Chapter 240: An Unusual Deal and the Underground Experiments

The water in the kettle had come to a boil, steam rushing out of the spout, and the sound of the roiling water inside was especially clear to the ears of the Evolver Tang Huai. He stared wide-eyed, unable to believe his own ears.

Tang Heng's voice was trembling. "Dad…"

Tang Zhengpo gave a slight nod. "To find a way to survive, the experimental subjects imprisoned in the underground laboratory joined forces with a few researchers inside who still had some conscience. They broke through layer after layer of barriers, fought their way up to the surface, and blew the underground laboratory to smithereens."

Such a huge event, and they hadn't heard a thing about it. Tang Huai was already stunned. Tang Heng asked in a low voice, "Was it the base or someone higher up that ordered it not to be made public?"

Tang Zhengpo answered, "Higher up. After the incident was exposed, the base commander and vice commander of Hui-One Base were removed, the people in the research institute who had taken part in the project were arrested, and the institute director was replaced too. The leaders of that breakout from the underground laboratory were Deng Yufeng of the Blaze Squad and Xie Yu of the Azure Dragon Squad. Your elder cousin was also one of the participants."

Tang Huai's eyes went wide. "Even someone as formidable as Fire Phoenix and Xie Yu — they dared to arrest them too?!"

"I don't know how the two of them got in. When I saw Deng Yufeng, her skin was deathly pale, and her nerves and blood vessels were purple-black."

Tang Zhengpo paused for a long while before continuing. "The situation for the high-level Evolvers was still passable, but many of the ordinary Evolvers and ordinary people who had been used as experimental subjects could no longer survive on their own. They were arranged to receive free restorative treatment. Ah Feng couldn't be saved."

The wretched state of the experimental subjects who escaped from the underground laboratory in the sixth year of the Calamity was more terrifying and despairing than the devastation caused by the Calamity itself.

Tang Zhengpo couldn't go on. He pulled open a drawer and found it full of tea leaves, then realized he had already quit smoking ten years ago.

No wonder Father had been in a strange mood for a long time after returning from Hui-One Base. Tang Huai couldn't help but clutch his head, desperately wanting to curse someone. The pain was killing him.

Tang Heng, his eyes red, refilled his father's tea and asked, "Dad, what roles did Zhang San and Li Si play in all this?"

Tang Zhengpo took a sip of hot tea before continuing. "Zhang San was one of the people who exposed the crimes of the underground laboratory, and he was also in charge of the restorative treatment project. Yang Jin and Luo Pei worked with Xie Yu from the inside and out, and together they designed the escape plan from the underground laboratory. Not long after I arrived at Hui-One Base, Yang Jin came to me on his own initiative, and we joined forces to rescue people. Li Si was at the research institute at the time. I don't know whether she took part in that incident."

"Not long after that, Deng Yufeng publicly announced that she had discovered an unpolluted spring, and moved her squad to Blaze Mountain, claiming the spring for herself. The fact that she could monopolize such a precious resource means she must have made some kind of deal with Hui-One Base or someone even higher up. After that, Deng Yufeng used the spring to keep growing stronger, and she poached quite a few experts to Blaze Mountain to cultivate high-Yi element plants. Li Si was one of the people Deng Yufeng poached."

"Before leaving the research institute, Zhang San and Li Si belonged to different departments, but they definitely knew each other." Tang Zhengpo speculated, "From the conversation between them now, Li Si must have done something that upset Zhang San."

Tang Heng nodded. "That should be it. Zhang San may be petty, but he doesn't take it out on innocent people. Otherwise, he wouldn't have refused to trade with Territory Two and still trade with us. So by the same logic, he wouldn't blame Li Si just because of Deng Yufeng."

"That doesn't add up!" The more Tang Huai thought about it, the more something felt off. "From what you're saying, the Azure Dragon Squad's contribution in that incident was no less than Fire Phoenix's. How could Tightwad Yang Jin possibly let Fire Phoenix take such a huge benefit while he himself led the team and slinked away from Hui-One Base? And besides, since Zhang San was one of the people who exposed it, he helped Fire Phoenix — so why would Fire Phoenix still send Li Si over to cause trouble for Zhang San?"

