This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 38 Ra Intimidation
Half an hour later, Nie Weiyang sat at the front of the conference room. A few people were sitting scattered on both sides of the long conference table. Before Nie Weiyang spoke, everyone looked at each other in silence.

Kang Sen had a bandage on his neck and looked a hundred times more irritable than he had half an hour ago, but his eyes were fixed on a coffee cup.

Nie Weiyang put his sunglasses in his chest pocket. He looked at the terminal screen on his arm armor, typing occasionally, as if thinking about something.

After a while, he was sure that 'T-4701-AI' had indeed opened up the management rights of more than cameras inside and outside the shelter to him under his 'kind-hearted' and 'gentle' communication, so he picked up the coffee cup.

As everyone's pupils trembled, Nie Weiyang took a sip slowly...

blood.

Thanks for the invitation, I cried when I watched this episode as a kid.

"Don't be surprised." Nie Weiyang said, "You have to get used to this."

"But you're drinking blood..." Kangsen muttered.

Even if rituals and music had been in disarray for a hundred years, this operation was still a bit too advanced for this world. The ministers on both sides watched the scene silently, each with their own thoughts.

Nie Weiyang didn't want to explain anything. He didn't even intend to argue with this group of people's logic that blood is also water: "Yes, I am drinking your blood." Nie Weiyang put the heavy sword on the table, and it made a heavy muffled sound.

Everyone's throat tightened.

"I put it there myself. Any objections?" Nie Weiyang asked.

"No, no, no." Everyone quickly shook their heads.

"Look, you've learned to reach a consensus," Nie Weiyang said. "Congratulations, you've successfully passed the Source Initiation Training."

He even raised his hand to applaud, and the solitary applause echoed in the conference room.

"Aren't you celebrating for yourself?" Nie Weiyang asked gently.

The logistics director, dressed in work clothes, was the first to applaud, followed by the medical director and the research director, both in their white coats. For a moment, the conference room erupted in applause, sounding as if everyone was enthusiastically welcoming the new administrator. But in reality, no one in the room dared even look up at Nie Weiyang. A strong sense of crisis triggered an instinctive reaction in their genes, and a single voice echoed in their minds: Danger! Danger! Danger!

It's like a small animal encountering a ferocious beast, a complete destruction of mental stability and sense of security.

"From now on, here, 4701," Nie Weiyang knocked on the table across the blade of his sword. "I have the final say. Any objections?"

"No, no, no." Everyone continued to shake their heads.

"Very good, you have learned to reach consensus on your own," said Nie Weiyang.

He raised his hand as if to celebrate for them, and everyone was so frightened that they started clapping again. For a moment, the conference room was filled with the crackling sound of gongs, drums, and firecrackers. Nie Weiyang tilted his head slightly.

"Did I give the order?" he asked.

The sense of danger from being targeted by a ferocious beast instantly increased. The ordinary people were almost stuck together. They felt that the creature they were facing was not even human...

No, he's not human at all! He's a demon! He's darkness! He's chaos! He's everything that humans fear!
Those red eyes were the epitome of evil and darkness, yet the golden light was so righteous and holy... No, no, that's not right. He drank human blood! How could this be the behavior of a holy person?
This is an extraordinary demon...

Knowledge? Resources? Wealth? In front of such a person, what was threatened was life itself. Even if this was just an overpowered robber, they could still deal with it calmly, but... well, this was completely different. Completely different!
"Very good, you have learned to unite." said Nie Weiyang.

He gave a soft, approachable smile, gave a standing ovation, and watched with satisfaction as the crowd immediately did the same.

The persuasiveness of a 50+ Charisma score is truly terrifying, especially when it comes to ordinary people, but when he's deliberately trying to intimidate, it becomes something else entirely.

From the very beginning, Nie Weiyang didn't want everyone to agree with him. Although he knew that the system would give out more rewards as the additional completion rate increased in order to stimulate the players' subjective initiative, he only set his goal at the 80% passing line and decided to take the initiative to give up some high-level characters that were too difficult to conquer and focus on ordinary people.

