Ye Tiancheng and Long Miaomiao had not wasted the past couple of days; they had indeed made some progress. However, their research was not yet concluded. Upon receiving the invitation from the Helian family, they decided to temporarily pause their work and accepted the offer.
When Helian Sheng learned that Ye Tiancheng was finally free, he immediately made arrangements.
By lunchtime, Ye Tiancheng and his entourage were invited to a more formal reception hall, where the Helian family hosted a banquet.
During the meal, conversation was minimal. They exchanged pleasantries, encouraged each other to eat, and refrained from discussing sensitive matters.
After everyone had finished lunch, Helian Yi excused himself and the other guests. Helian Sheng then began discussing matters with Ye Tiancheng.
Helian Sheng spoke first, saying, "As we agreed, once the Helian family's crisis was resolved, I would assist you. The situation within the Helian family has now temporarily stabilized. We shouldn't delay any further, so I've decided to depart and help you."
Ye Tiancheng replied politely, "Thank you for your trouble. I am truly stretched thin, and I am grateful for your willingness to cooperate."
Helian Sheng responded, "It's for our mutual benefit."
They were individuals with shared purposes and goals, unwavering in their resolve, which allowed them to quickly reach a tacit agreement and cooperation without getting bogged down in other details.
"Speaking of which, can you tell me more about the situation there? Are there any points I need to be aware of, or any other intelligence you have?" Helian Sheng inquired about the Fatty's affairs. "How much do you know about the situation there?"
This was a necessary exchange of information for cooperation, and Ye Tiancheng had no intention of concealing anything.
He thought for a moment, choosing to tell Helian Sheng as much as he knew.
Before meeting with Helian Sheng, Ye Tiancheng had re-organized and confirmed his intelligence. Therefore, he was able to readily share information.
Ye Tiancheng told Helian Sheng, "I have a grasp of the basic intelligence, and I know some of the other details. I've been keeping a close watch on the situation there. Once you head over, I'll also transfer some of my intelligence network to you, to provide you with some assistance."
"Let me first outline the basic situation as I understand it. For more specific details, once I transfer my intelligence network to you later, I will have someone send a detailed report to your hands. This will help you deepen your understanding on your journey, facilitate your future actions, and save time."
Helian Sheng accepted this proposal, finding it reasonable.
He agreed, "That sounds good. Some things cannot be explained in a few words, and having a usable intelligence network is beneficial. It will make things much easier for me."
Ye Tiancheng nodded and began to tell Helian Sheng about the Fatty's situation.
"From what I understand, after I rescued my daughter, although the Fatty and his associates realized the person had been rescued by me and that they had been discovered, they remained in Fengcheng and did not leave. They have not changed their base of operations."
"According to informant reports, the Fatty and his associates have no intention of relocating, nor do they plan to do so in the near future. He likely has collaborators, but they are not human. They might be some kind of alien race with special abilities. The items brought to me by the captain of the official special operations team are for our research."
"The research content, if nothing unexpected occurs, is precisely on the abilities possessed by the alien cooperating with the Fatty."
Helian Sheng listened and nodded slightly.
Regarding Ye Tiancheng's situation, after reaching an agreement, Ye Tiancheng had not hidden much from Helian Sheng. Therefore, Helian Sheng was aware that Ye Tiancheng's brother had betrayed him, and that his rescued wife and daughter had been swapped.
The method by which the opponent swapped Ye Tiancheng's wife was likely related to the abilities Ye Tiancheng was researching, possibly connected to the Fatty's collaborator.
Helian Sheng said to Ye Tiancheng, "I've heard you mention this before. Once I get there, I will pay close attention to prevent our personnel from being infiltrated or swapped, which could lead to intelligence leaks."
Ye Tiancheng was precisely hoping Helian Sheng would be vigilant and not be deceived. Knowing that Helian Sheng understood and was prepared put Ye Tiancheng at ease.
"Just be careful," he continued, "There's also another important matter."
Ye Tiancheng stated, "Although we can see that the Fatty outwardly has an alien collaborator with special abilities, our investigation has revealed that this is likely only one collaborator. They are not working for the Fatty, nor do they share common interests with him to form this cooperation."
"Instead, it's because both the Fatty and his collaborator are under another entity. Their identity is unknown, and we don't have much intelligence about this individual. Further investigation is needed."
"This person's depth is unknown, and they have subordinates with extraordinary abilities. They are likely not an ordinary character, and we need to be very cautious."
Helian Sheng took note, "I've noted it down."
Afterward, Ye Tiancheng recounted everything he could remember to Helian Sheng. They cross-referenced their information, confirming no major omissions, so there were essentially no issues.
Any missing details would be gradually received by Helian Sheng on his journey.
Following this meeting, Ye Tiancheng provided Helian Sheng with the contact information of his lead informant within the intelligence network. Upon returning, Helian Sheng contacted his informant, informed them of the matter, and transferred his intelligence network to Helian Sheng's command.
