60: Chapter 60: With 500 million in hand, unleash a crazy army-building spree!

As soon as this condition was put forward, the eyes of several top students who had just signed the contract turned red.

One hundred million!

First pick of the spoils!

This kind of privilege was treating Lin Yuan like a partner of equal status.

Everyone's gaze converged on Lin Yuan, waiting for him to sign his name with gratitude.

Lin Yuan looked at the contract in front of him, but did not reach out to take it.

The sugar-coated bullets of the plutocrats were indeed tempting. But in this cruel world of gods, there was never a free lunch.

Double compensation? Priority selection? Once they encountered a terrifying existence of the sixth or even seventh rank deep within the Demon God Plane, these plutocrats would not hesitate to use the commoners' followers as meat shields for rearguard actions. If your life was gone, what would you use to claim compensation?

Moreover, the military had spent such vast resources on him because they wanted a lone wolf capable of tearing a path through the genius circles of the provincial capital, not some submissive sycophant.

Following behind Chu Yunxuan as a lackey to provide support? Forget the top ten in the final exam; he wouldn't even touch the top one hundred.

"My apologies, Young Master Chu." Lin Yuan leaned back, crossing his arms in front of him, his tone resolute. "I appreciate your kindness."

The smile at the corners of Chu Yunxuan's mouth stiffened slightly.

Lin Yuan met Chu Yunxuan's gaze and offered a decent excuse.

"As you said, I follow the Wasteland mutation path." Lin Yuan pointed at Fatty Wang behind him. "My unit types are all mindless, bloodthirsty monsters."

"Once they turn red-eyed in battle, they'll even eat the corpses of friendly forces."

"If they are mixed in with your main forces, I'm afraid my monsters won't be able to control themselves and will gnaw on your followers as an extra meal."

"It wouldn't be good if that damaged our harmonious relations."

Lin Yuan stood up and straightened his collar: "For everyone's safety, it's better if I act alone."

"I wish you all great success in the final exam."

With that, Lin Yuan turned and walked toward the conference room door without the slightest hesitation. Fatty Wang hurriedly followed along.

Chu Yunxuan sat in the main seat, watching Lin Yuan's departing back, without speaking to hold him back. A deep sense of regret flashed in his eyes.

His ranking on the Star Net was close to Lin Yuan's, and he knew very well what Lin Yuan's terrifying 98% win rate represented. It was indeed a pity not to have recruited this top-tier combat power.

"Young Master Chu, this kid surnamed Lin is too arrogant!" After Lin Yuan left, a Chu family lackey sitting below sneered, his face full of disdain.

"Does he really think that just because he won a few matches in the war chess sandbox and got an investment from the military, he can walk sideways in the Demon God Plane?"

"When his monsters are all dead, let's see how he cries and begs us for rescue!"

"Exactly, he doesn't know what's good for him. Once we get into the exam venue, we'll find an opportunity..."

"Shut up." Chu Yunxuan spat out the two words coldly. The lackey, who had been chattering incessantly just a moment ago, instantly fell silent as if struck by fear, cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

"Y-Young Master Chu, did I say something wrong?" The lackey asked, stuttering, feeling his hair stand on end under the stare.

"You are an idiot." Chu Yunxuan's voice had no fluctuations, yet it carried a chill.

"Do you have any idea what level of investment he received? The military's highest-level S-sequence, the person personally approved by Commander Xiao Lie of the Spark Legion!"

The lackey's legs went weak, and his face turned deathly pale. The appreciation of the military commander-in-chief. This was the military's iron-fisted authority, a living Yama that even the top-tier families of the provincial capital dared not provoke.

Chu Yunxuan swept his cold eyes over everyone present and issued a stern warning: "Once you enter the Ember-07 Plane, no one is allowed to actively provoke Lin Yuan."

"If you insist on touching this hard nail, do it in your own name. Do not cause trouble for the Chu family."

"The Chu family will absolutely not help you collect your corpses."