Because his goal is simply to 'complete the mission, clear the dungeon, get the rewards, and go back to fight the Blood Moon Ascent.' It's better to proactively choose to abandon certain groups and maximize one's own interests. In the new world, pursuing perfection, like pursuing absolute justice, will never yield good results.

"Okay, thank you all for your hard work. Please take a seat." Nie Weiyang's gentle smile was so sincere that it was blinding. After everyone sat down, he stood up and shook hands with them one by one. "The shelter has been closed, and the flow of information to the outside world has also stopped. Everyone, in the coming days-"

…'Your lives belong to me.' Everyone tried to stand up but he pushed them back down. They could only smile stiffly and shake hands, but they subconsciously continued the second half of the sentence in their minds.

"——We must take better care of each other." Nie Weiyang said with a smile.

This sentence couldn't be more clear: 'Shut up, ask fewer questions, be obedient, cooperate, and don't cause me trouble.'

Everyone's brains were working frantically due to the fear and danger, trying to understand what he meant. Although the first attempt failed, after multiple analyses, they realized what Nie Weiyang wanted them to do, so they lowered their heads in silence.

Nie Weiyang picked up his coffee cup and drank it all in one gulp. He walked to the door, and the long sword on the table automatically floated up and fell back to his waist. It was suspended by a leather holster, and the sharp blade was exposed to the air, gleaming with silver light.

"AI, go wash the cups, make sure the Security Minister's blood sample is completely destroyed, and don't keep any records of this meeting," he said. "Also..."

Nie Weiyang turned around with a smile and suddenly winked at the people in the room.

"See, haven't you learned to think from other people's perspectives?"

The people in the room were stunned for a moment, then stood up and applauded.

The applause was thunderous. Except for Kang Sen, they all clapped so hard that their hands turned red. In this absurd scene, Nie Weiyang put on his sunglasses again and left the meeting room.

The door gradually closed, and as the distinctive sound of armored boots faded away, the monstrous, silver-black figure disappeared from their sight. The four ministers froze for a moment, then suddenly slid back into their chairs.

They slowly exchanged glances, a silence thick with fear. After a long pause, the logistics chief spoke up, "...Are you scared too?"

“…” The others were silent.

Aren't you scared, kid?!
"Central City has sent a capable man this time... He's mentally sound, everyone. This man is different from the previous three Sources. He's not crazy at all. He just doesn't want to reason with us... He gave up on us from the very beginning." The logistics director's voice was hoarse. "We must cooperate with him. Otherwise, even if he kills us, it will just be another accident record in the report."

“…………” The others continued to remain silent, each with their own thoughts.

The logistics minister was also silent.

A full ten minutes passed before anyone spoke.

"Anyway, cooperate with him first." The man paused, sounding like the head of the medical department. "The operation of the shelter cannot go wrong, everyone... But, about that incident before..."

No one spoke after that.

Nie Weiyang raised his eyebrows. What was that "previous incident"? He began to get curious.

At this moment, he was sitting in an entertainment room that simulated a natural environment, surrounded by flowers and green leaves. A group of children surrounded him, watching curiously as he made a puppy for them with straw stems.

"Big brother, how did you do this?" "Brother, you are so awesome!" Voices like these were heard endlessly, and the smile on Nie Weiyang's face became even wider. He skillfully made another grasshopper, held it in front of the children, and explained to them the difference between grasshoppers and locusts.

The earphones beside his ears lit up with soft breathing lights, noisy voices came out of them, and the information was categorized and organized neatly in his mind.

"When too many grasshoppers gather in an area and food is scarce, they turn into locusts," he explained softly to the children. "Locusts are numerous, resilient, difficult to eliminate, and poisonous—this is due to the influence of the environment and pheromones in the population.

"Most importantly, they are not united and only destroy, and ultimately, they will only bring about their own destruction."

(End of this chapter)