After devouring seven or eight large strawberries in one go, Yang Chi pushed up the glasses on his nose and looked at Gu Xi sheepishly. "Gu Xi, did I eat too many?"
’So you *do* realize? Isn’t it a little late to be bashful now?’ Shen Yue glanced at his cousin, utterly speechless.
’How humiliating.’
’I can’t even watch.’
Gu Xi, however, didn’t mind. ’As long as I have seeds, I can grow a huge patch of strawberries anyti I want.’
"Gu Xi, thank you. You’re too good to ," Yang Chi said earnestly, not forgetting to throw his cousin under the bus. "My brother has never been this generous with ... He’d even snatch back half an orange if I tried to eat one of his."
Shen Yue let out two cold, sarcastic laughs. ’This cousin is a lost cause.’
Gu Xi said politely to Yang Chi, "If you like them, you can take so with you when you leave."
’The kid is quite pitiful, actually,’ she thought. ’He was deliberately tricked into coming here by Shen Yue, but because there are too many prying eyes at the experintal farm, they have to hide their relationship. So even when Shen Yue has good food, he doesn’t dare to openly bring much for him.’
"Thank you, Gu Xi." Yang Chi was deeply moved. He shot a smug glance and a raised eyebrow at his cousin, Shen Yue, before turning back with a serious expression. "Gu Xi, feel free to ask anything about what’s happening at the Central Base."
’To successfully latch onto this powerhouse and secure a long-term al ticket, I’ll tell her everything I know, holding nothing back!’
Yang Chi subconsciously straightened his posture, determined to seize this opportunity to prove his worth.
Gu Xi glanced at Shen Yue. Seeing him nod, she then asked Yang Chi, "Regarding the South City Restaurant incident, what’s the attitude of the Central Base and the Abnormal Ability Research Institute?"
Yang Chi first recounted the matter of the wanted notice, emphatically stressing that Ye Junhan had been deliberately lured away beforehand.
Gu Xi imdiately recalled the scene from that night when Zhou Jinyu appeared on cara during Wei Heng’s video call with Ye Junhan. ’So, was it all preditated?’
"What about now? The three wanted criminals all died suddenly. What was the Abnormal Ability Research Institute’s reaction?" Gu Xi asked directly.
"The Abnormal Ability Research Institute’s reaction..." Yang Chi paused, hesitating for a mont before continuing, "was no reaction. It’s as if the whole thing never happened. That special ops team has also been recalled by them."
Of course, Ye Junhan had a hand in this as well. Rumor has it that he was furious this ti... he just hasn’t acted on it yet.
After hearing this, Gu Xi realized almost instantly that both the South City base and the Abnormal Ability Research Institute had made the sa decision after the n died—to sweep it under the rug.
’In other words, the matter of those three wanted criminals can’t be discussed openly?’
Gu Xi raised her hand and tapped her fingers lightly on the edge of the table.
’There’s definitely more to this than ets the eye...’
Yang Chi glanced at her, thought for a mont, and added, "Gu Xi, I had soone look into the identities of those three wanted criminals..."
Gu Xi slowly raised her head to look at him.
Yang Chi chose his words carefully. "It’s said that the three of them escaped from a secret lab rumored to belong to the Abnormal Ability Research Institute. But that’s just hearsay; it hasn’t been confird..."
But Gu Xi asked, "Do you know where that lab is located?"
Yang Chi was taken aback for a second before shaking his head. "I don’t know. But if you’re interested, Gu Xi, I can have soone look into it later. It’s just, it’s only a rumor, after all..."
There was no guarantee they would find anything.
Yang Chi didn’t finish his sentence, but his aning was clear.
"Yang, thank you for your trouble," Gu Xi said sincerely.
Yang Chi felt he was one step closer to securing his long-term al ticket.
After thinking for a mont, he added, "Gu Xi, there’s one more thing that I find a bit strange.
Last night, the South City base and the Abnormal Ability Research Institute got into a pretty heated dispute over custody of the three wanted criminals, but the higher-ups at the Central Base just turned a blind eye to the whole thing..."
Gu Xi nodded. After Shen Yue left with Yang Chi under the cover of darkness, she stood in the courtyard for a while longer, watching Da Hong chase a flock of half-grown hens around the small garden for several laps. Only then did she slowly return to the house and turn on the radio.
Little Green Sprout eagerly opened the dictionary beside her, right to the page she had been looking at before.
Gu Xi lowered her gaze, her fingertip slowly tracing over the inconspicuous little ink dot at the bottom left of the page, lost in thought.
’I have a feeling this isn’t over yet...’
’Or perhaps, it’s only just beginning?’
...
That night, after everyone had gone to bed, Gu Xi went deep into the woods again.
Although her precious Sprout had impatiently swallowed the Crystal Core Fragnt in one gulp yesterday, it hadn’t actually absorbed it. Instead, it had temporarily stored it in her space.
