Chu Feng, Chu Xiaoxiao, Ye Min, and Professor Fang stood around Chu Feng's CEO desk, staring wide-eyed at the thermos sitting on it.
Outside, all unnecessary personnel had been cleared out. The head of security was personally guarding the door with his men, and security was tight inside and out!
"Chairwoman Chu, what should we do now?" Ye Min asked first, her gaze casually drifting toward Professor Fang.
Professor Fang's sphincter clenched. In an instant, he was drenched in cold sweat. "Wait! Do you mean it or me?!"
Were these people planning to kill him to keep him quiet?
"Heh! Captain Ye must mean it!" Chu Feng said with a reassuring smile.
It or he—which one was she talking about? Professor Fang felt like she was teasing him.
"Ahem! Professor Fang, you understand that this matter is of great importance. Before inviting you here, we signed a confidentiality agreement. So until we decide what to do with this thing, we'll have to ask you to stay as our guest at Chu Corporation for a while. Chu Corporation will compensate you twice over for any losses you incur during your stay!" Chu Feng coughed twice and outlined her plan for "him."
Hearing that they only wanted to keep him under house arrest, Professor Fang wasn't angry. Instead, he let out a long breath. It seemed his life was safe.
He straightened up and said, "Chairwoman Chu, you should know that keeping this in your hands will do you no good at all. It could even lead to serious consequences beyond anything we can predict. So I recommend handing it over to our Atomic Energy Research Institute for safekeeping! Of course, we'll offer a price that satisfies Chu Corporation!"
At that, Chu Feng raised an eyebrow. That was certainly one option, but before she could speak, Chu Xiaoxiao cut in.
"Professor Fang, I'm afraid the Atomic Energy Research Institute at Xiacheng University can't afford this much highly enriched uranium on its own, can it?
"A hundred billion dollars may just be a theoretical figure compared to what it would be worth to countries without nuclear weapons. But even if you calculate it using the uranium prices published by the London Metal Exchange, a kilogram of highly enriched uranium would still fetch at least several billion Renminbi domestically. Are you sure your institute—or even Xiacheng University—can afford to buy it?"
Chu Xiaoxiao left Professor Fang speechless. It was all true, and there was no way to dispute it!
"Besides, even if you sold everything you owned to buy this batch, it's only the first shipment. There'll be at least as much more to come. Can you buy every shipment? We still need to find a buyer with deep pockets!"
Chu Xiaoxiao's words left Professor Fang frozen on the spot.
"Y-you just said what?! This... this is only the first shipment? And there'll be even more later?!"
After Chu Xiaoxiao nodded to confirm it, Professor Fang's heart began pounding wildly.
No one understood better than an expert in atomic energy what this meant. If this batch represented an astonishing fortune worth nearly a hundred billion, then a stable supply of nuclear fuel meant Rabbit Country would no longer be constrained by other nations' strategic nuclear resources. It also meant that nuclear power plants across the country could be built without restriction, and energy prices would drop dramatically!
Most of all, the person who solved this problem would surely become a great benefactor to the nation! They might even... go down in history!
A rush of vitality surged through Professor Fang's aging heart, making him feel young again! Researchers might not care about profit, but very few didn't care about recognition!
"Leave this problem to... no, please, you have to let me handle it!" Professor Fang said, looking radiant.
Not long after parting ways with Ye Min and the others, the Sea Wolf came to a stop in a remote stretch of ocean, with no one around.
Nie Yun lay on his back on the deck. One man, one ship, and the vast ocean stretched beneath the endless sky!
His eyes were closed, but his consciousness had already reached the Bian Continent.
On a secluded street near the harbor in Xiacheng City.
"L-Lao Da! We really have money!" Lao San said excitedly, staring at the thick wad of Renminbi in his hands.
Beside him, Lao Da stared at the money in his own hands, his face full of disbelief.
"Life is precious, love is dear, but for freedom's sake, both can be cast aside!"
