This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 260 - 144: Unexpected Visit from the Mother Ore_2

Chapter 260: Chapter 144: Unexpected Visit from the Mother Ore_2

"Ha..." Li Ming was quite looking forward to it, making Feder seem much more agreeable. He patted the other’s shoulder, "Let’s go eat, the cafeteria at our lab isn’t bad."

"Master Liu’s tiger fish is exceptional, usually available only on Mondays. He can’t go anywhere these days, so he just stays in the kitchen cooking."

Feder’s expression changed, but eventually, he remained expressionless. He indeed wanted to pretend to have a good brotherly relationship with Li Ming.

But every time he saw that smiling face, he was reminded of the time when the other had threatened him, and couldn’t help feeling awkward.

"I’d rather go back to the temporary command post," he didn’t want to stay with Li Ming any longer.

Li Ming didn’t mind; as they exited, they just happened to see Li Ruoning standing not far away, with an ambiguous expression.

"Why are you here?" Li Ming looked at her suspiciously.

"Someone is looking for you, claiming to be the regional director from Star Creation Company, named Sun Jing’an," Li Ruoning approached quickly and responded, "They were stopped outside, are you going to meet them?"

"The regional director of Star Creation Company?" Li Ming recalled internally, having no impression of the man and hadn’t even met him before.

What did he want with him?

Ever since he had handed over part of the evidence he got from Fu Zongchen to Xunying Company to deal with Star Creation Company, he hadn’t paid much attention to this matter.

"Not interested, don’t meet." Li Ming shook his head.

"Okay, I’ll tell them outside." Li Ruoning was operating the smart terminal.

A moment later, she frowned slightly and looked up at Li Ming, "This regional director said on his way out that something happened outside, and suggested you should pay attention to it."

"Oh?" Li Ming was slightly moved, and turned to Feder, "What exactly is Star Creation Company about?"

Feder hesitated for a moment and then said, "It’s a property of Duke Corriel."

"He’s also an A-level life form, the pillar of Yitelan," Feder added.

An A-level life form, Li Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly.

After sending Feder away, Li Ming turned on his smart terminal and first found the regional director of Xunying Company—Huang Jianzhong.

"Li Ming ah..." As soon as he connected, Li Ming detected fatigue in Huang Jianzhong’s voice.

Was there really trouble?

Li Ming tentatively said, "I heard your company hasn’t been doing well recently."

"Ah..." Huang Jianzhong sighed helplessly, "It’s not just unwell, it’s downright unlucky."

Really? The evidence was thrown in your face, and you still haven’t taken down Star Creation Company?

Li Ming complained internally while listening to Huang Jianzhong, "Our plan was progressing smoothly, and we were about to take down Star Creation Company soon."

"But who knew, Blue Star started a major screening and found that our Xunying Company secretly transported a batch of Torch’s people."

"You dared to have contacts with Torch?" Li Ming was quite surprised.

"How could we?" Huang Jianzhong firmly denied, gritting his teeth, "It was done by people lower down, I had no idea, in fact, they didn’t know either. It was just some people stuffed in during transportation, we thought it was just smuggling, but they turned out to be people from Torch."

"Because of this, all our business activities have been suspended."

"Star Creation Company’s assets were also frozen for the most part, but they surely took a breath and will definitely take advantage of the situation to crush us."

The chain reaction caused by Torch dragged Xunying Company into trouble. It seems that Sun Jing’an came to flaunt his power,

Li Ming was somewhat speechless, yet he asked again, "Is Star Creation Company that clean? Don’t they have people making money under the table?"

"Actually, there really aren’t," Huang Jianzhong hesitated, "I don’t know the details."

No? Li Ming scoffed.

After some thought, he asked again, "Is that all?"

"Hmm..." Huang Jianzhong pondered, "There’s nothing else significant, but your younger brother, Zhang Huaiyuan, was tricked by Star Creation Company and took a serious beating,"

"Didn’t you know?"

"Zhang Huaiyuan didn’t tell me." Li Ming shook his head, he hadn’t talked much with him, then turned to contact Zhang Huaiyuan.

