Zhong Jun looked at Sun Hang and said, "With your abilities, it shouldn’t be difficult, right?"
"Do you know well?" Sun Hang narrowed his eyes and reevaluated Zhong Ling’s aunt.
"We’ve conducted a detailed investigation of anyone who’s had contact with Zhong Ling, not to ntion, your relationship with her is so special..." Zhong Jun said.
"Oh? Special?"
"She never develops such a strong dependency on anyone, not even her father, but you’re an exception," Zhong Jun explained.
"Tsk, does that an you’ve already got a handle on my background? Didn’t Mr. Pei warn you?" Sun Hang deliberately ntioned Pei Zongjun—when at the Dubhe Tower, Pei Zongjun had promised Sun Hang to separate his records into two parts: an open file where Sun Hang was just an ordinary Hunter with only a few missions under his belt, totaling less than a thousand words. As for the more detailed ’secret file,’ only those with the highest decryption level at Dubhe Tower were qualified to view it.
Sun Hang asked this to test the power of the ’Zhong Family’ backing Zhong Ling within the Xiazhou Federation.
Although the Federation Governnt operates under a parliantary system, each mber’s surna signifies their family’s powers. Families form different factions to counterbalance each other, preventing a single family’s dominance in the Xiazhou Federation.
This approach, though it leads to bureaucratic inefficiency, can also prevent the rise of dictators.
Zhong Jun lowered her voice, "We have been warned... but it only confirms to that you possess that ability... Otherwise, Mr. Pei wouldn’t hold you in such high regard."
"Alright, I’ll do my best to protect Zhong Ling... And as for that position of Patriarch, rember to keep it for ," Sun Hang said.
"Do you really want to be the Patriarch of the Zhong Family?"
"What else? Did you think I was joking with you?"
...
...
After the not-so-pleasant conversation with Zhong Jun, Sun Hang left the research institute with the two won—he initially planned to visit the comrcial district, but then he rembered that Tianfu City was under a complete lockdown. All the comrcial activities, which had just begun to recover, were halted, and going there now would only reveal closed and darkened shops.
If lucky, he might bump into so lawbreakers sneaking out for zero-cost shopping—according to the Public Security Bureau’s report, over two hundred such individuals were caught in Tianfu City last week alone, with all major comrcial districts being affected.
"Where are you planning to go?" Wang Xiyi asked.
"Just wandering around the streets." The mont Sun Hang spoke, a breath of white vapor escaped his mouth—even with large heating equipnt, the outdoor temperature in Tianfu City was plumting day by day. Moreover, the massive shutdown of high-energy lighting devices considerably reduced the urban heat island effect, driving the average temperature in Tianfu City to nine degrees below zero, soon expected to break into double digits.
"Speaking of which, do you really plan to beco the Patriarch of the Zhong Family?" Wang Xiyi asked again.
"Playing as a Patriarch sounds fun, but I guess the title they give will mostly be nominal, likely without any real power," Sun Hang replied.
"But you have to marry into the family." Wang Xiyi’s gaze shifted to Zhong Ling, who had been staring at the ground, "Are you planning to marry Zhong Ling?"
"Jealous?"
"Not really... Just seems too good to be true," Wang Xiyi scoffed at Sun Hang.
"You’re clearly jealous." Sun Hang asserted.
"I’m just puzzled... considering we’re infected, and Zhong Ling is not... After all, I’ve never seen a normal family willing to let their daughter marry an infected person, let alone a powerful family like theirs," Wang Xiyi explained.
"If you want to marry , my father would agree," Zhong Ling suddenly said.
"Why?" Before Sun Hang could ask, Wang Xiyi had already spoken.
"It’s also part of the experint," Zhong Ling said. "The source of my special abilities is still a mystery; Dubhe Tower has conducted countless checks on , yet they never found any abnormal mitic patterns in my body. After my first period, my father extracted mature egg cells from for six consecutive months. Though he never told what he did with them, I assu they were used in so genetic experints."
"Is he trying to see if your abilities could be inherited genetically?" Sun Hang rubbed the short stubble on his newly grown chin, "Those egg cells were probably used for in vitro fertilization... Ha, might you unknowingly be a mother already?"
Zhong Ling: "..."
"Anyway, your father probably allowed you to follow to see what kind of abilities our offspring might have... Your dad is quite the research fanatic, isn’t he? To him, everything seems sacrificable for his studies." Sun Hang remarked.
Zhong Ling nodded.
"Suddenly, I feel like the three of us are quite similar," Wang Xiyi looped an arm around Sun Hang’s neck and wrapped the other around Zhong Ling’s shoulder. "Orphaned here, Sun Hang can’t recall his parents, and as for you, having a father like that is as good as none... Ha, quite interesting!"
"You’re wrong there, she still has a caring mother." Sun Hang glanced towards an inconspicuous corner—Zhong Ling’s eerie remains are typically sealed in a coffin, only waking when summoned. Yet the one transford from her mother possesses a degree of self-awareness, perpetually following and protecting Zhong Ling based on lingering ’mories’ and ’instincts.’
"True, damn, that’s enviable!" Wang Xiyi flicked Sun Hang with her tail, "With nowhere to go, how about drinking at ho? Oh wait... there’s less than twenty-four hours before the operation begins, and we’re not allowed to consu alcohol..."
Wang Xiyi sighed, feeling a bit dejected.
"Let’s go to the underground palace," Sun Hang suggested, "I plan to make two defensive occult devices for Zhong Ling, so even if her eerie remains are restrained, she won’t be entirely defenseless."
...
...
anwhile, one hundred eighty kiloters north of Tianfu City, twenty kiloters from "Chira No. 17 Cocoon."
"Observation Post Zero."
Since the military conducted a nuclear strike on Chira 17, this area has experienced continuous rainfall.
No one knows the origin of these rain-laden clouds or their connection to the nuclear explosion or Chira 17.
The rainfall continues to increase.
Two orange power armors trudged through the mud, relying on the milky white glow emitted by the nearby giant cocoon, stumbling deliberately as they entered the tent.
"The sixteenth close-range reconnaissance." A sowhat dull voice ca from one of the power armors, "Reached within seven kiloters of the target, and environntal radiation levels continue to rise, exceeding our detection equipnt’s limits."
"Do you think we’ll die here?" asked the occupant of the other power armor, "Even with multiple protective suits, I can feel a prickling sensation on my skin as we approach that thing..."
"As long as we regularly inject radiation protection dicine, we should be okay," the first person replied, "Our main concern should be the rain clouds overhead... If they don’t move, it’s fine, but if these clouds drift over the city, just imagine the outbreak of radiation sickness following a dirty rain—it’s unthinkable."
"Hopefully not, right? By the way, why haven’t Old Li and his team returned? I thought we were overdue, but they are even slower."
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