

Lorant leaned back in the tall chair, comfortably adjusting himself in the cushioned seat. "It seems everyone has been doing well recently. Except for a few who seem to have gotten a bit tanned, at least no one has become too thin. That's a relief. At least in the Black Forest front, everyone has been living well. Today, I called everyone here to summarize the work you've done recently."

"It's also a summary of the Black Forest's expansion."

Everyone's expressions turned serious, and they all focused their attention on Lorant.

"The expansion of the Black Forest is now complete. Only the Gecko Legion remains to finish building the outposts; all other Legions have pulled back from the Black Forest defense line."

"Everyone can see how far the camp has come. Until we resolve the Dimensional Hole issue, all Legions will be stationed here. Only when the Blue Star Fortress fully passes through the tunnel will the development of Lopulo be officially completed," Lorant looked around, his voice soft but clear enough for all the warriors to hear. "In the meantime, I need you to keep your people in line. If any of our own get caught up in scandals like the church’s, don’t expect me to go easy."

The church scandal Lorant referred to happened when the mountain pass camp was first being built.

At that time, all the Legions and other races' assisting personnel were just starting to settle down under Blue Star's arrangement. Tents were scattered haphazardly, and the boundaries between Legions weren’t as clearly defined as before. It was the most chaotic period since the Black Forest front began advancing.

It was during such times that problems were most likely to arise.

Chaos breeds darkness, and in the darkness, some rats emerge.

In the camp designated for ordinary people by Blue Star, several nighttime assault incidents occurred consecutively.

The victims were all underage youths, both boys and girls, who were still in the camp at night and hadn't returned home. Some were attacked on their way to work, while others were abducted on their way home. Each was found the next day in a terrible state, having endured brutal abuse and barely clinging to life.

If it weren’t for the Holy Light Peacock, which still performed regular area healing during that period, Blue Star generally didn’t enforce strict rules at the periphery, turning a blind eye so that ordinary people feeling unwell could also benefit from the magical creatures’ blessings. Those ordinary people would find it difficult to gather enough funds to heal their injuries.

Such violent crimes are actually quite common in this world, whether in the slums of big cities or in some remote, poorly managed small cities. Not to mention cases of assault, which are considered 'minor issues,' security is so chaotic that the daily street deaths are uncountable.

In this world, the loss of a life has never been significant.

But at Blue Star, due to strict management, over several months, people have started to get used to an unprecedented level of safe and stable life.

Once accustomed to a stable life, even the slightest fluctuation can inevitably cause panic and confusion.

Like chicks used to the protection of a mother hen, once they see a predator with the corpse of their companion in its mouth, chaos is unavoidable.

This series of vicious incidents instantly panicked the ordinary people at Blue Star, much like frightened chicks.

The Blue Star authorities naturally couldn’t sit idly by and immediately began to investigate the case.

Since its establishment, the Blue Star patrol team, new to such cases, energetically followed the blood trail.

In a superpowered world, tracking criminals' clues is straightforward, especially when the criminal didn't even deliberately conceal his tracks.

When the Blue Star guards found the church's camp, the pastor who had committed countless beastly acts was still unaware, enjoying his meal.

He only realized something was amiss when the Blue Star guards attempted to arrest him, and this bishop began to resist fiercely, continuously threatening the low-level professionals he despised.

Of course, the next second, the bishop, who was not good at fighting and could only confront ordinary people, was swiftly subdued by magical creatures under the low-level professionals' command.

And after learning that Blue Star had taken the bishop away, the church reacted with intense fury.

For them, the church doesn’t care whether their bishop has some trivial, unimportant moral issues.

From their perspective, what the bishop did here didn’t even constitute a crime.

It’s not something that requires arrest, especially considering his status.

Professionals in this world naturally enjoy privileges. Before Lorant had fully immersed himself in this world, what he saw were privileged professionals slaughtering the populace at will.

In a world where professionals can casually attack ordinary people to a certain extent, equality has never even been mentioned.

Even in the best cities, ordinary people are like penned lambs, perpetually fearing a professional's whim to shear or devour them.

For this bishop, his minor indulgences that didn’t even take the lives of those lambs were already considered merciful and restrained.

Most professionals, even some at Blue Star, saw no issue.

But at Lorant's insistence, Silem handled the matter with strict severity.

Since all the Blue Star legions and external volunteers gathered at the Blue Star Black Forest front to advance the Black Forest front, Blue Star had enacted a series of pertinent regulations.

These clearly stated the requirements and restrictions for all within Blue Star's territory, as well as the baseline moral standards and penalties mandatory for all.

However, at that time, many didn’t really take it seriously.

Partly because of their mindset, they didn’t carefully review the regulations, thinking that Blue Star couldn’t possibly be any different from other organizations.

And even those who saw it thought that Blue Star was just being strict, mainly targeting all ordinary people.

After all, strict control over professionals had never really been implemented on this continent; they were the privileged class, used to banding together and acting recklessly.

These notions ceased abruptly upon seeing the bishop hung, whipped, and magically castrated at Blue Star's mountain pass square.