Guo Shanni was back quickly — and Ding Jikai had come with her.

"Camp Hu! A rare visit. I wonder if you'd honor us with dinner tonight — the members of the Xinyi City Trade Association have been looking forward to meeting you for some time." Ding Jikai's manner was warm and deferential, his smile easy.

Shen Cong's expression didn't change. "Manager Ding. Has my shortfall been paid back?"

Ding Jikai's face shifted into something more complicated. "Well... Camp Hu, we have a table reserved tonight at the Xinyi Grand Hotel. I'd be very glad to explain the Trade Association's origins in more detail over dinner."

"Explain them now."

"That's... difficult to do here."

"Do it here anyway." Shen Cong's tone dropped flat, and his pressure aura opened. "You all seem to have forgotten — I'm the camp administrator of Xinyi City."

Ding Jikai was a jin person. The pressure hit him like a weight across the shoulders. His forehead was wet within seconds. "Camp Hu, please — let me explain."

"Explain."

Ding Jikai looked to either side. Guo Shanni read the situation and stepped away. He lowered his voice.

"Camp Hu, the Trade Association wasn't organized by our side — not the companies that came up from Xuyi County. I know what you're capable of, and none of us had much enthusiasm for this arrangement. But the one who set it in motion was..." He paused. "Colonel Li Xicheng."

Li Xicheng. A junior officer before the Apocalypse; an iron person afterward, his carrier vehicle a tank that had since been rebuilt into an armored car. Multiple commendations for performance in jin beast combat operations. Currently a Colonel, commanding the 31st Group Army's Motorized Infantry Battalion — unit number 004 — and a Military Committee member.

Shen Cong had met him. At the last Military Committee session. They'd even shaken hands briefly — primarily so Shen Cong could take a read on his levels. Talent 1.714H. Close to the Lv1 era threshold himself.

"Why did he establish a Trade Association?"

"Colonel Li wants to make money. The 004 unit is…