180: Gifts to the strong

Shen Xiaochuan closed the panel. The forging area outside the window was lit, and the sound of machines was noisy. Just as he stood up, a light screen suddenly appeared on the desktop, with text scrolling rapidly.

[White Snow Princess]: Are you really going to give away those thirty tons of meat?

He didn't reply immediately. He walked to the control console, opened the inventory interface, and tapped on the "perfect grade beast meat" column. The number changed—700.3 tons.

The light screen flashed again.

[White Snow Princess]: You said there were only three hundred tons before, so how come there's four hundred more now? Where did this number come from?

Shen Xiaochuan sat back in his chair and began to type: "It was three hundred tons at first, but later the hunting team cleared three wastelands. After the Thunder Crystal mines were opened, transportation became faster, and supplies kept up."

He paused for a moment and continued writing: "Internal combustion engines are being used, so the convoy can travel further. Yesterday, an abandoned nest was discovered in the Northwest District. We brought back seventeen complete beast carcasses, all of which have been processed and stored."

The light screen went quiet for a few seconds.

[White Snow Princess]: Even if you have seven hundred tons, you can't just give it away like that. That is a perfect grade resource; eating one piece is equivalent to three days of high-intensity training for an ordinary person. If you give it away now, what will you do if you don't have enough later? The growth of core combat power cannot be interrupted.

Shen Xiaochuan looked at this sentence, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. He knew White Snow Princess wasn't worried about the resources; she was afraid of problems. The Alliance was still unstable, and enemies were watching; bringing out his trump cards at this time was equivalent to exposing his strength.

But he didn't delete it, only replying with one sentence: "I'm not giving it to outsiders."

The light screen flickered.

[White Snow Princess]: Then who is it for?

"Thirty-two young gods of the Huaxia lineage," he typed. "They are between twenty and twenty-five years old. Their Awakening time hasn't been long. They have potential but lack resources. They are stuck at the threshold of the city and are just a little bit away from a Breakthrough."

He called up the list and pushed it over. Thirty-two names, arranged by Awakening time. Behind each person, their Rank, Divine Kingdom size, number of Believers, and combat power assessment were written.

"Look at the seventh one, Li Zhiyuan. He graduated with a major in mechanical engineering and does technology just like me. He made a simple steam turret, but he only has three thousand Believers, and he can't even build a basic defensive barrier. Then there's the nineteenth one, Chen Wei, who does biological research. She developed an anti-toxin serum and saved many refugees at the border, but her Divine Kingdom doesn't have enough energy, and her laboratory often loses power."

He went through them one by one: "These people aren't just slacking off; they are actually doing things. But no one helps them, and no one invests resources in them. As time goes on, they'll burn out. I don't want to wait until they fall to try and save them."

The light screen paused for a long time. When it appeared again, the text was slower.

[White Snow Princess]: Are you trying to cultivate a batch of city-level combat power all at once?

"Yes," Shen Xiaochuan replied. "One person being strong is useless; you need a group of people to step up. What we are competing for now isn't who fights the hardest, but who can expand their territory and set the rules. If these people succeed, in ten years, there will be more than thirty people capable of standing on their own."

[White Snow Princess]: But what if they take the resources and turn to someone else? Or get poached by the enemy?

"You handle the vetting," he said. "Background checks, faith detection, past records—you set the standards. If there are problems, cut them immediately. I only have one requirement—they must be locally grown and have never received foreign aid."

He added another sentence: "It's not an unlimited supply either. Five hundred catties of each of the five types of beast meat per person, totaling two thousand five hundred catties. Thirty-two people total eighty thousand catties, which is forty tons. I initially approved thirty tons because I hadn't finished discussing it with you."

The light screen went black again. This time it lasted even longer. Shen Xiaochuan didn't move, nor did he rush her. He knew she was looking at the list, checking data, and weighing the pros and cons. This kind of thing cannot be rushed; once it starts, there is no turning back.

After a long time, the light screen finally lit up.

