Chapter 74 : Chapter 74

Chapter 74: We Choose Zhang Kang

No one had any objections to Wang Longcheng’s proposal.

The man was already willing to put his own daughter on the line.

Surely choosing her bodyguard was not too much to ask.

A little over an hour later, Li Mu, who was drinking tea in the Cultivation Arts Faculty, suddenly received a call from Wang Longcheng.

“Hello, Uncle Wang.”

“Mm. Where are you?”

“The Cultivation Arts Faculty.”

“Good. There’s a mission. Come to headquarters.”

Li Mu was instantly startled.

Headquarters?

And Wang Longcheng had never personally assigned him a mission before.

If it were an ordinary mission, he would definitely not be calling him himself.

“I’ll be there right away!”

Li Mu hung up, said goodbye to Professor Xu, and rushed straight to headquarters.

When he arrived, Adjutant Zhang was already waiting there.

He personally led Li Mu inside.

After several twists and turns, they arrived at a small conference room.

The moment he stepped inside, Li Mu felt his scalp go numb.

He quickly saluted and greeted everyone.

“Greetings, Commander-in-Chief, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Commanding Officer, Deputy Commanding Officer...”

Li Mu ran through the greetings one after another like reciting a menu.

The conference room was filled with the big shots of the Pearl Military District.

Liang Huajun smiled faintly.

“I’ve been hearing your name quite a lot these past few days.”

“I serve the nation,” Li Mu replied, calm and unflustered.

“Good!”

“Now that everyone is here, let’s explain the matter.”

Liang Huajun turned to Commanding Officer Liao Feng.

Li Mu began looking around at the people present.

Aside from the major military leaders, there were several others in the room.

Three of them were wearing the uniform of the research institute.

They were the same people he had seen earlier being escorted by the guard squad when he and Professor Xu had left the building.

There was a middle-aged man, a middle-aged woman, and a young woman in her twenties.

Standing in front of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang Qing was a tall young man.

From his features alone, he bore a sixty or seventy percent resemblance to Zhang Qing.

It was the kind of likeness that made a paternity test unnecessary. One look was enough to tell he was Zhang Qing’s son.

And standing before Wang Longcheng was a girl so beautiful that it made one’s heart tremble.

Li Mu had never seen her before, but there was a trace of Bai Tiewei in her features.

Her eyes were like autumn water as she glanced about.

Her temperament even carried a touch of Lin Daiyu’s delicate, sorrowful beauty.

As though sensing Li Mu’s gaze, she looked at him once, then quickly averted her eyes. Her lashes lowered, and her cheeks actually began to redden.

That sensitive?

Li Mu was not so narcissistic as to think she had fallen for him.

She probably was just that type by nature.

Commanding Officer Liao Feng nodded.

“We have invited you all here today because there is a secret mission.”

“At a certain coordinate point in a Fourth Grade monster zone, one of our exploration teams discovered a mineral deposit.”

“It has been verified as a Living Crystal Ore Vein.”

“This type of crystal ore is of extremely high value to our military district.”

“But at present, we are unable to determine the breadth and depth of the vein.”

“You all know very well that within the Abyss, one’s aura is extremely important.”

“The moment the number of people exceeds the red line, or a Martial Artist above the red-line grade enters, it will rapidly attract large numbers of monsters, including extremely powerful ones.”

“The monsters in this region are Fourth Grade and possess a relatively high degree of perception.”

“Even a Fourth Grade Martial Artist entering will slowly attract monsters.”

“So in order to ensure the mission is completed as quickly as possible, the red line for this operation has been set at the peak of Yellow Rank Third Grade, and teams must move in pairs, splitting up to act separately.”

“From two directions, we must quickly survey the precise data, so that we can proceed with the next step.”

“This is Jiang Linlin, a newly appointed outstanding researcher from the Northern Frontier Research Institute. She will be responsible for the primary survey in this operation.”

As he spoke, Liao Feng pointed toward the young woman from the research institute.

Jiang Linlin stepped forward expressionlessly.

“This is Wang Yinhuan, the daughter of Deputy Commanding Officer Wang Longcheng.”

“Yinhuan is a guaranteed-admission student specializing in Abyss Energy Studies, and she is also skilled in surveying. She will be responsible for the secondary survey.”

At that moment, the middle-aged woman from the pair sent by the research institute emphasized, “The higher-ups attach great importance to this survey. To absolutely guarantee the mission’s completion, and to ensure the safety of the two surveyors, I hope you will select the strongest veteran soldiers among those in the Third Grade.”

After saying that, she coolly swept her gaze over Li Mu and Zhang Qing’s son.

She had deliberately said this before the escorts were introduced, simply to remind Liang Huajun and the others: Our people’s lives are precious.

You had better use the very best.

Liang Huajun and the others were instantly annoyed.

