Chapter 28: A Demand for Dissolution!

Beyond the sight of the senior leadership at Yuncheng Second University, the Red Heart Society began identifying students from ordinary or middle-class backgrounds who felt marginalized by the social system and dissatisfied with the existing distribution of resources.

Students who were suppressed by their mentors and saw no hope for their future became the core recruits for the Red Heart Society. After all, only such individuals could truly become one of "their own."

Those who passed Lin Xue’s vetting process were brought before you to attend internal gatherings of the Red Heart Team. Due to the highly coveted benefits offered by the team, joining granted them a share of the spoils. Furthermore, they received monthly stipends of Primary Divine Crystals. Most importantly, the Red Heart Team was composed of like-minded individuals with shared ideals. They conversed joyfully and supported one another, allowing a sense of hope to rise within their hearts.

At this point, all you needed were a few impassioned speeches and genuine gifts—not empty promises—to secure their absolute loyalty. Under the influence of a unified salute and the baptism of victory slogans, they pledged themselves to you. Only those who offered their loyalty were truly accepted into the Red Heart Team and granted access to all the benefits you provided. The better you treated these loyalists, the more they defended you. Regardless of time or place, tying interests together remains the optimal solution for maintaining alliances. Under this positive feedback loop, the Red Heart Team began to expand rapidly.

"Lin Xue is quite the talent!" Lin Xia remarked with a click of his tongue. He had not expected that while he was busy making a fortune, Lin Xue would take up the mantle of developing the Red Heart Team and recruiting talent continuously. Of course, all of this was predicated on the influence of ample funding. Without the money and extraordinary resources he provided, the Red Heart Society would have been nothing more than a mediocre student organization at Yuncheng Second University. But now, with sufficient capital to fuel its operations, this student organization—a gathering of idealists—would unleash unimaginable power in the future.

In December of the 125th year of the Extraordinary Calendar, you invested all your available capital into purchasing Blazing Gold Oil. As the White Eagle Empire launched a new round of blockades and energy trade was disrupted, the price of Blazing Gold Oil soared. Your capital saw an explosive increase.

Seeing your success, Lin Xue and the others admired you even more. Looking at the staggering figures in the account, they began to roll up their sleeves, preparing for a massive expansion of the Red Heart Team. Before entering university, their dream had been simply to become First-Rank professionals. Now, being a First-Rank professional was merely their starting point.

However, you did not grant their request for expansion, choosing instead to use only a small portion of the funds to improve your own strength and that of the core quartet. Ideals and beliefs are passed down from the superior to the subordinate. If the newcomers joining the Red Heart Team were far stronger than Lin Xue and the others, their sense of reverence would naturally diminish. Those who could offer their loyalty to you could just as easily retract it. You were well-prepared regarding human nature. Therefore, you had to establish a new structure with yourself at the core and Lin Xue’s group as the foundation. Only in this way, and only in this way, could you avoid the chaos that would inevitably arise as the Red Heart Team grew.

You also needed to create a contribution point system within the team. After all, you did not establish the Red Heart Team out of charity to play the role of a philanthropist, and you had no need for slackers. Under your guidance, Lin Xue and her three companions reached level 10 and began their First-Rank advancement trials. With money paving the way, the trials were completed quickly. You reflected on this with a sigh: with money, an advancement trial takes only a few days; without it, a five-person team might spend years completing one.

The fact that Lin Xue and her companions became First-Rank professionals caused a sensation within the Red Heart Society. After all, it was rare for freshmen at Yuncheng Second University to complete their advancement. Those who could finish their first rank in the first semester usually did not attend second-tier professional universities.

In January of the 126th year of the Extraordinary Calendar, you used all your funds to purchase Adamantite. This move left the financial institutions that had been monitoring your cash flow deeply confused. It was common knowledge that Adamantite was the most stable extraordinary material on the futures market—period. Ever since the Federation's Third Battle Group discovered that large Adamantite mine on the front lines twenty years ago, its price had remained virtually unchanged. Every investor in the financial industry understood one rule: you could speculate on any commodity, but never on Adamantite. The potential gains were often lower than the transaction fees.

That same month, under your instructions, Lin Xue established the contribution system within the Red Heart Society. All members could take on tasks to earn points in exchange for extraordinary resources. Those who successfully joined the Red Heart Team could take on more tasks and redeem resources at discounted rates. Most importantly, members of the Red Heart Team received a monthly contribution point subsidy.

For a time, even more students at Yuncheng Second University joined the society. As the numbers grew and the society enforced its own unique standards, members began to prioritize their own group above others. Under the constant fermentation of these shared interests, they began to develop an exclusionary mindset. The most extreme among them took pride in their membership and disparaged anyone who was not part of the society.

The nightly atmosphere at Yuncheng Second University seemed to grow increasingly fanatical amidst the impassioned speeches of the Red Heart Society. With every cheer of "Total Victory," the society reached an unprecedented peak of influence. By the time the school leadership took notice, the society's emblems and salutes had flooded the campus; some students even greeted their professors with a solemn salute.

The school leadership urgently contacted Lin Xue, sternly stating that the existence of the Red Heart Society was severely impacting the survival of other student organizations. Hundreds of them had filed complaints recently. As administrators, they had to consider the opinions of the majority. Following a discussion by the leadership committee, they demanded that she dissolve the Red Heart Society immediately.