First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!-Chapter 784: The Hard-Earned Merits, Finally Ready to Cash In!
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After a while.
Secretary Qiu finished stamping the documents, briefly scanned them, and said, "This time, your contribution points should be quite substantial."
"The commotion over in the new city can't be kept under wraps for much longer either. Have you thought about what you want to exchange them for?"
This was also one of the reasons Lu Ding had chosen to return this time.
To convert his merits into contribution points.
First, to increase the weight of the White Ridge District's 749 Bureau. Second, to exchange for some resources to take back.
One must understand that the resources required to attempt the God Ascension realm were simply astronomical.
Moreover, he had completely eradicated his Inner Demons.
What situations he might encounter later, even Lu Ding himself didn't know.
So he needed to prepare plenty of rare natural treasures.
And these merits weren't entirely his own either.
There were also those belonging to the other people from White Ridge.
Every local 749 Bureau had a concept of 'weight' at the Hanjing 749 Bureau headquarters.
A semi-abandoned city like the new city had almost no weight at the headquarters.
Weight was earned merit by merit.
For example, if the weight of a regular 749 Bureau in a region started at zero, it only received basic treatment, and its warehouse reserves only contained basic supplies.
If they wanted 'extra meals,' they had to rely entirely on local self-sufficiency.
As merits increased, only after a joint evaluation by a group of high-ranking headquarters officials could their treatment be upgraded from the basic level.
Lu Ding wasn't the type to hog all the glory. These merits couldn't be said to have been earned by him alone.
His subordinates would need development later, so he planned to take half of these merits to increase their weight, exchanging them for better treatment and collective supplies.
He would keep the remaining half to solve his personal issues.
"I'll use half later to increase our weight."
"Currently, the weight of the White Ridge area's 749 Bureau is still too low. Self-sufficiency would consume too much manpower and energy."
It was like a person trying to both farm the land for food and study for a future career; the two would inevitably affect each other.
Hearing this, Secretary Qiu glanced again at the merits listed on the document, mentally calculating the total.
"Currently, the average weight value for 749 Bureaus across the Great Han's overall situation is around 3.0. But the 749 Bureaus in the new city area, almost every single one, are below 0, even negative..."
The preferential treatment given to Lu Ding was because he was a special envoy and Elder Shui's confidant, involving a bit of personal favoritism.
But the 749 Bureau under Lu Ding's jurisdiction could not receive such personal favor.
Although raising the weight of the White Ridge District's 749 Bureau was just a matter of Elder Shui saying the word.
But doing so... the Great Han didn't have only White Ridge with a 749 Bureau.
Other local 749 Bureaus worked hard, earned merits, increased their weight, shed blood and sweat. For someone else to just say a word and raise another area's 749 Bureau weight... that was unfair.
They couldn't operate like that.
That was digging their own grave.
Some things could skirt the edges, but some things were minefields, principles that everyone must uphold.
So Lu Ding also understood the meaning behind Secretary Qiu's words.
'Although there are many merits this time, wanting to raise it to the average level of 749 Bureaus within the Great Han's borders is difficult...'
He could understand. After all, Lu Ding had experienced it firsthand. When he arrived, what a sorry state those 749 Bureaus in the new city were in.
Departments like that.
It was already good they hadn't been disbanded.
Why ask for the moon?
Lu Ding's starting point was like that, and so were others' starting points.
Of course, there were special cases where others dug into their own pockets, bringing resources in from outside 749 Bureaus or external forces.
There was no helping that.
Who told Lu Ding to be dirt poor when he started?
He thought for a moment. "Then let's wait first. After the Three-Hall Joint Hearing concludes, there should be a bit more."
Invading the Wuwang Nowhere Room, cracking the Wuwang Teleportation Array.
Just these two points alone.
Lu Ding could receive a huge, hefty reward!
If the higher-ups weren't fools, they would surely understand Lu Ding's importance and would definitely invest. When the time came, if Lu Ding pushed a bit more, he could pull the White Ridge 749 Bureau's weight up to the 3.0 average.
Then, from that average line, use merits to climb higher...
Then... an ordinary special envoy, even if they emptied their family coffers, couldn't catch up to his foundation. Add to that his own formidable strength and the 'closed beta' advantage.
Favorable timing, geographical convenience, and human harmony—all three factors aligned. After the open beta, Lu Ding truly didn't know how he could possibly lose.
Secretary Qiu nodded, raising his hand to glance at his watch. "Time is about right. Let's go, get the Three-Hall Joint Hearing done first. After that, I can help you plan based on the actual situation, figure out how to exchange things to develop the 749 Bureau under your governance to its best."
The word 'plan' was worth pondering.
Although they couldn't go too far, taking a few small shortcuts, getting some discounts, using some of Elder Shui's personal quotas that he usually didn't use, or getting a low-price deal on some 'stockpiled goods' from the headquarters warehouse... that was still possible.
As for how the standard for these 'stockpiled goods' was defined... never mind that. Secretary Qiu had his own methods in mind.
He had been in Hanjing for so many years, fought so many legal battles, helped so many people. Wasn't it precisely for use at times like this?
Besides, he wasn't a Formal Investigator; he was just a secretary. Lu Ding wasn't a secretary either; Lu Ding was a Formal Investigator.
The two stood up.
Elder Shui spoke up. "Wait a moment, push me there too."
Secretary Qiu rarely contradicted Elder Shui. "Elder Shui, perhaps you shouldn't go. If you go, they'll feel pressured."
If the situation became too high-pressure, it wouldn't be easy to maneuver.
Elder Shui picked up his teacup, which contained the tea Lu Ding had brewed for him.
"I won't speak. I'll just watch."
Since he put it that way, they might as well go.
Lu Ding stepped forward to push Elder Shui's wheelchair.
At the same time, elsewhere.
Inside the Hanjing 749 Bureau's major supervision room.
Xue Kai and his group from the Review Office were currently locked inside.
Suddenly, the sound of the outer door echoed.
Voices came from outside.
"This time, they've really lost face big time. Who's so fierce, actually pinning down people from the Review Office? These bastards, usually putting on airs, using a chicken feather as a warrant arrow. They've finally met their match today; someone can finally keep them in check."
"Then you're just uninformed."
"I'm on duty today, aren't I? Did you hear something?"
"Of course. Let me tell you, our bureau has produced a real tough guy. At the Fifth Restriction early stage in the 749 Reserve University, he challenged and defeated a God Ascension cultivator, wiped out the Dong Family, went head-to-head in a direct fight with Dong Tai from the Dong Family who was at the God Ascension Eighth Layer, one slash covering a radius of ten thousand meters, directly obliterating the Dong Family."
"When he got to the Su Family, it was even more intense. He went all out with his firepower, transformed into a towering giant, from top to bottom, Su Zhiqin, Su Changming, Su Xiu—all killed by him."
"In here, right in here, do you know who's locked up in here?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
The speaker pointed at the cell in front of him.
The other person continued. "Who? Just people from the Review Office, right? I saw on the work file, five from the Review Office."
"Wrong. Four are Review Office staff. One is Xue Kai, one of the Ministers of the Second Court, Sixth Department of the Hanjing Review Office!"
Hearing this, the person beside him was utterly stunned.
