The two left for nearly an hour and returned with visibly altered lips. However, such a short time was only enough for kissing, nothing else could be done.
Luan Yu sensed something and teased, "Aren't you staying any longer? There's no rush anyway."
Perhaps this was their last meeting.
"I'm in a hurry."
"Oh." Feeling snubbed, she said, "Let's go then."
"Wait a moment." She reached out to Jin Li, who stood respectfully, not even daring to manifest his human form. He immediately flew over and stood straight before her.
"Protect him well. If what happened back then happens again, I'll forge you into the steps at the entrance of Shen Gong. Do you hear me?"
The long sword nodded gently, trembling inwardly.
"Let's go."
The three stood together. Luan Yu's scepter touched the ground, the space warped again, and with a flash of blue light, the three stepped in, and everything quickly returned to normal.
Shen Zhongyan watched everything disappear. It was only when Shen Qian called him a few times that he snapped back to attention. He tried to compose himself and said, "Have they rested well? Let's go back."
"They're all fine. How about you? Are you alright?"
Having just met and now parting again, with the other's identity and abilities a mystery, this feeling of not knowing who the person you love is or where they are going would not be pleasant.
"I'm fine."
Despite saying so, Shen Zhongyan didn't speak another word during the entire journey back. His mood remained extremely low. Upon returning, he confined himself to his room and didn't emerge for several days.
No amount of persuasion from his family helped. Jin Li also felt uneasy, partly due to the sadness of seeing his master and lord part ways, but more so from the fear of being forged into the steps at Shen Gong's entrance.
Master hadn't specified which "back then" it was. He wouldn't dare to kill him a second time, but if he failed to protect him well, he wouldn't fare any better.
Alas.
Jin Li's soft, adorable little face was scrunched up like a steamed bun. Even delicious food couldn't soothe his wounded heart. He listlessly picked at his food. Before he had finished eating, a commotion erupted outside. The other diners began to leave one after another, making him even less inclined to eat.
He also followed out to join the crowd.
It turned out that people from City A had come, wanting to take Taylor and his group back.
Jin Wenye naturally disagreed. Taylor and the others were brought back from City H by their expedition, and those people were also rescued by them. They could leave, but the researchers could not be taken away.
If the current Lin Cheng base were to be compared to a large company, with Shen Zhongyan as the chairman holding the majority of shares, then Jin Wenye would be the CEO who managed everything openly. All external dealings were handled by him and Shen Qian. Because Shen Qian's ability was not aggressive, he had more prestige.
People in the base understood this, but the outsiders did not. They mistakenly believed Jin Wenye was the legendary Mr. Shen. First, they tried to coerce Jin Wenye into compromise, then they used bribery. When negotiations failed, they resorted to force.
They had previously dispatched so many precious espers and special forces for Taylor and the others. Now, the people sent were naturally no less capable. They were fortunate individuals, like that man, whose families were involved in both realms and who had miraculously awakened abilities.
His ability was ice. According to the energy-merit ranking developed by City A, he should be in the third stage, considered an expert within the base.
He flicked a volley of ice spikes at Jin Wenye. Jin Wenye didn't even blink. With a thunderous roar out of thin air, the ice spikes in front of him were instantly shattered.
Jin Wenye was the male protagonist. His lightning ability was already quite superior, and with Lin Wan's cheat, using spiritual spring water as tap water, his ability level should have already reached level four.
The man clasped his hands together, and a giant ice sphere instantly formed around Jin Wenye. The biting cold seemed to envelop him entirely. Jin Wenye's body crackled with lightning, which shattered the ice sphere in a few bursts, and at the same time, waves of lightning struck the man.
Ice was the solidified form of water, and water was a conductor. The man finally realized that from the perspective of abilities, he was being countered by the opponent. If it weren't for the people around him pulling him away in time, he would likely have been scorched like the invading xenomorphs.
The man shook off the subordinate supporting him and looked at Jin Wenye with a sinister expression. "Mr. Shen is indeed as rumored."
Jin Wenye was at ease. Shen Qian, standing beside him, smiled and said, "Sorry, I forgot to introduce him. This is the manager of our base, Jin Wenye. You are not worthy of Mr. Shen's appearance."
The man's face turned ashen, as if he had swallowed a fly.
He rarely encountered an opponent in City A, yet here he couldn't even defeat one of their subordinates. It was truly humiliating.
However, he was not one to give up easily. He sat down and said to the two, "It's a good thing that Lin Cheng Base has experts, for all of us. However, although humans are one, competition between bases is also a reality. We are here to negotiate today. If negotiations fail, City A has a lot of pre-apocalypse heavy weaponry. You wouldn't want..."
"Heh." Before he could finish, Shen Qian chuckled. "With the existence of 007, are you sure your heavy weapons can be used? Also, you might not have had much interaction with him, so let me remind the people of your base: negative energy will exacerbate xenomorph invasions and turn normal people into xenomorphs. Your base's few have also witnessed this. If you don't want everyone to die together, I advise you to behave yourselves."
This was actually something 007 had warned everyone about. The man mentioning it was merely a threat. In fact, even if he had the intention, City A's base wouldn't agree if 007 didn't stop him, after weighing all the pros and cons. Sudannovel.com
Shen Qian, seeing his frustrated expression, decided to soften his approach. "You were right about one thing, which is that all humans are one now. If we develop an effective medicine or vaccine first, we won't abandon you. Moreover, think of it this way: we have spiritual springs, so our probability of developing it is much higher than yours. Isn't it more useful to keep the people here?"
The man pondered for a moment and couldn't think of a retort.
However, agreeing to Shen Qian's proposal meant relinquishing control to others, which he was unwilling to do.
"We will consider this matter. We plan to stay here for some time. During this period, please bear with us, Mr. Jin."
Shen Qian chuckled again. "Actually, my surname is Shen."
The man's face turned darker than the bottom of a pot.
Lin Cheng Base had completely won this round.
Since they weren't leaving, they must have ulterior motives. Jin Wenye ordered them to be monitored at all times and went to deal with the newly arrived refugees.
Their base now had sixty to seventy thousand people. The original resettlement buildings were no longer sufficient. For safety reasons, many houses had been converted into dormitories, with simplified configurations to accommodate more people.
Yet, it was still not enough. There was a derelict kindergarten within the residential area, which could house hundreds of people after renovation. Outside, there was also an elementary school. It hadn't been included in their initial plans, but with the growing population, Jin Wenye was already making larger plans on the map.
In addition to housing development plans and functional zone planning, there was also human resource planning. Espers were combat power and were generally responsible for training and maintaining base security. Ordinary people were responsible for various other tasks, ensuring that most people participated in base construction.
This would ensure fairness and the security of the base.