Absolute Resonance

Chapter 0782 – Resource Allocation

At the Green Nether drill grounds, in the main building.

When Li Luo arrived at the meeting room, he saw Zhong Yushi, the Green Nether Hall's Second Hall Master, and Li Rouyun, the Third Hall Master, already seated. 

Zhong Yushi remained calm upon seeing Li Luo and nodded to greet him. 

Under normal circumstances, a Sub Leader would not have received such special treatment from a Green Nether Hall Master. However, Li Luo was special. He was the grandson of the Lineage Chief and the son of Hall Master Li Taixuan. 

It was the best background one could have in the Dragon's Fang Lineage, and it would easily result in the best treatment in any other place. 

If not for his illustrious background, Zhong Yushi would not have wanted to have any dealings with Li Luo.

On the side, Li Rouyun smiled warmly and greeted Li Luo. She had heard of his spectacular performance in the Green Nether Banner over the past month and was well aware that he had established himself within the banner.

"Greetings, Second Hall Master, Aunt Yun." Li Luo went over to give her a hug.

Standing behind him, Zhao Yanzhi, Li Shi, and Mu Bi remained polite and serious. After all, these were the Hall Masters, high executives in the Green Nether Hall. If they unknowingly offended them, their future would be dashed.

At this moment, Li Luo glanced across the meeting room. Zhong Ling was already seated with a cold face, along with the three other Sub Leaders.

Without further ado, he also grabbed a seat for himself.

"Ahem." Zhong Yushi began with a light cough as soon as everyone was seated. 

"As everyone already knows, we have come here to check on the progress of the Green Nether Banner as well as distribute the resources for this month. Later on, we will hand over the resources to all of you. Sub Leaders, please prepare accordingly," he explained.

At this moment, he turned over to look at Li Luo and continued with a gentle smile, "Sub Leader Li Luo and his fifth division have shown a stellar performance recently. Keep up the good work."

Hearing this, Li Luo grinned and replied, "Thank you, Second Hall Master. This is all thanks to the hard work of the fifth division members. I couldn't have done it without them. As such, may I represent the 1,500 members of the fifth division to raise a small request, please?"

This caught Zhong Yushi by surprise. However, he maintained his composure and politely asked, "Sure. Please speak your mind."

Li Luo glanced over at the gloomy Zhong Ling before he requested, "I hope that starting from this month, the resource allocation for the fifth division can return to the expected twenty percent, just like in the past."

Standing behind him, Zhao Yanzhi watched from the back with admiration. He was truly the Sub Leader, holding an air of command even when making a request amongst superiors.

In the past, they had tried to do the same as well. However, it was ultimately rejected by the cold gaze of Zhong Yushi.

This time, Zhong Yushi maintained his composure as he replied, "With such remarkable performance from the fifth division, that is indeed the fairest way of allocating resources. However, this matter involves the first division, so we should listen to what they have to say first." When he finished his sentence, he looked over at Zhong Ling.

At this point, Zhong Ling raised his eyebrows and replied, "Indeed, the fifth division's performance has been remarkable over the past month. However, based on banner rules, the resource allocation is set semi-annually. If Sub Leader Li Luo wants to change it, kindly raise the request again in four month's time."

"Cultivation materials are pivotal for our training. No matter how you think about it, a four month delay is way too absurd," Li Luo responded with a smile.

"The Banner's progress largely depended on the first division just one month ago. Are you saying the fifth division's one month worth of work is enough to overshadow the first division's contribution all this time?" Zhong Ling retorted. 

"It's just a matter of fact. The additional ten percent that the first division is taking originally belonged to the fifth division. Now we're just returning it to its rightful owner," Li Luo noted.

The tension between the duo was escalating as they continued to debate while the second, third, fourth divisions’ Sub Leaders watched from the side indifferently. 

After all, they did not want to risk offending any side. Zhong Ling had the longest history within the Green Nether Banner, and the backing of Second Hall Master Zhong Yushi. They had always listened to him all this time. Meanwhile, Li Luo had earned their respect with spectacular achievements in just a month, and his distinguished background was definitely not below that of Zhong Ling.

As such, it was best for them to fade into the background and take no sides. 

Third Hall Master Li Rouyun came in to mediate. "We always look at the results. The first division is the vanguard team, and they helped the Green Nether Banner advance in the Fiendish Devil Cave, hence they were allocated thirty percent. Now that the fifth division has caught up with them, it's only fair to allocate the resources equally now." 

