“.” Li Cheng颐 had never experienced this kind of feeling before.

Clearly, it was something far removed from him, but the reminder from Ding Ning gave him the sense that 'such a big event could actually happen around me.'

"In short, the boss returning early is likely because he received news in advance. Hongjin Company transferring shares to you is probably to avoid this risk," Ding Ning said. "Things might be chaotic in the coming days. If you encounter any trouble, you can call me on this number. I'll help as much as I can."

It had to be said, although Ding Ning was helping because of Xin Dela's sake, he was truly supportive of Li Cheng颐.

After all, they were not relatives or friends, and being able to make such a promise at this crucial moment, aside from family, was pretty much the limit.

"Thank you, Brother Ding," Li Cheng颐 said sincerely. "If there's anything I can help with, Brother Ding can tell me as well."

His tone was earnest.

Although Ding Ning didn't need it, he felt comfortable hearing these words.

The phone call ended.

Li Cheng颐 ordered a juice as usual, scanned the QR code to pay, and sat down at the tables and chairs under the shade of the trees.

The news was still being reported, and the surrounding customers were discussing the topic.

Li Cheng颐 took out his phone and browsed the news forums. Almost everyone agreed: beat the crap out of White Star!

As a newly emerged empire that had once split off from Earth and Moon, White Star's development was getting faster and faster, with new things and new technologies appearing every now and then.

Yi Nation was gradually falling behind.

At this time, rather than sit idly by and watch the gap widen, it was better to drag White Star into a vortex of war, draining its economy and resources.

While drinking juice, he browsed the news.

Beep beep.

Suddenly the phone rang again.

It was his father, Li Zhao.

Li Cheng颐 quickly answered.

"Xiao颐, your sister has returned to school. The higher-ups said that she can directly join the army through the recall channel and receive a free Zhijixie Shi (Intelligent Mechanist) training reward!"

"When did this happen?" Li Cheng颐 paused and asked.

"Just this morning, Xiao Jiu called back," Li Zhao said, his tone faintly worried.

"Don't worry, this is a danger, but also an opportunity. Sister knows what she's doing," Li Cheng颐 said after a moment of silence, only able to offer this comfort.

After being beaten by her these past few days, he had gradually come to understand Li Cheng Jiu's personality.

She was just a stubborn person. Although he often beat her, the negative thoughts she had towards him were always anger, never murderous intent.

So her essence was not bad, just completely spoiled by Li Zhao and her mother, Feng Yu Rong.

"Saying that, but..." Li Zhao seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he only sighed.

"Don't worry, Dad, Sister will be fine. She's just a military school student, a reserve among reserves. In this day and age, war isn't about risking lives, it's about industry. Drones, cyborgs, intelligent fighters, aren't they all more powerful than purely human pilots?" Li Cheng颐 comforted.

"It's a good thing you didn't apply to military school," Li Zhao could only sigh, squeezing out these words.

Li Cheng颐 offered a few more words of comfort before hanging up.

Although he was a little disappointed to have lost Li Cheng Jiu as a negative thought replenisher, thankfully there was still Zhuang Yi Jing.

He had already introduced this guy to Longxu Men (Dragon Beard Sect), and she was currently undergoing the electric shock plate test.

Based on her willpower, passing was inevitable. When the time came, she would definitely be able to make up for the gap in negative thought replenishment left by his sister's departure.

Li Cheng颐 opened his phone again and asked the others in the Destiny Garden team about their situations.

Everyone was mostly unaffected. On the contrary, Xiong Da's family business was even more prosperous, with some military orders flowing to her family.

After confirming that nothing was wrong, Li Cheng颐 breathed a sigh of relief.

Picking up his juice, he lightly sucked on the straw.

Sizzle.

Just then, a boy in white clothes ran over and placed a small note on Li Cheng頤's table.

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

"Who?" Li Cheng颐 glanced at the note, not touching it.

"I don't know, but he said it's written on the note," the boy shook his head and replied.

Li Cheng颐 waved his hand, indicating that he could leave.

Only then did he pick up the note, flip open the covered part, and check the handwriting.

The note was written in crooked handwriting: 'Shiqing Road 339, Yulong Restaurant, Qingquan Room.'

Behind the note was drawn a white skull.

This was an address, a meeting.

Li Cheng頤's eyes narrowed slightly. The white skull had already made him realize who the other party was.

To meet, or not to meet?

Bai Kulou (White Skull), a provincial high-level member of Ideal Paradise. For him to want to see him at this critical juncture, there must be a deep purpose.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Cheng颐 stood up and decided to meet.

The fact that the other party could find his current location in real-time meant that they had been watching him all along.

Compared to the Union and the Security Agency, the threat of Ideal Paradise was real.

He had thought about reporting them, but the other party dared to send the address so openly, obviously prepared. Reporting them directly would be a complete break, most likely failing to catch anyone, and be detrimental to him at this time.

Standing up, Li Cheng颐 casually hailed a taxi by the side of the road and headed to the address written on the note.

*

*

*

Shiqing Road 339 was a farmhouse called Yulong Restaurant (Fish Dragon Restaurant).

It was located in the suburbs outside the city, with only a few horizontal roads separating it from the more distant farmland and barren mountains.

