Chapter 173: Heading to Yunhai
“Here was my private laboratory. I would fully open all permissions to you.”
“In addition, there were another one hundred Ironthread Snakes. You could freely use them as research materials.”
“If you needed other resources, you could have Lu Tao help arrange them. If you needed other snake-type materials, you could also have Lin Hai arrange for people to capture them.”
“I only had one requirement—give me a satisfactory result.”
Those who were employed were not doubted; those who were doubted were not employed.
Toward Su Ningfeng, Zhou Ming chose to place him directly in an important position. The other party was deeply bound to his own daughter, so he did not worry about him playing tricks.
After all, the father and daughter had wandered the wilderness for ten years. Their relationship had endured repeated trials, and whatever they did, they would consider each other.
Because of that, the two of them made Zhou Ming feel even more at ease than Lu Tao and Lin Hai.
“My lord, please rest assured. Give me some time. I would get up to speed as quickly as possible and deliver results that would satisfy you.”
Gently stroking the most advanced instruments before him, Su Ningfeng’s hands trembled slightly. Ten years had passed—he had never expected to step back into this familiar environment.
If not for his stubborn insistence back then, he might have achieved even greater accomplishments now.
However, it was precisely that choice which made the still-young Su Mei willing to follow her father into exile in the wilderness.
“That was good. Other than my study and bedroom, you were not allowed to enter anywhere else. The two of you, father and daughter, could freely choose two rooms in the small courtyard. I would have people deliver daily necessities to you.”
After giving Su Ningfeng a few simple instructions, Zhou Ming immediately summoned Lu Tao and the others, announcing the establishment of a Research Department within the camp, with Su Ningfeng serving as its director.
In addition, Zhou Ming also made arrangements for the sixteen-year-old children and teenagers.
Those under ten years old would be taken care of by the Internal Affairs Department, which would also teach them basic subjects and martial arts.
Those over ten were divided into two groups. The martial stream would be under the Training Department, responsible for teaching martial arts, firearm shooting, combat techniques, wilderness survival, and related knowledge.
The academic stream would be under the Research Department, responsible for teaching scientific and cultural knowledge, and for cultivating future research talent for the camp.
In addition, the medical room under the Internal Affairs Department would temporarily also accept guidance from Su Ningfeng.
At present, Zhou Ming only had Su Ningfeng as a research specialist. Naturally, he had to fully utilize him—otherwise, why give him the position of department director?
Afterward, Zhou Ming conveniently arranged the rest of the matters and informed everyone that he would be leaving the camp for a short time. If any abnormal situation occurred, they were to act according to the prearranged plan.
Zhou Ming then dismissed everyone, leaving Li Hu behind.
“Li Hu, after I leave the camp, your main task would be to supervise the Snake Guard personnel and accelerate their Snake King Body training progress. Without special circumstances, they were not allowed to leave the camp to carry out missions.”
“Second, if an accident occurred and an irresistible powerful enemy invaded, immediately abandon the camp and take the Su father and daughter through the secret passage in my room to escape. You had to ensure their safety.”
The secret passage Zhou Ming referred to was the escape route once used by the former camp leader, Xiao Kuang. It led to a sheer cliff more than thirty meters high on the surface.
When the camp had been established, that passage had naturally been reserved for Zhou Ming.
“My lord, please rest assured. I would definitely obey your orders.”
Upon receiving Zhou Ming’s assignment, Li Hu immediately knelt on one knee and accepted it without raising any objections.
Under the influence of practicing the Snake King Body martial art, the bloodline’s impact on Li Hu and the others had grown increasingly obvious.
Zhou Ming’s words were an unchallengeable decree. Even at the cost of their lives, they had to be carried out.
……
One day later, Zhou Ming—once again disguised as an ordinary hunter—entered Qinghui Base.
Because Yunhai Base was more than a thousand kilometers away from Qinghui Base, only by relying on an airship could one smoothly reach Yunhai Base to attend the auction.
This time, upon returning to Qinghui Base, Zhou Ming did not make contact with the Han Family.
Although the conflict between the two families had Alliance involvement, that intervention targeted professional Beast Tamers. In private, the forces on both sides had never ceased their bloody clashes.
Contacting the Han Family now might allow the Qi Family’s informants to notice him. After all, no one could predict when an accident might occur.
Moreover, the stalemate between both sides was also beneficial to Zhou Ming.
The Qi Family lacked the energy to investigate the deaths of Qi Shouwu and Qi Kaiyuan, while the Han Family, facing pressure from the Qi Family, could only continue cooperating with him. Even if they had ulterior motives, they would not act on them now.
His willingness to help the Han Family this time—preventing Qi Chenyu from regaining his strength—was also to keep the balance of power from being broken.
After waiting two days in Qinghui Base, there was finally an airship heading toward Yunhai Base.
At this moment, Zhou Ming had restrained his distinctive aura, once again put on a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, and disguised himself as an ordinary young man as he boarded the airship.
“Handsome guy, could we get to know each other?”
On the deck, Zhou Ming gazed at the blue sky and white clouds ahead, quietly pondering the action plan for Yunhai Base.
Unexpectedly, a girl wearing a white short skirt, lively and cheerful in temperament, proactively moved up beside him.
Experiencing such favorable treatment for the first time, Zhou Ming’s cold expression revealed a trace of a smile.
“Beauty, once we got off the airship, we would go our separate ways. What was the point of getting acquainted?”
Zhou Ming then casually sized up the uninvited woman. She was dressed head to toe in expensive attire, and in the distance, two men—clearly bodyguards by their bearing—were covertly watching this place. She was obviously a wealthy young lady.
“You didn’t know? The Alliance recently announced energy pulse communication technology. From now on, within the Alliance’s territory, people could freely make calls and surf the internet just like before the Doomsday Era.”
“It was said that this technology was invented by a female scientist in her early twenties. She was simply my idol.”
“Too bad you came a step too late. This little blade of grass of mine had already been plucked by someone else.”
Hearing Zhou Ming’s unmistakable rejection, the woman snorted coldly, stamped her foot, and turned to leave.
Zhou Ming smiled faintly at this and turned his gaze toward the drifting white clouds in the distance.
“Lei Yuan… I didn’t expect to hear your name so soon.”
Recalling their year and a half of campus life, their days had been extremely ordinary—going to the library together, shopping, drinking milk tea, and discussing academic issues with each other.
Yet there had been no romantic gestures between lovers at all.
Originally, Zhou Ming had intended to make use of her to prepare for obtaining high-level Alliance research technology.
Unexpectedly, her repeated “Brother Zhou” gradually warmed his heart, which had grown cold and inhuman through experiments.
On the path of pursuing power, one could treat living beings as nothing—but one must not become a puppet of power.
To control power and to be controlled by power were completely different outcomes.
Therefore, when parting with Lei Yuan, Zhou Ming had frankly admitted his impure motives from the beginning.
However, Lei Yuan’s response had seemed somewhat love-brained.
“I wasn’t afraid of you using me. As long as I had the ability, you would use me for a lifetime.”
“I hoped that when we met again, you wouldn’t mind that my hands were already stained red.”
As for Lei Yuan, Zhou Ming did not know how he should treat her. However, when he thought of her cute appearance, beneath the few strands of green silk stirred by the breeze, a gentle smile unconsciously surfaced.