118: Chapter 118 Recruitment Failure

He was an existence that transcended the entire battlefield, the entire era.

Mo Yufei looked at him, his expression changing slightly, his tone becoming even more indifferent.

"You were specially sent to recruit me, right?"

"I will give you an answer."

"I do not submit to anyone, nor do I pledge allegiance to any faction."

"Wherever I am, that is the rule."

Commander Shi Haidong was instantly speechless; all the calculations, greed, and confidence in his recruitment attempt were thoroughly shattered in that moment.

He forced himself to steady his expression, refusing to give up easily, and gritted his teeth to try one more time.

"Brother! It's a chaotic time! No matter how strong an individual is, they cannot support a crumbling house alone! No matter how heaven-defying your equipment is, you are ultimately alone!"

"Only by relying on the nation and the army can your strength be maximized! Whatever treatment you want, we can discuss it, we can increase the offer!"

Mo Yufei watched his eager appearance, the corner of his mouth curling into an extremely faint, cold arc.

"Increase the offer?"

"The things you value most—power, wealth, territory—I have no interest in."

As the words fell.

He did not spare Commander Shi Haidong another glance, turning his head back to fix his gaze on the Japanese Army lines advancing ahead.

The killing intent around him instantly suppressed the smoke of war.

"You are not qualified to try to recruit me."

Commander Shi Haidong froze in place, his whole body turning cold.

He finally understood completely.

He hadn't come here today to recruit talent.

He had come to hit a wall.

A wall that the entire era couldn't chew through, an invincible wall.

Commander Shi Haidong stood where he was, his fingertips clenched tightly, a thin layer of sweat seeping from his forehead.

Blocked into silence by Mo Yufei's words, the unwillingness in his heart not only failed to subside but instead grew more intense.

The more he was rejected, the more convinced he became that this protective suit, along with that Robot Chief of Staff, were treasures capable of completely rewriting the world—things that didn't even exist in his own system exchange shop.

As long as he could get his hands on these things, let alone high positions and wealth, he could carry out his own plans and establish his own empire.

He suppressed the shock in his heart, feigned calmness, stepped forward once more, and cast his gaze greedily over the protective suit on Mo Yufei, which shimmered with silver patterns.

"Brother Mo, you shouldn't speak so absolutely."

He deliberately slowed his tone, putting away the arrogance of his previous recruitment attempt, and put on an appearance of sincere negotiation, though his eyes never left that cross-era battle armor.

"Your abilities are heaven-defying; we indeed cannot force a recruitment, but cooperation is possible, right?"

"As long as you are willing to hand over this equipment and the technology to manufacture that kind of robot, the Nationalist Government is willing to exhaust the power of the entire nation to satisfy any of your conditions.

Gold, silver, jewelry, fertile land, mansions, or even the real power to rule a region—whatever you want, we can give."

Mo Yufei glanced sideways slightly, his eyes growing a few degrees colder.

The Robot Chief of Staff's long, narrow sensor light strip suddenly flickered, and an invisible pressure descended, locking onto Commander Shi Haidong.

Commander Shi Haidong's heart trembled, but he still refused to back down, continuing to strike while the iron was hot, every sentence circling back to the protective suit.

"Your suit of battle armor has been through the fires of war, yet it is completely undamaged and as bright as new—it must be a treasure!"

"If it could be mass-produced, the millions of soldiers on the front lines would no longer have to die in vain, and the entire situation of the War of Resistance would be completely reversed."

"For the country and the people, it would be a monumental merit."

By the end, his tone became increasingly earnest, yet his eyes hid calculations of certain victory.

"I know that this thing can only exert its maximum power when it's on you; we will not forcibly seize it.

I only ask that you be willing to sell it or authorize its reproduction. As long as we can reach an agreement, I, Commander Shi Haidong, swear on my life that you will receive the highest level of treatment in the entire country, and from then on, no one will dare to provoke you in the slightest."

After hearing this, Mo Yufei just glanced at him indifferently.

"You want it?"

These two simple words made Commander Shi Haidong's heart tighten instantly; he nodded hurriedly, intense desire erupting in his eyes.

"Yes, I want it, and the country wants it too!"

Mo Yufei looked at his undisguised greed, the corner of his mouth curling into an icy smile.

"Unfortunately, you can neither take it away nor reproduce it."

"This is not technology you can understand, and it is certainly not something you are qualified to covet."

"If you harbor ulterior motives again, the next time I speak, it won't be as simple as a refusal."

As the words fell, a sharp, piercing killing intent suddenly dissipated, making Commander Shi Haidong's breath catch and the hairs on his body stand on end.

Yet even so, Commander Shi Haidong kept staring fixedly at that protective suit, the obsession in his heart not dissipating in the slightest.

He was determined that no matter the cost, he must obtain this heaven-defying treasure.