After speaking, Chu Yunxuan turned his head to look at that dark red area on the star map. He knew very well that the current Lin Yuan was no longer that commoner student who could be manipulated by plutocrats with resources. A lone wolf that had grown up had already bared fangs capable of crushing steel.

...

The exhaust flames of the departing private spaceship streaked across the sky. Fatty Wang sat opposite Lin Yuan, the animal-hide sofa beneath him seemingly growing nails, making him uncomfortable no matter how he sat.

He stared at the Chu family warship that was getting further and further away outside the window, then looked at the nonchalant Lin Yuan. Finally, he couldn't hold back and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Brother Yuan, I'm feeling really uneasy." Fatty Wang lowered his voice, his two fleshy hands twisting together nervously.

"That's the Chu family! The way we refused just now, was it a bit..."

"A bit too hardcore? Chu Yunxuan's face was so cold, I felt like he was going to shoot our spaceship down the next second."

Lin Yuan closed his eyes to rest, not even lifting his eyelids: "Scared?"

"It's not exactly fear; I have over twenty thousand Black Demon Pigs, so I'll just go in and mine." Fatty Wang shrank his neck and said somewhat conflictedly, "But that's the Demon God Plane. Old Lei made it sound scary, with hundreds of millions of Abyss natives, and shattered godheads..." Fatty Wang didn't finish the rest of his sentence.

"Regarding 'big thighs' (powerful backers), if you hug them too much, you'll develop a dependency." Lin Yuan knew what he was going to say and slowly opened his eyes.

"In the contract Chu Yunxuan gave, every line of text was written with 'profit,' but between the lines, it was all 'cannon fodder.'"

"What he wants is a shield that can block blades for him, not a partner who can share the cake."

"Once we reach the core area and encounter real danger, he will sacrifice everyone without hesitation to preserve his Chu family."

Fatty Wang was stunned for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully: "That's true. These rich people are all about wanting everything; they're really bad."

"Besides." Lin Yuan paused, a faint, indiscernible smile curling at the corners of his mouth. "I don't really need these 'big thighs' that much anymore."

"Instead of begging for handouts, it's better to grow into a towering tree myself."

"Brother Yuan, I give your act a perfect score." Fatty Wang gave a thumbs up. The anxiety in his heart was largely dispelled by Lin Yuan's near-demonic confidence.

The spaceship landed smoothly on the private landing pad of the Spark Sanatorium. After sending Fatty Wang away, Lin Yuan returned to the villa's secret room alone. He first opened the account interface on his personal terminal. There were still over 500 million faith points.

"Quantity is currently the biggest shortcoming."

Lin Yuan recalled the scene within his Divine Domain. Although the Rain of the Prophet had provided the genetic blueprints for the remaining forty-thousand-plus Tyrant Demons, that rain had also eliminated nearly sixty thousand individuals with weaker spirits.

In the upcoming plane-level war, forty thousand elites could pull off beautiful surprise attacks, but they couldn't hold a vast defensive line, nor could they fill such a meat grinder of a war with a scale of hundreds of millions.

He needed to spawn units. Not only spawn, but at a maniacal speed. And the price of this maniacal speed was the need for food. A lot, a lot of food, more food than could ever be enough.

Lin Yuan put on the virtual helmet again and connected to the Spark Legion's top-secret intranet. A white light flashed, and the deafening mechanical roar descended once more. This time, Lin Yuan skillfully navigated through the steel fortress, heading straight for the Logistics Strategic Staff Department.

"Hiss—" The alloy door slid open, and a familiar scent mixed with gunpowder smoke and agitation rushed towards him. The Logistics Officer was still standing in front of the holographic screen.

His voice was even louder than last time, and the veins on his forehead were pulsing like earthworms.

"I'll say it again, shove that faulty thruster into the furnace and recast it for me!"

"Don't you dare talk to me about the scrappage rate! On the front lines, the scrappage rate is the mortality rate!"