48: Chapter 48 New Employee Onboarding

Half an hour later, the A70 Ghost fighter plane smoothly passed through the dark golden energy shield and landed on the exclusive landing pad on the third level of the Cloud Top Fortress.

"The hatch has opened. Welcome back, Captain."

EVA's cool, sci-fi-esque female voice echoed throughout the spacious hangar.

As Zhang Ming and Lin Qing nervously unbuckled their seatbelts and followed Zhou An out of the fighter, they were instantly stunned by the sight before them.

There was no biting cold wind, no nauseating smell of oil, and none of that oppressive, cramped feeling.

The entire interior of the fortress was spacious and bright; the air was even filled with the fresh fragrance of plants, and the temperature was precisely controlled to a comfortable 24 degrees Celsius.

A massive elevator brought them to the living area located on the first floor.

Looking at the luxurious circular leather sofa, the massive panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, and the clean, tidy kitchen... Zhang Ming and Lin Qing couldn't believe their eyes.

"Is... is this heaven?"

Lin Qing stared blankly at everything, tears welling up in her eyes uncontrollably.

During their time at the Black Iron Guild, they had slept in a drafty bottom hold, scraping by like dogs. But this place was even more sci-fi and luxurious than the high-end villas before they transmigrated.

"Don't just stand there, new colleagues."

Li Muzi, dressed in clean and comfortable loungewear, walked over carrying two cups of freshly brewed hot tea and handed them over with a smile: "Drink some water to warm up. The Boss has gone to change out of his armor."

A few minutes later, Zhou An took off his combat armor, changed into dry casual clothes, and walked down from the second floor. Luo Ning followed behind him, munching on fruit without any regard for her image.

Zhou An walked to the sofa and sat down. Looking at the uneasy couple, Zhang Ming and Lin Qing, he spoke calmly:

"Let's reintroduce ourselves. I am the captain of this fortress, Zhou An."

He pointed to the two people beside him: "This is our Agricultural Supervisor, Li Muzi, and this is our Chief Weapons Expert, Luo Ning."

"Zhou... Zhou An?!"

Upon hearing this name, Zhang Ming nearly spat out the sip of hot tea he had just taken. He widened his eyes in disbelief, staring fixedly at the young, composed man before him.

"The... the big boss Zhou An, who, during the second comprehensive evaluation of the entire district, as a solo player without a faction, trampled dozens of guilds underfoot, racked up over 20 million points, and took sixth place in the entire district?!"

"Correction."

Muzi lifted her chin proudly and huffed.

"If we're only counting personal combat power scores, our Boss is number one in the district! He's leagues ahead of everyone else!"

Zhang Ming and Lin Qing exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and relief in each other's eyes.

They had actually managed to latch onto a golden thigh—an incredibly powerful backer!!

"No need to be nervous."

Zhou An casually swiped on his system panel to pull up a formal electronic contract.

"This is a [Cooperation Contract] notarized by the system. Muzi has already told you about the benefits in private chat: room, board, and materials are all covered. In return, you must use your [Cooking Mastery] talent to maximize the attributes of our high-tier ingredients. As long as you sign, from now on, no one in these skies will ever be able to order you around like dogs again."

Looking at the generous terms in the contract, Zhang Ming's hands were trembling. Without a moment's hesitation, he pulled Lin Qing over and solemnly pressed his fingerprint onto the contract.

[System Notification: Survivors 'Zhang Ming' and 'Lin Qing' have joined your team!]

"Boss! From today on, our lives are yours!" Zhang Ming said, his eyes red with excitement.

"I don't want your lives; I want your cooking."

Zhou An nodded in satisfaction: "Muzi, take them to the storage area to see the ingredients and let him get familiar with the environment. Next, we need to figure out how to quickly feed your LV1 talent up to LV3 or even higher."

Hearing this, the excitement on Zhang Ming's face suddenly stiffened, replaced by a troubled expression.

"Boss... there's a tricky problem."

Zhang Ming swallowed hard and said bitterly: "In this world, an individual's system rating and talent level are forcibly bound to the 'vehicle level' under their name. In other words, if I want to upgrade my talent, I must own a high-level spaceship under my own name."

"Then we'll give you the materials. Can't you just build one or upgrade one yourself?"

Luo Ning chimed in nonchalantly from the side.

"It's not a matter of materials..."

Zhang Ming smiled bitterly.

"Everyone starts with only one system-bound basic vehicle. My LV1 small plane was impounded by the Black Iron Guild. To squeeze out our remaining value, they used thick iron chains to forcibly lock all of our initial planes to the bottom of their main ship, using them as external storage compartments and meat shields. As long as that plane is still forcibly anchored in their hands, I cannot perform any upgrade operations."

As soon as these words were spoken, the air in the hall paused slightly.

Li Muzi pushed up her glasses: "In other words, if we want Zhang Ming to reach his full potential, we have to take back his initial vehicle?"

Zhou An leaned back on the leather sofa, his slender fingers tapping rhythmically on the table.

"If it were a large guild like Sky Engine or Domain of Gods, with tens of thousands of people and hundreds of warships providing joint escort, going head-to-head right now would indeed be a bit troublesome."

"But for a ragtag workshop of only three hundred people that has to rely on impounding low-level planes just to make up numbers, the ones with actual combat power and the ability to command a fleet are probably only about a dozen or so."

Zhou An stopped tapping the table.

"We're going to get that ship back."

Hearing Zhou An decide to single-handedly take on a guild so nonchalantly, Zhang Ming and Lin Qing's hearts started pounding uncontrollably again, feeling both moved and somewhat worried.

"Boss, even though there aren't many of them, their main ship is equipped with quite a bit of heavy firepower. You must be careful..."

Zhang Ming couldn't help but remind him.

"Alright, you don't need to worry about the fighting. That's not a cook's concern."

Zhou An waved his hand and turned to look at Li Muzi.

"Muzi, take them to the living area on the lower level and help them pick a room to get settled. Get them two sets of clean clothes, let them take a hot shower, have a good meal, and rest for a while. They just escaped from that hellhole, and their nerves are stretched too thin."

"Boss, I don't need to rest!"

Zhang Ming hurriedly stated, wanting to prove his worth.

"Obey orders." Zhou An interrupted him, his tone crisp but carrying a hint of reassurance. "I spent a lot of money to recruit you, not to squeeze you for labor. A tired cook cannot make top-tier food. Get some rest, and we'll deal with the rest later."

Zhang Ming's eyes grew hot. He pulled Lin Qing along and bowed deeply: "Thank you, Boss!"