translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Everyone’s gazes changed. Noise swelled around them, and someone immediately came over and started trying to chat with them.
“h.e.l.lo, I’m from the Fierce Wind Mercenary Corps. You guys have just arrived at the Capital, right? Would you be interested in visiting our mercenary group?"
“Get lost, Scar Six. Your mercenary corps has nothing worth talking about. Come with us instead; our mercenary corps ranks first in the Capital and has ties to the military. You definitely won"t lose out with us."
“h.e.l.lo, are you interested in joining the military"s ability user team…”
The area around them became lively, and Xiao Sa"s expression was dark as he was surrounded by people. He gave off a chilly aura, and the temperature in the room seemed to have dropped a lot, but it still couldn"t contain everyone"s enthusiasm.
Little Lin rushed forward to relieve the siege, “Excuse me, please make way! Mr. Bai has already made arrangements."
Mr. Bai’s reputation was very useful, and the crowd around them scattered, leaving only a few unwilling glances. Everyone began to ponder and carefully consider things; it was obvious that this was not the proper place to talk, and regardless of what the relationship between these people and Mr. Bai was, they should go back to report to their supervisors or leaders first and figure out the situation.
“Young Master Bai, Mr. Xiao, this way, please.” Little Lin’s att.i.tude became more respectful and enthusiastic. If Mr. Bai and Young Master Bai joined hands, the situation in the Capital Base would undergo some changes again, and even his own reputation might rise with the tide.
Having firmed up his resolve to establish a good relationship with Young Master Bai, Little Lin"s att.i.tude became much more easy-going and his words were much more cordial. When he introduced the details of the situation at the base, he laughed as he said, "Let’s go to the management office first. The base has developed a communication device, and starting last month, everyone has to be equipped with one. This also doubles as base personnel"s identification in order to avoid anyone mixing in without authorization or anything unexpected happening."
Bai Jing didn’t mind Little Lin’s positive change in att.i.tude, but he was stunned when he heard his words. He asked curiously, "Is it the watch that you"re wearing?"
Little Lin smiled and nodded He showed his wrist again, "Indeed. There are five kinds of communicators in the base. One type is like mine - the silver communicators signify people who belong to the base management team, and they have more functions than the ones the mercenary corps have. The mercenary corps use blue communicators, which are better than white ones. White communicators are for the regular residents of the base who have no abilities. There is another type of communicator, a temporary one, which is relatively easier to manufacture and is only valid for two months. After it runs out, it will become useless. The last type that Mr. Bai uses is the golden communicator. Gold represents the top leaders of the base, and there are only a dozen or so of those in total. I"m currently taking you guys to get your communicators."
Bai Jing’s eyes shone, and he was calculating quickly in his mind. At this time in his previous life, he had already left the Capital and was later captured and brought back in to be imprisoned. He had never seen what the Capital looked like later on. This time, he definitely had to get a few high-tech talents to bring back to Jing Sa City. He sneakily began to dig for information from Little Lin and sighed in admiration, "The Capital has developed really quickly. I"ve never even seen the inspection machinery that was at the entrance before."
Little Lin laughed and was very proud as he said, “That’s due to our research inst.i.tute. It"s not just for show. Even our ability users have been able to advance more quickly with their help."
Bai Jing"s expression turned ugly. When he heard the words "research inst.i.tute," he was unable to suppress the hatred in his heart. It seemed like the inst.i.tute still did not regard ability users as human beings. It had to be known that no matter what kind of medicine they developed, at the very least they would need subjects to test their products on first.
Little Lin saw that Bai Jing was unhappy and hurried to say, “Of course, all of your powers are pretty good too. The base currently doesn"t have any level five ability users yet, and even the Zhou and Song families" highest level ability user is only at level four. Mr. Bai must be very happy knowing that you"ve arrived."
Xiao Sa took Bai Jing’s hand; the two of them had no intention of hiding their relationship, and gave Little Lin a cold glare. Although he didn"t know why Little Jing"s expression had turned ugly, it must be someone else"s fault.
Bai Jing recovered a bit, his expression softening, and a touch of warmth entering his eyes. He turned his head to look at Xiao Sa and met Xiao Sa"s indifferent but careful gaze. His heart was tickled, and he smiled. What was he getting lost in various blind conjectures for? Things had long been different in this life, and as long as the person by his side was there, he would always be spoiled and cared for. They had Jing Sa City, they had strength, and they had supplies. If there was anything they didn"t have, they could think up ways to obtain them. What was there to be worried about?
