Void Jigsaw Puzzle

Zhong Chenmu thought about what he should ask Pierce for as a reward, but in the end he felt that money was the most practical thing.

Especially since he really needs the money.

But obviously, Pierce didn't like such a direct approach.

Although the Prophet Society seems to be thriving and thriving, its funds are actually supported by Mr. Liang, who does not have much freedom to control them.

However, he couldn't tell this to Zhong Chenmu.

Pierce swirled the wine in his glass, frowned slightly, and stared at Zhong Chenmu with his light blue eyes. He said, "Of course money is important, but I think you should take a long-term view. Didn't Hydrogen Nian ask us to consider it tonight and show sincerity and a plan next time? Why don't we discuss this first? As for the reward, you will definitely be included."

"No, since it's necessary, let's finalize it first. I'm not even sure about the sincerity and plan for the Hydrogen Clan, and we can figure it out in just one night. During the previous exam, I knew that I should do the easy questions first to ensure my score. You used to be a university professor, so you should know this very well, right?"

Zhong Chenmu was not led astray, and his eyes did not give in, his eyes were dark and bright.

Pierce was a little depressed and his throat felt dry. He tilted his head back, took a sip of wine, and sipped it hard.

"Zhong Chenmu, classmate Xiao Zhong..." He deliberately changed the address, "What was your original intention in joining our Prophet Society?"

"Of course, it's because I believe in the 'incomplete civilization' theory and hope to find my missing parents."

"Well, how about we discuss how to achieve this?"

"But that's the day after tomorrow, and without the money, I won't survive tomorrow. President, you're not trying to shirk your responsibility, are you? When you asked me to lead this advance team, you promised to negotiate my compensation, and you even said it was tied to a breakthrough."

Zhong Chenmu has very clear thinking and a good memory.

However, when Pierce heard the word "breakthrough", his wandering eyes brightened up.

"Hahaha, I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it! Yes, I did promise last time. That's perfect, let's discuss the breakthrough."

Hearing these words, Zhong Chenmu suddenly felt that the long-lost feeling of being spied on had returned, although it was only a fleeting moment.

Ever since he learned about the existence of civilization outside of Wuming City and knew that he was under long-term surveillance, this feeling has rarely appeared, as if he had become numb.

And its reappearance at this time must mean that it has just received extra attention.

As for who was paying attention to him, he felt that it was most likely that hydrogen thought.

And now, Pierce in front of him wanted to talk about how their Prophet Society could find a breakthrough in cooperation with the Hydrogen Clan, but he was being watched. Would the secret be leaked in advance?

Although when he contacted Hydrogen Nian this time, the other party repeatedly promised that he would never monitor his conversation with Pierce.

Thinking of this, he reminded me, "How about we change the time to discuss this? The last time we discussed this kind of issue was in the conference room downstairs. Remember? There were a lot of people discussing the problem on the whiteboard."

He wanted to hint to Pierce that he should find a noisy environment like last time to make the conversation safer.

Pierce didn't know whether he had misunderstood, thinking he still wanted to discuss compensation directly and was eager to divert his attention, or whether he disagreed with the implicit meaning in his words and insisted, "It doesn't matter. This matter is important. Let's not put it off. Let's talk about it tonight."

Zhong Chenmu looked at Pierce, thought for a moment, and then came up with an idea. He nodded and said, "Okay then."

Now it was Pierce's turn to be a little surprised. He thought Zhong Chenmu would continue to talk to him about compensation, but he didn't expect to be distracted.

"After all, I'm still young, lacking endurance and stamina..."

Pierce took a sip of his wine, concealing the upward curve of his lips, and then said, "The breakthrough I mentioned and the sincerity and plan that Hydrogen Thoughts asked us to consider are actually two sides of the same coin. The former is from our perspective: how can we get them to accept our request and give us another piece of space outside of Wuming City—that is, on Taibai Star? The key is open space. The latter, from their perspective, is what value can we provide to make them accept our request."

After Pierce's analysis, Zhong Chenmu also felt that it made sense.

"So, what value can we provide to them?" Zhong Chenmu said to himself.

"It's simple. I've thought it through clearly. How is value created? Labor. We have almost nothing now, no growth, no hope, no future. But what we do have is people, and we can still create value through labor. Therefore, our breakthrough is to provide them with organized, skilled labor to help them do things they don't want to do or that are too costly. The membership of our Prophet's Society is expanding rapidly. Under the organization of the Twelve Apostles, we already have a strong labor team that can provide this value..."

At this point, Pierce blinked again. "...If they accept our sincerity—and we certainly won't work for them for free, and are willing to pay them—wouldn't that mean you'll get paid, too? I promise, if your advance team joins this effort, all their wages will be yours, and the Prophet Society won't take a single cent."

After hearing this, Zhong Chenmu realized that he had been tricked.

However, he still wanted to figure out the logic behind Pierce's plan first.

"Boss, are you saying we should go work for the Hydrogen Tribe? Earn hard-earned money as cheap labor?"

"Don't be so blunt... Yes, that's what I mean."

"But how do you know the labor or skills we provide are what they need? Judging from their level of technological and civilizational development, I believe they are several levels ahead of us."

"So what? Don't we also have horses pulling carts, cows plowing our fields, and dogs guarding our yards?"

"..."

A sense of shame ran through Zhong Chenmu's mind. He frowned and remained silent.

"Unless you have a better idea, we have no other choice. As you know, Nameless City is collapsing. We need to race against time, and they don't care. From the beginning, we have been standing on an unbalanced scale." Pierce said.

Wuming City is collapsing...

In just a few days, this was not the first time Zhong Chenmu had heard this statement.

However, he still wanted to know more: "Honkai? What does that mean?"

"It's literally what it means. The civilization of Wuming City—that part of Earth civilization that has fortunately survived, or even survived, in this corner of the universe thanks to the Hydrogen Clan's rescue—is heading towards irreversible extinction. This has become the consensus of more and more prominent figures in society."

"But why is this?"

"I don't know either. The only explanation is that we're born with deficiencies. Civilization as a whole should be a complete system, but we're inherently flawed. Many of the mechanisms and settings found in books don't exist in our Nameless City. Furthermore, we're completely closed off internally, with no way of contacting the outside world. If this continues, won't we just wither away?"

Although he was not very worldly-wise, this principle was not difficult to understand, and Zhong Chenmu understood it.

Civilization is like a complete building built with building blocks. It seems that there are a lot of building blocks, and removing some of them will not affect the overall stability of the building. However, if the building blocks in the key parts do not exist, or too many building blocks in the non-key parts are removed, the building will become shaky.

"If we really find ourselves in such a situation, I'm afraid we have no better solution than to sell cheap labor."