Chapter 287

Young talent, fine piece of jade.

It is rare for anyone to receive such praise from the old man in front of them.

It has been a long time since a new generation of Chosen Ones could win such praise from him. If it were spread out, perhaps he could show off even more.

You know, the last one to be praised like this was Su Biluo, the current guardian of the Void Abyss, known as the 'White Wall of Tian Tian Yuan'.

Lu Yingyue smiled slightly: "I always feel that 'fine piece of jade' isn't a good term now. The last time I praised him like that, his face turned white."

"Having successors is always a good thing."

The old man remarked: "Tong Shan, Wen Wen, Lou Yanyue, Zhou Yu, Chen Haiqiu... and now there's another Chief Artisan. You have been in charge of one side for these years, and the results have indeed been remarkable."

"Just good luck. What do the achievements of young people have to do with me?" Lu Yingyue didn't care: "Children who have suffered grow up fast. Among the short, they seem tall. How can it compare to the abundance of talent in the Central City?"

She paused and sighed softly: "Haizhou is the same, located in a remote area, weak and hard to revitalize. It's just screaming and shouting, so the voice seems a bit louder.

It's just that everyone thinks too highly of me."

"Whether you think highly of it or not, the facts are as they are."

The old man said: "Nowadays, the struggle between the two parties is like fire and water. At this juncture, there is indeed room for you to use the small to defeat the big. But don't forget, there will always be a day when the truth comes out, and people's patience is ultimately limited.

If you still intend to sway between the two sides and wait for the price, I'm afraid neither side will tolerate you in the end."

"I know."

Lu Yingyue nodded, not refuting, "I understand, if this continues, I will likely have a bad end, but if I don't take a risk, I can only be ridden on the head by others, to be taken and grabbed at will.

My lord, is this something I can choose?"

The old man was silent.

"Haizhou is located in a remote area, with sparse products. After the Sea Burning Day eleven years ago, agriculture also completely lost its momentum. Now it is all relying on imports from various states, with high prices and constant fluctuations. Since the Great Depression, industry has also been sluggish. Originally, I was counting on Coast Group to make a comeback, but as soon as it showed signs of improvement, it was suppressed and carved up...

Disasters are becoming more frequent, and life is becoming more difficult."

Lu Yingyue said slowly: "How many people work hard to death only to be heavily in debt. Suffering day and night without seeing hope.

But there are still people sitting on top, eating until they are fat and greasy, yet unwilling to leak even a tiny bit of oil to the ants and cattle below.

If it weren't for the leftover scraps of shipping and trade, life would have been impossible to live long ago. If this continues, in a few years, maybe even the spiritual quality tax won't be affordable."

Ever since boarding the ship, Ghost Artisan had long since deployed a temporary workshop, and almost every change on the ship was under its surveillance. Under stealth mode, let alone Lingzhou, even a Heavenly Human wouldn't be able to see it.

In the silence, the old man didn't say anything more, just nodded slowly: "Since you have already made a decision in your heart, then it seems there is no need for this old thing to talk nonsense anymore.

I'm afraid you wouldn't like this kind of patching method where everyone takes a step back."

Those four families went to great lengths to ask him to come forward, wanting nothing more than to make money together. But if Lu Yingyue had the intention to compromise and wanted to use this to seek survival or position, I'm afraid she would have already taken advantage of this wave of wind and waves to shake off the burden and jump ship, how could she have persisted until now?

It's just that the deterioration of Haizhou's situation to this day is not a matter of one day or one moment. How difficult is it to revitalize it overnight?

"Have you thought it through?" the old man asked.

"Looking forward and backward, being timid, is really not my style. Some things must be done before talking."

Lu Yingyue answered sternly: "Besides, what is picked up cannot compare to what is sought. If you cannot prove your own value, even if you stand in line, you will be treated as cannon fodder and a pawn, right?"

The old man didn't speak, quietly looking at her.

In those pitch-black pupils, there was no soul-stirring power or chilling cold light, at most just a few white opacities after the tempering of time.

"It's just, Lu Yingyue—"

He asked sternly: "You have done so much, what is it for?"

"Just don't want to let down Tao Gong's sacrifice."

Lu Yingyue answered decisively: "My glory today, one part may be opportunistic, the rest all relies on Tao Gong's legacy. If it weren't for his decades of running around, connecting all parties with his old body, and unifying the scattered families and cities into one, how could I have my momentum today?

Haizhou, which Tao Gong handed to me before he died, how could I let it fall apart again?"

Speaking of this, she paused, then smiled self-deprecatingly: "If I have to say something besides this... it's just, I'm not reconciled."

Lu Yingyue lowered her eyes, overlooking her own reflection in the teacup. In the blur, she felt like a stranger, no longer the same as before.

"A wild child like me who begs for a living has eaten enough bitterness of living under others since childhood. To get ahead, I always have to use unscrupulous means.

As a result, after fighting for so many years, I luckily won some position, but when I looked back, I found that besides myself, there wasn't even a single old friend or acquaintance.