Little Lin stiffened, then shivered. He considered his previous words in his heart and felt that he hadn"t said anything wrong, but the pressure of a level five ability user was really different from others. Under Xiao Sa"s sharp glance, Little Lin felt that he really wanted to start crying.
Bai Jing quickly rescued him. “Tell me about the other factions" situations. How is the Zhou Family doing now?”
Little Lin came to his senses and really wanted to smack himself in the mouth. He suddenly remembered at this point that Young Master Bai seemed to be an illegitimate son. In that case, the Zhou family… He hurried to say, "Young Master Bai, please relax. The research inst.i.tute hasn"t yet developed a gene fluid for level five ability users. The Zhou Family"s previous Head is old now and is only sitting at the head of the Family without involving himself too much in matters. The Head and the Second Head are involved in the R&D department and the army respectively. Mrs. Bai is at the research inst.i.tute, and the younger generation are all in the army. Eldest Young Master is the team leader for the 2nd Ability User Team and is currently a level four ability user. Third Young Miss is a level three water ability user, and the Zhou Family is currently planning to set up a marriage alliance with the Qi Family. The Qi Family"s head is a lightning ability user and previously practiced martial arts. He is now one of the leading characters in the base, but Young Miss Bai seems to be a little interested in him…”
Bai Jing sneered, “You’re talking about Bai Rui.”
Little Lin nodded. "Indeed." After all, the Eldest Young Miss had been married for a long time. He continued, "Mr. Rong is also working under the Zhou Family now.” Mr. Rong was Eldest Young Miss Bai"s husband and had been one of the sons of the leaders of the country before the apocalypse.
Bai Jing nodded his head in understanding. Before Zhang Qiucheng came, Bai Jingcheng"s situation had not been good, and it had made sense for the Rong Family to choose to support Zhou Family.
Afterwards, Little Lin spoke a bit more. He mainly explained the construction of the base and gave a detailed report on the distribution and layout of the Capital Base. Bai Jing didn"t pay too much heed to all this information; they had only just arrived, but Little Lin had immediately shared some confidential events with them. On the contrary, instead of trusting him, Bai Jing felt that he should be on guard against him. Before long, the group arrived at the base"s management office. News that a level five ability user had arrived had spread like wildfire, and the people at the office were extremely welcoming. It had to be said that amongst Bai Jing"s team of over 200 people, although there were quite a few ordinary people, comparing the ratio of ability users, especially high levelled ability users, to that of the norm, they were a force that the factions in the base would want to attract to their side. Relatively speaking, the benefits for those who were able to introduce them to key people in the base would not be small.
Bai Jing firmly and determinedly refused the good intentions of people in the management office and directly chose the temporary communicator.
“You really don"t want to reconsider?The world outside is now so chaotic, and no other base is as advanced as ours. With your strength, as long as you"re willing to join any faction, you"ll be able to obtain the qualifications for permanent residency in the Capital Base. You"ll also be allocated housing, which will make it more convenient for you to take care of your elderly and children.”
“No need, thank you. Please hurry up.” Bai Jing spoke indifferently as impatience flashed across his face. In order to save his ears from continued suffering, Bai Jing added, "I only need the temporary communicator for now. We can consider everything else later."
“Ah! Okay then. I’ll go ahead and register you first. It makes sense to be a bit more cautious. Let me know when you"ve thought it through. I"m not exaggerating; although our department isn"t very impressive, it has ties to all the base"s factions, and I can help you ease the way. If you end up with the wrong people…"
"Little Jing--" A noise at the door interrupted the person’s talk. Bai Jing was already out of patience with his chattering, and if he weren"t unfamiliar with this new place, he would"ve really wanted to slap someone. He turned around to look at the door, and smiled lightly.
Bai Jingcheng strode forward with six bodyguards behind him.
The management office was silent. No one spoke.
“Father.” Bai Jing’s expression was indifferent. Compared to Bai Jingcheng’s excitement, he seemed unusually calm.
“Little Jing, you’ve finally arrived. Father"s been worried to death about you these days." Bai Jingcheng stepped forward excitedly, his expression full of concern as he carefully examined Bai Jing, eyes roving over him attentively as though afraid of missing even the slightest detail.
Bai Jing smiled blandly, his lips showing a hint of ridicule. He glanced at Bai Jingcheng from the corner of his eyes and didn"t reply. He believed that Bai Jingcheng cared about him and that he would be good to him, but he first and foremost believed that the premise for Bai Jingcheng treating him well was that he wasn"t a hindrance. If it hadn"t been for the news that they had a level five ability user, he believed that this profit-seeking old man would not have arrived so quickly. At most, he would casually show some care, then send someone else to take care of him, sending him to somewhere conveniently within his sphere of influence.
