365: Rectification meeting

“Come, tell me, why did you accept the gifts?” Although he was overjoyed inside, he had to pretend to be calm on the surface.

Besides, he only received so little; it wasn't even as much as Pan Han gave him at once.

Given Lord Liu's thick skin, if he had directly asked Pan Han for it, would he have been refused?

“Yes, Commander. The situation is like this…” Lord Liu put on a solemn expression, making everyone else struggle to suppress their laughter.

It was really hard to hold it in.

“It was a dark and windy night, and I had just finished dinner…”

“Are you f*cking telling me a story?!” Pan Han immediately flared up, slamming his hand on the table… “Hahahahaha!”

After a moment of silence, Dili Abasi finally couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, her laughter echoing through the conference room.

Cheng Xiao followed suit!

Everyone else also held their stomachs, roaring with laughter.

It wasn't disrespect towards Pan Han; they genuinely couldn't help it. Even if they got punished, they had to laugh.

Both serious and lively!

Pan Han covered his mouth and chuckled a few times, then waved his hand, saying, “Let him finish.”

With such a joker in the team, who could do anything about him!

However, Pan Han actually thought it was quite good. Even Tang Sanzang's pilgrimage team had a Zhu Bajie.

If everyone was constantly grim and resentful, wouldn't they die of exhaustion!

When leading a team, you need all kinds of people, and you must tolerate all kinds of people.

As long as they are still moving towards the goal, everything is negotiable.

The most important thing is to set goals for the team, and this task can only be completed by Pan Han himself.

However, Pan Han sometimes secretly observed Lord Liu, and he didn't seem like a pure comedian.

Perhaps, he was just deliberately presenting himself that way.

But, none of that mattered anymore. If he was willing to keep up the act, to pretend for a lifetime, then he was a comedian!

It's like some celebrities who do charity work regularly.

Yet, some people always accuse them of showing off. But if they show off for a lifetime, then they are truly doing charity.

What one thinks is not important; what one does is important.

Some people have good hearts but loose tongues, commonly known as having a 'knife mouth and tofu heart.'

These people are actually 'knife mouth and knife heart'!

They're nothing!

“That night, a girl was banging on my door.” Lord Liu, looking a bit embarrassed, watched everyone finish laughing, then continued his story.

“I opened the door and saw, wasn't it the good friend of the daughter of the aunt next door to my senior from the same county's middle school?”

Holy crap!

Even Pan Han was confused this time.

What kind of relationship was that??

It was no different from a stranger.

As expected, the room erupted in laughter again!

It's over, it's over; this entire meeting has been completely derailed by Lord Liu.

“You need to get to the point.” Pan Han, seeing he couldn't stop laughing, quickly composed himself and urged him to continue.

“She came in and immediately knelt down before me, saying, ‘Lord Liu, you must help me.’”

Another burst of laughter!

He actually became Lord Liu!

Dili Abasi was laughing so hard she was shaking, her chest heaving, tears streaming down her face.

She never expected the base's atmosphere to be like this.

It really was good to be well-fed.

“Oh, come on, be serious. I'm confessing my issues here.” Lord Liu, on the contrary, looked at everyone with an innocent expression.

“Alright, alright, hurry up and speak.” Pan Han gestured for everyone to calm down.

“I was startled at the time. Who was she? What did she want? But a girl was kneeling in front of me, and it looked unseemly. So I quickly helped her up. Commander, do you see any flaw?” Lord Liu finished, his small eyes secretly glancing at Pan Han.

“Hmm, no flaw.”

“After she got up, she introduced herself. I heard she was from the same county. I mainly didn't want her to keep calling me Lord Liu; I couldn't handle it, so I asked her what was wrong. Commander, do you see any flaw?”

“Hmm, no flaw.”

“She said she had only been here for less than two months. Every day she was doing physically demanding work like reclaiming land, building houses, and planting vegetables. She couldn't take it anymore and wanted to know if she could be assigned an easier job.”

“Continue.”

