Although they all had official positions with the Officials, the ideas of an era were unique to that era.

As in the earliest times before the disaster, the focus was on dedication, which is often heard in the broadcast propaganda: "I am for everyone, and everyone is for me."

After some time, that saying changed to, "It doesn’t matter if it’s a black cat or a white cat, as long as it can catch mice, it’s a good cat."

Then it became about how young people needed to suffer more, so they could enjoy prosperity later.

After that, the notion shifted to having a wolf-like nature, not caring about personal gains and losses, and considering things from the perspective of the group.

Then came the first person to counter the rat race, who uttered the most classic phrase that you only do as much work as you’re paid for; at this point, being a slacker was no longer a derogatory term.

The different eras result in each generation’s mainstream thoughts being dissimilar.

In the earliest days, when the war had just ended and everyone yearned for peace, people wanted to live a stable life, and everyone had the same goal; thus, the phrase "I am for everyone, and everyone is for me" was highly accepted.

Then came the era of aligning with international standards. Everyone was gradually fed and clothed, but still without money, because of this alignment.

Therefore, the originally low-priority notions of money and status suddenly soared in importance, due to poverty and the need to rapidly increase the country’s GTP.

When the phrase "It doesn’t matter if it’s a black cat or a white cat, as long as it can catch mice, it’s a good cat" was proposed, the heavy shackles bound in people’s hearts were swiftly unlocked; it was then that the times began to change.

In the beginning of the transformation, it was necessary to sacrifice some people’s interests, which is why the young people of the time were cajoled with the notion that one must endure the toughest suffering to become superior.

But everyone forgot the old saying in China, "You are what you eat"; therefore, enduring hardship didn’t make money, only eating R would do.

Since some people needed to be sacrificed, it was then said to those naive youths that they must endure hardships in their youth so that they could enjoy their old age, following their logic that only after suffering when young could one enjoy the later years.

Their actions were in line with that saying, after all, as the proverb goes, they were off the right age to enjoy the comforts of old age.

Although they had successfully brainwashed that era’s youth into enduring hardships, they were still not satisfied; hence, they came out with the concept of wolf culture.

But they forgot that although wolves in the wild are very united during the hunt and cooperate well, as the saying goes: wolves travel a thousand miles to eat meat.

Some only learned to make the beasts work non-stop, forgetting that they too need to eat, and that after working hard, they deserved a reward of meat.

After all, wolves are carnivores; feeding them flatbread every day, they’d just about endure it initially out of starvation, but as time goes on, no one can withstand eating that every day.

So gradually, some Awakeners realized, never mind eating flatbread every day, but don’t hang a couple of chicken drumsticks from a stick on a dog’s collar, letting them see but not eat the meat.

Perhaps having eaten too much flatbread, and already tired of its taste, they simply came out and said, give me meat, and I’ll do the work for you, but if you don’t, then when it comes to slaughtering pigs, it’s just one more swipe of the knife.

Even so, some people still believed in the big flatbread they were promised, but when it came to distributing meat at the end of the year, they didn’t even get a piece as big as a thumb.

After so many experiences and with age, when they became a burden to the wolf pack, the pack decisively expelled the now frail elderly wolves, nobly claiming it was to provide more nutrients to the deep forest.

Because as time passed, those young people who were told that only by suffering in youth could one enjoy later life, grew old.

Hey~ They suddenly realized that with the gradual integration of electronic devices into the lives of ordinary people, even the young pups who were just born were far superior in their access to information than they were back in their day.

And precisely because the times had changed, once they gained a fuller understanding of the great forest, they despaired, so the once-clear boundaries between propriety, righteousness, integrity, and honor had started to blur.

For them, on one side were the moral standards etched into their bones, and on the other was the complete opposite: the lure of indulgence in pleasures and wealth.

Some decisively chose morality.

While others threw themselves into the pursuit of pleasure and wealth.

But the majority of people didn’t choose not to choose, they simply didn’t have the opportunity to choose, so they ended up not taking sides and just let themselves rot where they stood.

With the development of the times, each era possesses its own unique set of values.

In reality, there’s no issue with this; when things are quiet, everyone jokes around and plays however they like.

But once a problem arises, people from different eras will offer advice in line with their own experiences and value systems.

However, it’s tolerable if most people within a department share similar values, but it’s worrisome when those of equal standing in the department have widely differing values. If the leader can suppress the others, then all is well, but it’s problematic if the leader is indecisive and too easily swayed, eventually transforming good into bad.

Just as Evelyn Harris had speculated, Official Liam had barely reported the reason for transferring the Mysterious Core when it immediately caught the attention of others.

Though Official Liam had made it clear in the report that the deal between the two parties had been settled and that upon Dong Tianyu’s delivery, the goods would be inspected, followed by an on-the-spot transaction where money would be exchanged for goods.

Yet others were still unsatisfied with this trade; they either complained about the high price set by Official Liam or scorned his youth and inexperience in securing further benefits for the base. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

In fact, as the head of the dock’s procurement department, Official Liam didn’t really need to pay attention to the others and was fully entitled to make decisions on his own.

But there’s a large gap between theory and reality, and those who openly criticized him were not only older but also of higher status, not to mention the intricate relationships he had with them.

According to traditional human relations, when an elder says something, you must listen, even if they are wrong, you can’t contradict them on the spot, as this would be disrespectful and leave them unable to save face.

However, this deal was key to Official Liam’s promotion. As long as the deal went through, while those people might verbally criticize him, they would be all smiles once the meat was in the storage, benefiting more than anyone else.

The reason for their criticism of Official Liam was something he himself understood perfectly well; it was simply because if the trade was successfully completed, Official Liam would receive a substantial reward, and any future competition with others would be positively influenced by this incident.

Because Official Liam saw through this, no matter how others incited him, he steadfastly insisted on proceeding according to the agreement.

As the time for the trade detailed in the report drew nearer, and seeing that they couldn’t get through to Official Liam, they turned their attention to Dong Tianyu.

Unlike Official Liam, who had to abide by the unwritten rules, Dong Tianyu wasn’t a member of the base and had no significant connections there.

Although he might have a powerful Hunting Group behind him, they were quite confident that even the strongest Hunting Group would seem insignificant to the base.

Though the Water Base was originally built to save more survivors, it was constructed during a period of natural disasters and had been invaded by Otherworldly Creatures multiple times, so defense installations were never lacking.

Even the most powerful Hunting Group could at best obtain a large ship, probably a maximum of ten thousand tons; it was certain they couldn’t acquire an aircraft carrier.

Moreover, even if it were an aircraft carrier, in a head-on battle with their Water Base, it wasn’t guaranteed to stand much of a chance, since the base had been designed with the worst-case scenario in mind.