Enforcer Manual
Chapter 308: Art Originates from Life_1

Chapter 308: Chapter 308: Art Originates from Life_1

"Director, I, I don’t think this is right,"

Song Lan found himself taking on more and more roles: head of both the Psychological Counseling and Publicity departments, Human Resources manager, and now, to top it off, an agent for Lu Xiang.

But even as his responsibilities multiplied, his salary didn’t see a corresponding rise; he was still only getting the standard department head pay of just over ten thousand watts a month, with the best perk being emergency treatment packs from the trauma team.

To him, that benefit was as good as none.

Because he was usually the one sending others to the trauma team for emergency care.

"I’m doing the work of four people but only get paid for one – you think I’m at a loss, I think I’m at a loss too."

"Hmm, you do have a point,"

After some thought, Lu Xiang took a familiar card out of the drawer, "Here, take my salary card, buy yourself some stuff to keep healthy."

"That’s not the issue! It’s that I have absolutely no experience as an agent!"

He might manage to scrape by with the other three departments, but being an agent was a serious matter, central to Lu Xiang’s future, and he had zero experience as an agent in his two lifetimes combined.

"It’s fine, just having the title is enough. If another agency comes looking for me, I’ll just say I’ve already signed with someone else."

Lu Xiang remembered reading in "A Love Tip Every Day" that one way to gently reject a confession was to claim you already had a boyfriend. She figured it worked the same with economic companies.

Of course, the book also mentioned some tricky characters who would persist even after you tell them you have a boyfriend. For such people, the love tip suggested was to bash in their skulls.

With Lu Xiang’s insistence, Song Lan had no choice but to take on the role of a nominal agent.

However, he was a responsible man.

So, as soon as it was lunch break, he left the Law Enforcers department under the pretense of "advanced study" and went to the garbage dump’s public lounge.

Father Bruno, valiant in the face of danger, accepted his consultation.

Song Lan always felt that in some ways, the Lunar Eclipse Sect was quite adept at mastering the fan economy; they had not only seized the third country but had also cultivated a group of die-hard fans, among whom Father Bruno was a standout.

Actually, having spent some time in the dump, Father Bruno had long wanted to discuss this issue with someone.

He acknowledged that the evolution method of the Sector Seventeen Devourers was unique, and the Mechanical Bug Swarm was quite an eye-opener, but their internal faith and propaganda system were lacking. Researchers like Medea didn’t pay any attention to these things at all, resulting in a lack of ideological construction within the Bug Swarm.

The arrival of Song Lan made him realize that there were still people who recognized the importance of the ideological battlefield.

"All in all, the biggest issue with the Bug Swarm right now is that we don’t have a systematic belief system,"

Father Bruno offered his professional opinion, "Firstly, we need to design a distinctive emblem."

As he spoke, Father Bruno presented a propaganda brochure with the Lunar Eclipse symbol, "This is the Lunar Eclipse Sect’s pamphlet. Just showing this emblem to others immediately identifies one as a Believer of the Lunar Eclipse Sect. It’s not just the sect — the Barrosa Group, every Rebel Army, major companies, even the United Government, they all have their unique emblems. So, what’s ours?"

This soul-stirring question left Song Lan speechless.

But clearly, Father Bruno wasn’t about to let it go, "And what do we call our organization?"

"I think Mechanical Bug Swarm is pretty good, really —!"

Dr. Bai Zhu, who had come to the public lounge to make coffee, witnessed this hair-raising scene, left her half-finished hot coffee aside, and raised her voice to shout at the two, "Leave the emblem to me and Medea to handle."

Dr. Bai Zhu’s urgent tone puzzled Father Bruno.

It was just a few days ago he had approached Medea about this matter, and she had seemed utterly indifferent.

Xinyue and the "Heavy Cannon" mercenary team were quite interested in this project, but obviously none of them were skilled at designing emblems. They spent an afternoon in discussion in the public lounge with no substantial progress.

But Dr. Bai Zhu took the initiative to undertake the design of the insignia, which turned out to be a good thing.

"Next is the issue of the Bug Swarm leader’s image,"

Father Bruno advanced the topic to the next stage, "The image of the leader is crucial."

"Can’t we just use a photo of Director Lu?"

Song Lan felt that Lu Xiang’s image was very good in itself, no need for makeup or retouching. The only flaw was that Lu Xiang didn’t like to take photos; the last time she had a candid shot was from a movie premiere she attended.

"No, the image needs to give people enough room for imagination."

...

In the evening, after finally dealing with trivial commissions such as stolen cars and lost cats, Lu Xiang stretched languidly, feeling exhausted. She had come to a deeper understanding of "corporate people" in recent times.

For instance, these people had a lot of problems.

Just as she was about to leave the office early and head home, someone pushed the door open.

The first thing that caught her eye was a nearly two-meter-tall oil painting, which reminded her of the pieces in the galleries of the Core Region.

Only, the subject of this painting was set against the backdrop of the year 2166.

The unique style of the oil painting made the background appear more ethereal and magical. The figure in the painting had her back to Lu Xiang, and from the slender silhouette, one could tell it was a woman. The religious sanctity and the technologically advanced city in the painting contrasted sharply with one another.

As she observed the painting, Song Lan already brought over a chair and hung the painting on the wall.

"What’s this?"

If she remembered correctly, there was no art gallery in District Seventeen. Those artworks that became priceless due to the war surely couldn’t have ended up here.

"This is you."

After hanging the painting, Song Lan wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead with a look of satisfaction, proud of the result of his day’s hustling.

"This is me?" Lu Xiang was confused, "How does this look like me?"

At first glance at the painting, she instinctively thought it depicted some religious figure from the year 2166.

"Father Bruno said the leader’s image should leave room for imagination. Who would have thought, with his bushy brows and big eyes, he could actually paint,"

Song Lan had witnessed the creation of this painting from scratch, which made him reflect on how Father Bruno was an artist held back by the Lunar Eclipse Sect.

"Director, haven’t you heard? Art comes from life but is higher than life."

"Wait a second."

Lu Xiang had an ominous premonition, "You’re not planning to post this painting online as a promotional portrait, are you?"

She thought this was much worse than photoshopping images; she couldn’t even recognize herself in the painting.

"No, this is for the internal propaganda of our Mechanical Insect Swarm. After all, we are a tribe with thousands of members."

99% of this tribe’s members consisted of mutated creatures.

"When I arrived, Ge Fu was even consulting with the Horn Bug and King Bug for their opinions. They thought it perfectly suited your brutal yet majestic image."

"Brutal is not a compliment."

"For Horn Bugs, there is no higher praise."