73: Chapter 73 The Abduction Scandal, the Role of Civilization Points

Bai Shiwei looked at Fang Zhuo with a gentle gaze.

Fang Zhuo understood her look, but for some reason, a chill ran down his spine. He felt it was necessary to have an honest talk with Bai Shiwei about her cooking skills.

"Your Supervision Department and Commercial Department sure ran fast."

The man from the Logistics Department mocked them lukewarmly, before casting an unfriendly look at the woman from the Commercial Department.

"You, surnamed Zhang, does your Logistics Department want to snatch Fang Zhuo as well?"

"Why? Your Commercial Department just finalized the s-rank contract with Meng Fan, and you've been plastering advertisements everywhere. Now you're here to recruit Fang Zhuo too, and you have the nerve to talk about others?"

Hearing this, the woman from the Commercial Department immediately became furious. "Ha! Does your Logistics Department have the face to say that? Which department is Zhao Wuxie in? He was last year's custom contract genius, why don't you mention that? Who is the shameless one here?"

"Besides, what does your Logistics Department need so many geniuses for? To guard warehouses? It's a complete waste of talent!"

"What do you know, you short-sighted woman!"

The burly man from the Logistics Department rolled up his sleeves as he spoke. "The Transcendent Exotic Beasts and even King-level Exotic Beasts used by the group for research are all transported by our Logistics Department! How can we do that without powerful escorts?"

Seeing that the two were about to fight, Fang Zhuo quickly stood up and said, "You two, please calm down. If you have something to say, take your time... Um, you can talk outside!"

Hearing this, both of them calmed down.

The woman from the Commercial Department smiled apologetically at Fang Zhuo and said, "I'm sorry, I almost came to blows with this rough fellow in your residence."

"I'll be heading back first. If you have any questions in the future, you can come to the Commercial Department to find me anytime."

Fang Zhuo nodded and said, "It's fine."

Who would have thought that this seemingly honest man from the Logistics Department would suddenly reach out to stop her, saying:

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Since your Commercial Department is unhappy with our Logistics Department recruiting people, let's settle this by the group's old rules!"

"Let's arrange a martial duel in the Civilization Arena: our Logistics Department's Zhao Wuxie against your Commercial Department's Meng Fan. The loser will stop pestering Fang Zhuo, and must also give the winner 1,000,000 civilization points and one portion of 'phoenix essence blood'. Do you dare to accept?"

Hearing this, Fang Zhuo's expression became strange. This man from the Logistics Department looked honest, but in reality, he was not honest at all!

This was clearly intentional. Talking to him was just a pretext; his real purpose was to pick a fight with the Commercial Department.

Hmm... they were playing a bit too big!

1,000,000 civilization points! Since 1 civilization point could be exchanged for 10,000 federation currency, that added up to 10 billion!

And that wasn't all. The key was the 'phoenix essence blood'!!

Didn't the group's Phoenix Meat Field only produce four portions a year?

To think they would actually use it as a wager!

Fang Zhuo looked at the two of them, having no intention of chiming in.

The woman from the Commercial Department sneered, "Well played, Zhang. So your Logistics Department is still coveting our department's portion of phoenix essence blood."

"And one million civilization points—what a big mouth you have!"

"Is this your department head's idea?"

"What if it is?"

The burly man from the Logistics Department crossed his arms, looking down at her with a squint. "In a word: do you dare to accept?"

It seemed Zhao Wuxie had used the phoenix essence blood rewarded from that custom contract, and his Life Level had reached level 39. Was he trying to break through to the Transcendent realm?

The woman from the Commercial Department rolled her eyes and said, "It's useless to goad me about this. Go talk to our manager."

After leaving those words, she said goodbye to Fang Zhuo and left.

The burly man from the Logistics Department didn't stay long either.

Once they had both walked far away,

Sister Lan clicked her tongue and said, "Fang Zhuo, there might be a good show to watch this time. The Logistics Department and the Commercial Department are going to play a big game!"

