Qin Ziwen watched Qiu Gao depart.
He narrowed his eyes. Qiu Gao was the deputy director of the hospital that had recently arrived in this area. No one who reached that position was a fool.
The other aspects of the Gated Community had mostly stabilized, so Qiu Gao had decided to take a different approach, finding a completely new and uncontested field.
Teams like the Hunting Team and the gathering parties were already well-established, and each group was full of familiar faces.
The doctors from the hospital were incorporated into the Qin Alliance’s medical staff, but management positions like the deputy director were in an awkward spot.
They couldn’t just be parachuted in to take leadership roles in the Qin Alliance.
So Qin Ziwen had arranged for the people from the hospital who weren’t doctors—the patients and the administrative and logistics staff—to be settled in batches as peripheral members of the Qin Alliance. After this current ordeal was over, they would be officially integrated based on their performance.
"Sir, what’s a newspaper?" Yan Da asked curiously.
"You’ll know when he makes one."
Qin Ziwen smiled. "We can’t let your abilities go to waste. Once your injuries have healed, you and Luo Sea should resume leading a team to hunt those Dark Tide Fishmen. Don’t let them rest. Keep them busy, give them something to worry about."
"As you command."
Meanwhile, after Qiu Gao left, he returned to the hospital’s inpatient department.
"Director Qiu, so what did Chairman Qin say?" A few men and women with somewhat greasy hair gathered around him.
Qiu Gao said, "Don’t call me Director Qiu anymore. The hospital has transmigrated. There’s no Director Qiu here, only Old Qiu. You can call me Old Qiu or even just Gao."
The men and women looked at each other, stunned for a moment. Someone grumbled internally, ’Never seen you be this approachable before.’
Still, they all started addressing him as he wished.
"Chairman Qin is a very farsighted man. After I spoke with him, he immediately agreed to our idea." As Qiu Gao finished speaking, the faces of those present lit up with joy.
"But—"
The smiles on their faces froze.
They cursed wildly in their minds. ’Damn it, that habit of yours hasn’t changed a bit!’
"But, Chairman Qin said that since this is the first time we’re making a newspaper, he needs us to produce a sample issue for him to review first. If Chairman Qin is satisfied, then this newspaper project is a go."
"What if Chairman Qin isn’t satisfied?" someone suddenly asked.
The others looked at him as if he were an idiot.
The man’s face flushed red, and he quickly said, "No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, if Chairman Qin isn’t satisfied, can’t we just revise the sample until he is?"
Qiu Gao frowned. "Director Li, at a time like this, don’t even think about getting a second chance. Chairman Qin has given us this opportunity, and we must seize it! We absolutely cannot let him down! Don’t think that if we fail once, we can just try again. That kind of thinking is fundamentally wrong!"
The others cursed silently, ’What an ass-kisser!’
’Chairman Qin can’t hear you kissing his ass from here. What’s the point of putting on an act for us?’
Qiu Gao looked around at everyone present. His expression behind his glasses was exceptionally grave. "Let me warn all of you again, solemnly. We must seize this opportunity. We must treat this newspaper as an extremely important task! I don’t want anyone dragging the team down. If there are any black sheep, I’ll be the first to kick them out! I will show no mercy!
Now, if anyone is unwilling to do the work, you can back out. I won’t force you. After all, this newspaper is just a service for the people of the Qin Alliance. It’s not a lucrative job, nor does it come with much power.
But if you join the team and then refuse to pull your weight, affecting the entire group... you should all be aware of my methods."
Qiu Gao’s tone was calm, but everyone present could hear the ruthlessness within it.
Director Li, who was older, had worked at the hospital for a long time, and knew some of the rumors about how Qiu Gao had risen to his position, had a flash of fear in his eyes. He immediately said, "I’m with you, Brother Gao!"
"Me too."
"We’re all just trying to find a proper job, right? Director Qiu is willing to lead us. This is a blessing we couldn’t have asked for. I’m in too."
Two others, who weren’t hospital employees but patients, exchanged a look. "Brother Gao, we used to work at a media company. Making a newspaper is right up our alley. We’re willing to work with you. It’s just... we’ll probably need to discuss the scope of this newspaper and some of the details with you."
Qiu Gao nodded slowly. "Alright. We can certainly discuss it further."
...
Zhao Pu found Qin Ziwen studying the Insect Man language in the Hundred Schools Book Tower and whispered in his ear, "Chairman, those Insect Men are back."
Qin Ziwen put down the copy of *Basic Insect Man Linguistics* he was holding, a sharp glint in his eye. "Let’s go."
At the entrance to Home, a dozen or so Insect Men sat stiffly in place, regarding their surroundings with both curiosity and fear.
They were curious about the novelty of this place: the large houses, the strange and unique clothes the humans wore, and all the intricate-looking objects around them. For this group of Insect Men, who had spent their lives wandering the subterranean world, it was all a source of curiosity and longing.
At the same time, the Fishman guards standing nearby, exuding a faint fishy smell, made them subconsciously afraid.
Although these Fishmen looked different from the Dark Tide Fishmen.
But they had hardly ever seen a Dark Tide Fishman!
Most Insect Men who encountered Dark Tide Fishmen ended up dead. Only a few survived.
When Qin Ziwen saw these Ant-men, he gave a hearty laugh, walked forward, and extended his right hand to the Red-armored Ant-man at the front. "Welcome!"
The Red-armored Ant-man looked at Qin Ziwen’s outstretched hand, hesitated for a moment, then cautiously extended its own. The two hands clasped briefly.
Qin Ziwen glanced behind the Red-armored Ant-man. All the ones that had followed it this time were Ant-men.
’It seems this trade was the Ant-men’s own idea,’ he thought.
A hint of a smile flashed in Qin Ziwen’s eyes. ’Looks like the Insect Men aren’t a monolith after all.’
The Red-armored Ant-man opened its mouth and gestured with its hands.
Having learned some of the Insect Man language, Qin Ziwen could barely make out what it was saying.
"...Ant Mother... trade... ore, hope for food."
Qin Ziwen turned to Lei Wenbo beside him. "Lei Wenbo, did it say it wants to trade ore for food?"
Lei Wenbo translated faithfully, "Chairman, it said it went back and told the Ant Mother. The Ant Mother has agreed to trade with us. This time, they’ve brought ore mined from underground and hope to receive food."
Qin Ziwen nodded. ’Seems like I understood the gist of it.’
Even though he couldn’t fully understand what the other was saying, it was like doing fill-in-the-blank English exercises back in school. As long as you could understand more than half the words, you could just guess the rest!
And as long as your luck wasn’t terrible, you could usually guess the rest with a high degree of accuracy.
...
...