Those better than me, more likable than me, more noble and upright than me... those people are all dead, only I have lived until now, and the reason is just because of good luck, that's all.

Besides me, besides what you see, how many young talents, fine pieces of jade, didn't even wait for the day to show their edge before they died in obscurity.

But those ugly people can rely on their family background and means to act like monkeys in official robes between the palace and the temple, enjoying the Central City, calling the wind and rain..."

Lu Yingyue raised her head, no longer hiding her determination: "Instead of letting them continue to act recklessly and occupy positions without doing work, I want to ask:

——Why can't I do this world's affairs?"

"..."

From that resolute gaze, the old man's expression changed slightly, but he was not angry, rather more like surprise and emotion. After a long time, he sighed: "For one's own selfishness, holding the public's expectations to stir up the overall situation. Should I say 'wolfish ambition'?"

"How much does a person differ from a beast?" Lu Yingyue didn't waver, asking back: "If I am a wolf, then it should be a wolf raised by the Federation. How can you blame it for biting too hard?

Isn't it the towering Tian Tian Yuan that made me, a tiger and wolf who uses the crowd to seek private gain, become a force."

The old man was indifferent: "What if I don't allow it?"

Lu Yingyue raised her hand, tucked her gray hair behind her head, and smiled: "Then please cut off my head to feast Tao Gong, and give the Federation and Haizhou an explanation.

It's just..."

She asked curiously: "The one you really want to cut, is it really me?"

For a moment, the entire lounge seemed to be frozen. No, not just the lounge, that invisible force circulated, shrouding the entire building, the huge Federal Security Bureau, making countless people look up in shock, but no one dared to approach or cross the line.

When the old man lowered his eyes to overlook, all phenomena in the world seemed to appear from his palm.

Everything was so fragile, as small as dust.

Just one thought...

It would be enough to completely eradicate this scourge that plots to stir up the Federation.

Please... collect_ (!)

But after that moment, everything seemed to flow away like a breeze, including that invisible guillotine.

"Didn't expect that, besides wolfish ambition, you are also a person with tricky thoughts..."

The old man sighed, "You say why didn't I discover it earlier?"

Lu Yingyue laughed: "Isn't it precisely because of wolfish ambition and tricky thoughts that someone like me who can't get on the stage was chosen by you?"

"You really weren't this annoying back then, and you didn't have the guts to chatter in front of me."

The old man shook his head, picked up the cup in front of him, hesitated, pinched his nose with a bitter face, poured the medicine in the cup into his mouth, put down the cup, grimaced from the bitterness, and searched with his hands for a long time, only to find that the candy jar in front of him was empty.

Then, he saw the hand Lu Yingyue stretched out.

A peppermint hard candy in her palm.

Lu Yingyue said: "Before setting off, I specially brought it from Haizhou. Whether it succeeds or not, it's a token of my heart, want to taste it?"

"A bribe? Just this little bit?"

The old man curled his lips in disdain, picked it up, unwrapped it, and threw it into his mouth, habitually chewing it with a crunch. Soon, he gasped from the sourness.

His face twisted.

Just knew it, there's no good candy!

Expecting Lu Yingyue to bring any serious gift, he was indeed old enough to have Parkinson's.

"Then let's fight."

One of the nine permanent members of the cabinet, the Minister of Federal Security, a living sage who maintains the order of the world, said so.

They talked, drank the medicine, and ate the candy.

There is no need to waste each other's time.

"It has come to this, since neither is willing to retreat, then there must be a loser..."

He propped up his body slowly, looked back at Lu Yingyue one last time, full of curiosity: "It's just, can you win?"

"Who knows?"

Lu Yingyue shrugged, light and breezy, not caring at all.

Even if a barefoot person loses, it's just continuing to live barefoot.

But the person wearing shoes is not necessarily so...

Before parting, she smiled one last time:

"Anyway, the one who loses the most miserably will definitely not be me."

In that instant, at the end of the silence, the screen on the TV again brought the audience's excited shouts and cheers.

At the very end of the press conference, Coast Auto, having regrouped and returned to the military industry track after stabbing who knows how many competitors, Factory Manager Ji Jue took advantage of the momentum to announce to everyone.

This year, Coast Auto Factory will respond to the invitation and send a professional team to officially participate in the heavyweight event starting in the middle of this month—

——Wild Sea Extreme Rally!

A large-scale rally held every three years, mainly sponsored by Cosmic Weight, the participants include the Federation's major car companies and military industry. It is one of the highest honors of the rally that attracts worldwide attention and is regarded as the ultimate litmus test for all off-road vehicle models.

Half a month, from the northern Huangzhou to the southern Haizhou, from the small town of Heihe in the snowy plains of the far north of the Federation, to Chaocheng in the far south of the Federation.

The sub-zero extreme cold of Huangzhou, the Kunwu where mountains clash, the Longyuan where yellow sand fills the sky, the Haizhou where mud and swamps are everywhere...

Running through the entire Federation, this is a wilderness gallop of over 5,960 kilometers.

A long journey that can be called a journey to hell is about to begin!

(End of chapter)