Chapter One Hundred Forty: Bian Qiu’s Special Greetings!

Unsure how much time had passed, Cao Fusheng snapped awake, his entire body rigid and coiled like a spring.

Immediately, he cast a vigilant gaze around his surroundings. Nothing had changed.

He was still in Bai Qingchu’s private laboratory.

"Little Bai, any anomalies?"

"Reporting to Boss Bai, we still cannot detect anything. Even the latest formula algorithms yield no conclusions. However, at the very least, this proves the man is not infected."

"Hmm... Why is that? Where on earth does the problem lie? We've tested the blood of tens of thousands of people, and none of them exhibited this condition. Why is his so unique?"

"Boss Bai, should we just dissect him?"

"No need, there must be other methods. Since we cannot perform a direct bloodline test using conventional means, we’ll take an unorthodox route! Try fusing his blood with the genetic serum. If it reacts and the blood mutates, it proves he possesses a Grade A bloodline. If nothing happens, it proves his bloodline is below Grade B."

"What if it reacts, but the blood doesn't mutate?" asked the cute, naive voice of the artificial intelligence, Little Bai.

Bai Qingchu softly replied, "Then that would be... Grade S!"

"Isn't that a bit too arbitrary?"

"It's the only way, otherwise we won't reach a definitive conclusion for now. Of course, we'll have to follow up later. Keep the sample for now."

Cao Fusheng quietly watched Bai Qingchu, who was leaning over the desk. He had heard every single word of the conversation clearly just now—that artificial intelligence called Little Bai had actually suggested dissecting him!

What a bold imagination!

"Junior Brother, stretch your limbs and see if you feel any discomfort." Bai Qingchu had long since noticed the movement behind him, yet he hadn't intentionally avoided talking in front of Cao Fusheng.

Perhaps he intended to use this method to prove his innocence and show he truly harbored no malicious intent.

"I'm fine. That was actually a quite comfortable nap."

"You slept for five hours, of course it was comfortable. Looks like you were simply too exhausted. The hypnotic drug wasn't that strong; you just couldn't wake yourself up," Bai Qingchu said, rolling his eyes.

Five hours!?

Oh no!

Could something have gone wrong with Han Shuqing and Gao Yi? If the two of them had already been reassigned somewhere else, wouldn't that ruin everything?

"I have matters to attend to, so I must be leaving now... Oh right, it seems I don't have the clearance to open that transmission lift. Senior Brother, could you open it for me?"

"No rush, no rush. I've already spoken with Department Head Ruan, specifically instructing her not to rush the arrangement for your companions. Although she was puzzled, she readily agreed." Bai Qingchu turned his head, looking at his opportunistic junior brother with a playful gaze. "Didn't I just say earlier? The favor still stands. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't bother with your friends, but we have some business to attend to next. You need to come with me to the top floor; the BOSS wants to see you."

Cao Fusheng forced a grateful smile, his expression turning serious only when he heard the second half of the sentence. What was bound to come had finally arrived.

"As it happens, I also have some matters to discuss with him."

Bai Qingchu said softly, "You're wrong."

"?"

"You're going to discuss with all of us. We just received the notice: a ministerial symposium is being held, primarily concerning you. Next, you'll be facing the nine of us. I don't have any advice for you; just say whatever you need to say."

Cao Fusheng thought for a moment and asked seriously, "What if my requests violate the Pillar's Survival Laws?"

"Do you feel like it's quite cold inside the Pillar?"

"Not cold."

"Then why are you looking to get burned?"

Seeing that Cao Fusheng was about to say more, Bai Qingchu made a silencing gesture and said, "Little Bai, I only need 30 seconds."

"Understood, Boss Bai! Got it, timer started."

"Listen to me. If you want to negotiate terms, you must hold enough heavy leverage in your hands. Do you know what 'heavy enough' means? You need to make all the high-ranking officials feel a sense of crisis, leaving them at their wits' end. Furthermore, you must pitch your conditions early on. Until you reach that threshold, you must hold onto your leverage with an iron grip. Given your current status, although you’ve just made a massive contribution, you are not yet in a position to negotiate with the Pillar."

"Because if you make demands that violate the Survival Laws, you are essentially roasting the reputations of everyone in the Pillar over an open fire. Therefore, if you have the guts, you need to be more extreme. Simply put, it can be understood as coercion or even a threat. Of course, you must also master the degree—make sure you don't turn yourself into an enemy of the Pillar's upper echelons."

"Although the Pillar's laws are strict and treat the Survival Laws as a supreme code, at the end of the day, this place is still ruled by people. You understand this logic, right? Any law, once operated by humans, has loopholes to be exploited. Of course, this isn't the Old World, so exploiting loopholes won't be that easy."

"How you handle this depends entirely on you. Like I said before, as long as you have enough value, you can trade it for everything you want."

After Bai Qingchu finished speaking earnestly, Little Bai's voice chimed in to remind them: "We have arrived."

Cao Fusheng didn't speak; he merely nodded in silent acknowledgment. He understood all the reasoning behind Bai Qingchu's words.

In fact, the most important reason Bai Qingchu was willing to say these things wasn't just to instruct Cao Fusheng on how to act, but to demonstrate his own stance.

No matter what demands Cao Fusheng raised, at the very least, he would never be one of the opposing ministers.

Among the Pillar's eight departments, the Research Department's offices were the closest to the top-floor conference room.

In the blink of an eye, Cao Fusheng followed Bai Qingchu to the 699th floor.

A glance across this floor gave one an ethereal, otherworldly feeling.

There were no redundant structures or objects to be seen; everywhere the eye could reach was covered in bright white, smooth walls.

After walking for a full ten minutes like this, they finally caught sight of a massive door encrusted with blue crystals.

"This is the conference room. Everything from here on out is up to you. I must warn you, you are currently the only person to be simultaneously summoned by the eight department heads and the BOSS. Don't be nervous; steady your mindset and clear your thoughts." Before opening the door, Bai Qingchu offered repeated instructions.

Looking at him now, he truly regarded Cao Fusheng as his junior brother. That remark about "the favor still standing" was completely true.

Nervous?

Would a designated military commander who frequently moved among powerful generals in the Old World feel nervous in front of this group of people?

Cao Fusheng straightened his back, standing tall and poised as he calmly stepped through Pandora's gate.

As he followed Bai Qingchu inside, eight gazes laden with deep meaning locked onto him, staring intently at the man who had "uninvitedly" arrived at the Pillar.

No one spoke first.

Everyone quietly observed him, anticipating what changes would unfold next.

Just as Bai Qingchu had said, for the BOSS and all eight department heads to be present simultaneously to see a single person was unprecedented in the Pillar.

"I recognize you, Cao Fusheng. Former captain of the Central Direct-Command Swordfish Special Operations Team from the Old Era, with the rank of colonel. If not for that cataclysm, you very well could have been our nation's youngest general."

Everyone shifted their gaze to the man sitting at the head of the side table. He stood up, slowly walked over to Cao Fusheng, and said, "Captain Cao Fusheng, I've heard a great deal about you. It's a pity I don't much care for you."