Wasteland Border Inspector-Chapter 283 - 125: Infrastructure Meeting—Let Fists Do the Talking! (Part 3)

"There’s no one in the city with the skills you’re talking about," Zhao Kai didn’t even bother to open the folder, speaking directly, "Even if we had the information, we’d have to organize a group to study it to death before they can teach others, all while risking learning inadequacies during construction. Do you think this fits the current situation?"

"This is already the optimal solution devised by the Public Works Bureau."

Lanni slammed the table, "If you’re unwilling to even organize the learning, what then? You want the Deputy Minister of the Public Works Bureau—me—to lead by example and lay bricks for you?"

"Ha, I’m just explaining to everyone what your so-called weakness really means." Zhao Kai leisurely adjusted his sleeve, "Getting anxious?"

"Me, anxious?" Lanni smiled with a sneer, "Since last year, which batch of workers reported by your Human Resources Bureau has truly met our standards? These things have been said so many times in meetings; before, they could be glossed over, but bringing it up now hits your sore spot, doesn’t it?"

"Meet the requirements?" Zhao Kai also flared up, suddenly standing up, "What kind of impossible requirements has your Public Works Bureau set? Workers must be under 25 and have 5 to 10 years of skilled experience. Do workers in your family start honing their skills in the womb? Also, why do workers over 35, who are just as skilled, get paid ten percent less than younger ones? Every time this nonsense comes up, isn’t it always me cleaning up the mess?"

"Nonsense!" Lanni’s face flushed instantly, "Those old workers you recommend talk a great game but their work is worse than bad. Over this past month, pipes have burst in the Buffer Zone, and I’ve had to personally go invite them in the middle of the night for repairs. You think I pay them high wages just to show that the Public Works Bureau is a sucker?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Zhao Kai stepped away from the table, moving half a step forward, "A lot of people can’t even get six hours of rest a day, yet you make them come in for night shifts. Are you trying to work them to death?"

The meeting room exploded.

They were arguing again!

Usually, the Public Works Bureau dislikes the workers that the Human Resources Bureau recruits for being either too inexperienced or too overconfident, and the Human Resources Bureau complains that the Public Works Bureau’s demands are unrealistic. Coupled with old grievances like salary systems and assessment standards, it was like a stack of dry firewood, just waiting for a spark.

And this time, the Outer City construction was precisely the spark. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Enough!" Hou Rui slammed the table, his gold wire glasses sliding down to his nose, "Is this the time for arguing? What we need are solutions, not blame-shifting!"

But Zhao Kai and Lanni didn’t take his words to heart at all.

Especially Zhao Kai, who suddenly turned his head, the veins on his neck pulsing visibly, "Get out of the way! I’m sick and tired of your wishy-washy attitude! How can solutions be implemented without clear communication? Who the hell is blame-shifting here?"

"What’s your solution then?"

Hou Rui’s voice suddenly escalated, his body slightly lifting off the ground, his feet hovering half an inch above as a faint white glow emanated from him, his intimidating aura spreading like invisible waves.

But a moment later, a deep voice cut through the waves like a boulder, instantly suppressing all the agitation:

"Hou Rui, calm down."

Turning around, they saw that Carl Dickinson from the Extraordinary Faction had stood up at some point.

His shiny bald head was slowly etched with mysterious blue and gold patterns on the skin’s surface, like living creatures flowing beneath.

The originally muddled pupils were now faintly glowing, and wherever his gaze fell, even the air seemed to stiffen slightly.

The Human Resources Bureau is a subordinate faction of the Extraordinary Faction, so he naturally wouldn’t allow Hou Rui to resort to force to solve the problem.

If the Technology Faction members were allowed to use force here, what would become of the Extraordinary Faction’s reputation?

"What, you want to teach me how to do things?"

Hou Rui slowly turned his body, locking eyes fiercely with Carl Dickinson.

An intangible aura rapidly accumulated between the two, like two thunderclouds compressed to the extreme.

All the pent-up anger from yesterday’s meeting, all the frustrations from ideological conflict, all influenced by the Extraordinary’s peculiar obsessions...

Nobody shouted ’begin,’ nor did anyone set rules.

Boom.

A piercing explosion suddenly tore through the air, and the two figures vanished from the conference room like afterimages.

The once solid gray brick wall shattered noisily, instantly creating two irregular large holes, with broken bricks and cement blocks cascading down like a waterfall, far more dramatic than when Liu Kun was sent flying last time.

Next, a thunderous boom erupted outside the conference room, shaking all the glass with a buzzing resonance.

Almost simultaneously, a semi-transparent, pale blue shield suddenly rose up from the ground, entirely enveloping the conference room.

The Source Rail barrier from Firewood blocked outside prying eyes and firmly contained all impacts and sounds within, preventing them from affecting the ordinary people in the Inner City.

The people still in the meeting were initially stunned, then rushed to the broken holes and windows, peering out nervously.

Outside on the open ground, the two figures clashed and intertwined at speeds difficult for the naked eye to capture.

Hou Rui was enshrouded in a silver-white energy stream, and each punch he threw carried a sharp whistle that tore through the air.

When his fist collided with Carl, circular shockwaves of energy could even be seen forming.

While Carl exhibited a completely different style, his body didn’t radiate energy outward but could twist like liquid metal. Many times, when Hou Rui’s fist seemingly reached his face, it would pass by inexplicably due to Carl’s bizarre contortions.