ccnovels #394 - Rookie and Famine
#394 - Rookie and Famine
This was the thirteenth day of Wang Ji Xuan's seclusion.
Zhou Zhengde, separated by one-way glass, gazed at the middle-aged uncle inside the room.
A middle-aged woman, dressed in loose hospital garb, was currently enjoying a massage from two maids.
Although it was one-way glass, there was also a curtain provided.
Moreover, this was not a prison cell, but a villa located on the surface, near the headquarters of the D5 Integrated War Zone.
Zhou Zhengde raised his hand and rubbed his brow.
He even felt that the world was full of unfairness.
He worked so hard every day, only getting six and a half hours of sleep; this uncle in front of him didn't have to do anything and was now enjoying the super-standard treatment of human civilization, even though he was just an engineer who was good at slacking off.
Instead of rushing over here, he might as well have found a place to sleep quietly.
The sound of high heels echoed from the side.
Zhou Zhengde crossed his arms and turned his head to look.
He was quite familiar with the person who came; it was Shen Qionglin, who had just returned from underground, petite in stature but with outstanding proportions, and also considered a popular figure in the headquarters recently.
"Professor Shen," Zhou Zhengde greeted with a smile.
Shen Qionglin nodded slightly, put her hands in the loose pockets of her white coat, and went to the glass window to observe inside.
She said, "Don't worry, the progress of this experimental subject's fusion is very normal."
Zhou Zhengde smiled and said, "I'm not worried about this place; this is just a branch of our many technology lines. Professor Shen's spirit energy armor has now been equipped in six assault brigades, which is a huge improvement for us."
"We still can't ignore the role of spirit practitioners."
Shen Qionglin said:
"You came to ask about Teacher Wang's recent situation?"
"Yes," Zhou Zhengde said, "I'm a little worried about him, and this information is top secret, so I can't check it. I was thinking that you just returned from the Earth's core world three days ago, so I came to take a look."
Shen Qionglin said, "Don't worry, he's always been fine, and he'll be the focus and core wherever he goes."
Zhou Zhengde raised his eyebrows.
Professor Shen's words sounded a bit unpleasant.
Zhou Zhengde asked, "Did he say when he would be back?"
"He didn't mention that," Shen Qionglin said, "He just said he was in seclusion with Gao Huating and Amina, and that they were going to practice dual cultivation."
Zhou Zhengde's spirits lifted: "Really?"
"It should be true."
Shen Qionglin smiled:
"He is now dominated by the demon heart, and he won't have any burden to kill or set fires, let alone a little relationship between men and women.
"How is the situation now?
"I just heard them say that the Blade Beasts are restless again.
"Presumably, they had me bring the four puppet teaching assistants over in advance because of this."
Puppet teaching assistants?
Zhou Zhengde had never heard of this top-secret information.
"What are those?"
"A kind of ancient civilization relic similar to a fully automatic machine," Shen Qionglin raised her glasses, "Very magical, they have not shown any signs of decay in the City Above the Clouds for hundreds of thousands of years, but when they leave the City Above the Clouds, they immediately start to rust… I'm worried now whether they can work smoothly for three months."
Zhou Zhengde looked at his watch.
"Okay, I'm relieved to know he's okay. I have a meeting later… Is there anything you need me to do personally? Professor Shen, don't be polite with me."
Shen Qionglin asked, "Didn't Xiang Tiantian come with you?"
"I'm here more for official business; she's protecting that fortress."
"Okay," Shen Qionglin said with some regret, "The snacks she makes are quite good. Next time if you want to come and see this new spirit practitioner, you can bring some of her snacks."
"No problem at all."
Zhou Zhengde turned his head and looked at the uncle again.
The latter had changed his posture and was starting to watch some precious videotapes left over from the Golden Age of humanity.
Zhou Zhengde asked in a low voice, "Do you think he can risk his life for humanity?"
"Who knows," Shen Qionglin said, "Why choose him? You have to ask Ms. Amina about that. It's probably just a probability."
Zhou Zhengde felt depressed when he thought of this.
"Brother Wang helped me improve my physique twice, but I still couldn't resonate. Maybe that's fate."
"Uh-huh," Shen Qionglin said, "What you get by luck will eventually be marked with a price by fate. Only what you get through your own efforts will not be easily taken away."
"Alright."
Zhou Zhengde shook his head.
Although it was a pity, it wasn't a big deal. Contributing to the survival of humanity was the goal in every position.
Shen Qionglin said, "You can convey to the higher-ups in D5 that if the Blade Beasts attack on a large scale again, please be sure to let me get the news as soon as possible before the war starts."
"Okay," Zhou Zhengde didn't ask why and nodded solemnly.
He didn't say much or ask any more questions, and looked at the leisurely middle-aged uncle a few more times.
He was the inheritor of the Wanda core circuit, recently confirmed, but not yet publicly announced, and was being 'stored' here as a secret weapon.
