“Hello, Brother Tian, a small gift, nothing much, really.”

“Brother Tian, I know you’re close to Boss Chen. This gift is for him. Boss Chen is a busy man and hard to see, so I’m troubling you to pass it on.”

In front of Lin Tian, a small base leader was as respectful as if he were meeting his own father.

Lin Tian’s face broke into a wide smile, and he accepted everything without any hesitation.

Ever since he acknowledged Chen Luo as his boss, countless people had come to give gifts.

After leaving Lin Tian’s base, one of the small base leader's underlings resentfully said, “Boss, I just don’t get it. We can’t even see Boss Chen, what’s the point of giving gifts? Isn’t that just throwing money away? We can barely feed ourselves.”

The boss smiled calmly. “You don’t understand. Whether Boss Chen accepts them is his business; whether we give them is ours.”

“Praying to Buddha beforehand is always better than clutching at straws at the last minute.”

“Giving these gifts is actually showing our attitude. He may not know you gave them, but if you don’t, he might just write it down in his little notebook and settle the score when he gets the chance.”

The boss sighed, “Gift-giving is an art.”

Then he lamented, “I just don’t get it. Why does Boss Chen dote on Lin Tian so much, making him his dog and declaring publicly that anyone who provokes Lin Tian is provoking him?”

“Give me a chance, and I’ll definitely do a better job than Lin Tian, serving him comfortably.”

As for the gifts meant for Chen Luo, Lin Tian kept them all.

His trusted subordinate, Zhou Qiang, said worriedly, “Boss, isn’t this bad? What if Chen Luo finds out? We’ll be in deep trouble.”

Lin Tian waved his hand. “Qiangzi, you have to understand what we’re after, following Chen Luo around. It’s for the benefits. If there’s no benefit, if he doesn’t give us a drop of the pie, why should we lick his boots?”

“How can we support so many men without enough supplies?”

“A man cannot get rich without taking risks. It's the bold who thrive. How can you make it without courage?”

“Still waters run deep. Even if he finds out, I’m confident I can muddle through.”

“Once things settle down, we’ll organize some men and get our own batch of tortoise shells.”

Lin Tian didn't say something else. If he were to obtain a high-level crystal one day and his strength were to greatly increase, who knows who would be cleaning up who, Chen Luo trying to deal with his dog, or the other way around.

Right now, he had over 1,300 men under his command.

When he first came to Shendu, he only had a little over two hundred. His strength had exploded, far surpassing his previous life.

What did he rely on?

His good relationship with Chen Luo.

Many who didn’t meet the requirements for Chen Luo’s base would likely join Lin Tian’s, and these people could be considered quasi-elites.

Hoping to transfer to Chen Luo’s one day.

And some didn’t want to be ordinary underlings, hoping to find a base with connections and strength, where they could be mid-level managers.

Although Lin Tian had many men, he really didn’t have any trash.

Lin Tian called himself a dog, but he was doing better than many.

One day, Lin Tian’s long-awaited opportunity came.

A big shot from afar sent a batch of gifts to Lin Tian, taking the opportunity to say,

“Near me, there’s a base with mostly female survivors. Yesterday, they got a crystal about the size of a pebble. It might be an eighth-level or even ninth-level crystal.”

Lin Tian’s eyes sharpened. “Is that true? Don’t lie to me.”

The visitor laughed. “I saw it with my own eyes. I wouldn’t dare to lie to you, Brother Tian.”

Lin Tian nodded, guessing that this person definitely had some conflict with the other party and wanted to use him as a knife to kill.

That didn’t matter, as long as the crystal was real. After only one day, they definitely hadn’t absorbed much.

Lin Tian’s heart burned with excitement. If he got this crystal, his strength would definitely explode. If it was a ninth-level crystal, it might even allow him to advance to seventh level.

If he developed secretly for a while, he could go from being a dog to a man.

He had to get this crystal.