Helian Sheng did not delay. After meeting with Ye Tiancheng and gaining a clearer understanding of what he needed to know, he departed that very evening.
He would travel to Fengcheng and pay close attention to the Fatty's situation, to prevent any schemes that might harm Ye Tiancheng or slow down his progress in collecting the fragments of the Fuxi Qin.
Helian Sheng's primary concern was the collection progress of the Fuxi Qin fragments.
After all, this was related to the survival of the Helian family and the reason for his cooperation with Ye Tiancheng.
If the Fatty and his associates were to hinder Ye Tiancheng from behind, it would jeopardize Helian Sheng's life and the entire Helian family. No amount of coercion or temptation could sway Helian Sheng's stance.
On Ye Tiancheng's side, Helian Sheng's honesty and trustworthiness, and his commitment to his word, had resolved a major worry for Ye Tiancheng.
They had also nearly finished their research on the mirror and were eager to move on to the next location to collect the Fuxi Qin fragments as quickly as possible. Thus, they packed their belongings and prepared to depart.
Furthermore, Nie Chongyang could not be delayed for much longer.
Helping Ye Tiancheng this time had consumed a considerable amount of Nie Chongyang's time and energy, and he had been delayed at the Helian family for several days. Fortunately, they had also made good progress with the little fox, achieving some success.
After agreeing on their plans, they prepared to go their separate ways.
Nie Chongyang took his leave first, intending to return to the Special Operations Team to continue handling his affairs. The backlog of work would likely be overwhelming, and Nie Chongyang would be swamped for quite some time.
However, Xiao Miaomiao did leave with Nie Chongyang and his team.
This was rather unexpected, even beyond Nie Chongyang's expectations.
The reason for this was that upon learning that Xiao Miaomiao was a manifestation of Long Miaomiao, Nie Chongyang and his team developed a desire to keep her. Furthermore, during their previous interactions, the members of the Special Operations Team had grown fond of Xiao Miaomiao and were reluctant to see her leave.
The newly established Special Operations Team was severely lacking in talent, especially in dealing with anomalous events. If Xiao Miaomiao could provide them with support, the benefits would be immense.
When Nie Chongyang and his team made their request, they did not hold out much hope.
After all, they could not think of any conditions they could offer that would make Xiao Miaomiao willing to stay and help them.
However, to their surprise, when they made the request, considering that Xiao Miaomiao was a manifestation of Long Miaomiao, the person making the request was naturally Long Miaomiao.
In their understanding, Long Miaomiao's consent was essential for this matter.
But upon learning of this, Long Miaomiao's first reaction was to summon Xiao Miaomiao and ask for her opinion.
It turned out that although Xiao Miaomiao was a manifestation of Long Miaomiao, due to being separated from Long Miaomiao for an extended period and needing to handle affairs independently, she had developed her own consciousness and a unique way of thinking. She was capable of independent thought and judgment.
For such a manifestation, any being would likely experience some internal conflict regarding their attitude.
When needing assistance from such an entity, because they were a manifestation, requesting help seemed permissible, as it was essentially oneself, and anyone doing what one wanted was the same.
However, in situations where the dominant party could unilaterally decide the other's choice, one could not help but feel conflicted and overthink.
The other party already possessed independent consciousness. If one made a unilateral decision for them, would it be too overbearing, without considering their own thoughts?
Even though they knew this was also oneself, a manifestation, it felt as though something was different.
Long Miaomiao felt the same way, which is why she chose to respect Xiao Miaomiao's decision.
She asked Xiao Miaomiao, carefully explaining Nie Chongyang's request, and let Xiao Miaomiao decide whether to accept Nie Chongyang's offer.
Nie Chongyang had not anticipated that this matter could be handled in such a way. If he had known earlier that Xiao Miaomiao could make her own choice, he would have been much more confident and would have actively sought to gain Xiao Miaomiao's favor to persuade her to stay.
Xiao Miaomiao had also spent a considerable amount of time with them, and their interactions had been pleasant. She would likely agree.
After Long Miaomiao consulted Xiao Miaomiao, Nie Chongyang once again solemnly reiterated his request to Xiao Miaomiao.
Fortunately, in the end, Nie Chongyang got his wish. Xiao Miaomiao thought for only a short while before readily agreeing. Long Miaomiao, following Xiao Miaomiao's wishes, allowed her to go with Nie Chongyang.
In Long Miaomiao's view, her manifestation was certainly not as powerful as herself, and her strength was considerably inferior. Furthermore, she would be accompanying Ye Tiancheng, which was enough to assist him. Nie Chongyang was an important partner, and even a friend, to Ye Tiancheng. If Xiao Miaomiao could go to him and offer some assistance, it would be a good thing.
Both parties were pleased.
For Ye Tiancheng, Xiao Miaomiao going with Nie Chongyang was also a good thing. After all, having a manifestation in the form of a child was somewhat troublesome for him. Not to mention Xiao Miaomiao, he also needed to think carefully about Ye Qingcheng's whereabouts.