The bone-chilling killing intent rushed toward him, gripping Commander Shi Haidong's limbs and bones tightly.

His back was instantly soaked with cold sweat, his throat constricted, and he subconsciously stopped all his rhetoric, no longer daring to reveal even a hint of greed.

He knew very clearly that the person before him was truly capable of killing.

On this battlefield where human lives were like blades of grass, the other party treated the heavy artillery fire as nothing; killing a special commissioner like him would be like crushing an ant.

Commander Shi Haidong immediately reined in all his expressions, his face instantly filled with humility and guilt; he took a step back, lowered his posture significantly, and adopted an appearance of having suddenly realized his mistake and knowing he had been presumptuous.

"It was I who was presumptuous, Mr. Mo."

"It was my narrow-mindedness; I did not understand the preciousness of your treasure and spoke recklessly. Please, Mr. Mo, do not take offense."

His tone was sincere, yet his eyes held no trace of genuine repentance, only the forbearance and viciousness of someone who had been suppressed.

While apologizing on the surface, he was already calculating wildly in his heart, simultaneously and quietly activating the system panel that only he could see.

[Ding! High-dimensional unknown lifeform detected!]

[Target: Mo Yufei]

[Combat power detection failed! Exceeds this world's detection limit!]

Lines of cold system pop-ups appeared silently in Commander Shi Haidong's field of vision, unnoticed by anyone else.

Commander Shi Haidong's heart pounded wildly, suppressing an almost maniacal ecstasy.

Detection failed, exceeds limit, super equipment.

How could this be an ordinary transmigrator?

This was simply a walking, monumental opportunity!

His previous guess was absolutely correct; the things hidden on Mo Yufei did not belong to this plane at all; they were a truly heaven-defying opportunity.

On the surface, Commander Shi Haidong remained submissive, bowing his head slightly, pretending to be completely settled and no longer covetous, slowly retreating to deliberately keep a safe distance to avoid triggering Mo Yufei's killing intent again.

"I will no longer disturb you, Mr. Mo. I only represent the military in sincerely hoping we can watch over and help each other to defend our homeland together."

His words sounded righteous, filled with the greater good of the country.

Privately, he secretly activated the system's recruitment function.

[Can forcibly recruit temporary teammates, consuming one's own reputation, directly binding them regardless of the other party's will.]

[Recruitment target: Mo Yufei]

A cold glint flashed in Commander Shi Haidong's eyes; without the slightest hesitation, he directly selected Mo Yufei.

[Consume 3000 reputation points to execute forced recruitment?]

[Confirm]

Commander Shi Haidong gritted his teeth inwardly.

He absolutely did not dare to seize it by force.

In a direct confrontation, he would be vulnerable before Mo Yufei.

But he had the system, he had the unique privilege of a transmigrator in this world.

So what if your combat power is invincible, your equipment heaven-defying, and you are unrivaled?

You don't understand the rules of the plane, you don't understand the methods of a transmigrator, and you certainly don't understand the darkness of the human heart.

Yet the next second, the system sent a notification.

[Binding failed, the other party is a high-dimensional unknown lifeform! Current reputation points are insufficient.]

Commander Shi Haidong was not discouraged; he had been mentally prepared.

He retreated more than ten meters, his gaze fixed tightly on Mo Yufei through layers of smoke and dust.

He watched that black battle armor, which remained brilliantly radiant amidst the artillery fire, the gloom in his eyes deepening.

Recruitment failed, cooperation rejected.

Then he would change his approach.

If soft tactics didn't work, he would use underhanded ones.

He could use his identity as a Nationalist Army officer, use the battlefield situation, and use everyone's sense of national righteousness to bind Mo Yufei to this battlefield.

He would make Mo Yufei block the Japanese Army for them, hold the positions for them, and fight to the death for them.

He could secretly observe the whole time, record the battle armor's energy fluctuations and the robot's operational patterns, and look for vulnerabilities.

He could even secretly manipulate the situation to force Mo Yufei to keep fighting, continuously draining his energy.

As long as the battle armor's energy was depleted, as long as there was a brief flaw where the high-dimensional equipment failed, that would be the best opportunity for him to strike and seize the treasure.

Wealth and glory could no longer satisfy him.

At this moment, Commander Shi Haidong's heart and eyes were filled only with plunder.

Plundering this invincible battle armor, plundering that intelligent machine, plundering all the power on Mo Yufei that did not belong to this world.

He lowered his head slightly, hiding all the madness and viciousness in his eyes, and the corner of his mouth curled into a sneer that no one noticed.

Mo Yufei, just because you have some ability, you are high and mighty and look down on everyone.

You look down on the wealth and power of this era.

That's fine.

I will devour everything of yours, bit by bit.

This is only just the beginning.