24: First lesson on employment

The Interstellar Peace Corporation's cafeteria was on the 20th floor of the main building, as spacious and bright as a buffet restaurant in a top-tier hotel. Li Ming, holding his tray, scanned the various food stalls. From Chinese stir-fries to Western steaks, Japanese sashimi to Thai curry, there was even a chef freshly baking pizzas.

"Your cafeteria..." He picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs, took a bite, and his eyes widened at the tender, juicy meat and perfect sweet-sour balance. "This is better than a Michelin-starred restaurant!"

Zhou Ping stuffed a piece of fried chicken into his mouth, its crispy skin crackling. "Michelin? A company that makes tires knows nothing about good food. Apparently, the chefs here all have master lineages, and their masters are considered sect leaders in their respective countries."

"This is too luxurious..." Li Ming tasted the steamed perch, its delicious flavor almost making him bite his tongue.

"Employee benefits, you know." Zhou Ping wiped his mouth, then suddenly noticed something. "Oh, right, check your wristband. And remember to set the vibration alerts; all company notifications come through the wristband. As for your phone, that's only for outside."

Li Ming looked down and saw his smart wristband glowing blue. He opened the holographic projection, and a notification popped up:

【Intern Assignment Notice】

Intern: Li Ming (ID: XPG-114515-SX)

Mentor: Zhou Ping (ID: XPG-10145)

Department: Traditional Projects Department, Team 116

Internship Period: 1 month

"Well, I'm your master now." Zhou Ping grinned. "Now you have to call me Teacher Zhou."

"Get lost." Li Ming laughed, punching him playfully. "But what does Team 116 do?"

Zhou Ping took a sip of orange juice and explained, "The Traditional Projects Department is divided into dozens of teams. Our Team 116 is mainly responsible for the on-site execution of mineral development projects. Simply put, it's—"

"Mining?"

"Scram!" Zhou Ping cursed with a laugh. "It's project management! From equipment scheduling to personnel arrangements, and liaising with the Titan Mining Department, our team handles it all."

Li Ming nodded thoughtfully. "Titan Mining Department? Didn't you say Titan was just a disguise?"

Zhou Ping organized his thoughts and explained, "If you were joining Titan, then it wouldn't be a disguise. The company has recruited quite a few people locally, and currently, besides me, everyone else is an employee of Titan Corporation."

Li Ming finally understood. "Got it. It's kind of like a parent company and a subsidiary, but this subsidiary is just a front for the parent company, only this front is a bit more real."

Zhou Ping nodded, agreeing with Li Ming's statement.

"You just said that everyone recruited locally, except you, joined Titan. What's that about?"

Zhou Ping's expression suddenly became a little complicated. He twirled his pinky finger, its joints making a faint 'click' sound. "You were curious about this finger, weren't you? Let me start from a year ago."

The cafeteria's noise seemed to recede at that moment. Zhou Ping's voice dropped. "I had just received my doctorate and saw a high-paying job advertisement online. A multinational engineering group was recruiting mechanical designers, with an annual salary of a million, plus food and lodging."

Li Ming scoffed. "You actually believed an ad like that?"

"I was eager to prove myself back then." Zhou Ping gave a wry smile. "My family worked hard to put me through school, so I wanted to earn money quickly to help them out." He paused. "As soon as the plane landed in Mandala, my passport was confiscated, and I was shoved into a van and taken directly to Kokang."

The smile vanished from Li Ming's face. "A scam compound?"

"Yes." Zhou Ping nodded. "The Ming Family's territory. I got beaten on the first day, they called it 'onboarding training.'" His finger unconsciously tapped the table. "They wanted me to learn how to trick people, to scam elderly folks back home into investing in fake projects."

"You didn't..."

"Of course I didn't, I'm not one of those scumbags." Zhou Ping sneered. "I pretended to learn for half a month, then climbed over the wall and ran when the guards weren't looking."

Li Ming held his breath. "Then what?"

"Then?" Zhou Ping raised his right hand, his metallic pinky finger glinting coldly under the light. "I was caught and brought back. They chopped off one of my fingers in front of everyone. The Ming Family's third young master did it himself, saying it was 'corporate culture.'"

The background noise of the cafeteria seemed to suddenly be muted. Li Ming stared at the mechanical finger, his throat tightening. "Later..."

