MCL CH100

Chapter 100: “I’m very happy to be able to cooperate with you…”
 

In a clean, white environment, the tall figure in a black suit was particularly eye-catching.

After sneezing for the umpteenth time, he finally drew a concerned look from Ju Ze. “President, are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Yan Xingzhou gently rubbed the tip of his nose and shook his head. “I’m fine.”

As he looked up, his field of vision was filled with stretches of clean, floor-to-ceiling glass. On the other side of the glass, research personnel in pure white uniforms were performing precise operations at their respective workstations with serious expressions.

The Central Research Institute.

Before this, he had never imagined that he would one day step into this place again.

Ju Ze observed Yan Xingzhou’s expression and, confirming that there was nothing unusual, relaxed. He accompanied Yan Xingzhou as they walked inside. “Speaking of which, President, you must have gone to see Mr. Lin earlier, right? Given the sudden situation on the coast, will he encounter any trouble at the Third Administration? Should we inquire about it and find a way to help?”

Before his voice had even faded, the sudden ringing of a cell phone broke the surrounding silence.

Yan Xingzhou glanced at the caller ID, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a silent smile. “No need to specifically inquire. The news has just arrived.”

He pressed the answer key and put the phone to his ear. “Hello.”

The next second, Su Muye’s voice came from the other end. “Director, Director, I just finished a meeting. Guess who I ran into!”

Yan Xingzhou was silent for a moment. Just as he was about to say that there was no need to guess, he heard Su Muye continue, “I met sister-in-law!”

The voice leaked out slightly, causing Ju Ze to cast another glance in their direction.

“…”

Yan Xingzhou asked, “Did you call him that to his face?”

“Huh? You’re actually not focused on the content of the meeting?” Su Muye’s tone was full of astonishment. The shock on his face could be felt even through the phone. “Director, you’ve changed! Just as the rumors say, you’re really deeply in love with sister-in-law! It looks like our Third Administration is really going to have a wedding. You have no idea how worried the brothers were that you would die old and alone…”

Yan Xingzhou moved the phone a little further from his ear. He waited until the rambling ended before saying slowly, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you in the future. For your own safety, it’s best not to use that title in front of him. Also, don’t call me Director anymore.”

“Okay Direc—ahem, okay, Boss! Don’t worry, I know my limits in front of Brother Lin.” Su Muye’s playful mannerisms subsided a bit as he got back to the point. “A decision has been made in the meeting regarding the coastal issue. The entire focus of the United Administration will now be on this. Since rift cleanup has always been the responsibility of the Third Administration, all departments will now be under the unified command of the Third Administration. Brother Lin is probably going to have a tough time. Speaking of which, his luck is really a bit bad. He’s run into such a tricky full-blown crisis right after taking office. He must be under a lot of pressure right now.”

“Pressure?” An image of a certain person flashed through his mind, and Yan Xingzhou gave a silent, dismissive smile. “It would be nice if he actually felt a little pressure.”

Su Muye clearly misinterpreted his meaning. “Boss, I know you’re not happy about Brother Lin joining the United Administration, but at a time like this, ensuring his safety should come before making him back down from the difficulty. Fortunately, it seems we don’t need to worry too much about that for now. To prepare for this crisis, Gu Beiqiu even specifically released Su Qiuyin. That old怪 Su may not be well-liked on a daily basis, but his work ability is impeccable. With him around, Brother Lin should be able to just sit back, drink tea, and be a hands-off boss.”

Yan Xingzhou: “I understand.”

Su Muye: “Hey, no, Boss, why are you so calm? You’re really not worried at all? No way, those bastards from R Country, they messed up because they’re useless, and now they want to drag our China down with them. They’re just a rotten apple…”

“Keep an eye on the Third Administration’s situation. If there’s trouble, contact me immediately. I have some things to deal with here, I’m hanging up first.”

After speaking, Yan Xingzhou didn’t listen to any more of Su Muye’s chatter and hung up the phone without a second thought. He looked up, and the office door in front of him happened to open. His eyes met with the person standing inside. “Shall we talk inside?”