Hearing this, Zhong Yushi rubbed his beard and laughed out loud. "That is indeed a reasonable way to put it. Those with the capability deserve a larger share of the resources. How about this? Since the fifth division has shown their capability, we will deduct a bit from the second, third, and fourth divisions and give those resources to the fifth division."

At this instant, the indifferent faces of the second, third, and fourth divisions’ Sub Leaders changed immediately. It was well known among themselves that the first division were the ones that had unfairly stolen the fifth division's share, and they had not gotten any benefits from this arrangement. Why should they be the one paying for this now? 

If their banner members heard about this, they would surely seethe with fury at this unfair arrangement.

However, they dared not speak up about this injustice in front of Zhong Yushi. They merely stared at each other silently. 

Li Rouyun raised her eyebrows at this suggestion and gave Li Luo a quick look. This was a trap set by Zhong Yushi.

While his suggestion appeared to be fighting for the fifth division, it was actually a ploy to sow discord between the fifth division and the other three divisions.

Luckily, Li Luo did not fall for it. He shook his head with a smile and replied, "The other three divisions need to develop themselves too. They are getting their rightful share now. We merely wanted to get back our rightful share too. We don't want to be greedy over it."

When he finished his sentence, the three Sub Leaders felt a sense of immense gratitude towards Li Luo.

In the meantime, Zhong Yushi was not affected by this at all. He merely replied with a grin, "In that case, I am afraid you have to wait a while more, Sub Leader Li Luo. The rules of allocation were set by the Lineage Chief originally, and we will only change the allocation once every six months. If you would like to change the rule, how about you speak to the Lineage Chief? I am sure he won't mind helping his favorite out over such a small matter." Zhong Yushi was truly a cunning guy. While he did not outright reject Li Luo's suggestion, he had thrown the problem over to Li Jingzhe. 

Of course, Li Luo would not go to Li Jingzhe over such a trivial matter. If this were made known, it would reflect so badly on him, making him seem like someone who could not get things done and needed to rely on connections. 

Luckily, Li Luo kept his composure. He suddenly recalled, "If I remember correctly, the allocation can be changed when the new Banner Leader is selected, right?"

"Yes, indeed. But it's still two months before the selection of the Banner Leader, right? Sub Leader Li Luo, you can wait for that if you want," Zhong Yushi replied. 

"There is no need to wait two months. If all five Sub Leaders agree right now, we can bring forward the selection of the Banner Leader," Li Luo calmly said.

"Bring it forward?" Zhong Yushi was stunned to hear this. Li Luo was being too arrogant. Currently, he was only at the Fiend Palace Tier. He had managed to shine in the Fiendish Devil Cave due to the Nine Revolutions Draconic Breath Fiend Arts and the Nine Revolutions Fiend Art he had obtained. However, he would have to rely on his own strength in the Banner Leader selection against Zhong Ling, who was a Gold Fiend.

There was a huge gap in strength between the two tiers, and instead of biding his time to catch up, he was actually trying to bring it forward? 

Find the original at ".com".

Wasn't he asking for it?

Had he gotten too cocky due to his recent achievements? 

"When would you like to bring it forward to?" Zhong Yushi asked.

"Let's bring it forward by a month," Li Luo replied. He had no interest in dragging this out with Zhong Ling. It would be best for him to finish this quickly and obtain the Banner Leader position before Zhong Ling sowed further distrust between the first division's members and him.  

"What do you think, Zhong Ling?" asked Zhong Yushi.

Zhong Ling had just recovered from this surprising development. He could barely hide the joy beneath his eyes as he replied, "Sure, if Sub Leader Li Luo wishes to do so, I'll oblige." He had already been feeling threatened by Li Luo's recent achievements. If things continued like this for the next two months, he would be in great danger of losing the position of Banner Leader just by popular appeal.

Now that Li Luo had suggested bringing the selection forward by a month, he was more than happy to entertain him. Once he secured the Banner Leader position, he would finally be able to feel at ease. Following this, Zhong Yushi politely sought the opinions of the other three divisions' Sub Leaders. As expected, they had no objections over it as they all knew the selection battle was beyond their reach.

As such, Zhong Yushi placed his hand on the table and concluded the discussion.

"The Green Nether Banner Leader selection will be held in one month's time," he declared.

After he said this, Li Luo noticed a slight smirk on his face. It seemed like he could no longer contain his joy.