"Later, I resigned myself to my fate, pretending to obey, but I was always waiting for an opportunity." Zhou Ping's gaze drifted into the distance. "Until about a month ago, Titan's people suddenly raided the compound."

Li Ming's eyes widened. "That was around the time you called me?"

"Yes." Zhou Ping's voice softened. "To be precise, it was two days, one after the other. It was around nine in the evening that night when the entire compound suddenly lost power, followed by explosions. I peered out the window and saw about ten soldiers in black armor descending from the sky, attacking anyone they saw."

"Xingtian Armor?"

"Yes, but I didn't know what it was called then." Zhou Ping gestured. "Their pistols fired blue beams, and their rifles could blast a large hole in a steel plate with a single shot. The Ming Family's bodyguards fell like wheat, the whole process took less than 3 minutes."

Li Ming listened intently. "Then what?"

"Then we 'piglets' were herded into the plaza." Zhou Ping twitched his lips. "A person in a gray uniform was calling out names from a list, saying they were going to 'process them by category.'"

"Process by category?"

"The obedient ones went to the mines, the disobedient ones..." Zhou Ping made a throat-slitting gesture. "I was terrified then. I saw a clerk, probably from Europa, recording nearby, so I rushed over and yelled in English, 'I understand geology, I'm willing to go to the mines.' Oh, right, that's the Teacher Morrison I told you about."

Li Ming couldn't help but laugh. "Your will to survive is incredible."

"I didn't expect Teacher he actually stopped writing." Zhou Ping also laughed. "Then he told me to follow him."

"After that, I signed the employment contract, was taken to Titan's temporary base, and completed the onboarding process. The next day, I had a full body scan, and then they asked how I lost my finger, which I told them truthfully. Then the doctor gave me anesthesia, and when I woke up, this finger was there." He wiggled the mechanical pinky. "The doctor said this prosthetic uses nanoscale bionic nerve connections, and its sense of touch is even more sensitive than the original."

Li Ming looked at the flexible finger and suddenly thought of a question, "Hey, then why didn't I have an entrance physical exam?"

"Oh, that's scheduled for tomorrow, so remember not to eat breakfast tomorrow morning."

Both their wristbands suddenly lit up blue simultaneously. "All members of Team 116, please proceed immediately to Conference Room 7. Repeat, Team 116, please proceed immediately to Conference Room 7."

Zhou Ping immediately stood up, casually taking Li Ming's tray. "Let's go, I'll tell you about the other members of our team on the way."

"That urgent?" Li Ming quickly stuffed the last piece of rib into his mouth.

"It's called efficiency." Zhou Ping put the tray into the recycling slot. "Once you're a full employee and see the new salary and benefits, you'll be even more urgent than me."

"Really? What exactly are they? Tell me."

"You'll know when the time comes. Follow me."

The two hurried towards the elevator. Li Ming suddenly thought of a question. "Oh, right, where's our team's office?"

"East Wing, 7th floor." Zhou Ping pressed the elevator button. "But we don't often stay in the office; we have to go to various mines every now and then."

The elevator doors opened, and several employees in similar uniforms were already inside. A tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes nodded to Zhou Ping. "New guy?"

"This is my friend, Li Ming." Zhou Ping introduced. "This is Jackie Morrison, my intern mentor."

"Welcome to Team 116." Morrison extended his hand. "I hope you're smarter than Zhou Ping; that kid couldn't keep his eyes off the CMC-6000 his first time down in the mine, and then he drove one into a ditch."

"That was a navigation system malfunction!" Zhou Ping retorted, his face red.

Everyone in the elevator laughed. Li Ming suddenly felt that this mysterious high-tech company also had the human touch of a regular workplace.

The elevator descended steadily. Through the glass curtain wall, Li Ming saw that many floors were connected, somewhat like a large shopping mall. He could see employees moving through the atrium, their department badges on their uniforms glowing with different colors under the lights.

"Our team has seven official members," Zhou Ping leaned against the elevator handrail, counting on his fingers. "You know Team Leader Francisco Debis, and you just met Teacher Morrison. As for the rest, the meeting's about to start, you'll see them soon."

