Chapter 81 - 77: Promotion, Progress, and Red Lips

At three in the afternoon, Lin Feng found Han Yuxin.

The young, maturely dressed woman was handling business in her hotel room. She needed to send intelligence on the Wu City front back to Jin City.

Seeing Lin Feng approach, Han Yuxin put down her pen and offered a faint smile.

"Did the mission go smoothly?"

"I saw Qin Hu go looking for you, so I didn’t want to interrupt."

Lin Feng shook his head and briefly explained the situation with Cheng Zhan. The mission was far from simple now.

"Don’t mention this to anyone. This mission is confidential."

Han Yuxin nodded.

"Understood. So the Zerg Race has already expanded to twenty kilometers outside the Suburban Area of Wu City. If your projections are correct, it won’t be ten days. Our forces will clash with them outside the defense line by the eighth day."

"It’s already the third day. That gives us less than five days to prepare?"

Lin Feng gave a slight nod. That was his conservative estimate. In reality, the Red-Armored Beetles among the Zerg Race could expand even faster.

Though the low-level Zerg Race posed little threat—even an ordinary person with a rifle could easily dispatch them.

However, Red-Armored Beetles weren’t a combat-type Zerg.

Their powerful pincers made them expert diggers, allowing them to rapidly excavate a vast network of Wormholes beneath the Jiangnan Plain. This, in turn, expanded the operational range of the Soldier Zergs.

This would allow the Black Spine Zergs to emerge in massive numbers in front of the defense line, catching the humans completely by surprise.

So the Red-Armored Beetles’ activities had to be contained as well.

For Jiangnan Province, the top priority was to dismantle the heavy industry in the State Capital Jin City and transport it safely to the rear.

The shrinking window of safety was undoubtedly bad news. Once fighting broke out on the defense line, they would have to divert a portion of their energy and personnel to ship supplies to the front.

After confirming the details with Lin Feng, Han Yuxin quickly compiled a report and sent it to the rear.

Her official work done, she closed her laptop. Leaning forward on the desk, she watched the man sitting across from her.

Beneath the table, her long legs were crossed. Her right foot slipped out of its high heel, and the leg, sheathed in flesh-colored stockings, slowly straightened, pressing and sliding against Lin Feng’s thigh.

"Those young recruits did a good job on their mission. I’ve had them driving out to the edge of the South Suburb lately, hunting Red-Armored Beetles on their own to Upgrade."

"We’re not short on standard weapons and ammunition here."

"Their leader, Shen Jie, was already at his third enhancement. With the help of weapons, he’s been working extremely hard—he even set up camp right on the outskirts."

"He just informed me that he was the first to complete his ninth enhancement. The other seven under his command have also reached their seventh enhancement or higher."

"They can capture live Red-Armored Beetles now."

’Lin Feng hadn’t expected Han Yuxin to take the initiative and arrange all this for him. She was a career-driven woman, which meant her ambition was just as high.’

’But as long as it aligned with his own interests, he didn’t mind continuing to work with her.’

After a nod, Lin Feng said with satisfaction,

"Good work. We’re short on people for the Black Spine Zerg capture mission right now."

"Have them all complete their ninth enhancement by tomorrow. Then they’ll go on a mission with me. Anyone who can kill a Black Spine Zerg will stay with me. I’ll leave the rest to you, and you can continue leading new recruits on Red-Armored Beetle culling missions."

A small smile touched Han Yuxin’s lips. It seemed Lin Feng wasn’t rejecting her advances—neither the covert nor the overt ones.

That was very important.

’As a woman, she had a natural advantage over Hu Fei when it came to attracting men. This was especially true since she was beautiful. Her abilities might still be lacking for now, but she could offer more... dedication.’

’And she was more willing to be proactive in looking out for Lin Feng’s interests:’

"Hu Fei has been pushing me several times today. The high profits are making him impatient, and sometimes he loses sight of what’s truly important..."

"As we bring in more recruits, our business will only get bigger. We can’t rely on a single distributor."

"It’s not secure, and it’s a threat to stability."

"We need our own channels now."

’Staring at the smile on her face, Lin Feng’s expression flickered. He knew full well that relying on Hu Fei alone was unsustainable. Maintaining a competitive dynamic was the key to securing his own position.’

’Even if only for the sake of stability, the live Zerg business needed new players.’

’Clearly, Han Yuxin wanted to break away from Hu Fei and strike out on her own. He should have realized she was planning something from the way she’d so actively networked with the upper-crust elites at the victory banquet.’

After a moment of thought, Lin Feng gave his answer:

"Take this to Chen Yanyan and discuss it with her. She knows more about business than I do. If she approves of your plan and capabilities, then you can start taking shipments next time."

’Although Lin Feng didn’t trust the woman before him, he trusted Chen Yanyan. And with her experience as an assistant, she was certainly better at business than he was.’

A look of joy spread across Han Yuxin’s face.

’In truth, she had been worried Lin Feng would refuse. After all, Hu Fei was much more powerful than she was at the moment, and she was in no position to provide the kind of substantial material support he offered Lin Feng.’

’But just because she couldn’t now didn’t mean she never would.’

Han Yuxin thanked him sincerely.

"Thank you. Your foresight will surely be rewarded handsomely in the future."

Her voice was soft, her expression alluring.

"Would you like to stay for a while? I can prepare a lavish dinner in the back to celebrate our... closer relationship."

Lin Feng shook his head and stood up.

"It’s not a done deal yet. Go talk to Chen Yanyan first. You have to get her approval."