Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 332 - 58 Interlude The Feast
Chapter 332: Chapter 58 Interlude: The Feast
Chapter 332: Chapter 58 Interlude: The Feast
Li Yan hesitated for a moment, just about to call back the Tactical Spider when another communication came through—it was still Qiao Xing. Li Yan sighed and still answered it.
Black Star Armored Vehicle, communications room.
“Colonel, the connection is through.”
Qiao Xing strode over and grabbed the handset, his eyes flickering, but said nothing.
“Colonel Qiao, what’s wrong?”
Li Yan’s voice came from the other end, sounding unusually low.
“Mr. Li Yan, hello.”
Qiao Xing licked his lips, “Didn’t we agree? After I finish up with my business here, I wanted to properly thank you. So why did you leave in such a hurry?”
“I heard about an old friend, so I left without saying goodbye to anyone.”
“Ah, I’ll just say it outright, Mr. Li Yan.” Qiao Xing’s fist clenched next to his mouth, “I’ve run into a bit of a snag here, and I wanted to ask for your help.”
Li Yan’s eyebrows raised, “The Black Star Armored Vehicle needs the help of a Wilderness Hunter like me?”
“It’s Afafu, she and I… we’re having a conflict right now. She thinks I’m doubting her, and she doesn’t believe a word I say. I was hoping that you, as her lifesaver, could help me talk to her. I didn’t expect you to have already left. To be honest, I don’t know what to do. I hope you could make time to come back and talk to her.”
Li Yan frowned, jokingly responding, “How can I help with this kind of thing? Trying to help could just make it worse. Couples fight in bed, but make up by the end of it. She’s even given birth to your child, how many days can she stay mad? A few kind words should be enough to soothe her.”
“But her current physical state…”
“Colonel Qiao.”
Li Yan interrupted him, “There’s no reason for me to intervene in this. If you have something to say, just say it directly.”
Qiao Xing choked a bit, but he didn’t show too much embarrassment. Instead, he squinted his eyes, his tone somehow more relaxed.
“Sorry about that. Well, uh, haha, I wasn’t supposed to say this, but Mr. Li Yan, you’re a trustworthy person.”
Li Yan listened quietly.
“After we took care of Great Demon Lake, we found quite a few valuable samples and data, including some technological breakthroughs. In a few days, Black Star Armored Vehicle is inviting some authorities in the field of Genetic Potions over. But just at this critical moment, the machine we were adjusting encountered a glitch. I’ve heard that you have some incredible repair skills, even our own technicians speak highly of you, so I thought of you.”
Pausing, Qiao Xing continued, “The pretext I used earlier was indeed a ruse, but the conflict with Afafu is real. I thought if you were coming back, I would raise this issue again and invite you privately, so it wouldn’t seem too abrupt.”
Li Yan was silent for a while, finding no flaws in Qiao Xing’s words which even seemed sincerely honest. Besides, according to Qiao Xing, Shuishu Park might be organizing something in sector B, where he could directly exchange the Yak genetic samples in his hands for rewards, sparing him the effort of selling to Yunhai Pharmaceuticals for a fourth-tier ability potion, which would benefit him as well.
Yet, for a machine repair, was it necessary to contact dozens of times in such a hurry?
At this thought, a flash of caution passed through Li Yan’s mind.
“Li Yan, why are you silent?”
Qiao Xing’s voice was still as gentle.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking that I might not be able to fit it into my schedule. I can’t leave my work here. And those two skills of mine are not suitable for big stages. You’re just clutching at straws. So, I’m afraid I can’t assist you.”
In the end, Li Yan decided to refuse. Once he exchanged for a fourth-tier ability potion from Yunhai Pharmaceuticals, he planned to leave this ‘fruit’.
If he could get a fourth-tier potion from Yunhai Pharmaceuticals, there was no need for complications.
“…Alright, Zhuoma didn’t take this to heart when she mentioned it. It was a girl named Wei Dan who said you might have a way, so I… Even if it doesn’t work out, never mind then.”
“Wait.”
Qiao Xing glanced at the handset, his voice amiable, “What’s wrong?”
“…”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, before Li Yan’s voice came through, devoid of any detectable emotion.
“Colonel Qiao, this is you asking me to go back…”
“Of course, it’s me inviting you back.”
Qiao Xing answered.
“Fine, I’ll be there by tomorrow afternoon, wait for me.”
“That would be great.”
“By the way, Colonel Qiao, how many eyes does Lord Ma have?”
“Huh?”
Li Yan hung up the phone directly.
Qiao Xing, hearing the phone disconnect, silently lowered his hand.
On the other side, Li Yan who had packed up the Tactical Spider let out a cold laugh, licked his upper palate, and turned to leave.
Just then, the man in the beige suit hurried back.
“The headquarters’ position is this: if you can provide the whereabouts of Miss Yu Shu and exchange it for equivalent goods worth three and a half million, Yunhai Pharmaceuticals will accept the trade. However, the transaction has to occur at the headquarters, which is over a thousand kilometers away.”
Without turning back, Li Yan said, “The deal is off. We’ll talk another time.”
The man in the suit stood still, bewildered. He had never seen anyone conduct business like this, but Li Yan was not joking; he finished speaking and headed downstairs.
“Wait, alright, headquarters said three million, and there’s room to negotiate. Hey, mister!”
By the time the man in the suit had finished speaking, Li Yan had already disappeared.
