In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 44 The Benefits of Power

That evening, in Lu Zhao's room.

Zhang Like carried a box in and said with a big smile, "Old Lu, look what good stuff I brought you."

Lu Zhao had a bad feeling.

Under his gaze, Zhang Like placed the broken box on the ground, opened the lid, and a box of 'red gourds' came into view.

The red gourd-shaped ceramic vase is decorated with golden lotus flowers and the character "大郎" (Da Lang) on ​​its body.

Zhang Like took out a bottle of Duanmo and said, "Tsk tsk tsk, good stuff, good stuff indeed. This is a mid-level life supplement. Normally, they would never give it to our border station."

"Old Lu, would you like to try some...?"

He looked up and met a pair of dead fish eyes, which clearly showed disgust.

"What's your expression?"

Lu Zhao said, "Dogs and corrupt officials are not allowed to enter my place."

"I knew you couldn't say anything nice." Zhang Like didn't care and laughed, "If you don't take it, someone else will. You're so short of money, and you've been drinking life-sustaining supplements lately. I'm just taking pity on you and being a corrupt official for you this once."

"Moreover, this doesn't count as embezzlement. Mo Kun bought them all with his own money. Our station doesn't have any quota for intermediate life supplements."

Lu Zhao said, "Where did he get his money? It's hard to guess."

"You really don't want it?"

"No."

"You knew you wouldn't want to."

Zhang Like pulled a receipt from his pocket and said, "Mo Kun brought it to me to curry favor, but I didn't actually accept it. Instead, I bought it at the internal price."

"When you get promoted and make a fortune, you should drink Honghualang."

Lu Zhao glanced at the receipt, his expression gradually softening, and said, "The price is really cheap, one thousand a bottle."

The average market price for intermediate-grade life supplements is around 3,000 yuan. They have twice the energy density of lower-grade supplements, but contain fewer impurities and are more easily absorbed.

A thousand yuan a bottle is indeed the internal average price, but these days, besides money, quotas are the most important thing.

Many things cannot be bought with money; you need ration coupons.

“That’s the advantage of being within the Federation,” Zhang Like said. “Outside, many things are market-driven, where scarcity drives up prices. But within the Federation, we have a rationing system, and sometimes prices are even lower than cost.”

"That's one of the advantages of being in a high position; every bit of power has its benefits."

They had only temporarily taken control of a battalion-level unit when someone offered them a box of intermediate-level life-sustaining potions.

Zhang Like took stock of the items, then opened the refrigerator and stuffed them inside.

"There are nine bottles in total. Drink them sparingly, as this kind of good stuff isn't available every month."

Lu Zhao took out 20,000 yuan of his salary and handed it to Zhang Like, saying, "This is in addition to what I owed you before."

Zhang Like didn't even count, he just stuffed it into his pocket.

They don't need to feign reluctance; even brothers should keep clear accounts.

Lu Zhao hesitated for a moment, then said, "My vitality has reached 37 points."

"That's good. A higher level of vitality development will allow for faster advancement..."

Zhang Like suddenly looked up halfway through his last syllable and asked, "How much?"

Lu Zhao repeated, "To be precise, it's 37.4."

If he continues to work for the federal government, his level of life development will be impossible to hide. He will be subject to annual quarterly physical examinations and evaluations, and any promotions and benefits will be closely related to his level of life development.

Throughout history, there have been many late bloomers; many military commanders did not show their talents at the beginning.

Lu Zhao was a genius to begin with, and even if his life development progressed by leaps and bounds, there would be nothing to criticize. Zhang Like had supported him so much, and he couldn't repay him for the time being, so he could only express his support through life development.

Judging by the timeline, his next physical exam is in September, and by then he'll have already decided where he wants to go.

After reaching fifty points of vitality, I applied to transfer to the Chishui Legion, which is still engaged in local wars.

“37.4… You only had 35 points of vitality in early March, right? Our site only provides low-level vitality supplements, and you increased it by two points in half a year by relying on these supplements.”

Zhang Like was somewhat astonished, and the more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became.

Two points of vitality are boosted every four months, which adds up to six points over a year.

Lu Zhao's speed, achieved amidst his busy duties thanks to low-level life-sustaining potions, is truly genius among geniuses.

With this talent, there's really no need to be afraid of Lü Jinshan.

"At this rate, you'll reach fifty points of vitality by the year after next at the latest. At that time, you can change careers on your own and won't need to depend on anyone else."

Zhang Like grabbed Lu Zhao's shoulder, his face flushed, and said, "In the future, when you go to a better unit and get more resources, the development speed will only get faster and faster."

The federal administrative hierarchy is divided into eight levels: clerk, deputy clerk, chief clerk, official, adjutant, chief official, military officer, and palace guard.

Once they reach the rank of principal official, that is, the chief administrative officer at the prefecture level, they are all extraordinary individuals who start from the third rank.

Originally, Lu Zhao's resources were limited by his job rank, and his job rank was suppressed by the forces led by the Chen family, so it seemed that there was basically no hope of climbing up the ranks.

Given the current limited resources, Lu Zhao's rapid development shows that the Chen family simply cannot suppress him.

Now, Lu Zhao is like Sun Wukong, who is about to leave Wuzhi Mountain.

Zhang Like took out the 20,000 yuan he had just received and said with a smile, "Brother Lu, I'll lend you another 20,000 yuan. Remember to repay me a hundredfold when you become a county-level official."

"roll roll roll."

"I'm not kidding, you need to spend money to buy your life-sustaining supplement quota this month, right?"

Zhang Like stuffed the money back into Lu Zhao's hand, making it clear that he wanted to 'take advantage' of Lu Zhao no matter how much the other party tried to delay.

Even though the two were already very familiar with each other, Lu Zhao's mention of the level of life development still caused a change.

Zhang Like seemed even more excited than Lu Zhao, pacing back and forth in the room, counting on his fingers how many points would be developed in a year, and how many points in ten years.

The conclusion was that Lu Zhao would at least be a third-tier extraordinary being, and was expected to be promoted to a prefectural-level administrative official.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Lu Zhao pressed down the restless Zhang Like and asked, "How's the investigation into Lü Jinshan's brother going?"

Zhang Like replied, "His younger brother's name is Lü Bowen, and he runs three bars."

Lu Zhao asked with certainty, "So that means it's related to organized crime?"

“It’s hard not to be involved with organized crime.” Zhang Like shrugged. “He’s probably a local gang leader.”

In this era, the most profitable service industry is undoubtedly the bar.

Any bar can easily make over 90% profit; it's practically like picking up money off the ground.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg; the real bulk of the income comes from the gray market.

These places are havens for smuggled goods.

All sorts of contraband smuggled in, prostitutes and male prostitutes sold from Miye Sanjiang, and dirty money from various channels are all laundered through bars.

At the same time, running a bar also requires a gang to keep watch, and you need to train your own thugs. Gunfights may break out if necessary.

Anyone who can open a bar can't be clean; if they were, they wouldn't be opening a bar.

The post-cataclysmic era was already half-chaotic, and the Federation could only maintain general order, powerless to deal with the chaos lurking in the shadows.

(End of this chapter)