Lin Tian asked, “What’s the other side’s strength?”

“A little over four hundred people, but the leader is quite strong, rarely matched even among fifth-level cultivators.”

Lin Tian sneered. No matter how awesome a fifth-level was, he could only hold off a hundred fourth-levels at most.

Fifth-level, huh? I’m fifth-level too.

This crystal is mine for the taking.

After lunch, Lin Tian took over a thousand men and headed straight there, leaving almost no one behind at the base. Who would dare rob a dog with such an astonishing background?

It took Lin Tian over five hours to reach his destination.

Lin Tian instructed Zhou Qiang, “Qiangzi, you go and negotiate with them first, make them hand over the crystal voluntarily.”

Lin Tian didn’t want to blatantly rob them. Without thinking too much, there might be spies planted by Chen Luo in the base.

Once Chen Luo found out he had obtained a high-level crystal, he would definitely come to demand it, and Lin Tian knew he couldn’t refuse.

This had to be done quietly.

Lin Tian’s imposing appearance with a large number of men made the base immediately tense. Most of them were women.

The leader of this base was a woman, which was why the vast majority of the people in the base were women.

Her name was Xiong Wenhui, a rather refined name, but in reality, she was stronger than most men.

Zhou Qiang laughed. “Sister Xiong, hand over the crystal. It’s good for you, and it’s good for me. Otherwise, hehe.”

Xiong Wenhui cursed, “It must have been Zhou Chao, that bastard, who told you. Damn it, I’ll go kill him when I get back.”

Xiong Wenhui pointed at Zhou Qiang again. “Get out before I get angry. Do you think I, Xiong Wenhui, am easily scared? If you want to fight, then let’s fight.”

Zhou Qiang left with a livid face. Damn it, you stupid woman, you’re courting death.

After Zhou Qiang returned and reported the results, Lin Tian coldly gave the order.

“Kill them, leave the pretty ones.”

Killing Xiong Wenhui would naturally get him the crystal. To prevent the secret from leaking, Lin Tian was going to kill Xiong Wenhui anyway.

A battle with a huge disparity in numbers, close to 3 to 1, quickly unfolded.

In Lin Tian’s mind, with so many men on his side and such high-quality personnel, how could they not be a match for a group of women?

But Xiong Wenhui was able to establish this base and not be bullied, so of course she had the strength.

“Might of the Bear!”

Xiong Wenhui roared, and in Lin Tian’s shocked gaze, she transformed into a black bear over five meters tall.

This black bear was too strong.

Xiong Wenhui was a natural-type esper, mastering the power of transformation.

Xiong Wenhui’s strength at the peak of the fifth level, after transforming into a black bear, her strength and defense could increase by one level.

Among ordinary people, she was definitely considered top-tier strength.

The disadvantage was that her speed was a bit slow, and Xiong Wenhui could only maintain this state for less than ten minutes.

But that was enough. Slow speed was relative. Catching up with fourth-level cultivators was easy.

With the strength of a peak sixth-level, she could slap someone to death with a casual blow.

And it was difficult for Lin Tian’s side to harm Xiong Wenhui.

Slaughter.

Xiong Wenhui was unstoppable.

Watching his subordinates being slaughtered and Xiong Wenhui rushing toward him, Lin Tian said in horror, “My boss is Chen Luo, do you dare touch me?”

“I’m asking for the crystal for my boss. Don’t be ungrateful.”

Xiong Wenhui roared, “Chen Luo who? Xia Luo what? I’ve never heard of them. Die!”

Relying on his fifth-level wind-type ability, Lin Tian escaped from Xiong Wenhui’s grasp, and the rest also fled with their tails between their legs.

Xiong Wenhui chased for a while but didn’t continue. Her transformation had a time limit.

And Lin Tian, who had suffered a great loss, would definitely not swallow this anger. He couldn’t get the crystal from Xiong Wenhui with his own strength.