Blind Spot
Chapter 160 - 149 Interchange - One (Xie Ganni brews three thousand Alliance Hierarchs)

Chapter 160: 149 Interchange - One (Xie Ganni brews three thousand Alliance Hierarchs)

"...." Li Chengyi had never felt the way he did at that moment.

It was something so distant from him, yet the reminder from Ding Ning made him feel as if ’such a major event could actually happen right beside me.’

"In any case, the boss returning early is most likely because he had already received news. Hongjin Company transferring shares to you is probably to avoid these risks," Ding Ning said, "Things might get chaotic going forward. If you run into any trouble, you can call me with this number. I’ll help as much as I can."

It had to be said, although Ding Ning was helping mainly for the sake of Xindela, he was indeed beyond reproach when it came to Li Chengyi.

After all, the two were not related, so to make such a promise at a crucial moment was practically the limit aside from family.

"Thank you, Brother Ding," Li Chengyi said with sincerity, "If there’s anything you need help with, you can also let me know."

His tone was serious.

Even though Ding Ning had no need for such offers, he felt comfortable hearing these words.

The call ended.

As usual, Li Chengyi ordered a juice, scanned to pay, and sat down at a table in the shade of a tree.

The news was still reporting, and the surrounding customers were discussing this topic as well.

Li Chengyi took out his phone to refresh the news forum, where almost everyone shared the same opinion: to hit White Star hard!

As an emerging empire that had split from Earth-Moon, White Star’s development had been accelerating, with new items and technologies making an appearance every so often.

Yi Country was gradually falling behind.

At such times, instead of passively watching the gap widen, it was better to drag White Star into the vortex of war, to cripple its economy and resources.

Drinking his juice, he continued scrolling through the news.

Beep beep...

Suddenly, his phone rang again.

It was his father, Li Zhao.

Li Chengyi quickly answered the call.

"Xiao Yi, your sister has gone back to school. She’s been told she can join the military through a recall channel and receive free Mecha Engineer training rewards!"

"When did this happen?" Li Chengyi paused, then asked aloud.

"Just this morning, Xiao Jiu just called." There was a hint of worry in Li Zhao’s voice.

"Don’t worry, it’s dangerous, but it’s also an opportunity. She knows what she’s doing," Li Chengyi fell silent for a moment, then comforted.

He had come to understand Li Chengjiu over these past few days.

She was a stubborn one. Even though she frequently got into fights with him, the malice he felt from her was always pure anger, never once murderous intent.

So, her nature wasn’t bad; she had just been spoiled rotten by Li Zhao and her mother Feng Yurong.

"That’s easy for you to say, but...." Li Zhao seemed about to say something more, but in the end, he just sighed deeply.

"Don’t worry, dad, my sister will be fine. She’s just a military school student, a reserve’s reserve. In this day and age, warfare isn’t about risking lives; it’s about industrial capacity. Drones, Reinforced Humans, intelligent combat aircraft—aren’t each of these more formidable than just sending people out there to fight?" Li Chengyi offered reassurance.

"It’s good that you didn’t apply to the military academy," Li Zhao could only sigh, squeezing out these words.

Li Chengyi offered a few more words of comfort before hanging up the call.

Although he was somewhat disappointed that Li Chengjiu, his source of Evil Thoughts, was gone, he was glad to still have Zhuang Yijing.

He had already introduced her to the Dragon Whisker Sect, and she was currently undergoing the electric shock board test.

Given her willpower, success was inevitable. She would definitely be able to fill the void of Evil Thoughts left by his sister’s absence.

Li Chengyi opened his phone again, checking in with the other members of the Garden of Fate Squad.

Everyone was relatively unaffected, except for Da Xiong, whose family business was doing even better with some military orders having flowed their way.

After confirming there were no issues, Li Chengyi let out a sigh of relief.

He picked up his juice and gently took a sip through the straw.

Sip.

Just then, a teenage boy dressed in white ran up and placed a small piece of paper next to Li Chengyi on the table.

"Someone asked me to give this to you," he said softly.

"Who?" Li Chengyi glanced at the note but did not touch it.

"I don’t know, but he said it’s written on the paper," the boy answered, shaking his head.

Li Chengyi gestured for the boy to leave.

Then, he picked up the note, unfolded the covered portion, and examined the handwriting.

The note was scribbled with the words: ’339 Shi Qing Road, Fish and Dragon Restaurant, Qingquan Room.’

On the back of the note was a white skeleton head drawn.

It was an address, an invitation to meet.

Li Chengyi’s gaze darkened slightly. The white skeleton head had already given him an idea of who the other party might be.

To meet, or not to meet?

White Skeleton, a provincial-level senior figure from Utopia. If they wanted to meet him at this critical junction, they must have a profound purpose.

After hesitating, Li Chengyi stood up and decided to meet them.

The fact that they could find his location in real-time meant they were constantly monitoring him.

Compared to the Alliance and the Security Bureau, the threat from Utopia was tangible.

He had thought about reporting them, but given that they dared to send an address so openly, it was clear they were prepared. A direct report meant breaking ties completely, with a high probability of not catching anyone and putting his current situation at risk.

Standing up, Li Chengyi hailed a random taxi by the roadside and headed for the address written on the note.

*

*

*

Shi Qing Road was a farmhouse restaurant known as the Fish and Dragon Restaurant.

Located on the outskirts of the city, near fields and deserted hills, it was only a few roads away from further countryside.

