Tang Shaoyang was sitting inside his room, listening to Origin narrate what happened to the base. During his absence, a smaller zombie horde attacked the base again. This time, however, the people fought together against the zombie horde.
It was one of the biggest events that happened to the base, and after that, people streamed to the base for a shelter. More people on the base, more guards were needed to arrange the people.
Hence Cao Jingyi planned to recruit more people to take care of the new stream refuges. But the problem was that she had another project in her hand. It was about the farm, to gain a permanent source of food.
She then delegated the duty to Jin Fan because he looked trustworthy after the last battle against the zombie horde. That was how Jin Fan started to have the ambition to take over the base. On top of that, Ding Hao's persuasion pushed him even more with his ambition.
"You already knew this a long time ago?" Tang Shaoyang asked the AI.
[Yes, I do!] Origin responded quickly.
"Then why don't you tell this to Cao Jingyi to stop this stupid thing?" He could not believe the smart ai just let this happen to the base. This thing could be prevented with a certain measure from Cao Jingyi.
[I told her, but her measure will only make things worse. She wants to punish Jin Fan and elects a new person, but her power and authority are not strong as yours, My Lord!]
"That's the right thing to do to punish them, why will it make things worse? Don't tell me you are trying to do something behind my back again, Origin!?" He could not understand how this ai worked, but he was sure this ai was making the wrong decision this time.
[I am not, My Lord. But Cao Jingyi's measure will not work because she is not you. She does not have the authority, people would not listen to her because you are the leader. She wants to strip Jin Fan's position and confine him until your return. That's a terrible idea.]
[Instead of solving the issue, it will cause the base to split into two. Jin Fan gains his confidence to revolt because he has many followers from the new refugees. He would mobilize his followers to fight Cao Jingyi and it would cause chaos within the base. That's the worst thing to happen if she did that!]
[I told her to not only strip Jin Fan from his position, but she has to kill him, or she should kick him and his followers out of the base… No, she should have killed him, revolt is a major crime within the base.]
[But Cao Jingyi insisted that she could not kill him. They have been working together, zombie horde after zombie horde. She could not kick him out, let alone kill Jin Fan. That's why I told her to let Jin Fan stay until your return, let you tackle the problem instead of a half-assed solution that might plunge the base into the chaos]
Tang Shaoyang went silent, pondering what Origin said to him. He truly could not refute Origin's claim that Jin Fan and followers would cause chaos to the base for half-assed punishment by Cao Jingyi.
The scenario that Origin told him if Cao Jingyi was to punish Jin Fan would happen, ninety percent that would happen.
"But your plan is also risky. What if I return very late so that everyone follows that bastard? They will take over the base before I can get back to the base," Tang Shaoyang furrowed his brows.
[Nope, my plan might cause heavy casualties, but it's not risky. The base should be safe, don't forget you have the Fogged Ape Tribe, My Lord. Pride and his people, and the original Tarrior should not have a problem cleaning up Jin Fan and his followers if you don't return in time. Moreover, you are right here, right now.]
"Hah…" he could not refute the AI, he lost the war of words against Origin, "Then tell me what that Jin Fan has been doing all this time? What about the food to enter the base? The food shortage? What happened?"
[Don't believe them, those puppies are lying to manipulate the masses through the food. We should have enough food for a hundred thousand people for a year. It's the dude called Ding Hao who proposed this plan to Jin Fan. They feed the new refugees one a day, and as you should have known, those puppies created a barrier between the main base and the outer area to separate the new and old people, trying to create a dirty hierarchy.]
[Ding Hao used Jin Fan to make people listen to him, and this Ding Hao had been doing whatever he wanted in the base. He also kept sending women to Jin Fan so the latter did not interfere much in the management of the base.]
"What about Qin Shoushan and Zhao Zhong?" These two should have a big authority since they were the early people who followed him and fought bravely. Cao Jingyi, Qin Shoushan, and Zhao Zhong were the three strongest people he left behind.
[Zhao Zhong knows that you may not like how Jin Fan arranged the base. He tried to warn Jin Fan, but the young man paid no heed to his warning. A fight almost broke, but Qin Shoushan stopped them. The two are staying neutral and waiting for your return instead.]
Tang Shaoyang massaged the space between his eyebrows. He thought leaving the base in Cao Jingyi's care should not be an issue, but it seemed the order had not been established properly that the base almost broke into chaos within this short time without his presence.
"What about the wall? Is it you who built the wall outside?" He did not forget about the wall he encountered outside.
[Yes, a stream of GC entered our treasury. I presume it's the earning from your journey, we received a lot of Game Coins that we will still have a lot even if we build the wall to surround the territory so the zombie horde could not attack the base anymore. I and Cao Jingyi agreed to build the wall since it's also your will to have a wall too.]
It was indeed one of his desires to create a wall for more protection, giving more sense of security to his people. He just wanted to know where this wall came from hence he asked.
"Then what about this farm project? Where do you build the farm?" There were so many changes in the base, and he wanted to know everything right now.
[I don't think this is the right time to tell you that, Master. You have to take care of Jin Fan's case first before the situation gets out of control. He has a lot of followers that might cause a riot outside. But first thing of, I want to introduce this first to you.]
Tang Shaoyang could tell the AI was excited about something that it would introduce to Tang Shaoyang.
[You have been granted access to Tang Empire's communication!]
Out of a sudden, he heard a notification in his head, "Communication System?" He blurted out. He did not know what happened, but when he mentioned that, a screen appeared before his eyes.
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[Tang Empire's Communication System]
List (2/20):
1. Cao Jingyi
2. Tang Shaoyang (Leader)
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[Tap Cao Jingyi's name, My Lord.] Origin gave an instruction, and Tang Shaoyang followed. When he tapped Cao Jingyi's name, three more options appeared.
[Call] [Massage] [Revoke the Access]
Tang Shaoyang soon realized this was basically a phone, more convenient than a phone in fact, "How do we get this communication system?"
[It's one of the rewards for upgrading the smart base to Level 3. As you upgrade the smart base more, you can add more than twenty people to the list. The reason we can build the wall is also that we have upgraded the base to Level 3.]
Tang Shaoyang's eyes shone as he wanted to know more about the newly upgraded base. But just what Origin said, this could wait for later while Jin Fan's cases needed to be solved immediately.
He tapped the [Call] option, he was calling Cao Jingyi. It really worked like a phone. Soon his call was answered by Cao Jingyi.
"Hello? Boss!?" He could hear Cao Jingyi's voice in his head. It was as if she spoke directly into his head. Also, he could feel the excitement from her words, "You have returned!?"
"Yes, we have returned. I need you to go back to the base immediately!" Tang Shaoyang replied flatly. He was disappointed with how Cao Jingyi's work, but it was his responsibility since he was the one who trusted her with the base. If he wanted to blame someone, he had to blame himself for leaving the base.
"Yes! I will return immediately!"