So what if you are just some small section head from the Northern Frontier Military Science Research Institute? What airs you put on.

Wang Longcheng was even putting his own daughter on the line.

Did you really need to say something so unnecessary?

Still, now that she had spoken, Liao Feng changed tack.

“That is only natural. The identities of the two escorts are quite special as well.”

“This one is Zhang Kang, son of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang, and he is at the peak of the Third Grade Realm.”

“He is extremely strong, has 170 Merit, and is currently serving as the captain of the guard squad.”

Zhang Kang lifted his chin proudly, his expression arrogant.

Zhang Qing had arranged for his son to participate in this mission because he also intended to temper him.

If the mission succeeded, the Merit reward would absolutely be considerable.

And although the Fourth Grade zone was dangerous, Zhang Qing was one of the escorts.

If things truly came to the worst, Zhang Kang had means of escaping.

Liao Feng then pointed to Li Mu.

“This is Li Mu. He is in the middle stage of the Third Grade Realm, but his actual combat ability is extremely strong.”

“He holds a Second-Class Guardian Medal, carries the rank of Junior Wolf Guard, and currently serves as a Senior Consultant of the Cultivation Arts Faculty.”

“These are two rare heaven-pride-level figures among our Third Grade personnel.”

“As for which one will serve as escort, we will respect the opinion of the research institute.”

As Liao Feng spoke, he handed the choice over to the people from the research institute.

The original plan had been for Li Mu to escort Wang Yinhuan. That was Wang Longcheng’s designation.

But now that the research institute had said what it said, Liao Feng made a temporary adjustment.

Were they not worried the bodyguards might be inadequate?

Then let them choose for themselves, so that if something happened later, they would not be able to blame the military district’s arrangements.

The three people from the research institute frowned at the sight of Li Mu.

“Middle stage of the Third Grade Realm? Commander Liang, could your military district not find a second soldier at the peak of the Third Grade Realm?”

the woman asked.

Privately, she thought that the Pearl Military District was being far too outrageous.

They only needed to choose two people from the entire district, yet one of them was actually only in the middle stage of the Third Grade Realm?

Were they treating this mission like a joke?

This time, however, Liang Huajun merely cast her a cool glance and said nothing.

The woman from the research institute seemed to sense the chill in Liang Huajun’s attitude as well.

Tactfully, she shut her mouth and discussed it with the other two.

Jiang Linlin could not even be bothered to look at Li Mu.

She pointed at Zhang Kang.

“I choose him.”

Their reasoning was very simple. Zhang Kang was the son of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief. Whether in cultivation arts, weapons, Spirit Treasures, or any other resource, he would have the best of everything.

He was also at the peak of the Third Grade Realm.

By contrast, that Li Mu was only in the middle stage of the Third Grade Realm and had no background.

Judging from his post, he was from the Cultivation Arts Faculty, so his rank had probably been earned through cultivation art research.

As for the Guardian Medal, the people from the research institute did not really understand how valuable it was.

After seeing their choice, Liang Huajun and Liao Feng exchanged a look, and both revealed faint smiles in their eyes.

These people certainly put on quite an air, but unfortunately, they had no eye for talent.

A Guardian Medal was only awarded to someone who had saved at least three teammates from a desperate situation.

It was not merely proof of strength, but proof of character as well.

On the battlefield, you could always entrust your back to someone who possessed a Guardian Medal.

That was the strongest possible proof of a soldier’s reliability.

When Wang Longcheng saw that they had chosen Zhang Kang, he let out a great sigh of relief.

In the entire military district, aside from Li Mu, there was no other Third Grade soldier he could truly trust to escort his daughter.

“Good. Then Li Mu will escort Wang Yinhuan.”

“Does anyone have any objections?”

Liao Feng looked toward Li Mu and Zhang Kang again. Even after explaining the mission, he still had to ask whether they agreed.

If the two of them were unwilling, the mission could not be carried out.

“I agree!” At a moment like this, there was no way Li Mu would let Wang Longcheng down.

Zhang Kang also voiced his agreement, though somewhat unwillingly.

But his eyes kept drifting toward Wang Yinhuan from time to time.

He had always hidden it extremely well, and in front of his father he maintained the image of a hardworking young man.

But his greatest hobby was women.

He had always been lustful to a reckless degree.

And from the moment he saw Wang Yinhuan, he had been racking his brains to figure out how to make her his.

She was too beautiful.

Too stunning.

Such a gentle, delicate woman, with a melancholy temperament tinged with a faint sickly beauty.

Her gaze was so soft and fragile it could make a man melt.

This sort of woman stirred an intense urge to conquer in him more than anything else.

If his father had not already explained beforehand how forceful the research institute was,

and if they had not chosen him of their own accord, he would have wanted nothing more than to recommend himself as Wang Yinhuan’s escort on the spot.

“Good. If no one has any objections, then we depart tomorrow morning at seven.”