“I asked her, ‘Why can't you do physical labor?’ She said she had internal injuries; she hadn't eaten enough for several years before, and it had caused problems. I saw her body was emaciated, so she didn't seem to be lying. Thus, I took pity on her and helped her switch jobs. Commander, do you see any flaw?”

“Hmm, no flaw.”

...At this point, Lord Liu stopped, but Pan Han was still waiting to hear more.

“What about next? You didn't mention the two packs of cigarettes and a bottle of wine.”

“Oh, oh, right, right. She said she couldn't let me help her for nothing, so she gave me these gifts.” Lord Liu stuck out his tongue, looking embarrassed.

“Where did she get these things?” Pan Han wondered. If she was just a low-level worker, it would be impossible for her to have cigarettes and alcohol.

“Ah, don't even mention it. To gather these few items, she slept with over a dozen men to get them.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene began to stir.

Dili Abasi's expression visibly soured, her eyebrows slightly raised, and she let out a cold snort.

Although the apocalypse was different from before, and women might have to sell their bodies for supplies, it didn't mean Dili Abasi could accept it.

“So you still accepted them?” Pan Han frowned deeply, clearly displeased.

“If I didn't take them, she wouldn't leave! She almost knelt down again.” Lord Liu immediately waved his hands, indicating he had a valid reason.

Indeed, where there are people, there is conflict, Pan Han mused inwardly.

Did anyone force this woman?

It seemed not; everything was her own choice.

She wanted an easy job, so she exchanged her body for gifts.

Did work force her? It didn't seem so; she could have not come to Dawn Base, but for the sake of a full stomach, she still came.

Ultimately, these were all her own choices; no one forced her.

Such was the world; people of low status had no say and had to bow down and obey.

One could only choose the slightly better piece of shit to eat between a bad situation and an even worse one.

After a long pause, Pan Han finally spoke: “Everyone has seen it, right? If we don't break the apocalypse, these kinds of things will happen every day.”

Everyone nodded thoughtfully.

“In my hometown, there's a legend.” Pan Han lit another cigarette, speaking earnestly.

Everyone immediately sat up straight, listening attentively.

“The legend says that in this world, there are six paths of reincarnation: Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Hungry Ghost, and Hell. Ordinary people, for countless lifetimes, are reborn in these six paths.”

Everyone shook their heads, indicating they hadn't heard of it.

“I see it this way,” Pan Han exhaled a smoke ring, looking at everyone, “this current world is the path of the Hungry Ghost, or perhaps the path of Hell. Everyone is squeezed in here, struggling fiercely for a bit of food, fighting to survive.”

Although they hadn't heard of it, the words 'Hungry Ghost' and 'Hell' seemed to possess a magical power, sending shivers down their spines.

“If we don't change the apocalypse, then these messed-up things will exist forever. This is also why I established Dawn Base. You haven't forgotten, have you?”

“We dare not forget!” This time, everyone answered in unison.

“Our base is already the best place to live. Yet, things like exchanging bodies for cigarettes and alcohol still happen. What do you think we should do??”

...Everyone looked at each other, wanting to speak but not daring to.

“Good. If you won't speak, I will. As long as the apocalypse exists, good days for ordinary people will not come. Since everyone has the opportunity to sit here, it means you carry a mission. Just like me. We must unify the entire country, then unify the entire world. Eliminate all zombies. Only then can life get back on track; only then can everyone live a normal life.”

Pan Han had said these words more than once, but he still needed to emphasize them repeatedly.

All beliefs do not naturally take root in people's hearts; they must be repeatedly reinforced.

“I hope everyone does not forget their mission. You are fighting not just for yourselves, but for all living humans in this world!”

“Eliminate zombies! Liberate humanity!” Cheng Xiao suddenly stood up, raising her right arm, clenching her fist, and placing it by her ear as she swore.

Seeing her do this, everyone else also stood up and shouted along:

“Eliminate zombies! Liberate humanity!”

“Eliminate zombies! Liberate humanity!”

“Eliminate zombies! Liberate humanity!”

Pan Han also slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone: “Order! Prepare to reclaim the entire country!”

Everyone's eyes instantly lit up.

This day was finally coming!