Young People

After dinner, the group returned to the "Intelligent Connected Farming Research Base" in Chongyun Village, to the underground conference room where Fang Pingfang and others had met with Xia Libing that morning.

Old He first held a meeting with Xia Libing, then connected remotely with Xiang Kun, and then, on behalf of the "Non-Normal Biology Research Center," confirmed Xia Libing's identity and signed several routine agreements.

Next, we held a meeting with Fang Pingfang's team to give everyone a brief introduction to the official organizational structure involved in "Mutated Creature" research, some past research results, and research plans.

However, the more Fang Pingfang and the others listened to Old He's introduction, the more they realized that Xia Libing seemed to have a more systematic grasp of information and research on "Mutated Creature," and that many details were also more abundant.

This made them even more confused: which side actually had the higher authority?

Or Old He's role is in administration and management, which is why he doesn't know much about the technical aspects?

Moreover, according to Old He, the next research plan and overall research direction will be presided over and established by Xia Libing. She can represent Xiang Kun or Mr. Liang, Old He will represent the "Non-Research Center" to provide necessary supervision and assistance for their research.

It is clear that the research institutions and projects they will establish in the future will be under Xia Libing's management.

Even without Old He's explicit statement, the fact that "all samples of Mutated Creature must be provided by Xia Libing or the research institutions she manages" is enough to demonstrate her status.

Next, Xia Libing outlined his vision for the newly established research institution. Behind him, a series of planning icons and special effects images were projected onto the screen, clearly listing the future research directions and ideas, what they needed to do, and what difficulties they might encounter.

Some parts of the video seemed to be questions and ideas raised during a meeting with Xia Libing that morning. They were surprised to see the special effects images that evening. This puzzled them because Fang Pingfang Zhou Rui spent the entire afternoon with them, picked up Mi Qiao Old He in the Xia Libing, and then had dinner together. They simply didn't have time to make the video—of course, it wouldn't be possible to make a good one in just one afternoon.

Were the questions and assumptions they raised already conceived by Xia Libing and his team?

Because they had been in meetings all day, Xia Libing naturally spoke much less in the evening and finished quickly.

That evening, while Old He was present, the basic organizational framework for the future research institution was proposed. For now, the "Shenxing Technology" secret department would remain independent, but Fang Pingfang and her team would, after receiving a certain period of training, be transferred from the "Shenxing Technology" secret department to form new departments and teams. Based on their different areas of expertise, they would be responsible for different projects and teams. Clearly, Xia Libing had a very good understanding of each of their strengths.

If they had just met in the morning and Xia Libing had immediately presented this idea, even with the endorsement of Old He, the official representative, and the authorization of Mr. Liang, Fang Pingfang, Zhou Rui, and others would have reacted as if Xia Libing and her team were trying to seize Mr. Liang's power and take away the research results of "Shenxing Technology".

However, after Xia Libing shared his information with them, especially after comparing it with Old He's statement, they realized that Xia Libing and his team had far more research on "Mutated Creature" and more hard data on them than the official "Non-Research Center" or the secret departments of "Shenxing Technology".

In this situation, Xia Libing's arrangement can be seen as "technical support," "research guidance," or "a top student mentoring a less advanced student," so they have little reason to question it.

However, Mi Qiao couldn't help but ask, "Old He, Ms. Xia, when will Mr. Liang be back?"

Xia Libing looked at Old He, who was sitting with his arms crossed, clearly intending for him to answer.

"Ah Liang still has things to do, so his return date is uncertain for now. But don't worry, Ah Liang will still be working at the newly established organization," Old He said.

Based on Xiang Kun's communication with him, Old He originally thought that Xiang Kun wanted Xia Libing to establish an independent investigation and research institution targeting "Mutated Creature," similar to the secret department of "Shenxing Technology," and that Fang Pingfang's team would go there simply to represent "Shenxing Technology" for liaison and cooperation.

But now it seems... Xia Libing has essentially taken over the secret department of "Shenxing Technology" and is treating it as her own subordinate department? And Fang Pingfang, Zhou Rui, Mi Qiao, and the others—originally A Liang's trusted followers at "Shenxing Technology"—haven't offered any resistance and have accepted it as a matter of course? Could it be because of my statement, "Everything will be arranged by Ms. Xia"?

However, for Old He, the "Non-Research Center," and the authorities, in the "post -Ultimate Predator era," with the removal of restrictions on in-depth scientific research, research institutions and investigation organizations will inevitably need to be unified, requiring further integration and reorganization. Unifying the command system and research directions now is a good thing, as it facilitates management.

