Negotiations Break Down
Unlike the first meeting, this time Dirk, Lynn, and Arnold were treated as honored guests. Several well-built girls, appearing to be from the dance department, moved gracefully around the conference room. It seemed that the academy attached great importance to this meeting.
In the apocalypse, perhaps the least valuable thing was human life.
Dirk took a cup of tea carefully handed over by a girl and nodded in thanks.
Internal team communication:
"Dirk, how do you think these academy people suddenly changed their minds and invited us over, expressing a willingness to join us?" Arnold's distinctive loud voice sounded in the communication, expressing some confusion.
"Maybe they've thought it through. After all, their strongest awakened individuals are no match for you." Dirk hesitated, scanning the room. The number of awakened individuals from the academy hadn't decreased; only one mature-looking girl had disappeared.
"Pay attention. If they've really figured things out, it might be a good thing. Clark is resting at the base, and without him taking the lead, we need to be extra vigilant." Lynn slowly covered the entire conference room with her concealed psychic power, ensuring that any movement would be detected promptly. After not much time had passed, the deputy head glanced at Gerard, held in Arnold's hand, a feigned concern flashing in his eyes.
"Cough, cough."
"Foreign awakened individuals, after meticulous, detailed, and thorough discussions within our academy, we have decided to agree to the plan you proposed."
"After all, under the apocalypse, we survivors should naturally unite and make full use of..."
"Cut the bureaucratic crap and get to the point!" Arnold impatiently interrupted the deputy head's verbose rhetoric. The way he was going, it would take at least two hours to finish.
Clark only gave them one day, and if he allowed them to ramble on, all these people would be hanging from the trees the next day! The deputy head's face flashed with annoyance but quickly concealed it.
"After our discussions, we believe that collectively building LJ City Academy and creating a safe zone is feasible."
"But when it comes to management, we must have someone involved. It's not possible for you to dictate everything. Moreover, with just three awakened individuals, you don't have the energy to manage so many people, do you?"
Dirk nodded slightly after hearing this. Before coming here, he had already asked Clark about the maximum limit.
"We can allow you to send people for management, but only limited to basic personnel management. And your existing treatment can remain unchanged."
This was already the maximum bottom line in Clark's plan.
On the way from the base, the three had noticed the extremely unfavorable atmosphere within the academy. Awakened individuals could freely abuse ordinary people, and almost every awakened individual had occupied more than one member of the opposite sex.
During dinner, Arnold even saw awakened individuals pouring precious food on the ground, prompting ordinary people to scramble for it like dogs.
It was evident that the distribution of resources within the academy had reached an extremely dire situation. If this continued for a long time, not only would it seriously affect discipline, but ordinary people and awakened individuals would become two completely different species.
This was extremely unfavorable for Clark's envisioned establishment of a safe zone where everyone was a soldier.
"No problem, our people can assist you. But the supplies we obtained earlier cannot be taken out. After all, everyone here fought hard to obtain them."
The second-in-command of the student faction readily agreed, which surprised Dirk a bit. "If you want to be in charge, you should also be able to help us solve the food problem, right?"
Dirk remained silent for a moment but ultimately chose to agree, explaining the various matters that needed attention. The immediate priority was to integrate the awakened individuals, and the other issues could be addressed later. As long as they could set the tone, Clark should be willing to take things step by step.
Upon seeing Dirk agree, the deputy head couldn't help but sneer inwardly. It had been half an hour since Arnold and the others left the base. The awakened individuals they had called back from the back mountains should have started taking action by now. Want the academy to follow your commands? Dream on! Even if the treatment remains the same, they would never agree.
He knew the awakened individuals in the academy too well. Once they gained power, everyone wanted to be a little emperor. How could they tolerate military-style management? As for future crises, he didn't believe a word Dirk said. If there was danger, they could just run away and hide. With power, where in the world couldn't one be a little emperor? Cut the nonsense; they would take action directly!
The deputy head pretended to listen to Dirk's plans for the future construction of the safe zone, including personnel adjustments. Suddenly, he spoke, "By the way, you mentioned earlier that there's a psychic energy node within the academy, right? We'd like to know where it is. You know, if we improve our strength early, our safe zone can be better constructed..."
Dirk was interrupted and slightly stunned, but he didn't pay much attention. The existence of psychic energy nodes wasn't a secret; they were meant to enhance everyone's strength.
"As for the psychic energy within the academy..."
"I object to jointly building a safe zone!"
Outside the conference room, a sudden roar erupted, and the crimson wooden door was violently kicked open.
"Killers want to take over our territory?"
"Wishful thinking!"
Norm strode into the conference room, his gaze filled with murderous intent as he looked at Dirk.
"Norm?"
"President Norm?"
Inside the conference room, members from both factions of the academy looked at Norm in surprise. Wasn't it agreed upon earlier? Deceive the outsiders about the location of the psychic energy node and then take action; there was no rush.
However, such matters couldn't be discussed openly, so everyone could only watch as Norm walked a few steps to stand in front of Dirk.
"The ones who killed my people dare to meddle in our affairs!?"
"Do you really think I'm afraid of you?"
The students were dumbfounded, not understanding what game Norm was playing.
Outside the door, a young man in white entered the conference room, followed by six awakened individuals. He looked at everyone with a light laugh.
"Although our branch doesn't want to get involved in management, if you want to establish a safe zone and choose a leader, you should at least inform me, right?"
The deputy head's expression turned unpleasant. The man in white was named Ira. Ira and Norm were the two strongest awakened individuals in the academy; how could he not greet them?
Norm was manageable; he was vain, and ever since the president gave him the title of student union president, he tended to support the leadership. As for Ira, he was an unapproachable person who rarely spoke.
Arnold coldly looked at the unexpected group that appeared before him, feeling a bit impatient.
Dirk, on the other hand, frowned slightly. The number of awakened individuals had exceeded the quantity he had inquired about earlier, and he didn't know where they had come from.
In the internal communication channel, Lynn suddenly spoke up as a warning, "Be cautious of the man in white; his mental energy fluctuations are very strong."
Before Dirk could ask anything, Norm turned his head slightly, exchanged a glance with Ira, and spoke directly.
"If you want to establish a safe zone, then show your strength!"
"Thinking that you can control the academy by injuring a few useless people with sneak attacks is laughable!"
Ignoring the astonished gazes of the surrounding students, he spoke with urgency in his heart. Norm had never revealed the existence of the psychic energy node in the academy, and without monopolizing it, his strength wouldn't have reached this level!
In the eyes of Norm, directed at Dirk's group, there was a strong intention to kill.