According to Amina, the fusion with the core circuit would be very painful, and this pain would probably last for five or six hundred days and nights;
But looking at this uncle's appearance…
The painful smile was a little too lascivious.
… …
At the same time.
Within the Arctic Circle, that human city whose lights were still bright.
Aunt Dragonfly stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window with her arms crossed, watching the lively parade on the ground.
People were protesting, protesting because they couldn't get enough to eat.
On the desk behind Aunt Dragonfly were two soft pieces of bread, which was the basic material guarantee that they, the spirit practitioners, could get.
The famine was getting more and more serious.
Aunt Dragonfly didn't know whether this should be considered a natural disaster or a man-made disaster.
She happened to be one of the officials in charge of distributing supplies in the Spirit Energy City, so naturally she was one of the few people who knew the most about these things.
How should I put it;
Now they can't wait to crush a steamed bun and mix it with sea fish meat to make ten fish meat steamed buns…
In order to solve the current food shortage problem, Aunt Dragonfly had done many things.
Including but not limited to increasing the number of greenhouses, increasing agricultural electricity consumption, and introducing excellent grain seeds cultivated in the fortress, and so on.
But these all take time;
If the food gap can't be filled within twenty days, hundreds of thousands of people will really starve to death here.
The extreme cold environment on the periphery also determined that the crowd could not transfer on their own. Becoming refugees would soon be swallowed by the extreme cold, and there were no supply points on the periphery.
Nowadays, although it has not yet reached the point of exchanging children for food, some unknown corpses have appeared in the corners of the city, and a lot of flesh and blood is missing from the corpses…
Aunt Dragonfly sighed.
A knock on the door rang.
"Enter."
Aunt Dragonfly frowned slightly, because she sensed a somewhat unfamiliar aura, a familiar aura.
And she was a little disgusted by this familiar aura.
The door opened, and a man and a woman stepped inside.
The man was naturally Meng Jin, wearing his signature gold suit, and bowed politely to Aunt Dragonfly.
Meng Jin said softly, "Is Minister Mai looking at the scenery?"
"If the anger and powerlessness of the people can also be called scenery, then I am indeed appreciating these."
Aunt Dragonfly said calmly:
"Vice-Captain Meng Jin has come in person, I wonder what for?
"Could it be that Vice-Captain Meng Jin has negotiated a new source of food with the military?"
"I don't have that ability."
Meng Jin also sighed, and a bit of melancholy appeared in his eyes:
"I didn't expect that the Spirit Energy City would be defeated so easily… Just close the food passage, use some clumsy excuses, and tell us that there is a famine in the fortress.
"Then they will tear up the contract in a fair and upright manner.
"It's a pity that Blade Beast meat cannot be eaten, otherwise the next step would be a good opportunity."
"Good opportunity?" Aunt Dragonfly frowned and asked.
"The Blade Beasts are moving."
Meng Jin smiled:
"It is estimated that within two to three days, the Blade Beasts will launch a major surprise attack. We have detected traces of a large number of Blade Beasts being mobilized.
"They are going to launch a large-scale operation towards the D8 Integrated War Zone.
"Four active pillar Blade Beasts, plus two pillar Blade Beasts whose awakening level is rapidly increasing, will form six major pillar combat forces."
"Why?" Mai Qingting asked, "Aren't the Blade Beasts afraid of Wang Zheng's demonic energy anymore?"
"We don't know this."
Meng Jin shook his head:
"But I want to remind Minister Mai that the Black Storm is the enemy of our Spirit Energy City.
"You are now a senior official of the Spirit Energy City…"
Mai Qingting's eyes became sharp: "Let me correct you, the Black Storm is the enemy of your ruling faction."
Meng Jin's face was very cold for a moment, but he quickly put on a smile and remembered the purpose of his visit.
"Come," Meng Jin raised his hand to invite, with a very gentlemanly demeanor, "Let me introduce you, this is Minister Mai Qingting, the famous Aunt Dragonfly, the representative of the Naturalist faction, and also a close friend of the Black Storm."
Then Meng Jin used his sexy baritone and said with a bit of exaggeration:
"Irresponsibly speaking, Auntie herself is a high mountain in our Spirit Energy City.
"The greater the influence of the Black Storm, the more stable her position will be."
Aunt Dragonfly chuckled and said calmly: "Perhaps you should also change your thinking and think about how to ask the Black Storm for your life; the two spirit practitioners have already reconciled with the Black Storm, do I need to remind you again?"
"Of course not," Meng Jin pointed to the girl he brought.
Aunt Dragonfly sized up the girl.
She was wearing a pure white dress, and radiated a powerful charisma from the inside out, with strength fluctuations indicating she was probably an A-level awakened esper.
A beam of holy light seemed to envelop her, bringing blessings from those ethereal gods.
This girl's physical appearance was also top-notch, no wonder Meng Jin was so attentive.
Taken a fancy to her?
Meng Jin said, "This is Miss Wan Linqian, she will be your assistant from now on."
"One more person to monitor me, won't make a difference, go report to the secretariat next door."