[White Snow Princess]: I am not on the list.

Shen Xiaochuan was stunned. Then he understood. He smiled and typed quickly: "I missed it. I'll add it."

[White Snow Princess]: I don't need it.

"You do need it," he replied. "You are the head of diplomacy. You hold the intelligence network for seven potential allies and process hundreds of messages every day. You know better than anyone that negotiations without the support of combat power are just empty words. You are currently at B-Rank Middle Stage and have been stuck for three months, simply because of insufficient resources."

He called up a screenshot of her personal panel, marked the energy fluctuations and faith absorption efficiency, and sent it over.

"In your last two retreats, your peak didn't even reach ninety percent of the threshold. The beast meat can help you achieve a Breakthrough. And..."

He paused. "If you aren't on the list, others will think it's favoritism. What I want is fairness, not privilege."

The light screen went black for a few seconds. Then a line of text appeared:

[White Snow Princess]: You have convinced me.

Shen Xiaochuan breathed a sigh of relief and continued typing.

"I've also prepared the distribution plan. The five types of meat are Fire Mane Wolf, Rock Armor Rhino, Wind Wing Eagle, Ice Ridge Python, and Thunder Claw Leopard, all of which are below S-Rank but have balanced attributes. Five hundred catties of each, vacuum-packed, with eating instructions and safety warnings attached."

He opened the storage System, simulated the packaging process, generated an execution plan, and pushed it over.

"It can be ready by tomorrow. Once you approve it, we can notify them to receive it."

The text on the light screen slowly appeared:

[White Snow Princess]: Have you ever thought about how, once this group of people all reaches city-level, the power of speech will be dispersed? Your position might be shaken.

Shen Xiaochuan looked at this sentence and didn't move for a long time. Then he looked up out the window. The lights of the factory in the distance formed a sea of light, the conveyor belt was still moving, and the voices of workers could be heard faintly. The progress of the east power station had reached 68%.

He lowered his head and wrote the last paragraph: "I'm not afraid of them being strong. I'm only afraid of them not being strong enough."

"The world is about to change. People outside are already eyeing us, and a great war will come sooner or later. If I am the only one holding things up when that time comes, then we are truly finished."

"I'm not dividing up the family assets now; I'm planting trees. Every single one must live, and every single one must grow. In ten years, they will become our forest that covers the sky."

The light screen went completely quiet. Shen Xiaochuan didn't speak, just waited. Time passed bit by bit.

The lights in the room flickered, perhaps due to an unstable power grid. He didn't care; his hand was on the confirm button, ready to archive the file at any moment.

Finally, the light screen lit up. No text. Only a seal appeared—Huaxia Alliance High-Level Decision Group Level 2 Authorization Verification Passed.

Then a second one landed—Resource Allocation Committee Filing Completed. The third, the fourth... until all six lit up.

Finally, White Snow Princess's name appeared at the end of the list, number #32, and the status changed from "Pending" to "Confirmed."

Shen Xiaochuan took a deep breath and pressed the final command on the control console. The System popped up a confirmation box: [Generate "First Batch of Strong Gifting List" and archive it to the pending execution directory?]

He took a look and clicked "Yes." The file was generated, automatically encrypted, and stored in a dedicated channel. The status showed "Pending Release," waiting for manual activation. The whole process took less than ten seconds.

After doing all this, he leaned back in his chair, his fingers touching the copper gear pendant on his cuff. It was a gift from his parents, and he had never changed it. It wasn't expensive, but it was sturdy, like the old machines in the factory when he was a child, which would last a long time without breaking.

The wind outside picked up, blowing against the windows. He didn't go to close them, just sat there like that. The only light in the room came from the screen.

That list lay quietly in the System, like a seed that hadn't sprouted yet, but it would definitely grow.

He knew that tomorrow some would question him, some would say he was crazy, and some would say it was a waste. But he didn't care.

Some things must be done by someone first. Keeping it hidden is wealth; giving it away is power. And now, he had just planted the first forest.