“Of course.” Shen Nanyang, dressed in a spotless white lab coat, glanced at Yan Xingzhou through his glasses and humbly stepped aside with a gesture to enter. “I’m very happy to be able to cooperate with you one day, President Yan.”

Yan Xingzhou let out a noncommittal scoff and stepped inside.

As the office door closed again, the corridor of the research institute returned to silence.

“Wee-woo—! Wee-woo-woo—!”

The dense sound of alarms spread through the streets and alleys of the coastal city. In just a few short days, citizens who were going about their normal work lives saw convoys like this driving through the streets, casting a pall of gravity over their once-peaceful lives.

“Hey, do you know what’s going on? The military vehicles that have appeared recently all seem to have J City license plates. I don’t know how many of these convoys I’ve seen. Is something big happening?”

“You all don’t know? My friend who lives in R Country told me, something big happened. There was a serious contamination leak over there. He’s anxious to return to the country now, but even the flights have been suspended. Now, he can only wait for our country’s embassy to coordinate and send them back in groups.”

“R Country? Isn’t that very close to us? Looking at this situation, that damn island nation messed up, and now they’re going to drag us down too!?”

“Don’t panic, don’t panic, everyone. Hasn’t there been an official announcement yet? I believe there will be official news soon. We ordinary folks just need to wait peacefully.”

“Look, look! Aren’t those our action team’s vehicles over there? Speaking of which, the action team seems to have been very active recently, so it really must be related to the contamination leak in R Country.”

…

Amidst the discussions in the streets, a convoy with the action team’s logo sped through.

The man in the back of the lead command vehicle had a grave expression, which made the cross-shaped scar on his face look even more ferocious.

As the captain of the action team stationed in N City, Qi Xian had perfectly maintained harmony and stability within N City even with rifts breaking out everywhere. But he had never expected that after all his work was perfectly completed, an external factor from R Country would directly push his jurisdiction into the eye of the storm.

As the closest coastal city in China to the islands of R Country, once the United Administration had formulated its defense strategy, it had become the key fortress for establishing a defensive line.

The current situation was simple—either they gritted their teeth and defended to the death, or if they couldn’t hold on, N City would become the first major city in China to officially become a fallen zone.

The first, naturally, meant there would be a second, and even a third…

This was a precedent that absolutely could not be set!

The more Qi Xian thought about it, the more his head ached. The thought that he couldn’t find any trace of Yan Xingzhou at the Wanyuan Group recently made him feel even more physically and mentally exhausted.

He had originally thought he could ask this X-rank ability user for help, but he never expected that he wouldn’t even have a place to make the request.

And now, he could only obey the notice he had just received and go to the spatial teleportation area to welcome the arrival of this operation’s supreme commander, said to be the new, recently appointed director of the Third Administration.

The scene of Su Qiuyin’s arrival in N City not long ago was still fresh in his mind. Who would have thought that with the passage of time, for some unknown mistake, he would be dismissed from his post in the blink of an eye.

With no information about the new director’s background, he could only take it one step at a time.

Upon arriving at his destination, Qi Xian very solemnly straightened his uniform before getting out of the car. After ensuring his appearance was proper, he strode towards the teleportation point.

When he arrived, many people were already waiting, including the mayor. Amidst the tense atmosphere, everyone still managed to exchange a few awkward pleasantries.

Finally, with a few flashes of light, several figures appeared one after another in the teleportation point.

Qi Xian straightened his back and immediately went forward to greet them. The opening lines he had practiced countless times came out instinctively, “Hello, first time meeting you. I am the captain of the N City action team, Qi…”

His words came to an abrupt halt as that head of bright red hair entered his vision. He paused for a full few seconds before he could react, his voice still rising several octaves in disbelief, “Lin… Lin Ni?!”

Then he felt the newcomer pat his shoulder in a very buddy-buddy way.

Lin Xi’s smile was as harmless as when they first met. “Captain Qi, long time no see.”

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