"Okay," Wan Linqian said softly, "Please take care of me, Minister Mai."
Meng Jin smiled and said, "Go report next door, don't be nervous, everyone here is on our side. We espers just have political differences... I have something to discuss with Minister Mai."
"Okay, thank you, Brother Meng."
Wan Linqian said娇滴滴.
Meng Jin showed a satisfied smile.
He loved hearing that address.
After Wan Linqian left, Meng Jin's smile vanished at light speed, and he stared intently at Aunt Dragonfly.
"Mai Qingting, I have no intention of directly clashing with you, but you better restrain yourself."
"Oh?"
The auntie supported herself on her swivel chair with both hands, and looked at Meng Jin with a smile:
"Vice-Regimental Commander Meng can't hold back so soon?
"Given the current state of affairs, the downfall of the ruling faction is a foregone conclusion."
Meng Jin said coldly, "Why didn't you sign the protein machine procurement plan? Do you want to see more people starve to death?"
Aunt Dragonfly smiled and said, "I can guess what you want to do with my toes. The function of the protein machine is probably not just to crush fish."
"Insects, animals, these things are all sources of protein."
"The human body too."
"We are trying to save people."
"You are just trying to save those who support you."
"That's better than watching everyone starve to death here!"
"It was you who had disagreements with the War Alliance, insisting on plundering the scavenger camps! The War Alliance cut off the food supply to let us experience how the scavengers survive!"
"Stop pretending," Meng Jin said coldly, "This is the last time I'm bringing up this issue, you better complete this signature as soon as possible."
Aunt Dragonfly didn't back down at all: "You can liquidate me at will."
Meng Jin nodded and turned to leave.
Aunt Dragonfly breathed a sigh of relief.
She clicked her tongue, her fingers running through her somewhat messy long hair, stirring it restlessly.
The auntie now hates her excellent perception ability;
She can always clearly hear the wails of those on the verge of death.
Ding ding.
A crisp bell rang from the drawer.
Aunt Dragonfly took out her dedicated communicator, the familiar avatar on it making her feel a little more at ease.
[Big Peony (Loyal Servant of Humanity): Auntie, how is the situation now?]
[Mai Xiaomei (Working Cow): It's getting worse and worse. The ruling faction is now also facing huge pressure. I thought they wouldn't care about the life and death of civilians.]
Ding ding.
[Big Peony: Uh, I'm asking about the deployment of the Blade Beasts. Has the war started yet? I'm now inside this airtight ancient civilization site, and I'm worried that the Commander-in-Chief will only report good news and not bad.]
[Mai Xiaomei: You've become something, huh.]
[Mai Xiaomei: Why are you all going to those places? Am I out of touch with you guys? I'm still suffering here to get food.]
[Big Peony: The famine in Esper City, right? Maybe you can ask the Commander-in-Chief. The Commander-in-Chief has just obtained a batch of ancient civilization technology, including how to remove the violent psionic energy from the Blade Beast meat. This is still what I specially selected, a technology that can be promoted.]
Mai Qingting's spirits lifted.
She couldn't wait to pick up the phone immediately, but reason quickly brought her to her senses.
This matter cannot be publicized too much.
The ruling faction of Esper City will not appreciate the charity of the human military, they will only think that this is what they deserve.
[Mai Xiaomei: Thank you for the reminder, this is a great help, I will let Esper City buy back this technology later. By the way, how is Wang Zheng doing recently?]
[Big Peony: The dual cultivation of the three people has just ended. Xiao Huating has withdrawn from the battlefield and is already a weak chicken cultivator. The dual cultivation with Amina is in full swing.]
Mai Qingting blinked, and suddenly felt very regretful.
Wang Daochang was so open-minded at heart.
She still thought that Wang Jixuan was a rigid and upright guy! She was too embarrassed to open her mouth last time!
[Big Peony: Hee hee hee, don't misunderstand, it's a serious dual cultivation. If a war breaks out, please send me a message in time, just a simple message is enough. Xiao Huating said that the commander will be able to leave seclusion in the next few days.]
[Mai Xiaomei: Understood.]
[Big Peony: Little sister is so good.]
Tch.
Aunt Dragonfly rolled her eyes and stuffed the communicator back into the drawer.
She crossed her arms and paced back and forth. Buying the technology was urgent, and the only price that Esper City could offer was these so-called high-end combat forces.
On the other side, at Peony's place.
She jumped down from the spire, landed lightly on the ground, and hurried back to the palace complex where Wang Jixuan was located.
There, two beams of pure white light soaring into the sky were slowly converging.
They didn't know what was happening inside, and Gao Huating was also confused, unable to understand Wang Jixuan and Amina's operations.
Inside the two beams of light, Wang Jixuan and Amina had their hands pressed against each other, and streams of colorful rays of light circulated back and forth within their bodies, transmitting back and forth through their arms as a bridge.
The two people's states of mind were exactly the same.
Calm as an ancient well, close to the Dao.