Chapter 732: Chapter 525: A Critical Emergency, Arrival of the Zuiyu

"Zuiyu?"

Qin Tian was momentarily taken aback when he heard this, but then he remembered that Zhuge Yu had previously mentioned this unique group during a casual conversation.

Zuiyu, in essence, is a special forces unit of the Empire composed of convicts.

According to the Empire’s prison system, if an inmate performs outstandingly well in prison and receives joint approval from both the warden and supervisory staff, they can apply to join Zuiyu.

Once approved, they wear specialized micro-shackles as they leave prison to carry out tasks for the Empire, earning merits to deduct their sentence. Those who excel remarkably can earn sentence reductions or even complete pardons.

This system has obvious advantages: firstly, it greatly motivates inmates to proactively reform, aiming for the opportunity to join Zuiyu and reduce their sentence; secondly, it allows the Empire to effectively utilize this "special resource," transforming inmates’ abilities into actual combat power or production value, achieving a win-win situation.

Throughout the Empire’s thousands of years of history, there is no shortage of legends emerging from Zuiyu—some have risen from being prisoners to senior military commanders of the Empire, even ranking among the famous generals and leaving their names in history.

More importantly, Zuiyu doesn’t only recruit soldiers or spiritualists.

Individuals with special skills, whether experts in fields like alchemy and artifact refining, or professionals in auxiliary fields such as finance, accounting, or engineering construction, can all earn merits and reduce their sentences through the Zuiyu program as long as they have a skill and meet performance requirements.

Having understood this information, Qin Tian asked expectantly, "Sir, do you mean... to deploy Zuiyu to the Ice Extreme Pass?"

On the other end of the communication, Yang Zheng’s hearty laugh came through: "Smart! I’ve specially selected a group of Zuiyu talents for you, each with extraordinary skills. Do you want them?"

"Of course! I’ll take them all!" Qin Tian almost blurted out, eyes shining with zeal. He was currently short on manpower. Whether they were virtuous citizens or criminals redeeming themselves, as long as they had real skills to help him advance the development of the Ice Extreme Pass, he would welcome them. The more, the better.

"Haha, you’re certainly not holding back at all!"

Yang Zheng was amused by his candid attitude, speaking with a bit of banter, "Alright, no more beating around the bush. I’ve already prepared the people for you, and they can arrive at the Ice Extreme Pass this afternoon. I’ll send you the relevant documents shortly. Among them, a few have extremely solid skills that can definitely help you solve big problems."

"Thank you, sir! This support couldn’t have come at a better time!"

Qin Tian was overjoyed. The Baihu Corps filled his gap in military power, and Zuiyu could supplement the shortage of various technical and administrative talents. With the arrival of these two groups of people, his most pressing and urgent problems were directly resolved.

"Work hard. Marshal Lin and I have high expectations for you." Yang Zheng’s tone regained some seriousness, offering a few simple words of advice before hanging up the communication.

Just as the call ended, Qin Tian’s smart wristwatch displayed a notification for a file receipt.

He immediately raised his hand to swipe open the screen, his fingertips quickly scrolling as he opened the file sent by Yang Zheng.

The contents were very detailed, including the structuring of the Baihu Corps, the resumes and combat power information of the main commanders, and the full set of information on over 800 Zuiyu members—including original charges, sentences, specialized fields, skill ratings, and other key information.

Qin Tian found a nearby stone bench to sit on, his fingers swiftly flipping through the data.

Soon, he locked onto those few individuals in the Zuiyu dossier that Yang Zheng had specifically mentioned, his eyes showing a hint of admiration: "Indeed, they are rare talents..."

......

"We are about to reach the destination! Everyone, stand up immediately!"

In the spaceship cabin, the supervising officer’s deep command broke through the dull atmosphere.

Hundreds of Zuiyu members clad in uniform gray prison uniforms responded, standing up in unison and quickly forming a squared formation, their movements tinged with the mechanical and constrained manner honed in prison.

The squad stood firm, and the supervising officer’s gaze swept over them like a hawk, his tone indisputable: "Listen carefully, the spaceship is about to dock at the Ice Extreme Pass on the Mingwang Planet. From today onwards, your place of reformation will change to here, and everything subsequently will be coordinated by the Guardian Envoy of the Ice Extreme Pass!"

"Mingwang Planet?!"

Those three words hit like an ice shard into a boiling pot of oil, instantly causing a muted commotion in the cabin. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Many people’s faces changed dramatically, and their mouths involuntarily drooped down. As long as anyone had some common sense, no one would be unaware of the horrors of the Mingwang Planet.

As the only planet among the nine satellites of the Royal star that is unfit for human survival, it is perennially frozen, with temperatures plummeting to minus one hundred degrees. Even Tier Three Spiritualists couldn’t last half a day without full top-tier cold-resistant gear.

And among them, many were just of ordinary physique; wouldn’t it be living hell for them to be here!

Someone secretly clenched their fists, their fingertips turning white, filled with bitterness and regret. If they had known they would be sent to such an extreme situation, they might as well have served their sentence quietly in prison.

The supervising officer ignored the crowd’s reaction and continued in a deep voice: "From now on, your safety and sentence deductions will be handled by Guardian Envoy Qin Tian. I remind you, General Qin is a Royal Major General, an actual Tier Seven powerhouse! Serving under him is the chance of a lifetime for you—perform well and, with merits, completing your sentence and reuniting with your family within a year or two is not just a dream!"

"Major General? Tier Seven powerhouse?"

Suddenly, low exclamations arose from the crowd.

Someone raised their head sharply, their eyes filled with amazement and delight. Working under such a prominent figure means access to higher-level tasks, naturally offering more opportunities to earn merits and reduce their sentence. Perhaps they could indeed shed these damned prison uniforms and shackles sooner!