At the end of the day Bai Jingcheng had a political background, and he was thicker-skinned than others. When faced with Bai Jing"s mockery, his expression didn"t change at all. Instead, he glared at the management staff and said, "Hurry up and complete the formalities." After that, he once again resumed his solicitous manner.
“Father originally wanted to send people to pick you up, but unexpectedly Little Jing was able to show such bright promise. Father"s very happy - my Little Jing has finally grown up."
Bai Jing felt chilled all over. Bai Jingcheng"s care wasn"t useful at all, and he was just one step short of breaking out in gooseb.u.mps.
But, Bai Jingcheng continued on, "Little Jing, why don"t you introduce your friend to me?"
Bai Jing pouted. He just knew that this topic would come up. However, even before he could speak, Xiao Sa had taken a half step forward and wrapped an arm around Bai Jing"s waist. He nodded to Bai Jingcheng, "h.e.l.lo Uncle, I am Xiao Sa, Little Jing’s lover.”
Bai Jingcheng choked. His mouth gaped open, and he was left speechless for a moment, staring at the two of them in a daze.
Bai Jing laughed very rudely and leaned his head on Xiao Sa’s shoulder in a public display of affection.
“You… you… you…” Bai Jingcheng was stifled for a long time. His face turned from blue to white, and then from white to red from anger. Then, he took a deep breath, pursed his lips, and dryly forced out a compliment, "Sure enough, a talented person."
Bai Jing was instantly amused. His smile was as bright as sunshine while Xiao Sa looked down at him in a pampering manner, his expression very indulgent. Of course, he did not forget to release the pressure of a level five ability user as he did so.
Bai Jingcheng’s anger got stuck in his throat.
“Yo! Old Bai, you’ve come to see your son-in-law, too.” Zhang Qiucheng’s sinister voice sounded as he whistled, then greeted, “Long time no see.”
Son-in-law?! You"re the son-in-law, your entire family are sons-in-law! Bai Jing"s expression went dark, his eyes like daggers as he glared fiercely at Zhang Qiucheng.
Bai Jingcheng let out a sigh of relief as he was given a way to take a step back. He forced out a cheerful laugh, "Little Zhang is here too. You guys haven"t seen each other in such a long time. It"s a perfect opportunity for you to reminiscence about the past.”
“Of course, of course. Without Brother Sa and Young Master Jing, I wouldn"t be where I am today. I just knew you guys would be alright. Seeing you both safe and sound, I"m finally relieved. Otherwise, Mr. Bai would skin me alive.”
“As long as you know it. Little Jing is my only son." Bai Jingcheng"s teeth clenched around the word "only" and his expression was entangled.
Bai Jing was too lazy to concern himself over them. He didn"t have to guess to know that Bai Jingcheng was reluctant to have his only son and heir have s.e.x with other men, but he was also reluctant to give up Xiao Sa, a level five ability user, but he couldn"t have both.
“Young Master Jing is also one of my brothers. Mr. Bai saying such things is really considering us to be outsiders. Back then, it was only thanks to him that I was able to arrive in smoothly in Beijing."
“I"m relieved to know that Little Jing has a brother like you. Little Jing is still young, and you should take care of him more. If I learn that he"s been wronged, hmph…"
“Uncle, please rest a.s.sured that Little Jing has me to take care of him. There"s no need for others to look out for him as well." Xiao Sa interjected. He looked at Zhang Qiucheng coldly.
“Haha, Brother Xiao is as pleasant as ever." Zhang Qiucheng burst out laughing. They looked like two good brothers and gave off the impression that they were very close.
Bai Jing was just about to get his communicator. Hearing their conversation, he sneered in his heart. The relationship between Bai Jingcheng and Zhang Qiucheng did not seem to be very amiable. However, Bai Jing did not intend to solve this series of misunderstandings.
He was Bai Jingcheng’s son, and Bai Jingcheng had expressed his concern for him everywhere. Zhang Qiucheng would naturally believe that their father-son relationship was very good, which meant that he would have to be much more polite when facing him. As for Bai Jingcheng"s side, after Zhang Qiucheng’s performance, Bai Jingcheng would naturally think that they were fellow brothers. Zhang Qiucheng had an army, his son had a large number of ability users, and all of this would only make Bai Jingcheng place more importance on Bai Jing. He also wouldn"t dare offend Xiao Sa easily, so this situation would only benefit them. He might as well let these two old foxes scheme as they liked.