Chapter 357: The Burden of Authority

Not sure if it was excitement or just a habit, but he loved patting people on the shoulder.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

Overwhelmed by his excitement, Hong Tiangang couldn’t help but slap Yenir’s shoulder with his enormous, fan-like hand, his eyes burning with intensity.

In that moment, Yenir was left utterly speechless by the uncontrolled force of the pat.

To be honest, he never really cared much about Yenir.

There was no special reason—Hong Tiangang had already reached the pinnacle of Huaguo, ranking among humanity’s strongest fighters.

Despite Yenir causing a big ruckus by clinching first in the trial and stirring up trouble in the East Sea,

in the eyes of the battle-hardened top brass, Yenir was seen merely as a promising recruit with potential to become the next supreme commander. Beyond that, not much more.

Potential and actual performance are two different matters.

There are plenty of geniuses—way too many.

Super geniuses deserve attention, but it’s unrealistic to expect these ultra-elite warriors to fuss over someone like Yenir until he truly grows.

After all, given another ten or twenty years, Yenir could catch up to them.

And then?

The future is unpredictable—who’s to say what might go wrong?

Just as Lu Tianming had noted, the Military had already made major concessions in public. After all, a nation’s strongest war machine like Huaguo simply cannot compromise with an individual.

During these times, the Military’s influence was steadily declining while the political faction led by Li Xuanguo was increasing its voice, albeit with a gentler approach.

As for the East Sea incident becoming such a fuss, it was largely because Huaxia Battle Zone hadn’t seen a disaster in ages… Sixty years ago—no, even forty or thirty years back when stability in the Battle Zone was still a dream—it wouldn’t have been such a big deal.

Back then, the chaos was on a completely different scale.

It was true doomsday—a single misstep and provinces would fall one after another, with fatalities among Peak Third-Stage warriors reaching double digits. These peaceful years had dulled their vigilance, so even a disaster affecting a million people now commanded fierce attention.

For veterans like Hong Tiangang, who rarely voiced their opinions, the infighting among lower-level committee members was of no consequence.

If people died, so be it—let them fight it out. They could always replace them.

For them, what truly mattered was the authority held in Yenir’s hands.

Used wisely, it could turn the tide of external battles!

In fact, Yenir himself might not even realize it. Li Xuanguo’s initial dismissal of demands to revoke his status as an Awakener was largely not about Yenir’s exhibited potential,

but rather the significance of the spirit energy ore he brought back from the dungeon—and more importantly, the top Military brass believed he had uncovered some secrets, or perhaps even acquired them, related to the counter dungeon.

A sharp contrast to what Yenir had overlooked.

Before stepping out of the dungeon, his value wasn’t nearly that high.

In his previous life, the Military could only pin its hopes on Yenir reaching Fourth Stage; this time around, they’d never considered him in that light.

Thus, Yenir had in effect ‘overestimated’ his actual potential. In peacetime, raw strength isn’t everything.

“Yenir! Are you sure you can teleport an Awakener into the dungeon?!”

“Wait a minute—if you managed to survive this dungeon, did you pull Liang Lie in with you?”

“That’s not right… The authority only kicks in after the mission ends. Liang Lie has been hanging outside the whole time—I must be remembering correctly.”

Answering his own questions, Hong Tiangang stifled his thrill and couldn’t help but scrutinize Yenir once more.

“Getting so many spirit energy ores out—did you have to use your authority at the end?”

“How many more uses do you have left?”

“Do you have any way of acquiring a higher level of authority?”

“Tell me—how did you acquire it? And how on earth did you survive the counter dungeon? I heard you wiped out everyone in the opposing Battle Zone?!”

With a face full of questions, as if his curiosity had been piqued, Hong Tiangang’s usual stoic expression melted into one of satisfaction as he looked at Yenir.

At the same time, the other high-ranking officials exchanged intrigued glances his way.

None of them were fools.

At that moment, they all assumed Yenir’s bold actions were because he had this ace up his sleeve.

Too many questions.

A flicker in Yenir’s eyes told him that the situation was even better than he thought; he roughly guessed why Hong Tiangang and his cohorts were placing such high value on him.

“I can use it… two more times.”

“Not only can I teleport an Awakener into the counter dungeon, I can also control its opening time—and even let people in early.”

“What?!”

“Aren’t you supposed to have D-level authority?! How do you possess such abilities?!”

As his words faded, a top general from the Air and Space Corps, standing behind Hong Tiangang, was visibly stunned—his mouth slightly agape—and Hong Tiangang’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.

Other abilities? This is D-level authority, for goodness’ sake!

At the same time, the Prime Minister and Hu Zhiping couldn’t help but exchange glances.

They didn’t want the Military to have such a deep-rooted impression of authority, but both had entered countless dungeons before—and in that instant, the value of the authority Yenir mentioned hit them hard.

Controlling the opening time meant seizing the initiative—getting in early equated to an unbeatable position!

In a counter dungeon, that’s practically the same as cheating!

All grievances against Yenir were suddenly forgotten.

It was simply unbelievable.

After a brief moment of shock, fearful that Yenir might not grasp the power of the authority he held, Hong Tiangang drew a deep breath, his face turning serious as he spoke:

“Yenir, you might be too young to know how to wield authority properly!”

“Let me tell you, in the counter dungeon, if you use this thing right, we can screw over so many people!”

“Listen to me—after this meeting, I’ll have that kid Zhao Hongtu contact you immediately! We’ll figure out how to maximize the use of your authority and pull off something huge!”

“These surrounding minor nations—we’ve suffered too many losses over the years from their alliances! With this authority, we can make them pay with blood!”

Almost as if echoing the thought that had crossed his mind when Yenir first obtained the authority, several Military generals exchanged knowing glances, each with the same idea flashing in their minds.

A counter dungeon! Use the authority to take down the Awakener forces in the hostile Battle Zones!

Strike back!

It would be a chance to avenge past humiliations!

The only regret was that, in their eyes, the authority Yenir had acquired was solely for the Zombie Nation Dungeon.

That dungeon had an entry limit—only mid-level Awakener could get in.

If it were a high-intensity, Battle Zone-level dungeon, it might well be capable of taking down even Peak Third-Stage fighters! If only that were the case, it would significantly ease their burdens!

However, before they could discuss the details with Yenir, he suddenly spoke in a slightly odd, subdued tone:

“Hmm, is it possible that I’ve already done that?”

“After wrapping up the dungeon, I made a quick trip to the Japan-Korea Dungeon line and put on a little show for them.”

“I intended to screw them over.”

He said this with absolute seriousness.

After Yenir finished speaking, a bitter expression seemed to flash before his eyes.

It was the face of Zheng Cheng.

He had fulfilled the final ‘last wish’ promised on his deathbed.