On the Seven Towers

Xiao Chen stood at the door of the conference room, adjusting his collar. Unknowingly, he had not worn this shirt and jacket for a long time. He reached for his waist and found nothing. The spark sword that always accompanied him was not hanging on his body, which made him feel a little awkward. He knew that what he was about to face was not an enemy, but it was more difficult to deal with than the enemy.

"You're ambitious, aren't you used to it?" There were footsteps behind him, it was Luo Ling.

"I just feel that the world is changing too fast, and I am a little confused. Also, I don't know what they will think." Xiao Chen smiled and looked back. Naturally, Luo Ling did not wear the mage robe, but instead wore a cashmere sweater and jeans. The sight of the school corridor behind him made him return to his original world in a trance.

"More than four thousand slaves can't scare you, so what are you afraid of now? A bunch of old men?" Luo Ling stepped forward, opened the door and turned to him and said, "Straighten your back for me."

Xiao Chen walked into the room and found that most of the committee members had already arrived. This time, the meeting was enlarged and a lecture theater was used. Not only the leaders of each group arrived, but also the deputy leaders and backbones of many groups. For example, Chen Hansheng was sitting behind Chu Ying, the leader of the business team, and winked at Xiao Chen.

In addition, the alchemy scientist Morey sat in the seat of the technology group, the dwarf engineer Farrell belonged to the industrial group, the indigenous business representative Ciro sat next to Chen Hansheng, and Calanda sat on the other side of Chen Hansheng. There was also the wild mage Andrew who was sitting there looking like a dog, obviously fatter than when he was first captured. This guy actually put on a shirt and tie, and I don’t know where the school got him the outfit.

Xiao Chen thought that he might also want to listen to the local people's opinions on slaves. These guys have done well after joining the school in various ways. Except for the leather armor on Karanda's body that is a little incompatible with the environment, and Farrell is too short, the others look like foreigners of that era. .

More people came in one after another, and soon the conference room, which could accommodate more than a hundred people, was half full. The last person to enter was Guo Qian, chairman of the committee. After Guo Qian entered, he stood at the podium and announced the start of the meeting.

There was no electric light, but the sunlight was still good. The light shone in from the side, illuminating half of Guo Qian's face and his slightly frowning brow.

"Yesterday, I held three meetings with the team leaders to get a general understanding of the basic situation of the caravan bringing back more than 4,000 slaves." Guo Qian paused, "Everyone responded a lot. Regarding how to deal with the current situation, There are also different opinions on the situation. We invite everyone here to come together and we hope to brainstorm.”

Xiao Chen sighed secretly when he heard this. He had participated in the first three meetings as a party, and not only did he get a lot of responses. Some pointed at his nose and said he was playing the piano carelessly, while others scowled and said his ambition was inflated. Of course, there were also those who supported him, but they would also add in their words that he was careless and careless. For these people, the slaves now placed at the foot of the Black Mountains are simply a time bomb. As for the plan to resettle slaves, the leaders of the committee held different opinions and could not reach an outcome through the debate, so this enlarged meeting was held.

Maybe it would be better for someone to put the final word on it at this point, right? Xiao Chen glanced at Guo Qian.

"My uncle is still too cautious." Luo Ling said softly beside him, "Academic people have too many ideas and are constantly cutting off ideas."

"You are not an academic? Associate Professor Luo." Xiao Chen asked.

"I'm still young and can still be saved." Luo Ling rolled her eyes at him.

The people on the field spoke one after another, and some even started arguing fiercely. However, Xiao Chen, as the person involved, was distracted for some reason. He looked out the window, and scenes in the slave camp appeared in front of his eyes.

Shouting businessman

miserable slave

riots all around

Blood-stained barracks

fierce battle

giant tree man

…

There was a sense of injustice in his heart. What did I do wrong? Whether it is to build strength for the school or to give slaves a new life, is there anything that cannot be justified?

At this time, the impassioned voice of the speaker brought him back to reality. Xiao Chen took a closer look and saw that it was Chu Ying, the leader of the business group.

"...So, bringing the slaves back like this is to stir up trouble. We must consider the attitude of the surrounding forces. After being robbed of so much wealth out of thin air, which master behind the slave merchant would give up? It would be even more difficult to raid the opponent's team. It's unreasonable. You have already proven your guilt before they take action. Isn't this just giving the other party the clue? Can you cover up such a big thing?" The thin middle-aged man looked around the audience and noticed. Not many people responded to his point of view, so he had to change his tone. "Be kind to others. I have said many times that when we first arrive, we should be friends with others! I advocate reconciliation with the slave traders, giving the people back, or paying a sum of money to buy them out."

