LWDC Chapter 126

One Hundred and Twenty-Six—The Messenger

One Hundred and Twenty-Six—The Messenger

One Hundred and Twenty-Six—The Messenger

Although Wang Moye acted quite naturally at the dinner, he tactfully excused himself after Yue Fengping’s comrades had gradually entered their element, oblivious to his presence.

Out of courtesy and reason, Ning Fei got up to see him off.

“As expected of someone from the military, your alcohol tolerance is truly remarkable. I’m already feeling a bit overwhelmed; if I didn’t leave now, I’d be making a fool of myself.” Wang Moye said casually to Ning Fei as he picked up his coat and walked out, “You can still hold on? You’re so quiet and collected, truly impressive, you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

“Just good at dodging drinks. Seeing you out is also a chance for me to have a smoke and get some fresh air.” Ning Fei took out his cigarette case, tapped one out, and offered it over, “Want one?”

“I haven’t smoked in a while.” Wang Moye replied first. Just as Ning Fei was about to retract his hand, Wang Moye took the cigarette and said, “Alright, I’ll have one to keep you company.”

So the two of them started smoking in a sheltered corner outside the restaurant. Ning Fei hadn’t brought a coat out, and Wang Moye, seeing that he was only wearing a sweater over a shirt, wanted to lend him his coat to block the wind. Ning Fei refused, scoffing, “Take care of yourself. I’m a wind-type ability user, wind control, understand?”

“Okay, you’re amazing.” Wang Moye chuckled, then used Ning Fei’s lighter to light his cigarette and slowly took a puff, “Speaking of which, are you going to stay with them until the end tonight?”

“We’ll see.” Ning Fei knew he was setting the stage, so he patiently chatted with him, “I probably won’t stay too long. If they’re still going on endlessly, I’ll tell Yu Zhou and leave too.”

“You and Yu Zhou have a really good relationship.” Wang Moye said, “I heard you’re like brothers?”

“Relatives, cousins.” Ning Fei wasn’t surprised he knew this information. Yu Zhou’s previous application mentioned it on the system; it would be easy for influential and interested people to see it. “He’s always taken care of me, so I followed him.”

Wang Moye asked seemingly casually, “But I heard you also worked at Huichuan before?”

Upon hearing this, Ning Fei knew he was about to “get down to business,” but his expression remained unchanged, “Yeah, I was there for a few months last year. Later, I contacted Yu Zhou and came over.”

“You came over just like that? With your abilities, Huichuan wouldn’t let you go so easily, right?” Wang Moye asked, “You just ran off to Tianyue like that, and Huichuan didn’t try to keep you? At least in Jinghui, someone with both high-level abilities and management skills like you would definitely be offered a high price to stay.”

“Stop trying to fool me. Jinghui isn’t lacking third-level ability users, right? Jinghui probably has the most third-level ability users; the number of your fourth-level ability users is several times that of other bases, everyone knows that.” Ning Fei scoffed, “In Tianyue, I have Yu Zhou’s connections, so I can be a small manager; in Huichuan, I rely on my abilities to fight to the death, just to be a team leader of a small ability user squad. In Jinghui, which is full of talented people, I wouldn’t dare to imagine.”

Wang Moye found it amusing, “Who gave you such a bad impression? Does Jinghui Base eat people or something? According to you, someone ordinary like me who doesn’t even have an ability wouldn’t have any prospects at all?”

“You may not have abilities, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have other advantages.” Ning Fei glanced at him, slowly exhaling smoke, “Do you really think we’re so isolated that we don’t know anything?”

Wang Moye lowered his eyes and smiled, “Ha, you’re talking about my uncle? He’s not even a direct relative, he doesn’t have as much influence as you think.”

“Are you taking me for a fool? He’s a national-level minister, even if he completely ignores you, just the title alone is enough for you to get things done.” Ning Fei snorted, “If I may say something a little out of line, the fact that you’re so young and already have such skills and performance shows what kind of upbringing you had.”

Wang Moye didn’t immediately respond to this teasing remark, but instead silently took a puff, then slowly exhaled the smoke. Only then did he speak again, “Since you know about my family background, I should be able to trust you if I talk to you about something truthfully, right?”

Ning Fei was very clear that this “truthful talk” wasn’t about matters of love.

“Go ahead.” He flicked the ash in the cold wind, chuckling, “Anyway, I have to finish this cigarette, I can’t run away, so I’ll listen to your ‘truthful talk’.”

Wang Moye didn’t dive straight into the topic, but instead asked a question, “As far as I know, the idea of putting all the research groups related to mutated organisms together to exchange information and make up for each other’s shortcomings was first proposed by Tianyue Base, right?”

“Correct.” Ning Fei was too lazy to calculate the exact timeline at this point, and simply replied succinctly, “But Jinghui Base has also done it now, right? Most of the larger bases across the country should have established this kind of coordinating office.”

“It has been done.” Wang Moye said, “However, the order is a bit reversed.”

“Hmm?”

“This kind of office should actually be established from top to bottom, layer by layer, so that overall coordination is easier.” Wang Moye said, “Letting each base build their own first is a bit like local autonomy. Trying to build a national coordinating body after the fact won’t be so simple.”