At the entrance, Li Yan summoned his modified Dodge Tomahawk and, without a word, headed straight east. The ceaseless calls from behind were ignored.
…
The drizzle persisted, and Ramu Jue sat in the open, fastening his belt, dressed in military attire, his back against the Black Buddha War Machine pocked with mottled bullet scars. The concrete building he faced was brightly lit, and “The Sacred War” played from the recorder in the hall.
Unlike the other physically whole men and women outside, the Winter Yak, in her silver-grey military uniform, silently wiped her firearms in the corner.
With her slender legs and shapely figure, it was not hard to imagine that this Iron Lady must have been a stunning beauty before she turned into a Yak zombie.
Unfortunately, the current rot and exposed bloodied tissue had shattered that illusion of beauty, leaving nothing behind. The repugnant appearance of the undead, coupled with the Iron Lady’s reticence, made her an utter outlier even among these advanced zombies and Yak warriors.
A magazine was handed to the Winter Yak, and the Super Sensitive Yak, with a Gothic style of makeup and clothing, sat down next to her, their bodies closely aligned, one large and one small.
“Are we really going to leave?”
The Iron Lady turned to glance at the Super Sensitive Yak and nodded silently.
“I don’t like the people in Shuishu Park, not even Yu Shu.”
This time, the Iron Lady did not respond to her.
“…”
Ramu Jue averted his gaze, contemplating ordering someone to change the music in the recorder to something softer, like “Katyusha” or “Song of the Weaver Girl.”
Just then, Yakov, holding two glasses of red wine, approached with an ineffable zest even in his brows – the Lord of Great Demon Lake Zombies.
Ramu Jue took a glass and thanked him.
“I hear you’ve taken two unstable supreme fifth-tier potions in a row. How are you feeling now?”
“So-so, not going to die.”
Yakov’s face had softened a lot from before: “Although it deviated from the plan, the end result is no different. We are about to succeed.”
Ramu Jue smiled: “Perhaps.”
Yakov frowned slightly: “Black Star has agreed to call a meeting for us at Shuishu Park… Do you think Yu Shu might break the appointment?”
As he spoke, Yakov’s face also showed concern.
“No, Yu Shu won’t break it.”
Yakov stared at the calm face of Ramu Jue and finally sighed in relief: “That’s best then.”
He licked his lips: “In one month, we can leave this damned place and go to another stream of destiny. No more mutated beasts and rampant nuclear radiation.”
Ramu Jue looked steadily at Yakov’s face. Suddenly reminded of something, Yakov said, “Never mind the others, but the Iron Lady? With her face…”
Yakov tsk-tsked and shook his head.
“We’re seeking a prosperous and peaceful life; her abilities won’t be needed. But that face is so conspicuous that perhaps…”
“It’s up to you.”
Yakov said with some surprise: “Oh, that heartless, Ramu Jue? After all, if it weren’t for Iron Lady, you, who were still a child back then, couldn’t have escaped the Great Demon Lake, let alone met Yu Shu and earned the right to sit on an equal footing with me.”
“I’m grateful to Vera, but people always have to look ahead.”
Yakov laughed heartily, slapping Ramu Jue’s shoulder.
“Alright, then it’s settled,” said Yakov, raising his glass with a smile, “To our bright future.”
Ramu Jue nodded and clinked his glass with Yakov’s, tilting his head back to drain the wine. His peripheral vision swept over Iron Lady Vera, and unexpectedly she seemed to sense something and turned to look at Ramu Jue.
Ramu Jue instinctively turned away, but quickly recovered and faced Vera, flashing a brilliantly sunny smile.
…
Beep~beep~beep~
Liang Zhengyong picked up the hand-cranked brass-shell phone. The voice of the elderly man came from the other end of the line, unusually serious and assertive, like an old lion king.
“I’ve read your plan. When the time comes, be bold; don’t worry about me. Do it brilliantly. The manpower you requested will definitely arrive within twenty days.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
Liang Zhengyong replied softly.
He was surrounded by stacks of documents and images regarding Medicine Buddha, Great Demon Lake, Kuang Zhuoma, and Danzuo Automobile.
A few minutes later, Liang Zhengyong hung up the phone, rubbed his temples wearily, and then, suddenly enlivened, he pulled a photo from the vast sea of papers. It showed a tall, skinny man in an old dust- and blood-stained trench coat, with an exaggeratedly designed brass shotgun at his waist.
Liang Zhengyong stared at the photo for a while, and then a sound escaped his throat.
“Hmm?”
…
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The piercing alarm reverberated across the wilderness. A few silver armored vehicles, like giant waves crashing onto the shore, blocked the valley with their Black Star badges prominently displayed. The soldiers aboard raised their guns and shouted, “Halt!”
The blue flames gradually died down, yet the silver Dodge Tomahawk, carried by its momentum, still charged like a wild horse towards the track barricades with a fierce howl!
Screech!!!
Finally, the front two wheels came to a grating halt, and Li Yan, with one foot on a wild plant covered in black spikes, braced the Dodge Tomahawk.
“It’s you, you dare to come back?!”
The soldiers on the defense line were shocked and angry. It was this motorcycle that had unbelievably breached Black Star’s defense line, a disgrace to these soldiers who never expected this rabbit to have the gall to return the next day.
“It was Colonel Qiao who insisted I come back to get involved in this mess.”
Li Yan pulled out an orange carrot from his pocket, and with gleaming teeth, bit it in half. The crunchy sound echoed continuously.