After all, it was a fragnt of her Crystal Core from when she was at the Divine Rank; absorbing it wasn’t going to be that easy.
Her ability had only recovered to around Level 8, and even reaching Level 9 was a struggle. To absorb this Crystal Core Fragnt, she would need to seize a massive amount of energy.
Fortunately, the mutant plants covering the mountains and wilderness outside served as her backup.
The next morning, when Gu Xi returned to the small courtyard and pushed open the gate, she saw Qi Xiang squatting there, watching with utter boredom as Wei Heng chopped up old vegetable stalks to feed the chickens.
Gu Xi paused, stunned, then slowly walked over. "...Don’t you have to work today?"
Qi Xiang stood up and said languidly, "I was waiting for you."
"Waiting for for what?" Gu Xi raised an eyebrow. After the experintal farm was established, the professors had beco much busier and no longer had ti to give her daily lessons.
So, during this period, Gu Xi didn’t have to report to the experintal farm every day. Usually, the two professors would just notify her when she was needed.
Qi Xiang glanced at the dewy hem of Gu Xi’s clothes and the soles of her shoes and knew she must have been busy outside all night, which probably ant she hadn’t had ti to see the notice on the forum.
Although she was very curious about what Gu Xi had been doing out all night, Qi Xiang didn’t ask a single question.
Instead, it was Wei Heng who untied his apron and explained while washing his hands, "The base issued a notice this morning, telling all of us pioneers out in the field to return to the nearest camp as soon as possible for an inspection..."
Almost instinctively, Gu Xi imdiately connected this to the South City Restaurant incident.
After a mont’s thought, she asked, "How often did they usually conduct these inspections in the past?"
Wiping the water from his hands, Wei Heng said, "To prevent people from suddenly mutating due to excessive X Energy intake, the permanent residents of the major bases and camps are usually inspected once a month. As for pioneers who are out in the field, they’re required to return to a city for an inspection once every six months."
Gu Xi calculated the ti. It had been about six months since she had woken up.
’In other words, this notice for us to return is just for a routine inspection?’
’So, was I just overthinking things?’
Gu Xi frowned slightly, just as Qi Xiang drawled, "This notice from the base is a bit baffling..."
Gu Xi looked up at her.
Qi Xiang brought over the breakfast she had saved for her. "The experintal farm clearly has the equipnt for routine inspections, but the base’s notice is telling us to go back to the camp to get checked..."
’Isn’t that just a waste of everyone’s ti?’
Gu Xi lowered her gaze. ’That’s right. Ever since the theft at the lab caused soone to suddenly mutate, the dical clinic there has been equipped with a lot of new testing devices.’
’To reassure everyone, the two professors even led by example, organizing monthly check-ups for the whole team.’
’To avoid drawing attention to herself, Gu Xi had gone along for a few of those check-ups just like everyone else.’
’Logically, they shouldn’t need to go back to the camp for an inspection...’
After slowly finishing her porridge, Gu Xi looked up and asked, "What did Shen Yue have to say?"
Wei Heng replied, "He told the three of us to head back to Camp No. 9527 as soon as possible."
The instruction was rather intriguing and worth pondering.
"Just the three of us?" Gu Xi glanced at Wei Heng, who nodded.
After breakfast, the three of them set off in the large truck, taking over half a truckload of sweet potatoes with them.
Gu Xi noticed quite a few other pioneers on the road rushing back, just like them. When they arrived at the camp, they saw a large number of garrison personnel conducting checks at the entrance.
Although the personnel weren’t holding guns, their expressions were stern, and each of them held a palm-sized device that they used to scan everyone coming and going.
And that wasn’t all.
Once they entered the camp, they discovered it was on high alert. On every street, there were garrison personnel scanning people with similar devices.
Gu Xi did a quick ntal count. From the mont they entered the camp gate to the ti they reached the dical clinic, she had been scanned a total of 87 tis.
’Isn’t this frequency a bit high?’
Gu Xi pushed open the door to the dical clinic, thinking, ’Good thing I made thorough preparations on the way here.’
Ye Lin hadn’t seen Gu Xi in several months. She was a bit surprised when the young woman pushed the door open, but then she smiled, pointed to a stool on the side, and gestured for Gu Xi to sit and wait.
After finishing the inspections for the few people ahead of her, Ye Lin ca over and said in a low voice, "Don’t worry, it’s just a routine check."
Gu Xi looked down at her fingertip, which had just been pricked and was now bleeding for a sample, and gave a soft "Mm."
"Miss Lin, what’s going on outside?" Wei Heng leaned in, glanced out the window, and asked in a low voice, "What’s with all the commotion...?"
After she finished drawing Gu Xi’s blood, Ye Lin got up, walked to the window, and snapped it shut, blocking the view from outside. Only then did she turn back to the three of them and whisper, "Sothing’s happened at the South City base!"
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