"What a surprise for an friendly country." Xiao Chen felt angry and wanted to refute, but unexpectedly, Luo Ling held him back.

"how?"

"There are people who can't hear this more than you." Luo Ling said.

Sure enough, Wang Jiyuan spoke up: "If we talk about 'being kind to others' when the horse thieves come, we probably won't have the chance to hold a meeting here. The rules of this world are simple: if our fists are not big enough, we are not qualified to be in this land Stay here. I don’t want to talk about handles. Can you put a handle on the ground to move the earth? I only talk about grasping. Whoever reaches out to us will cut off his hand. This is called grasping! , we can expand our strength."

Chu Ying looked unhappy, and Chang Lin said: "Team Leader Wang, we can't just rely on force. Of course these people can expand our strength, but if the problems they bring are greater than the improvement of our strength, then it is worth it. Discussed."

Zhou Xiaoren from the intelligence team nodded in agreement, "...Slaves, you educated people all know, don't you just like riots, uprisings and so on? In ancient times, the boss in an empire couldn't look down on slaves, not to mention that we only have more than 700 people here? Use it? A team of 700 people went to swallow 4,700 people. Haha, it was a mine formation. "

"People can be transformed and teams can be trained. Our People's Liberation Army has been an expert in doing this from the beginning. Mine formations? Aren't mine formations just for walking through?" After Wang Jiyuan said this, he leaned back on his chair and raised his arms. He glanced around the whole place.

The person who spoke next was Team Leader Mo Lanxin of the personnel team. This woman, who was over forty years old, was wearing a suit and black-rimmed glasses. She looked very serious: "I want it all, don't want it at all, that's extremism! I just say One thing is that the strength of an organization is closely related to the quality of its personnel. I have visited camps before, and the quality of these slaves is really mixed. Absorbing a considerable number of them will only seriously lower the level of our team. It will do more harm than good to us. I suggest that we keep those who are strong and capable, and let the rest go."

"If your level is not good enough, you can study, and if your quality is not good enough, you can teach. There must be people first, and then there will be talents." Li Mingde, the head of the education team, has neatly combed gray hair and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, looking like a typical old professor. .

"You have to know that the influence is two-way. A black sheep can lead many people to bad things. I really don't know who will learn from whom." Mo Lanxin insisted.

Li Deming shook his head and said nothing more.

Logistics team leader Bai Yicheng's speech was based on actual data: "... Judging from the current food reserves, these 4,762 people only have enough food for one month. Other living supplies must also face such problems. And in winter It's coming. I support expanding the population, but if these survival problems cannot be solved..." Bai Yicheng made a helpless expression to Xiao Chen, "The prospects are worrying."

"What's so hard to solve about the food problem?" the dwarf Farrell said angrily, his Chinese tone was a bit weird, "As long as you treat the slaves as slaves, isn't it enough? Slaves are afraid of being lazy, so you just need to prepare enough whips. good."

"You can't say that, Uncle Farrell, they are just poor people after all." Callanda said in the local dialect in desperation, "But I also think there is always a way to let them survive. In the slave camp, those who The merchants used the money from renting slaves to support themselves. If they can be given suitable jobs here, why can't they support themselves?"

"I think Miss Kalanda's words make sense. As mages, we have higher goals to pursue, so why waste time on these things." Wild Mage Andrew said, "Every mage tower will use slaves. Serfs and hired workers, but what do noble mages need to worry about? It doesn’t matter how many of these people die? There will always be those who survive and can serve us."

"That's not what I meant, and I believe Master Xiao Chen didn't mean that either." Kalanda glared at Andrew and said.

"Oh, I know that Mr. Xiao and you are both kind people. I am the same. I just say, uh... God of nature, no, when fate no longer favors someone, we'd better let nature take its course." Andrew said with a smile.

Xiao Chen shook his head and said: "My opinion is very clear. These people should be kept. As long as we overcome the difficulties, they will be the basis for our survival here." He suddenly felt a little tired, and the long speech he had prepared was a little a little bit... I didn’t want to say anymore, “I don’t think a civilization can be supported by just 700 people.”

The meeting lasted for a long time, and in the end there were roughly four opinions: accepting it in full, not accepting it, accepting it partially, and sending it back to the slave market. After all, this exhausts the basic solutions. The opinions that are accepted have a slight advantage, but after all the talk, no one has been completely convinced.

Glancing at the slowly setting sun, Luo Ling, who had been silent, suggested: "Chairman Guo, fellow committee members, I think everyone has expressed what they should express. There is no end to the discussion and a solution must be reached quickly. plan."

"What suggestions do you have?" Guo Qian asked.

"vote!"