In the dead of night, Zhang Caidong was panting heavily, looking at Zhang Bo and the other Blue Star Humans beside him. He swallowed hard, reached out, and greeted, "Alright! Everyone! Check your casualties! Are you all okay?"
"We're fine, Cai Dong Ge!" The senior managers and middle-level managers among these Blue Star Humans tallied their Lingjie Human Race members. After confirming that there were no abnormalities on their side, they all replied to Zhang Caidong.
"Good that you're fine." Zhang Caidong nodded, but he still felt some lingering fear in his heart.
Especially as he looked at the Skeleton Cavalry that had just appeared in the darkness, a bitter expression appeared on his face. He couldn't help but turn to Zhang Bo beside him and say, "Things have been too smooth lately. I almost forgot about the existence of these even more terrifying Skeleton Cavalry. If we had been even a little later, we probably would have been slaughtered by those Skeleton Cavalry."
"Yes, it was really dangerous. We've really been a bit lax lately." Zhang Bo also nodded, a hint of fear in his eyes. After all, he had learned about these terrifying Skeleton Cavalry before, and because he was with the Diesel Company, he had even seen hundreds of Skeleton Cavalry charging together.
At that time, even Pig-Headed People didn't dare to directly confront the charge of these Skeleton Cavalry. If it weren't for the fact that this area was mostly the territory of Skeleton Archers,
these Skeleton Cavalry rarely ventured into the urban area of Long City.
Otherwise, it would be really troublesome.
And just now, he had indeed almost died. He had even heard the death threat of the scimitars and long spears held by the Skeleton Cavalry, almost reaching his back.
If Zhang Caidong, who was more robust, hadn't been pulling him forward the whole time, he would have been in danger if he had fallen behind by just a dozen steps.
"Thanks, Cai Dong brother." Zhang Bo put his arm around Zhang Caidong's shoulder, speaking with considerable emotion, "If it weren't for you just now, I really don't know what I would have done. My physique as a mage is truly too weak."
As he spoke, he also gave a wry smile.
"Bo Ge, what are you talking about? How many times have you saved me? How many times have you helped me? Now you're thanking me? I just did a small, insignificant thing." Zhang Caidong waved his hand directly, signaling Zhang Bo not to say such things. After all, their relationship now went without saying.
"Hmm, it's all in my heart." Zhang Bo smiled at this, looking at Zhang Caidong with great sincerity, then panting heavily, a smile on his face.
However, when Zhang Bo turned his face away, a shadow crossed his eyes.
Saving a life, yes, he did save a life.
But Zhang Bo didn't care that Zhang Caidong had saved his life, because what he cared about was that Zhang Caidong's tone now increasingly aligned him with Deherim's faction, making him extremely difficult to win over.
Before, Zhang Bo had wanted Zhang Caidong to join the Green Leaf Group together, which would have allowed Zhang Caidong to provide some assistance to the Green Leaf Group.
After all, the Blue Star Human forces controlled by Zhang Caidong were quite large. If Zhang Caidong could bring all these Blue Star Humans under the control of the Green Leaf Group, it would mean that the Green Leaf Group would achieve rapid development and be able to continuously generate more spiritual energy.
This way, the Green Leaf Group could also reach a relatively powerful state in a short period.
However, now, seeing the respect, reverence, and even fervent faith in Zhang Caidong's tone towards Deherim, Zhang Bo knew that Zhang Caidong was beyond saving. He had probably fully committed to Deherim's faction and could not be extricated.
In that case, it wouldn't be of much help to Zhang Bo's future espionage operations.
If Zhang Bo brought the Green Leaf Group's troops to infiltrate, Zhang Caidong would probably be untrustworthy. He couldn't be relied upon to betray them and lead the Green Leaf Group's troops directly into Deherim's core area to assassinate the generals in various key positions.
"Damn it, this is really troublesome. The situation is getting harder and harder to manage." Zhang Bo subconsciously clenched his fists.
But he also had no other choice.
At this moment, Zhang Bo also felt a sense of powerlessness.
"Alright, everyone rest up, then get ready. We're preparing to enter the darkness again." Zhang Caidong raised his hand and looked at the senior managers and middle-level managers among these Blue Star Humans, calling out to them, "Those Skeleton Cavalry have left this place. It should be temporarily safe here. We'll continue to level up in this area, but absolutely do not go deep into the darkness to avoid provoking a backlash from the darkness again."
"Understood, we all know." The senior managers and middle-level managers of those Blue Star Humans nodded. In fact, they did understand that even before Deherim was established, they knew not to stay in one place for too long or lead their Spiritual Realm Followers to kill too many Undead Monsters. Otherwise, the spirit world rules would sense this and send more Undead Monsters to descend upon the area.
Before, it must have been that they killed too many Undead Monsters, leading to them being detected by the death spirit rules, which then sent this group of Skeleton Cavalry.
However, with this group of Skeleton Cavalry arriving, it clearly meant that the intensity of the Undead Monsters descending from the death spirit rules would decrease. They could continue to fight here tonight, which meant they wouldn't encounter stronger Undead Monsters anymore.
These were all experiences. After all, those Blue Star Humans who hadn't summarized their experiences and hadn't perceived the danger of the situation before had already died.
So Zhang Caidong led the senior managers and middle-level managers among these Blue Star Humans back into the darkness, bringing his Swadian Recruits and commoners to continue fighting with the teachers and Skeleton Soldiers appearing in the darkness.
And Zhang Bo also followed behind Zhang Caidong with his little monsters.
However, Zhang Bo didn't stay too far from Zhang Caidong at this time. Instead, he carefully observed the surroundings, as if he was warning them of potential threats they might encounter. After all, as a Prophecy-type Mage, he could, to some extent, foresee danger. As long as he could foresee danger in advance, they could react earlier.