“Uh…so you’re saying the higher-ups want to build an office to coordinate mutated organism research across the country.” Ning Fei pondered as he replied, “Isn’t it as simple as issuing a document to lead the effort? Would any base dare to disagree?”

“Building it in name is certainly simple.” Wang Moye pushed up his glasses, “But I’m afraid some people will outwardly agree but secretly resist, saying they’re researching together, but actually aren’t willing to share the breakthroughs they’ve truly mastered.”

Ning Fei raised an eyebrow, “You’re saying that, which means some bases are already hiding their research progress and not reporting it, right? Why don’t you just say it directly? You’ve hinted to this point, it’s pointless to keep it hidden like a shy virgin.”

Wang Moye smiled, “Your old employer.”

“…Huichuan?” Ning Fei almost immediately thought of Wang Haiyang.

Chen Yikun had previously “predicted” that Wang Haiyang was likely to produce results; has something already sprouted?

“Yes, Huichuan.” Wang Moye replied, “But don’t ask me what kind of research, I don’t know much either. In the end, there are rumors circulating that Huichuan has made some breakthroughs. But when we ask their minister, he seems ignorant, I don’t know if he’s really stupid or pretending.”

Ning Fei thought, Duan Yunhong really could pull off deceiving his superiors and subordinates.

“So what does the higher-up want Tianyue to do?” Ning Fei threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, simply making the topic clearer, “If it’s about establishing a national coordinating office, Tianyue will definitely support and cooperate. But Huichuan’s research results, asking us is useless; if you can’t get it, we’re even less likely to.”

“Then I’ll be frank, we do need your support in establishing this office. Besides the nominal support, we also need some substantial support.” Wang Moye also threw his cigarette butt away, looking into Ning Fei’s eyes as he said, “Tianyue…has also had some results recently, right?”

Ning Fei didn’t respond.

Truthfully, there have been some results, and Chen Yikun’s team produced them. But it’s currently in the mid-stage of development, just beginning to take shape, and hasn’t been fully verified, so there haven’t been any published papers or reports. In addition, this research isn’t directly related to mutated organisms, so it wasn’t placed in the comprehensive office.

—But how did Wang Moye…no, Jinghui Base, the higher-ups know about it?

They not only know that Huichuan has produced results, but they also know that Tianyue has something. It seems they have information sources in various places and aspects, even planted “spies.” Ning Fei, the minister of human resources and social security…assistant, needs to carefully “screen” the sensitive people in Tianyue Base.

It’s not about completely eliminating these people who are spreading information, after all, this kind of infiltration is like “wildfire that never dies, revived by the spring breeze,” and there’s no need to go against the higher-ups. Ning Fei just needs to grasp who the “whistleblowers” are, so it will be easier to carry out targeted operations in the future.

“Why so serious?” Wang Moye, seeing that Ning Fei wasn’t responding, waved his hand in front of Ning Fei’s eyes, “Just asking, it’s not like we’re trying to steal your results, no need to be so guarded, right?”

Ning Fei glanced at him, finally replying, “What if we do, and what if we don’t?”

“If you do, Jinghui Base will also find a good topic to exchange with you. In name, it’s joint research, but in reality, we’ll still be doing our own thing, but when the time comes, we’ll share the results with each other one step ahead.” Wang Moye said, “And on this basis, we’ll establish a coordinating office between Jinghui and Tianyue. If other bases want to join in the future, we’ll discuss the specific conditions.”

Ning Fei understood, “You want to use this cooperation mechanism and the results exchanged by both sides to tempt Huichuan to actively contribute their research on that mutated organism? That’s unlikely, Huichuan can completely refuse to take the bait, it wouldn’t be a big loss for them. Once the results are completed and published, they can also legitimately request to join the cooperation.”

“So, we need to apply some other pressure.” Wang Moye replied, “If Tianyue participates, I’ll tell you the current plan in more detail.”

“Don’t make it sound so natural.” Ning Fei raised an eyebrow, “I haven’t seen a reason why Tianyue must participate. If it’s just exchanging topics with Jinghui, frankly speaking, the temptation is pretty average. Why don’t we wait for the higher-ups to issue a notice saying there’s unified coordination, and then participate? If Huichuan doesn’t submit the topic, we can also not submit it.”

“It sounds like the higher-ups are trying to get something for nothing.” Wang Moye found it amusing, “Even if you say that, I can’t make any promises to you. I’m just here to supervise the project and pass on a message, I don’t have that much influence.”

Ning Fei said, “Then we’ve just been standing in the cold wind for so long, telling a magical story?”

“Alright, alright, I can reveal a little bit of information that I know.” Wang Moye chuckled, “But this is just what I’ve personally heard, not guaranteed to be true. Out of my personal desire, I’ll chat with you privately…”

Ning Fei waved his hand, “Alright, stop setting the stage, just say it.”

“The first batch of bases to establish an inter-base coordination mechanism may receive financial support from the higher-ups, and it won’t be a small amount, specifically for cross-base topics.” Wang Moye said, “Not just points, but also material equipment, site construction, and the like, will have the opportunity to receive support. And these kinds of projects usually have the greatest amount of support in the first and second batches…you understand.”

Ning Fei certainly understood.

“Cash power,” right?