Chapter 258 - 151: The Mortal Realm’s Grand Plan Takes Shape

Chapter 258: Chapter 151: The Mortal Realm’s Grand Plan Takes Shape

Zhenba, a Level 2 Member of the Mortal Realm Logistics Pavilion, couldn’t help but laugh. "That’s just human nature. It’s completely normal and understandable. After all, we all work for our monthly salary, right?"

"But..."

"How should I put this... The Domain Lord didn’t actually finish what he was saying."

"The standard monthly salary for a Level 1 Mortal Realm Member is 100 Ghost Stones. A Level 2 Member, which is your position, Station Chief Zhang, gets a monthly salary of 300 Ghost Stones."

"But that’s for members stationed within the Mortal Realm."

"You all are considered an external station."

"There’s an additional subsidy. For Level 1 Members, the monthly subsidy is 10 Ghost Stones, and for Level 2 Members, it’s 20 Ghost Stones."

"In other words, your monthly salary will be 110 Ghost Stones."

"And you, Station Chief Zhang, will get 320 Ghost Stones."

...

...

As his words fell, Zhang Qianming and the group behind him held their breath, stunned that the salary was even higher.

"External stations... get a subsidy too?"

"Of course there’s a subsidy. It’s a bit more dangerous out here, after all. It’s not like being in the Mortal Realm, which is completely safe. If you get the chance, you can come visit the Mortal Realm’s main base for a tour."

"Here."

Zhenba took out a dozen or so sheets of kraft paper from his robes and handed them over. "Fill in your information."

"Name, age, Cultivation, past experiences, and so on. Also record the proudest moments of your life. I need to take these back to be filed and archived."

"If you’re a special type of Cultivator, note that down too. That’s the biggest bonus."

"If you have family, write down their names and addresses as well. If you die in battle for the Mortal Realm, a death benefit will be sent to your family."

"’Proudest moments’?" Zhang Qianming looked at the forms on the kraft paper and said awkwardly in a low voice, "Uh, I can’t read..."

When he joined the Jiangnan Shui Family, there had been none of this paperwork. Who cared about what he’d been through in the past?

"You can’t read?"

Zhenba took back the kraft paper. "Then you can just tell me, and I’ll write it down. But when you have time, you should return to the Mortal Realm for a while. The Mortal Realm has private schools, and all Mortal Realm Members attend classes in the evening after their rest, which includes literacy."

"Once this high-speed rail line is officially completed, it’ll be convenient for you to return to the Mortal Realm. It’ll be very fast."

"The 320-kilometer trip will be over in the time it takes to have a few cups of tea."

"For past experiences, just list which factions you’ve served, or if you have any enemies. It’s best not to have enemies before joining the Mortal Realm. If you do, the Mortal Realm will step in to mediate, to prevent any future trouble for us."

"How do you mediate?" Zhang Qianming asked instinctively.

...

Zhenba glanced at the uncleaned pool of blood at the head of the bridge not far away and smacked his lips. "That depends on the person. The Mortal Realm has its own unique methods of mediation. That’s mainly handled by the Dark Pavilion. We in the Logistics Pavilion are only responsible for gathering information."

"So, about the ’proudest moments’...?"

"That could be something like personally killing a Ghost Object, or surviving a three-on-one fight, and so on. Anything you feel proud of counts. There’s no specific standard."

"It will be used as a reference for future position evaluations."

"In that case, I think the proudest moment of my life was when the Domain Lord wiped out the Jiangnan Shui Family. Everyone else ran, but I was the only one who stayed here. I believed the Domain Lord would definitely rebuild the Bridge and maybe give me a job. And I really did wait long enough for it to happen..."

"Does that count?"

"Of course it counts."

Zhenba laughed. "You waited your way into a great job."

...

「Not long after.」

Zhang Qianming and his men had all their information registered. Each of them changed into a Mortal Realm Standard Robe and received their own Identity Token.

Their status had been transformed.

They had gone from being guards of the Jiangnan Shui Family to Mortal Realm Members.

Meanwhile, the body at the head of the bridge was quickly cleaned up.

"Oh, right."

Before leaving, Zhenba looked at Zhang Qianming with a serious expression. "You must carefully read the Mortal Realm Members’ handbook I’m leaving with you. The Mortal Realm’s rewards are great, but its punishments are severe."

"Any mistake you make could affect the Mortal Realm’s overall plan."

"The Mortal Realm is rising quickly right now. Any small hiccup will affect the speed of that rise. The impact will be huge."

"Remember two things."

"Never betray the Mortal Realm."

"And never take money that isn’t yours."

"The people from the Punishment Pavilion and the Dark Pavilion aren’t as easy to talk to as I am. You do not want to end up dealing with them one day."

An image of the Patriarch’s death flashed through Zhang Qianming’s mind: as Domain Lord Chen turned away, a ghost-like figure had flickered through the crowd. He couldn’t help but shudder, his face turning grim as he replied.

"Thank you for the warning!"

"By the way..."

Zhang Qianming hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t resist leaning in to gossip in a low voice, "Captain Zhen, you mentioned earlier that the Celestial Granary Pavilion’s Master, Wang Kui, is in charge of the Mortal Realm’s stations. Does that mean our direct superior is Pavilion Master Wang?"

"Naturally."

"But... isn’t the Celestial Granary Pavilion a warehouse? Why is Pavilion Master Wang also in charge of this...?"

"Ahem."

Zhenba gave a light cough, then lowered his voice. "This is getting into gossip, so don’t spread it around. Each Pavilion Master is in charge of one of the Mortal Realm’s most important departments, but the degree to which each Pavilion Master is favored is different."

"The two most favored Pavilion Masters are Lame Monkey of the Punishment Pavilion and Wang Kui of the Celestial Granary Pavilion."

"The former is responsible for overseeing everyone in the Mortal Realm, including the other Pavilion Masters."

"The latter, in theory, is responsible for managing the warehouses. But because he’s favored and highly capable, he holds many concurrent positions in the Mortal Realm. Didn’t I mention earlier that the Mortal Realm is preparing to establish a Treasure Pavilion?"