"Sister Lan, what's the story behind this?"

Fang Zhuo asked for clarification.

He didn't know much about the group's affairs.

It seemed like there were some disputes among the six core departments?

"It's not that big of a dispute. A few years ago, when the Logistics Department and the Commercial Department were competing for Wang Jinhua, they lost a portion of phoenix essence blood to the Commercial Department. They've been wanting to win it back all these years."

Sister Lan explained to Fang Zhuo, "But you know, the various departments within the group are ultimately brothers. Even if there is some conflict, it's impossible to have Transcendent or even Flying Martial Artists come out and fight. They can only send Advanced Martial Artists to resolve it through a martial duel."

"The Logistics Department has been waiting. Last year, a custom contract genius named Zhao Wuxie joined them, and they probably feel confident now. This time, they used you as an excuse to instigate the duel."

"So that's how it is. But... isn't Wang Jinhua from the Operations Department?"

Fang Zhuo looked at Sister Lan curiously.

Beside them, Bai Shiwei was also listening with great interest. Over the past few days spent with Fang Zhuo in the Starry Sky Group building, she had also learned about the preciousness of phoenix essence blood.

"Exactly. That's also why both the Logistics Department and the Commercial Department were so exasperated. Both sides felt like clowns."

Sister Lan shrugged.

Fang Zhuo asked again, "I saw that both sides also wagered 1,000,000 civilization points. Is there any significance to that?"

He had already heard of the Civilization Arena when he was in his hometown of Jinhe City on the Blue Star. It was a stage for battling powerful experts from alien planets.

It was also common for federation martial artists to use it for wagered duels.

Legend has it that there is an ancient rule in the Civilization Arena: if a martial artist with a lower Life Level challenges one with a higher Life Level to a duel, and the latter refuses, half of their civilization points will be plundered.

He didn't know much besides that. The last time he came to report to the Starry Sky Group, Manager Tang Lan, that incompetent guide, hadn't explained much either.

"Yes, I was just about to explain that. That's also why I said they are playing a big game this time!"

Sister Lan said solemnly, "1,000,000 civilization points—even though it can be exchanged for 10 billion federation currency, in reality, no one would ever exchange civilization points for federation currency. Only a fool would do that!"

The corner of Fang Zhuo's mouth twitched.

Seeing his reaction, Sister Lan's gaze turned strange. Had Fang Zhuo actually done this foolish thing...?

She let out a dry laugh and quickly said, "civilization points are only generated when killing exotic beasts and extraterrestrial powerhouses."

"Below the Transcendent realm, civilization points aren't of much use to martial artists and can be seen as a high-grade hard currency. But when it comes to the Transcendent realm and above, civilization points are of immense use!"

"To put it simply, civilization points can be seen as a martial artist's destiny, or perhaps martial fortune? In any case, the more civilization points you have, the smoother your cultivation will be, the more rapidly you can advance in martial arts, and it will even be easier to break through bottlenecks."

"They even have this kind of effect?"

Fang Zhuo's eyes narrowed. He wished he could slap himself. He had been too hasty in using his 500-civilization-point loan limit!

"But this is mostly Brother Wang's fault! He found a well-connected person like Manager Tang Lan to be my guide."

Seeing Fang Zhuo gritting his teeth from time to time, Sister Lan laughed, "Haha, actually you don't need to worry too much. When you joined the group, your combat power rating was only that of a newly initiated Advanced Martial Artist, so you probably used at most 500 civilization points, right? It won't have much of an impact."

"If the Commercial Department agrees to the wager this time, the stakes will be 1,000,000 civilization points and one portion of phoenix essence blood!"

"Both are of comparable value, and both are extremely precious!"

Sister Lan narrowed her eyes and said, "With so many civilization points, the Logistics Department isn't just doing this for Zhao Wuxie. They are also preparing for a Transcendent Martial Artist to break through to Flying Sky!"