Chapter 2562: An Opportunity Squeezed In

He Lingchuan immediately lifted the cloth bag to the edge of the red line and pushed it in:

"Miss A Lian, please enjoy."

A Lian saw the colorful candies, felt delighted, and immediately grabbed a large handful.

Which child doesn't love sweet and fragrant things? Once she started chewing, she couldn't stop.

He Lingchuan had seized the spoils from Dong Rui's afternoon stroll through the city yesterday, offering them to suit the little girl's taste.

He smiled and asked the child: "Is it tasty?"

A Lian was busy chewing the nougat candy—this candy was fragrant and sweet but sticky to the teeth; she couldn't open her mouth, only nodding repeatedly.

Seeing her happy, Duan He Yun's expression relaxed. Although he usually instructed palace attendants to buy A Lian toys and snacks, the items brought back casually by the caravan roughnecks could never compare to such a variety.

A Lian swallowed the nougat, then picked up a golden, glistening object: "What is this?"

It looks delicious just by looking at it.

"Fried cake." He Lingchuan used his true energy to heat it for her. A Lian took a bite—outside crisp and crunchy, inside soft and chewy, mixed with the fresh fragrance of red beans: "Delicious, really delicious! Where did you get this?"

He Lingchuan smiled: "Bai Song City—there are countless more delicious and fun things there. This fried cake is just the most unremarkable one; there are also rice cakes shaped like little rabbits and little frogs, and sugar paintings drawn directly on boards with malt syrup—take a bite and sugar crumbs fall off, and furthermore..."

A Lian listened with endless longing, then suddenly interrupted him:

"What is a little rabbit?"

She had grown up in the prison cage and had never seen a rabbit.

"This..." He Lingchuan looked toward Duan He Yun: "Lian Valley has them; I'll send one over for you to play with later. Little girls all like little rabbits."

In the demon puppet masters' experimental fields, the thing least lacking is mice and rabbits.

Duan He Yun nodded: "I'll get it shortly."

With his words, He Lingchuan found things easy to handle.

A Lian blinked and asked He Lingchuan:

"Why have you suddenly become kind to me?"

Dong Rui let out a "heng": "This little girl is also very perceptive."

"Because Miss A Lian is very cute." "Hu Xin" smiled slightly, then softened, and sighed lightly: "She is also a pitiful child. A few days ago I went to Bai Song City to fetch a family letter, and heard that my cousin's daughter is also about A Lian's age—so cute, the whole family adores her."

He was finding a plausible reason for his sudden concern.

And upon hearing the words "pitiful," Duan He Yun's smile gradually faded; his mood, which had improved due to A Lian's cuteness, now turned heavy because of her pitifulness.

He Lingchuan seized this moment to speak: "By the way, Master Duan, four wine vats' worth of sea disc vehicles slipped away from Warehouse No. 3 on Wanwan Mountain, and they even ate several people."

Duan He Yun's thoughts had not yet returned; he grunted: "Warehouse No. 3—who is in charge of it?"

"Manager Liu." The warehouses and terraced fields of Wanwan Mountain are assigned under contract management; besides Manager Wang, there are several other managers. Coincidentally, Warehouse No. 3 is not under Manager Wang's jurisdiction but under Manager Liu's.

Duan He Yun's gaze turned stern: "How could four vats break simultaneously? Did someone tamper with them?"

"Under investigation." He Lingchuan certainly could not steer the inquiry in that direction, "but according to the demon eye's display, a small jar of three taels on the top shelf broke first, a tiny sea star crawled out, and fell onto the large vat below. Perhaps it corroded the vat lid..."

Such accidents have occurred many times before in Wanwan Mountain.

Without the Yang Guan Dao, Ling Yun Palace can only deal with the newly emerged consciousness of Yin Shen Jun using the most clumsy method.

Why wasn't it used before? Because it's not effective. The workload of the clumsy method is truly staggering—from the dismemberment, transportation, storage, and cultivation of Yin Shen Jun's body, which step doesn't involve a huge burden?

Such a massive workload, requiring the coordination of so many people, cannot avoid mishaps.

This is called being unable to defend against everything.

When large institutions operate, they first seek ease and avoid difficulty. Only when there's no alternative do they attempt more difficult approaches.

Although Duan He Yun understands, he furrowed his brows: "Did they escape into the terraced fields?"

"No, everyone has been dispatched and is now searching everywhere."

If luck is good, Duan He Yun might happen to accompany him on a trip. After all, the giant sea disc vehicle in the large vat escaped, and all four vats at once—this is absolutely a serious incident in Wanwan Mountain.

As the supreme leader and principal responsible person of the demon puppet project, Duan He Yun should bear responsibility for going on such a trip?

If so, that would perfectly suit He Lingchuan's intentions.

As long as he leaves Lian Valley and enters Wanwan Mountain, He Lingchuan still has confidence in dealing with him, although Duan He Yun's cultivation level is not on the same tier as Hu Xin's.

However, in Dou Kou Garden, a bunch of idle hands who have loafed around are now rubbing their palms, eager for action.

But He Lingchuan's luck today is really not good; Duan He Yun only pondered for two breaths before saying: "This matter is still yours to handle—find them for me."

"Understood." One plan failed, He Lingchuan immediately began a second attempt: "But tomorrow at dawn, the experiment at Feng He Guan will need those four vats of sea stars."

Hu Xin had told them that the fragments cut from Yin Shen Jun's body require over an hour of regrowth before they can grow tentacles.

Only then do the properties stabilize, making preliminary experimentation possible.

If Lian Valley lacks ready-made specimens, they must hurry to Liu Li Hai to cut fresh ones. He Lingchuan thought: perhaps he can hitch a ride.

He said this because the miscellaneous tasks of a huge research institution are truly too tedious; Duan He Yun cannot possibly remember every detail, so he needs to be reminded.

Duan He Yun clearly recalled for a moment, then nodded: "Well reminded. It's nothing to do with you—I'll have Deng Yan Long handle it."

He Lingchuan immediately reminded him: "Master Duan, Deng Zhu Jian has gone out to sea."

"Ah, where did he go...?" Duan He Yun blinked, then suddenly recalled: "Right, he's not here. Who is temporarily handling his affairs?"

From this, one can see that the task assignment and internal-external coordination of Ling Yun Palace are indeed mainly handled by Xiao Ping; Duan He Yun usually focuses his energy on research and pays little attention to personnel arrangements.

"It's me, it's me." "Hu Xin" responded: "But I don't have permission to enter Liu Li Hai—this, this... is difficult."

Originally, this was the reason Hu Xin had been earnestly trying to please A Lian and get close to him; Duan He Yun suddenly understood.

But recalling how he had just cheered up A Lian, Duan He Yun also didn't want to make things difficult for him, so he said casually: "No problem—I happen to need to go to Liu Li Hai, so you can come with me."

Upon hearing this, everyone in Dou Kou Garden rejoiced greatly:

"Truly worthy of being the Great Emperor!"

They had hard-wonly squeezed into the opportunity to enter Liu Li Hai!

"Hu Xin" beamed: "Yes, yes! Thank you, Master Duan!"

Duan He Yun was also very straightforward, turning around and saying:

"Let's go."

He Lingchuan followed closely behind him, and soon exited the Lian Valley Small World.

(End of Chapter)