The farmhouse, positioned by the highway, originally served to provide meals and rest to passing truck drivers.

But at this moment, in a separate, large private room in the backyard of the Fish and Dragon Restaurant,

Li Chengyi pushed the door and walked in.

The rectangular room had white walls and a gray floor, with an old and dusty rotating ceiling fan hanging above.

Several rattan chairs were placed against the wall.

A large wooden table was placed in the middle, round, and it could spin; on top of it was a pot of greenery resembling lettuce.

A white cigarette box was carelessly tossed to the side of the table, its lid open, more than half of the cigarettes inside were gone.

Strangely, there was no distinctive smell of smoke in the room.

Most importantly, there was no one in the room.

Li Chengyi stood by the table, pausing for a moment.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

Squeak.

Behind him, the wooden door was pushed open once again.

An elderly man with grayish hair, dressed in a black robe with wide sleeves, walked in from behind him.

"Why stand at the door? Come in and sit down. I just went out for a smoke," the old man began to speak, his Yi Country dialect clear and distinct to Li Chengyi’s ears.

He turned around and recognized the man at a glance; it was White Skeleton from Utopia, the same person he had met once before.

The old man’s eyes were brown, his hair was brown too, and his face looked kind and gentle, holding a wooden cane just like last time.

His facial features were of the kind that upon one glance, one would know he was a foreigner, completely different from the people of Yi Country.

"Mr. Bai?" Li Chengyi asked.

"Yes, you remember. That’s very good," the old man smiled.

He walked past Li Chengyi and sat down beside the round table.

"Don’t be nervous, don’t be afraid. I won’t do anything to you."

Li Chengyi also walked over and sat down on a chair.

"Mr. Bai wanted to see me for something?"

It wasn’t surprising that White Skeleton, also known as Bai Chong, would suddenly seek out Li Chengyi. What was surprising was that he would even appear here at all.

"Actually, at this time, I shouldn’t be here," White Skeleton nodded and spoke softly.

"Everyone has evacuated, most of the ranking generals have been annihilated, and now they might be waiting for resurrection in Red Temple. I’m still here, and surely it won’t be long before the people of Jiu Yi start to target me."

"So, why are you looking for me?" Li Chengyi asked again.

"Because you are very different," White Skeleton said with a smile.

"Different?" Li Chengyi narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about, Mr. Bai?"

The atmosphere in the room became slightly tense and serious with the release of that statement.

"Before coming here," White Skeleton said, "I first asked Zhou Tan and Simon, the test site director from Sutan’s side. They both hold you in high regard."

"Zhou Tan..." If Li Chengyi remembered correctly, that was the Utopia leader who he had forced to self-destruct before.

He did not expect to receive a message so soon from this side.

He was startled by Utopia’s omnipresence and also a bit troubled; no matter how they were killed, these people could come back again and again.

Reinforced Humans, in some sense, were truly a nuisance!

"Zhou Tan was arrogant and confident in her own strength. But she still lost to you," White Skeleton continued.

"You might not know this, but most of the modules of her complete form were designed and manufactured by herself. The Whisperer model, she had a direct hand in most of its design."

"...Impressive!" Li Chengyi nodded sincerely.

"Yes, she is a very capable young person..." White Skeleton maintained his smile.

"So, you see,"

He looked intently at Li Chengyi.

"So many people are proving to me indirectly, from different angles, that you are excellent, extremely excellent. The mysterious team behind you has enormous creativity and execution. Such a team, to be able to remain so deeply hidden, so well-hidden."

"You are naturally not someone who would willingly submit to others. You quietly built such a complex and complete team; surely you wouldn’t want to just hide away quietly and live an ordinary life, would you?"

"....."

Li Chengyi really wanted to say that he didn’t have any team at all; it was just him alone.

From the perspective of White Skeleton, it was true that Reinforced Humans required extensive technical and resource support.

Not to mention other things, just the materials for the metal casing alone would need various large machines to produce.

Who would build such an extensive manufacturing and maintenance chain and then be content to live an ordinary life every day?

It just didn’t make sense.

So the other party’s guess was very normal.

"So, Mr. Bai is here to tell me how excellent and impressive we are?" Li Chengyi countered.

"Of course not..." White Skeleton smiled.

He stood up, leaning on his cane, pausing for a moment on the ground.

"I am here to continue the proposal I made last time. I hope you will join us."

"Do you think that’s possible?" Li Chengyi spoke calmly.

"Why not?" White Skeleton asked in return.

He walked to the door, leaning on the cane.

"Three days."

"Three days’ time."

He spoke with his back to Li Chengyi.

"As long as you agree, we can quickly evacuate all the personnel including your parents to a place of safety."

"Leave Yi Country?" Li Chengyi asked.

"Yes, leave," White Skeleton turned his head to look at him, "Time is pressing, you need to decide as quickly as possible."

"What if I don’t want to?" Li Chengyi said.

"Don’t want to? It’s not up to you anymore," White Skeleton shook his head. "Jiu Yi is about to come. Do you think your disguises can deceive them?"

"I am a law-abiding citizen, why would Jiu Yi lay a hand on me?" Li Chengyi seriously countered.

"Whether you’ve abided by the law or not, Jiu Yi will not allow your existence to remain outside their control, so when the time comes, you will have only two options: to be incorporated or to be destroyed," White Skeleton explained.

"There’s no third option?"

"I am giving you the third option right now."