Spurred on by the promise of freedom and the fear of death, Desperate Erlang had set foot in Xiacheng City in less than twenty hours.
The moment they completed their mission, the Xiaolang Robot had indeed activated again and announced that the two of them had successfully earned the reward for getting their wanted notices canceled. They were free again!
On top of that, they had received the login information for an online bank account. With it, they could withdraw 300,000 Renminbi from any UnionPay ATM.
The two were nervous, but decided to test whether the reward was real.
Go out and find a cop to turn themselves in, just to check whether their wanted notices had really been canceled? No one with any sense would do that.
So, after making land, their first stop was the nearest ATM. The bright red banknotes in their hands spoke for themselves.
"Hey! You two over there! What are you doing?" The sudden voice behind them startled them, snapping them out of their excitement.
They turned around and were instantly horrified. A patrol officer stood before them!
The officer had been patrolling the area when he spotted two suspicious-looking men lingering by the ATM for quite a while. Then they had each emerged carrying a thick stack of cash—at least tens of thousands of yuan. Naturally, he'd grown suspicious.
Now, seeing them look so flustered at the sight of him only made him more suspicious!
"C-Comrade Officer, we just took out some money. We haven't done anything!" Lao Da had been through enough to know he couldn't panic now. He forced himself to stay calm.
The patrol officer rested one hand on his baton and glanced at the ATM. After confirming there were no signs of tampering, he turned to the two men. "You withdrew this much cash in one go?"
"Y-Yes! My younger brother's getting married soon, so we came to withdraw the bride price." Lao Da was nervous and blurted out an excuse.
"Mm. Your IDs." The officer took out an ID scanner.
The two men stiffened at his words.
"What's wrong?" The officer moved his hand back toward his baton.
"Nothing, nothing!" The two hurriedly handed over their IDs, then waited anxiously for the verdict.
At this point, all they could do was hope the alien technology didn't let them down!
"Beep! Beep!" The scanner chirped. The officer glanced at the screen, then looked up at them.
Their palms were sweating, and they clenched their fists in secret, ready to act and run if things went south.
"Mm. When you're out and about, be careful carrying so much cash. Don't flash your wealth, understand?"
Fortunately, the officer simply returned their IDs and even kindly offered them a word of advice.
The two took their IDs back with a huge sigh of relief, nodding repeatedly. Their awe of Nie Yun grew even stronger. Alien technology really was incredible! If it said a wanted notice was canceled, it was canceled—no half measures!
Before leaving, the officer glanced at the several tens of thousands of yuan in "bride price" money the two were holding. He patted the "younger brother" on the shoulder and said with a rueful sigh, "It's not easy to get married these days! You know how much bride price I had to pay?"
The two brothers looked at him in confusion and shook their heads.
"When I was getting married, her family wanted a hundred thousand in bride price. I couldn't afford it, so I tentatively asked my future mother-in-law, 'When your two sons get married, what if each of their wives' families asks for a hundred thousand and you can't afford it? What would you do?'"
Lao Da was well-read, and immediately gave him a thumbs-up. "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! That was a masterful move—turning the tables by using retreat to advance! Simply marvelous!"
"Bullshit!" The patrol officer swore without hesitation. "My future mother-in-law thought it over for a long time, then raised the bride price to two hundred thousand!"
The two brothers: "..."
Watching the patrol officer walk away with a lonely look on his face, Lao San scratched his head and sighed, "Mothers-in-law are truly terrifying!"
At the same time, Liu Guodong was losing his temper at the police station.
"Why? Why did they cancel the wanted notices?!"
"Director, the eldest daughter of the Chu Family personally changed her testimony, saying she'd been mistaken because her eyesight was bad. The kidnappers weren't Pinming Sanlang at all. Under the law, if there's no victim, we can't keep the wanted notices in effect," his subordinate said timidly.
"Damn it! There's definitely something wrong here! Something's definitely wrong!" Liu Guodong fumed.
Before you continue