For the next few days, Old He stayed in Chongyun Village, following Fang Pingfang's team and receiving "guidance" from Xia Libing.

Since they were all staying at the Research Base in Chongyun Village, they naturally couldn't go back to their villas near Wushu Mountain Scenic Area, so they rented a three-story house in Chongyun Village.

They initially thought the living environment here would be much worse than the villa they had lived in for the past few months, but to their surprise, they immediately noticed how different the village was on their very first day.

Perhaps it was because the air was richer in oxygen, fresher, and had less dust, but Ye Chong, who had always had rhinitis and had to blow his nose and sneeze every morning, miraculously recovered. Mi Qiao, who always had trouble sleeping at night, had difficulty falling asleep, and always felt tired and unable to get up in the morning, also successfully changed her sleep habits and woke up feeling refreshed.

This immediate impact sparked their strong interest in Chongyun Village.

Through their observations, they indeed discovered many details that they had not noticed when they passed through or briefly stopped here before, as well as many unique and unusual features.

Regardless of the air, temperature, wind, small animals, insects, or any other aspect, Chongyun Village appears to be an open space, but in reality, it possesses a "closed, unique, and orderly set of rules," forming its own distinct entity.

So, on the fourth day after arriving in Chongyun Village, before Xia Libing began his "Mutated Creature Research Teaching Class," Zhou Rui proactively asked:

"Ms. Xia, when you and Mr. Xiang came to Chongyun Village to build this Research Base and stayed here, was it because there was something special about this place?"

Xia Libing replied calmly, "We didn't come here because Chongyun Village is special; rather, it's because we came here that Chongyun Village becomes special."

This statement stunned Zhou Rui, Mi Qiao, and even Old He. Such confident words, if spoken by someone else, would either seem like boasting or a joke, but when delivered by Xia Libing in a casual yet certain tone, they sounded perfectly natural and beyond question.

Old He, in particular, had actually conducted a survey of Chongyun Village before, so he knew that Xia Libing was right. After she and Xiang Kun came here to develop, not only Chongyun Village, but also Tongshi Town underwent tremendous changes. Many of the special events that occurred in the Chongyun Mountain Region and Wushu Mountain, and the appearance of "Mutated Creature", all happened after Xiang Kun and his group arrived.

Zhou Rui was about to press Xia Libing further about how she and Xiang Kun made this place "special," what their real feelings and changes were, what the principles were, and what the mechanisms were. But before he could speak, Xia Libing pulled a white, fuzzy thing out of her coat pocket and displayed it in front of them, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

Their first thought was that Xia Libing had taken a cream cake or something to eat, but upon closer inspection, they realized that the three small dots on the white ball were not Chocolate decorations, but two small eyes and a bird's beak!

The "white ball" in Xia Libing's hand was actually a small bird!

The two girls Fang Pingfang and Mi Qiao, are both science-oriented professionals, so when they saw this cute little chubby bird with its fluffy white plump feathers, they didn't exclaim how adorable it was.

But someone still exclaimed "Wow!" It was Zhou Rui: "Is that a silver-throated long-tailed tit? Pure white? So rare..."

After encountering the "giant bird of prey," he not only became interested in ants but also in birds. When his research and investigations stalled for a period of time, he passed the time by reading books about birds, so he instinctively judged the species based on the characteristics of the "white ball."

Xia Libing said, "It's not an ordinary tit, it's a 'Mutated Creature'."

This time, Fang Pingfang exclaimed with delight, "Live research samples?"

"No," Xia Libing denied, "It's not a research sample. It's called 'Little Bun,' and it's our partner. We brought it here today to give you a basic understanding of 'Mutated Creature.'"

As she spoke, Xia Libing gestured for Zhou Rui, Fang Pingfang, and Mi Qiao in front of her to stand up and move aside, then gently tossed the little white chubby bird in her hand in that direction.

Suddenly, the little white bird shrank into a long, narrow spindle shape, then accelerated rapidly and shot forward, piercing a large hole in a table in front of it in the blink of an eye, even lifting a layer of floor tiles.

The little white bird seemed a bit dizzy from the impact. It bounced a few times on the ground, then returned to its plump, white form. It sat down, shook its little head, and then flapped its wings and flew back to Xia Libing's shoulder, looking docile, cute, and harmless. But the large hole in the table and the mess on the ground revealed its terrifying power.

"Although you have seen some 'Mutated Creature' before, your understanding of their characteristics is still limited due to the limited types you've encountered. The most important thing when interacting with 'Mutated Creature' is not to judge their danger or attack power based on their size and appearance. Unlike traditional creatures, their physical characteristics may be completely different from their actual nature," Xia Libing explained.

