Liao Zihui and Li Banfeng sealed a contract; ten days later, Li Banfeng was to go to Yuezhou to assume the position of Balancer.
This matter had Li Banfeng quite curious: Why Yuezhou in particular? Why not another city?
Liao Zihui said, "Because Yuezhou is the largest city nearest to the entrance of Puluo State, and the headquarters of the Dark Star Bureau is in Yuezhou. Before the Balancer takes office, they definitely need to show up at the headquarters,
Brother Li, if you don’t want to work at the headquarters, you can arrange for another place; the position certainly won’t be low. Of course, you can also do like Xiao Zhenggong, exchanging a relatively low position for a more informed information channel. The Public Security Team is a frontline department of the Dark Star Bureau and will definitely know more.
That day, Liao Zihui fulfilled his first promise and lifted the travel restriction on Bridge Yesong.
With Bridge Yesong open, Li Banfeng didn’t rush back to Greenwater City as he still had quite a few tasks at Bridge Yesong, the most important being building a station.
This was Li Banfeng’s territory, and there must be a station. The plan to build a station had been there long before, but at that time, Li Banfeng wasn’t familiar with the territory of Bridge Yesong, so the location was never decided.
After some exploration, Li Banfeng had a thorough understanding of the apparent territory of Bridge Yesong, and after some comparisons, he eventually decided to locate the station at Ye Qingshan.
Ye Qingshan is a famous spot, with a lot of pedestrians. Building a station here risks exposure.
But after careful inspection, Li Banfeng found that this famous mountain also had many secluded areas, including a karst cave, hard to find and traverse, where one could easily get lost.
This place is not absolutely safe, but there is no absolutely safe place in this world. Building the station here, closer to the Contract Book, could allow timely response should anything happen.
Sky Heart Stone is such a rare material, wanting to build a large station is certainly unrealistic. Earlier at New Land, the Old Train exchanged a large station for a small one, and the freed Joy Soil was just in use now.
Speaking of Joy Soil, Li Banfeng felt a bit pained: "Using it all for building the station, what’s left to pamper my wife with? We must save some, whatever we say!"
The Phonograph hurriedly said, "Husband, we can’t save it; building the station is serious business; we must not skimp on the materials."
While the Portable Residence was building the station, Li Banfeng contacted Luo Zhengnan and asked him to come to Bridge Yesong.
The territory of Bridge Yesong is vast, much larger than the eye can see. Since it’s his own territory, it must be thoroughly investigated, and among Li Banfeng’s subordinates, Luo Zhengnan is currently the only one who can discover Hidden Form Space.
As soon as Luo Zhengnan arrived, Ma Wu, He Yuxiu, Xiao Yeci, and Lu Chunying all came.
Upon learning that Bridge Yesong had reopened for traffic, their first thought was to find Li Qi.
Seeing that Li Qi was safe, everyone was very happy, but upon learning that Li Qi was going to the Outside Provinces, their thoughts were not as optimistic.
"Old Qi, you can’t go," He Yuxiu strongly opposed, "Being alone in the Outside Provinces, if they have ill intentions and want to harm you, who can help you there?"
Xiao Yeci said, "Sister Xiu is right, being alone outside is really too hard!"
Lu Chunying said, "I guess even if Brother Seven survives this trip, he might be detained by them, making it hard to come back."
Everybody disagreed with Li Banfeng going except for Ma Wu, who thought of another solution.
"We can agree with the Defense Agency, but you shouldn’t go personally; we can find someone to replace you."
This sounded like a joke; the Outside Provinces specifically named Li Qi; how could someone casually replace him?
In fact, this was not a joke. With today’s strength of Li Qi and Ma Wu, finding a substitute is not a difficult matter.
The most suitable candidate is the Drama Cultivator, whose appearance can be exactly the same. As for inner qualities, with a few days of training, they could grasp a bit of resemblance, enough to manage outside for a while.
But Li Banfeng refused.
First, this has already been sealed with a Contract Book with Liao Zihui. If things are exposed, it would provoke a war between Puluo State and the Outside Provinces, and Li Banfeng would suffer backlash from the Contract Book.
Second, Li Banfeng had a very important purpose in going to be the Balancer; he had to find a way to crack the Boundary, to carve a path for Puluo State, and this task could not be entrusted to others.
Third, the attitude of the Outside Provinces towards the Balancer is to sacrifice the interests of Puluo State to balance the relationships between the Outside Provinces and Inner State, and this issue needs to change, and Li Banfeng intends to help them change it.
The Outside Provinces must be visited, but the situation in Puluo State needs to be maintained. Li Banfeng instructed everyone, "After I go to the Outside Provinces, if you encounter disputes among yourselves, please exercise restraint and tolerance."
Lu Chunying said, "Rest assured, Brother Seven, we have life-and-death camaraderie, there are no unresolved grudges between us."
He Yuxiu remained silent, and Ma Wu said nothing either.
Li Banfeng was very clear in his heart: the camaraderie is real, but camaraderie cannot always be relied upon.
Li Qi’s presence here meant that each party would yield a little, not entirely out of camaraderie for Li Qi, but more due to Li Qi’s strength.
Before a conflict erupts, no one knows which side Li Qi stands on, so they must think twice before taking action.
But once Li Qi is no longer in Puluo State, conflicts and frictions due to interest entanglements are inevitable, and once the Outside Provinces or Inner State gets involved, there’s no telling when a war might break out.
Conflicts and friction are unavoidable; Li Banfeng only made one request: "If you really start fighting someday, inform me in advance. And if anyone keeps it a secret, don’t blame me for turning hostile!"