Just as Li Ming was about to ask more, the elevator 'dinged' and stopped on the 14th floor. When the doors opened, a bald, burly man in orange work clothes stepped in. His ID badge read "Alexei Petrov - P7 - Traditional Projects Department."

"Zhou!" A thick Russian accent boomed in the elevator. "Is this the rookie you recommended?" The burly man's large, fan-like hand clapped Li Ming's shoulder with such force that his knees buckled.

"This is Alexei," Zhou Ping introduced helplessly, "He's on our team."

Alexei grinned, revealing two gold teeth. "Kid, I heard your family makes cars? Get me a Ural motorcycle sometime! I think that motorcycle is good!" He then clapped him hard twice more.

"Is... is his hand made of iron?" Li Ming rubbed his shoulder, grimacing.

"There are 3 more people whose names I only know, but I've never met them. The team leader said they aren't in the Emerald Principality right now; they're working elsewhere."

"Why is that?"

Zhou Ping spread his hands. "The team leader said that under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be here either. When I get promoted to P14, I'll know where they're supposed to be working."

Conference Room 7 was on the 15th floor of the main building, a standard company conference room. When Zhou Ping and his group arrived, Team Leader Francisco Debis was already standing in front of the projection screen.

"Sit." Debis pointed to the empty seats. "Today we're discussing the new mine in Northern Mountains."

Debis brought up a holographic map, and the topography of the Northern Mountains of Lashio appeared in 3D. "We've discovered a super-large rare earth mineral vein in the Northern Mountains of Lashio. Initial exploration estimates its reserves to be equivalent to 5% of the world's known reserves."

The projection switched to a cross-section of the mineral vein, with intricate colored lines showing the distribution of different rare earth elements. Debis continued, "The key is the dysprosium and terbium content here, which is 80 times that of normal mineral veins."

"The problem is," Zhou Ping saw the team leader gesture to him, so he took over, his fingers rapidly sliding across a tablet, "the mining area is located in a conflict zone between the Government Army and ethnic armed groups. Yesterday during the survey, shells even landed near exploration point number 3."

Debis nodded and brought up a new image. "So, the higher-ups formulated the 'Copper Shield Plan.'" Recruitment advertisements for miners in the Gray Market area appeared on the screen, written in Burmese and offering high salaries. "We're setting up a copper and iron mine in the Gray Market as a cover, and at the same time..."

"Using common metal mines to conceal rare earth mining?" Li Ming blurted out.

The conference room suddenly fell silent. Debis's gaze, from behind his sunglasses, turned to Li Ming. "It seems Zhou Ping chose correctly." He tapped his thermos. "That's right, the copper and iron mine will absorb 500 local workers, while the actual rare earth mining will be done by fully automated equipment."

Morrison took over. "We'll publicly announce it as a copper and iron mine, and the local workers we recruit will only be allowed to access surface-level ore." He brought up the task list. "Zhou Ping will be responsible for equipment scheduling, and Li Ming will assist in designing the mine's exterior."

"Design?" Li Ming was stunned. "You want me to draw blueprints?"

"Yes." Debis nodded. "It needs to look like an ordinary mine. Dilapidated workshops, old conveyor belts—the more backward, the better."

The projection switched to design templates, showing various "disguise elements": rusty tin roofs, deliberately aged equipment casings, and even a few scrapped excavators to be prominently displayed.

"This is too..." Li Ming couldn't help but complain.

"Too fake?" Morrison sneered. "That's exactly the effect we want. Officials and ordinary people who come to inspect and see such a dilapidated mine won't give it a second glance."

Zhou Ping jotted down key points in his notebook. "How do we need to coordinate with the equipment?"

"All CMC-6000 operations will be at night. Only regular excavators will be deployed during the day." Debis brought up the schedule. "The rare earth sorting system is hidden underground, and the entrance is disguised as a warehouse."

The meeting lasted half an hour, detailing everyone's tasks. As it adjourned, Morrison called out to the two. "Tomorrow morning at 6 AM, meet at Parking Lot 3. There will be a special vehicle to take you to the mine for an on-site inspection."

Back in the dorm, Li Ming collapsed on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Old Zhou, can we really fool people with these fake mines we're designing?"

Zhou Ping was organizing documents. "Don't worry, the plans approved by the Strategic Investment Department have never gone wrong."