Tang Zhengpo didn't scold his son for raising his voice, and patiently answered his question. "I don't know much either; I'm not clear how they divided things up among themselves. However, the Azure Dragon Squad came to Hui-Three Base not for the reason being spread around outside, but because they were invited by General Qi to come and counter the Sufeng Squad, which had grown too powerful. After that incident, Deng Yufeng invited Zhang San to join the Blaze Squad many times, and Zhang San refused every time. The purpose of her sending Li Si over should still be to try to pull Zhang San into her fold."

The most widely circulated reason for the Azure Dragon Squad leaving Hui-One and coming to Hui-Three Base was that Fire Phoenix had taken a fancy to Yang Jin, but Yang Jin hadn't taken a fancy to her, so he led the team and fled.

Tang Heng asked, "Dad, why did Zhang San leave the research institute and come here to farm?"

"I never got any inside information. The most common reason I heard was that he thought the food at the research institute was terrible, but that definitely wasn't the main reason."

The Tang brothers…

That reason was very Zhang San.

Tang Zhengpo continued, "Although the state issued strict orders, in the face of enormous profit, there are bound to be people who take the risk and secretly carry out underground experiments. The fact that Zhang San traded for the termite mushrooms but didn't ask for the mushroom soil shows that the issue isn't with the termite mushrooms. He's not the type to meddle in other people's business — if he stepped in, there had to be a reason. You two stay in the territory. I'll go find Luo Pei and ask him to take me to Territory Seven. Knowing Zhang San's temper, if we go directly, he definitely won't see us."

In front of his father, Tang Huai showed a rare firmness. "I'm the one who hid it from you and Ah Heng and ate the mushroom. You don't need to step in for this, and you don't need to find Luo Pei. You rest. I'll go find Xia Qing."

Tang Zhengpo was puzzled. "What are you going to Xia Qing for?"

Tang Huai answered, "To have her take me to see Zhang San. Going through her works better than going through Luo Pei."

His son was already thirty years old, and he wanted to handle this himself. Tang Zhengpo didn't stop him. "Don't quarrel with them. Be polite."

After Tang Zhengpo had the two bodyguards follow along, he looked at his younger son, who hadn't left.

Tang Heng asked in a hoarse voice, "Dad, before my elder cousin died, she must have told you the person who got her captured, right? It's Tang Zhengsu, isn't it?"

Seeing that his father said nothing, Tang Heng asked again, "Does my sister know?"

Tang Zhengpo gave a slight nod and admonished his younger son, "Don't tell your brother. Lock down every emotion, pretend you don't know anything. Xu Pin can sense the killing intent of the people around him."

Tang Huai ran in one breath to the northern buffer zone of Territory Three, squatted on the ground and listened carefully for a while, then casually picked up a fist-sized stone and hurled it hard at a big tree in the buffer forest of Territory Three.

"Thud!"

Xia Qing, who was carrying a chicken coop and getting ready, immediately ducked behind a pile of dagger grass, aimed her gun at the northern buffer forest, then heard another sound of something hitting a tree and saw the big tree trembling in the sunset.

This is…

Xia Qing turned her head, found that the head wolf was already gone, and told Wolf Lao Er, the sheep boss, and the remaining two wolves, "Boss, Lao Er, Broken-Waist, you guys head home first. I'm going to pick some vegetables."

Xia Qing headed straight north, put the chicken coop behind the cabin, and entered the buffer forest with her gun.

"Thud!" It wasn't until Tang Huai had smashed the tree for the tenth time that he heard Xia Qing's footsteps. He muttered in complaint, "Why so slow, all that running practice was for not—" AAAHH!!!

Tang Huai let out a terrified scream and stumbled backward, falling onto the ground.

The Evolver wolf that had suddenly appeared also startled the two bodyguards. They immediately drew their pistols and stepped in front of Tang Huai.

"Xia… Xia Qing, can you goddamn walk any faster!" One look at this Evolver wolf told him it was no pushover. Tang Huai was so scared his lips couldn't form the words properly.