The farmhouse was located on the side of the highway, originally intended to provide catering and rest for passing truck drivers.

But at this time, in a separate large private room in the backyard of the Yulong Restaurant.

Li Cheng颐 pushed the door open and entered.

Inside the rectangular private room, the walls were white, the floor was gray, and a rotating ceiling fan hung from the ceiling, old and gray.

Several rattan chairs were placed against the wall.

In the middle was a large round wooden table that could rotate, with a pot of green plants that looked like lettuce on top.

A white cigarette case was casually thrown on the side of the table, the lid open, with most of the cigarettes inside already gone.

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

Most importantly, there was no one in the room.

Li Cheng颐 stood by the table, pausing for a moment.

"Hello?" he asked.

Squeak.

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

A tall old man with white hair and a black wide-sleeved robe was walking in from behind him.

"Why are you standing at the door? Come in and sit down. I just went out for a smoke." As soon as the old man spoke, clear Yi Nation language was transmitted into Li Cheng颐's ears.

He turned around and immediately recognized that the other party was Ideal Paradise, whom he had met once before—Bai Kulou (White Skull).

The old man's eyes were brown, and his hair was also brown. His face was very kind, and he was still holding a wooden cane in his hand, just like last time.

His facial features were the kind that you could tell at a glance were those of a foreigner. Completely different from Yi Nation people.

"Mr. Bai?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

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

He walked past Li Cheng颐, came to the round table, and sat down.

"Don't be restrained, don't be afraid. I won't do anything to you."

Li Cheng颐 also followed, walking closer and sitting down on a chair.

"Mr. Bai is looking for me, what's the matter?"

Bai Kulou, also known as Bai Chong, was surprising not because he would suddenly come to find Li Cheng颐, but that he would actually appear here.

"Actually, at this time, I shouldn't be here," Bai Kulou nodded and said softly.

"Everyone has evacuated. Most of the ranked leaders have been annihilated. Perhaps they are all waiting for revival in Red Temple. I'm still staying here, presumably, the people of Jiu Yi will soon be watching."

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

"Because you are very different," Bai Kulou smiled slightly.

"Different?" Li Cheng颐 narrowed his eyes. "What is Mr. Bai talking about?"

The atmosphere in the room became slightly heavy and tense with the utterance of this sentence.

"Before coming here," Bai Kulou said, "I first asked Simon, the minister of the test sites in Zhou Tan and Su Tanna, and they both spoke highly of you."

"Zhou Tan..." If Li Cheng颐 remembered correctly, that should be the Ideal Paradise leader who was forced to self-destruct by him before.

He didn't expect that the news would reach them so quickly.

He was shocked by the pervasiveness of Ideal Paradise, and at the same time, had a bit of a headache. No matter how many of these people he killed, they could make a comeback.

The fully-formed Modified Humans were truly annoying in a sense!

"Zhou Tan was arrogant and confident in his strength. But he still lost to you," Bai Kulou continued.

"You don't know, do you? Most of her fully-formed modules were designed and manufactured by herself. The Whisperer model was mostly designed with her direct participation."

"...Amazing!" Li Cheng颐 nodded sincerely.

"Yes, a very amazing young man..." Bai Kulou still maintained his smile.

"So, you see."

He stared intently at Li Cheng颐.

"So many people are indirectly proving to me from different angles that you are excellent, very excellent. The mysterious team behind you has enormous creativity and execution. Such a team can still hide so deeply, so well."

"You were born to never be subordinate to others. You secretly built such a complex and complete team, surely you don't just want to hide away in such a ordinary and peaceful way, do you?"

"."

Li Cheng颐 really wanted to say that he didn't have a team at all, just himself alone.

From Bai Kulou's perspective, Modified Humans did need a lot of technical support and resource support.

Not to mention those material shells and metals, which required various large machines to manufacture.

Who would build such a large manufacturing and maintenance chain, only to be content with living an ordinary life every day?

This simply didn't make sense.

So the other party's guess was very normal.

"So, Mr. Bai is here to tell me how excellent and powerful we are?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"Of course not..." Bai Kulou smiled.

He stood up, leaned on his cane, and tapped the ground.

"I'm here to continue the last proposal. I hope you will join us."

"Do you think it's possible?" Li Cheng颐 said calmly.

"Why is it impossible?" Bai Kulou asked.

He leaned on his cane and walked to the door.

"Three days."

"Three days."

He said with his back to Li Cheng颐.

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

"Leave Yi Nation?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"Yes, leave," Bai Kulou turned his head to look at him, "Time is tight, you need to decide as soon as possible."

"What if I don't want to?" Li Cheng颐 said.

"Don't want to? Now it's not up to you." Bai Kulou shook his head. "Jiu Yi is coming soon. Do you think your disguises can fool them?"

"I'm a law-abiding citizen, why would Jiu Yi take action against me?" Li Cheng颐 asked seriously.

"Regardless of whether you are law-abiding or not, Jiu Yi cannot allow an existence like you to be outside of their control, so then you only have two paths: to be incorporated, or to be destroyed," Bai Kulou explained.

"There is no third path?"

"I am now giving you a third path."

(End of this chapter)