"Li Ming..." Zhang Huaiyuan’s voice was hoarse.

"Were you beaten by the Star Creation Company? What happened?" Li Ming asked directly.

Zhang Huaiyuan hesitated, "It’s not a big deal, my father had conflicts with Xunying Company on Silver Grey Star, and it spoiled their plans, they just gave me a lesson."

"The injuries weren’t severe, so I didn’t mention it to you."

Li Ming narrowed his eyes, "Come here tomorrow."

He thought for a moment, then found Li Ruoning and said, "If Sun Jing’an comes again tomorrow, let him in."

Li Ruoning, not sure what to think, hesitated but noted it in the memo.

As expected, the next day, Sun Jing’an came again.

At nine in the morning, he was at the laboratory entrance, ready to pass through the layers of checks.

"Except for him, no other personnel are allowed inside." The armored guard stopped the others accompanying him, and Sun Jing’an’s assistant glared, "Why can’t we enter, we’ve been checked already."

"Either go in alone or go back." The guard, wearing an alloy helmet with dark glass eye covers, spoke coldly.

"You guys wait here, I’ll go in alone." Sun Jing’an didn’t mind, until the guard took out a gene inhibitor, and his expression darkened.

"I have to wear this too?" The assistant was incredulous, "This man is a regional director of the Star Creation Company, not a criminal!"

"If you want to meet either Li Ming or Feder, you must wear it," the guard’s voice was icy, "or go back."

Sun Jing’an hesitated for a moment, then calmly said, "Then put it on, no one dares to kill me here."

This was not a shackle-like gene inhibitor, which would be too unsightly; it was merely attached to the back of Sun Jing’an’s neck, adhering to his spine.

Wearing the gene inhibitor, his body felt weak, a sensation that made him very uncomfortable. He tugged at his collar, and even the alloy box in his hand felt heavier.

"I’ll carry it for you."

A guard escorted Sun Jing’an into the tightly sealed experiment island. His gaze darted around, but he was admonished:

"Don’t look around casually, and don’t ask questions. If you barge into areas separated by red lines, you can be shot dead on the spot."

"The final interpretation right is jointly held by the Yitelan Civilization and the Blue Star Civilization."

Sun Jing’an nodded, retracted his gaze, but then someone called out, "Director Sun?"

He stopped in his tracks, taking a good look, and exclaimed in surprise, "Duke Bai Ye?"

The newcomer was indeed Duke Bai Ye, clad in a green cape, his strides whipping up the wind, and the two seemed quite familiar. "What brings you here?"

"I came to find Li Ming." Sun Jing’an explained briefly. Duke Bai Ye appeared thoughtful, then said deeply, "This man is a regional director of the Star Creation Company, how can you treat him like this?"

"Quickly release him."

The guard shook his head, "Your Grace, this is an order, everyone who meets Li Ming and Duke Feder alone must wear the gene inhibitor."

Duke Bai Ye looked displeased, and Sun Jing’an secretly shook his head. Sela’s Duke had little sway on Blue Star.

He defused the situation, "Never mind, never mind, since it’s the rule, we must abide by it."

Duke Bai Ye exchanged a few words with him, agreeing to have a meal together after Sun Jing’an had seen Li Ming, before they parted ways.

The guard took him to the laboratory entrance, where Li Ruoning took over.

Meanwhile, in the reception room, Zhang Huaiyuan’s face was pale, a stark contrast to his previously ambitious interaction with Huang Jianzhong.

"Li Ming, I’m sorry... for troubling you." he spoke softly.

"Don’t apologize to me." Li Ming poured him a glass of water and handed it to him. Zhang Huaiyuan accepted it with both hands, his face filled with shame, "I underestimated the situation."

"They’re all cunning old foxes, and it’s a good thing you weren’t eaten alive; they’re after me." Li Ming said, "You’re just caught in the crossfire."

"I understand." Zhang Huaiyuan was indeed aware, he posed no threat to the Star Creation Company; he was just a small fry.

There was a knock at the door, the door opened, and Li Ruoning stepped aside, behind him was Sun Jing’an, immediately causing Zhang Huaiyuan’s face to tighten.