Recruitment

Xu Yue’s appearance caught everyone present off guard, leaving them somewhat bewildered.

But that did nothing to diminish the hatred of those four Holy Saints of Heaven.

"Ha! You actually dare show your face in front of us?!"

"Idiot, you sent everyone away yourself. You’re courting death!"

"We’ll make you repay everything you gave us along the way, with interest!"

Seeing those four still unable to grasp the situation, baring their fangs and shouting threats, Xu Yue could not help but sigh.

"As expected, you’re only formal Reincarnators. Compared to your predecessors, your judgment is far too poor. You clearly saw me send everyone away. Don’t tell me you really thought I was just being careless?"

Xu Yue’s smile remained as refined and gentle as ever.

Yet his words made the four men’s savage expressions shift from ferocity to confusion, then to utter shock.

⊙▂⊙

Something seemed wrong…

"Y-you’re a Reincarnator!"

"Impossible, that can’t be…"

"Y-you…"

They had indeed let hatred cloud their minds at first, but after Xu Yue had made things so clear, their stiff brains were still capable of making the connection.

If he was a Reincarnator, then someone who could hire Konoha jonin, someone who had gained such status in this Mission Space, was not an existence that four formal Reincarnators like them could possibly contend with!

The Laborer Group members also looked stunned. This miserly employer who had hired them all the way here was actually a Reincarnator?

If he truly was a Reincarnator, then from their first meeting until now, he really had treated them quite well.

They had thought it was merely something a peculiar, miserly employer had done on a whim. Now, it seemed he had genuinely been looking after them.

"There’s nothing impossible about it. Isn’t reality right in front of you? I need to leave one person alive to deliver a message, so the four of you may choose one person to survive."

Xu Yue’s smile was still so heartwarming, but his words sent a chill rising from the depths of their hearts.

"What are you afraid of?! Maybe he’s only good at making money. If he were truly powerful, why wouldn’t he have taken part in that historical scenario that night? We’re dead either way—let’s attack together!"

The man who had dealt with the Laborer Group and had been the first to speak earlier wore an indignant expression.

Red steam then burst from his entire body.

The other three also brought out their trump cards. Violent force swept through the cramped cabin.

The Laborer Group members could barely keep their footing, their faces filled with horror.

So this was what people from a large legion were like?

Their reputation was well deserved!

Plop~

The only Holy Saint of Heaven who charged forward was smoothly split in two.

His body was severed at the waist and fell to the floor in two pieces. His upper body was still letting out shrill screams as he struggled desperately, reaching for his spilled organs and trying to stuff them back inside.

"You tricked me!"

"You bastards!"

Even though a Reincarnator’s vitality was much stronger than normal, after struggling for a while, he quickly lost strength. His movements grew smaller and smaller.

Xu Yue looked at the other three, who were putting on a grand display but refusing to make a move, and smiled faintly.

"You all have your little tricks."

The remaining three, including the man who had first urged everyone to attack, exchanged glances with slight embarrassment.

Damn it, why hadn’t those two attacked?

"Ahem… Sir, it’s three choices now. Why not tell us what you require? We can compete for it."

It was still the first man who spoke.

"It’s nothing much. Just deliver a message for me. From now on, the Laborer Group belongs to our Penguin Merchant Guild. Anyone who touches them should consider the fates of Mermaid and Rothschild. Oh, and give De Gaulle my regards."

Xu Yue spoke lightly, but the more they listened, the more terrified they became!

Could he be the big shot from the Penguin Merchant Guild who had single-handedly slaughtered the entire Mermaid?

And what did that last part mean?

Could it be that Lord De Gaulle and the others had fallen at this man’s hands?!

There were two possibilities for De Gaulle’s "rebirth." In one, he would not remember how he had "died." Letting him know that the Penguin Merchant Guild was responsible would be enough to form a sufficient deterrent.

The other possibility was that he remembered his death. If he did, then he would naturally understand that the Konoha Anbu with Force Sense was a Reincarnator. That would serve as a warning as well. Either way, Xu Yue’s goal would be achieved!

But one thing still puzzled those men.

"W-what happened to Rothschild? We haven’t heard any news about them…"

One of them asked cautiously, wanting to understand Xu Yue’s intentions as thoroughly as possible so that he might be the one chosen in the end.

"Oh, there isn’t any news yet. But after this scenario ends, there might be."

Xu Yue looked unconcerned. Then, lowering his head to glance at the two halves of the body on the floor, he continued casually.

"Also, there’s no need to choose. The person has already been selected—the one on the ground."

Black threads like blood vessels then stitched the two sections of the body back together.

The organs on the floor, along with other messy debris, were all stuffed back inside.

After a blood vessel pierced his heart, the stitched figure "came back to life" and let out a painful scream.

"Ah!!"

The grotesque stitched wounds made his entire appearance hideous.

He still seemed somewhat dazed.

The three men behind him, as well as every member of the Laborer Group, felt their scalps go numb.

Then the man who had spoken first desperately tried to salvage the situation.

"Wait, sir, we have intelligence…"

"No need. I can take the intelligence myself."

The Mangekyo pattern flashed in his eyes. He swept his gaze over the three men, and in the next moment, all three heads exploded at once, splattering red and white matter across the floor.

"Oh? They even triggered a confidentiality agreement. There really was some intelligence."

After his eyes returned to normal, Xu Yue was somewhat surprised.

However, since the confidentiality agreement had been triggered when Tsukuyomi reached critical information, even if the three had wanted to confess voluntarily, it would still have triggered the agreement they had signed. There was no difference.

Still, the information revealed that the Holy Saints of Heaven should be preparing some major operation. Otherwise, they would not have mobilized even formal Reincarnators and forced them to sign such harsh agreements.

But it did not matter. No matter what they were planning, it could not be in this Mission Space. De Gaulle had already been sent back to the city, so what could they possibly do now…

The recruitment of the Laborer Group went exceptionally smoothly—so smoothly that even Xu Yue was caught off guard. He had not even used half of the time he had reserved.

The French laborers’ current situation was truly too awkward. During World War I, because of the role they played, they had been treated fairly well. At the very least, they were merely made to do hard labor and were not mistreated without cause.

But their recent encounters showed that once the Laborer Group no longer had any value, anyone could oppress and bully them at will.

After being oppressed for so long, even the slightest hope of becoming "normal people" again was more than enough for them to devote everything they had, to give everything of themselves!

Before Xu Yue even brought up the matter of contracts, they had voluntarily signed the harshest confidentiality agreements.

The moment there was even the slightest risk of information leaking, the Space’s execution mechanism would automatically activate!

Their agreements were even harsher than the contracts signed by the three men whose heads had exploded.

For those three, the contract’s compulsory measures would not trigger unless critical matters were asked about. Through indirect probing, Xu Yue could still learn something of the general direction. At the very least, he knew they had a special operation underway.

But these laborers, who had been suppressed far too severely, had actually voluntarily signed contracts that would trigger compulsory measures if they were hypnotized or if there was any risk of information being leaked, all to seize this opportunity.

The terms were far harsher than Xu Yue had originally intended.

Even within China, it would be difficult to get other Chinese people to sign such agreements. Among the major legions, perhaps only a small number of Death Warrior units could achieve this.

Ordinary Reincarnators could not accept such restraints either.

This showed just how desperately these laborers longed for a normal life, how much they looked forward to the future, and also… how numb they had become toward life itself…

Since you all trust me, I naturally won’t let you down…

______________

Finally caught up… T-two updates…

Also, the matter of the messenger having some memories they should not possess erased will not be described in detail. You can fill in similar details yourselves.