Fang Pingfang and the others looked at the marks on the ground, then at the little white bird, all seemingly lost in thought.

"Little Bun" simply tilted her head slightly, looking quiet, cute, and well-behaved. If "Gold Glitter" were standing on her shoulder at that moment, it would surely chirp arrogantly to express its pride.

After having dinner in Tongshi Town that evening, Old He didn't go back to Chongyun Village with Xia Libing and Fang Pingfang. Instead, he strolled around the pedestrian street for a while and went into a tea shop to have some tea.

He had noticed this shop a few times when he came to town to eat before, but he didn't have time to go in. Today, Xia Libing was going to discuss some newly purchased equipment with Fang Pingfang. He didn't understand it and didn't need to pay attention to it, so he had some free time to satisfy his tea craving.

When he entered, a lean and energetic middle-aged man was already sitting in front of the beautiful female owner, drinking tea.

He knew that middle-aged man. After Mr. Liang Xiang Kun to him via video call, he investigated Xiang Kun. In addition to Xia Libing, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, Zhang Qian, Chang Bin, Liu Chuang and others, he also knew about Qi Haoguo, Liu Feibao, Liu Gaoshang, Liu Zhengyi, Liu Caifu, Chu Xiuwen and others who had contact with him in Chongyun Village.

The thin, middle-aged man in the tea shop at this moment was Chu Xiuwen.

After entering the shop, Old He merely nodded politely to Chu Xiuwen. Unexpectedly, as soon as he sat down, Chu Xiuwen asked, "You're Mr. Xiang's guest, right? You're Old He?"

Old He was taken aback. He knew Chu Xiuwen because he had secretly investigated Xiang Kun, so that was normal. But how did Chu Xiuwen know about him?

Chu Xiuwen clearly noticed his confusion and laughed, "I often go to Chongyun Village to chat with Liu Caifu, the deputy director of the village, so I know you're training a group of employees at Dr. Xia. The house you're staying in belongs to a relative of Director Liu. Hehe, and Dr. Xia's brother is my business partner, so I've naturally heard about Dr. Xia's Research Base. By the way, my name is Chu Xiuwen, you can just call me Xiao Chu."

With this explanation, Old He felt relieved. That made sense; what they kept secret was the research content within the Research Base. Their presence outside naturally couldn't be kept secret, and Chongyun Village wasn't a closed research institute.

"So it's President Chu, nice to meet you," Old He said with a smile.

Chu Xiuwen laughed and said, "No, Mr. Chu, this setting sounds rather shabby, haha, just call me Little Chu, Little Chu. Old He, how's it living in Chongyun Village?"

"It's great. Chongyun Village is a good place, very suitable for living," Old He said with a smile.

"That's true." Chu Xiuwen nodded, then sighed meaningfully, "Chongyun Village has changed a lot in the past year... Old He, I heard that you and Dr. Fang used to work at the research institution in Citong?"

"Dr. Fang and his colleagues are from other units," Old He said vaguely.

After the pretty female boss poured Old He a cup of tea, Chu Xiuwen asked again, "How did Old He and Mr. Xiang meet?"

Old He said, "We have mutual friends. By the way, Xiao Chu, do you know Qi Haoguo?"

"Of course, Old He knows President Qi too?"

"Hehe, I've talked to him. He has some unique insights into Tongshi Town, Chongyun Village... When Old He was investigating Xiang Kun, he even went to see Qi Haoguo, who was already serving his sentence, and had a brief chat with him. He felt that this person was very special. Even though he was in prison, he had a strong sense of confidence and certainty. He was sure that this feeling must have come from Xiang Kun."

"Yes, he has some very special feelings, rather than about Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village, it's more about...hehe, Old He might know?" Chu Xiuwen said meaningfully.

Old He also got into the mood, chatting with Chu Xiuwen while drinking tea.

Both felt that the other possessed information they didn't know, so they each tried to extract what the other knew with the least amount of information they had.

The television was broadcasting news about the unusual weather around the world recently, and Chu Xiuwen took the opportunity to say, "Old He, have you noticed that the temperature difference in Chongyun Village is much smaller than in the town, and it's neither too hot nor too cold, very comfortable, like having central air conditioning on?"

"Yes, theoretically the temperature difference in the mountains should be greater. Xiao Chu, is this a change that only happened this year? Is it related to Mr. Xiang's Research Base?" Old He said.

Just then, someone walked into the tea shop, temporarily halting their conversation.

Old He glanced at the young man who walked into the store; he looked to be in his early twenties and was a very energetic young man.

Young people these days also like to drink tea?

But this young man looks vaguely familiar.