93: Iron Fist and Loyalty

"I need your unconditional support."

Su Li's voice echoed across the bridge of the needlefish, carrying a resolution that brooked no argument.

Reno's brow furrowed even tighter as he looked at Chen Feng, his eyes filled with worry. Chen Feng, however, only returned a meaningful smile.

"Of course," he repeated. "Leave professional matters to professional people."

Three days later, the Hanhai Trade headquarters—formerly the command center of Giant Star Mining—held its first general cadre meeting. The atmosphere was so solemn it was almost frozen.

Su Li stood before the holographic projection in a sharp business suit, her expression as cold as a data crystal.

"Everyone, starting today, Hanhai Trade will abolish all old contribution systems and implement a brand-new organizational structure and KPI evaluation system."

As soon as she finished speaking, an organizational chart and point rules so complex they were dizzying were projected in front of everyone.

"I have named it the 'Deep Space Pioneer' system," Su Li's voice said without a ripple. "All work, from mining, transport, and guarding to equipment maintenance, will be quantified into base points. Completing extra tasks, proposing optimizations, or exceeding production quotas will earn reward points. Conversely, mistakes, delays, or wasting resources will result in point deductions."

She pointed to a glittering leaderboard on the right of the projection: "Every week, month, and quarter, there will be a total points ranking. The top performers will receive physical rewards, priority for promotions, and unique virtual medals of honor."

Chen Feng sat in the head seat, listening calmly and nodding at the appropriate times. "I fully support Director Su's proposal. A transparent and fair set of rules is our first step toward professionalization."

Reno sat below him, his burly frame looking somewhat cramped in the chair. He looked at the complex system with a face full of confusion; his lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing. Beside him, the technical supervisor Lao Mo also looked like he wanted to speak but held back. They didn't understand what 'KPI' meant, but they could feel a brand-new, cold order descending upon this land that had just gained its freedom.

"What... what kind of thing is this? A game?"

"Look at that leaderboard! The points the first-place guy got this week can be traded for a new exoskeleton power arm!"

"Quick, quick, quick! The energy readings in Mining Tunnel 3 are optimal. Let's go there! Climb the ranks! Climb the ranks!"

On the first day the new system went live, the effects were immediate. The entire mining area seemed to have been injected with a stimulant, and the production curve skyrocketed at a near-vertical angle. The miners' enthusiasm was ignited like never before; for the points, for the shining names on the leaderboard, and for the generous rewards, everyone worked like a wound-up machine.

However, at dusk, a system notification popped up on everyone's personal terminals across the mining area.

"Notification: Employee Zhang Decai (formerly No. 1147) ranked last in today's points and has been issued one 'Efficiency Warning.' Let all employees take this as a lesson."

When the message came out, the originally noisy mining cafeteria went silent for a moment. Uncle Zhang, the old miner who had worked in the mines his whole life and taught countless newcomers, was silently holding his tray, finding a corner to sit in amidst strange looks. He was old, so his movements naturally couldn't keep up with the young people; despite not resting all day, he had still become the 'last place' publicly named.

Some of the other older miners showed a look of shared grief and indignation.

"Director Su, I need to talk to you." Reno's figure almost blocked the door to Su Li's office.

Su Li looked up from a mountain of data reports, her eyes calm and steady. "Supervisor Reno, please speak."

"About that KPI system," Reno's voice was a bit heavy, "could it be... a bit more human? Uncle Zhang and the others have bled for this place. Just because they're a bit slower, they get hung out for public criticism? That's not right, is it?"

"Supervisor Reno," Su Li's voice remained cold. "Before the data, everyone is equal. He is an elder, not a useless person. If I open a back door for him today, tomorrow there will be countless 'Uncle Lis' and 'Uncle Wangs' demanding special treatment. Once rules are broken, the credibility of the entire system vanishes."

"But that's not the same thing! That's..."

"In my view, it is the same thing," Su Li interrupted him. "I respect his past, but Hanhai Trade looks to the future. If he cannot adapt, I suggest he move to the logistics department for some lighter work."

"You..." Reno was choked for words. Finally, he could only give a heavy huff and turn to leave.

The conflict intensified further the next day.

"Boss! What the hell is going on? Where's our late-night snack?" a Guard Team member shouted in the cafeteria, his voice full of anger.

Reno strode over, only to see that the window for the high-calorie nutritional meals prepared for the night shift Guard Team was now empty.

The cafeteria manager looked troubled as he handed over a notice. "Supervisor Reno, this is... an order from Director Su. She said that according to data analysis, canceling the late-night meals can save 110,000 credits per year."

"What?" Reno could hardly believe his ears.

That extra meal was something he had personally requested from Chen Feng to give the brothers patrolling all night a bit of comfort and physical strength. Now, because of a cold number, it was canceled?

In the Guard Team camp, complaints were everywhere.

"Reno! What exactly are you trying to say?" In Su Li's office, the atmosphere had dropped to freezing point.

"What am I trying to say?" Reno's fists clenched until they cracked, his voice like a roaring lion. "Su Li! You canceled the brothers' late-night snacks! Do you know what that means to them? It's not just food, it's..."

"I know," Su Li interrupted him calmly, pulling up another data report. "It means the company spends an extra 9,000 credits every month. And the data shows that during the three months the meals were provided, the night patrol's 'emergency response efficiency' only increased by 1.7% compared to before. The input-output ratio is severely mismatched."

"We aren't machines! We aren't data!" Reno's eyes were red. "We are people! We have feelings! We have morale!"

"Morale is something that cannot be quantified," Su Li countered sharply. "I only believe in data. Data tells me this is an unprofitable expense."

"Enough!" Chen Feng's voice suddenly rang out. He had appeared at the door at some unknown point, his face grim.

He glanced at the enraged Reno, then at the cold Su Li, and said deeply, "That's enough from both of you."

Just as undercurrents were surging within Hanhai Trade, a sudden sandstorm struck the surface of Ashen Earth Star without warning.

A remote exploration station instantly lost contact with headquarters.

"Team A-3! Please respond if you hear me! Evacuate immediately according to standard procedures!" Reno roared into the communicator in the command center.

There was only the rustle of static from the communicator.

An hour later, the sandstorm weakened and communication was restored. The voice of the Team A-3 leader, a young man named A Yong, came through hoarsely: "Report... Reporting, Boss! We... we're okay. All personnel and equipment have been saved."

It turned out that in the crisis of the communication blackout, A Yong had not followed the tedious standard evacuation procedures. He had led his team in using a primitive method—stripping the armor plates from the transport vehicles to force a windbreak wall outside the exploration station, then sealing all the gaps with polymer gel. They had successfully saved equipment worth millions and everyone's lives.

The entire command center erupted in thunderous applause.

However, when Team A-3's mission report was submitted to the KPI system, a line of cold red text jumped out.

"Mission Rating: Failure. Reason: Severe time overrun, failed to follow standard operating procedures. Penalty: 50% deduction of this month's points for all team members."

Holding the battle report stamped with the word "Failure," Reno was like a completely enraged bull as he slammed open the door to Su Li's office.

He slammed the report onto Su Li's desk, every word forced through gritted teeth.

"This is your system? It tells my heroes they are trash!"

Su Li looked at the thrilling process described in the report, her brow furrowing tightly. But her voice remained like tempered steel.

"Any behavior that cannot be quantified carries uncontrollable risks."

"My system is not wrong."