"Captain Huo, don't you have work to do lately? Why do you always show up in my place? Do you want to know what's going on in the farm too?" Liu Jun glanced at Huo Antong again while speaking, then continued feeding her son.
"It seems that I'm not welcomed here…" Huo Antong smiled helplessly.
"We don't know each other well," Liu Jun reminded him.
'We're not friends, so there're some questions you should not ask.' That, was what she really wanted to say.
Huo Antong couldn't maintain the smile on his face. As Liu Jun paid no attention to him at all but only focused on her son, he took a deep breath, then smiled and said goodbye to her. Watching him leave, Liu Jun curved her lip corners in a cold smile. Under the cosmetic contacts, her eyes glowed with a weird light.
On the other side, Huo Antong wore a sullen face while leaving. He wasn't expecting Liu Jun to be so vigilant. Once he mentioned the Chief lady, she would interrupt him.
It was almost like that she had prepared for that. That was… not possible! She couldn't possibly know what he wanted, so how would she be prepared? Perhaps, it was because she was a cautious person.
…
On the other side of the base, Xie Dong abruptly went into Lin Qiao's office and said, "Chief, I heard that some Sea City Base people found something. If I have guessed right, that thing can cure those maniacal superpowered people!"
"What is it?" Lin Qiao looked at him with surprise.
"It's some kind of stone. I heard about it from Sea City Base. Not long ago, they found a type of stone. The manical mutated animals ate that stone and turned back normal. So now, Sea City Base people are looking for it," Xie Dong stayed calm, yet his eyes glowed brightly.
"Where did they find it?" Lin Qiao asked.
"Near Lake Tai. That's what I heard," said Xie Dong.
Lin Qiao frowned slightly and said, "If it's in Lake Tai, we need to go together with Sea City Base people."
The territory had been divided, and Lake Tai belonged to Sea City Base. To avoid conflict, Lin Qiao needed Sea City Base's permission to go to Lake Tai. Based on the current cooperative relationship between the two bases, there wouldn't be a problem for Sea City Base to give All Being Base that permission.
What made Lin Qiao frown was the location that Xie Dong provided. It was near the lake, meaning that the mission could be rather dangerous. Also, Lake Tai was far away from All Being Base.
"Let me go!" A voice was heard from the door. Lin Qiao and Xie Dong turned to the door together and saw Leng Xuantong standing there, letting him in.
"You want to go?" Lin Qiao looked at him with surprise.
Leng Xuantong nodded and said, "I need to go, so that we can find it accurately."
"Is the message real?" Lin Qiao turned to Xie Dong, who nodded in response.
Lin Qiao thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, I'll talk to Wu Chengyue. But, Director Leng, you're the scientist of our base, so you have to put your own life in the first place no matter what the situation might be."
"I know," Leng Xuantong grinned.
The stone that could cure maniacal superpowered people was important. However, as a scientist, Leng Xuantong's safety was even more important than that. Lin Qiao was aware that letting him go would be risky, but without him, the others might not be able to find that stone, and might make some mistakes that could lead to more future problems. A scientist could make the whole progress efficient.
In the afternoon, before Lin Qiao went to talk to Wu Chengyue, the latter showed up in her office.
"I heard that you're sending people to Lake Tai too. Is that true?" Wu Chengyue came straight in and sat on the couch while looking at Lin Qiao.
Lin Qiao raised her head from the pile of files on her desk to give him a glance, then dropped her head again while saying, "Yeah. Is your message true?"
"I'm not sure. The message was brought back by zombie hunters. They're the first ones who found that stone, and they're no scientists. Only experts can make sure if it's real or not," Wu Chengyue shrugged.
Those hunters earned quite some credits for that information.
As same as All Beings Base, Sea City Base paid people with credits for their contributions to the base. Each base had a similar system, even though they termed it differently.
In Huaxia Base, what people could earn was directly called 'contribution points'. As same as the 'credits' in All Being Base and Sea City Base, they could be used as money. One could purchase anything they needed in the base with a sufficient amount of contribution points.
Hearing what Wu Chengyue said, Lin Qiao understod that he had agreed to let her people go to Lake Tai together with his people. So, she nodded and said, "Your base has more scientists, so send them. I'll send a few of my people to help."
It sounded like she was taking advantage of Sea City Base, but she was being honest. After arriving at the destination, all the harvests would be shared evenly. As for which base would find the truly valuable thing, it would depend on the people's abilities.
Lin Qiao didn't really want to take advantages of Sea City Base, so she planned to make it up to them with other things.
Wu Chengyue was, of course, fine with it. He was eager to let Lin Qiao take advantage of him! But of course, the two of them didn't know what each other was thinking.
What Lin Qiao said next disappointed Wu Chengyue. "As compensation, I'll give you some drug that we made," she said.
Wu Chengyue knew that she was talking about the drug that was able to ease the superpower-awaking sickness. He didn't know that it was actually the water from her lake.
What he did know was that the drug could deliver much greater effects, and that it was highly helpful for both superpowered people and commoners. In the post-apocalyptic era, medicine was in shortage, so Lin Qiao's drug could be very valuable
Wu Chengyue stayed silent, and Lin Qiao took that as yes. His base wouldn't suffer any loss anyway, and she had no intention of taking advantage of anyone.
"Oh, do you have a plan for dealing with Huaxia Base this time? They're coming for your soil remedy." Recalling what Xie Dong said earlier, Lin Qiao asked Wu Chengyue. She believed that he had heard about it too.
If Huaxia Base people found out about Sea City Base's lie, they would soon have their eyes on All Beings Base.
Lin Qiao wasn't really worried about that though. Si Kongchen was a capable man, but so was Wu Chengyue.
They were both smart and powerful. Wu Chengyue had a stronger superpower, so he was considered slightly suppressive over Si Kongchen.
"Don't worry. I'll handle it. They won't do anything aggressive, unless they want to end up with no food. Besides, they wouldn't get what they wanted even if they started a war," Wu Chengyue smiled blandly while looking at Lin Qiao in a meaningful way.
Lin Qiao detected some hidden meanings from the look in his eyes. So, she dropped her head to sign her name on a file while responding with, "Em, I'm only worried that my base might become a target of Huaxia people. After all, this small base of mine is still fragile."
As she turned her eyes away, a trace of disappointment escaped Wu Chengyue's eyes. But soon, that disappointed look was gone, and he smiled again mildly while staying silent.