And also ensure their own safety.
At this time, the surrounding senior managers and middle-level managers looked at Zhang Bo with some improvement. After all, they all understood that Zhang Bo didn't have to come here, as he didn't have Swadian Human Race as objects for leveling up.
Nor did he have an urgent need to level up these Swadian Human Race members.
So, coming here and risking his life was entirely for their benefit, to warn them in advance of potential dangers. Therefore, these senior managers and middle-level managers truly had great respect for Zhang Bo.
At this moment, Zhang Bo saw the respectful gazes of the senior managers and middle-level managers towards him, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He nodded in response to each of them, appearing very refined and amiable.
In Deherim, Zhang Bo was originally a very refined and amiable person. No matter who came to him for anything, he would patiently help others resolve it, so his popularity was truly very good.
Moreover, Zhang Bo's popularity was even better among the middle-level managers, because at that time, when the middle-level managers submitted their lists, it was Zhang Bo who made the decisions.
And Zhang Bo also carefully explained to Zhang Caidong why the lists needed to be submitted, which also allowed Zhang Caidong to indirectly inform the senior managers, making them all understand why they needed to give up some of their power.
Otherwise, causing unnecessary suspicion would also be troublesome for them, and for these Blue Star Humans, they could understand it very clearly if they just thought about it.
Therefore, Zhang Bo now had very good popularity among both middle-level managers and senior managers.
Plus, Zhang Bo was now willing to risk his life to come and give warnings, not to mention how grateful these senior managers and middle-level managers were to him.
Of course, the most grateful were those middle-level managers.
These middle-level managers had already fallen out with the senior managers. If it weren't for Zhang Caidong and Zhang Bo mediating, they would quickly be targeted and unable to endure such behavior. And now they were already being targeted; in some of the most dangerous situations, it was always these middle-level managers who were sent.
And when simpler Undead Monsters were found, these middle-level managers would be sent first, while their own people would only go afterwards.
This led to these middle-level managers being in a truly awkward position now.
"If that's the case, these middle-level managers seem easier to win over. If they are all willing to unite around me, then at a critical moment, these middle-level managers can become my help. After all, it's difficult to get close to these middle-level managers for exams or anything. Usually, Shen Mu only meets with the senior managers, and for the middle-level, he basically only listens occasionally."
At this moment, Zhang Bo also thought of some things, especially when he saw how marginalized the middle-level managers were in front of the senior managers, and he became thoughtful.
He had always pursued the high-level route before, but now he suddenly realized that if he focused on the middle-level route, the effect would definitely be better. After all, the middle-level was the largest group in terms of numbers, and they also had direct leadership authority. The high-level was high above, and only the middle-level was involved in how to manage the lower-level managers and the Blue Star Humans at the bottom.
If he united these middle-level managers and hollowed out the senior managers, it would be equivalent to hollowing out the senior management. Then, even if the senior management issued orders, they wouldn't be able to reach the bottom, meaning his own orders would be the real orders, and what the senior managers said would become mere air.
At that time, wouldn't Shen Mu's orders also become mere air?
After all, if Shen Mu wanted to issue orders, he would first issue them to these senior managers, who would then issue them to the middle-level managers, and then through the middle-level managers, they would be issued to the grassroots for processing.
"That's right, that's how it is. My previous high-level approach was indeed unwise." Zhang Bo pondered for a moment and realized that he had been a bit inconsiderate before. Now that he had discovered this, he wanted to plan carefully.
There was no more time to delay. He had to win over these middle-level managers in a short period.
Moreover, the senior managers had already completed their loyalty and transformation to the Lingjie Human Race.
The rest were all middle-level managers.
"Then, who gets to be these middle-level managers needs to be decided by me. Otherwise, if I don't have the power of personnel appointment and removal, it's like giving up my own power. But if I gain the power of personnel appointment and removal, it's like I'm giving them a path to advancement, and they will be very grateful to me."
Thinking of this, Zhang Bo looked at Zhang Caidong beside him, as well as the senior managers.
His eyes flickered slightly, and he thought of a method.
He had to use the potential conflicts within Zhang Caidong and these senior managers, and also their misconception that Shen Mu was suspicious of him, to carry out this plan.
"I'll talk to Cai Dong properly when we go back, and I'll also have a good chat with these senior managers. I must make use of others' power, borrowing the authority of Zhang Caidong and Shen Mu to intimidate them, to make them feel fear in their hearts, so they will hand over this power to me without reservation."
Zhang Bo's eyes gleamed. After figuring it out, he had already formulated a small plan.
A plan enough to overthrow Deherim.
...
As the morning sun just rose, Shen Mu woke up in his room, slowly reaching out to prop himself up. As the blanket covering him slipped off, his strong muscles became visible.
"Get me a cup of water." Shen Mu turned his head and spoke to the half-open door.
"Understood." A Holy Tree Knight immediately entered the room, holding a pot of freshly boiled hot water. He came to the dining table in the room, added honey and milk to the cup, and then poured in the hot water.
After ensuring the temperature in the cup was just right, he came before Shen Mu and handed him the cup of honey milk water.
"Thank you!" Shen Mu nodded.
"Lord Shen Mu, Bestour wishes to see you. He arrived last night and is already waiting at the door this morning to be received by you." The Holy Tree Knight reported.
"Bestour wants to see me? Alright then, instruct the Halfling chefs to prepare breakfast for Bestour and me."
Shen Mu paused, but still nodded and instructed the Holy Tree Knight, "Add more meat and beans. Bestour just finished his night patrol, and I think he should have a hearty meal. As for me, make it simple, add more pumpkin sauce and cooked carrots. I want to supplement more vegetables today."
"Understood." The Holy Tree Knight immediately turned to relay the order.