Chapter 11
◎Any information can be obtained by paying an equal price.◎
"Let me introduce myself," Cheng Wenfei began. "Cheng Wenfei, District 36 Governor."
Cheng Wenfei was always cautious. This man named Lan Hua had an unknown background and many mysteries surrounding him, so initially he only sent people to secretly monitor Ji Yu and his mother, who had rescued Lan Hua. While monitoring them, he was also considering how to deal with Lan Hua to maximize his benefits—whether to coerce, bribe, or appease her. But after meeting Lan Hua, his intuition told him that honesty was the best policy; other methods might only backfire.
"Lan Hua," Lan Hua said lazily, "I suppose you already knew."
Cheng Wenfei: "..." You don't need to say the last sentence. You didn't even leave him a chance to say anything polite. How was he supposed to respond smoothly?!
However, before Cheng Wenfei could speak again, Lan Hua raised an eyebrow with interest and continued, "An ordinary person? To be able to become a governor, that's quite impressive."
In this world, in any country established by humankind, the ruling class is basically composed of so-called "god-like beings," and very few ordinary people can hold any official position.
Lan Hua's spaceship crashed in Sector 36, which belongs to the Tianjian Galaxy of the Cali Federation. The Tianjian Galaxy is one of the most remote star systems in the Cali Federation, and most of the people living in this star system are ordinary people.
Apart from Tianjian Star, where the Galaxy Governor's Office is located, which has a specific name, all other planets in the Tianjian Galaxy are simply named with numbers. A planet named with a number indicates that the majority of its inhabitants are ordinary humans. However, even on planets with numerical names, the governors are mostly "divine beings," as governors are the leaders of their respective planets and hold a high rank.
For an ordinary person to become a consul and hold such a stable position, it's clear that Cheng Wenfei is no ordinary person. Interestingly, Kessel, who holds the position of captain of the guard—a post reserved for the consul's confidants—is also an ordinary person.
"You flatter me," Cheng Wenfei said.
"Alright, tell me why you came to see me," Lan Hua said. Although Lan Hua had more or less guessed why Cheng Wenfei had asked him, he wanted to hear how far Cheng Wenfei could go.
"I'm sure you've already guessed it." Since he had chosen to be frank, Cheng Wenfei didn't hide anything and said directly, "We invited you here because of spaceship technology."
The more direct the words, the more damaging they are to those who speak in riddles and veiled ways. And those who are in high positions, value their reputation, and are unwilling to take responsibility tend to speak in vague and ambiguous ways. Lan Hua hissed. He always loved to use blunt language to shut people up, but this time he was the one who was shut down.
Cheng Wenfei turned the conversation to Lan Hua, wanting to see her response. Both of them were secretly calculating their own options.
Lan Hua ignored this question and passed the buck back, "Hmm, and then?"
Cheng Wenfei: "..." Of course, you should take the initiative to show your willingness to cooperate with us, and then you can state your conditions. I'll selectively agree to your requests depending on the situation. Why is this person so indecisive?
Cheng Wenfei hoped that Lan Hua would take the initiative to continue the conversation, because the more someone talks, the more they reveal, which is detrimental to the negotiation. Moreover, he still hadn't found out anything about this person.
Cheng Wenfei remained silent. Lan Hua, unhurried, closed his eyes, feigning sleep. Although his injuries appeared to have mostly healed, they weren't fully recovered internally. Firstly, he had never suffered such a serious injury before, and secondly, his recovery period was still short. He needed to make the most of his time to rest.
Although Cheng Wenfei has always had excellent composure and patience—otherwise he wouldn't have reached his current position—if he continues to be so focused, the person in front of him will fall asleep.
"I hope you can cooperate with us." Finally, Cheng Wenfei spoke. This also meant that he had lost the battle in this confrontation and would have to take a bigger loss.
Lan Hua slowly opened her eyes and said with a smile, "The premise of cooperation is honesty. You simply gave a brief self-introduction and then expressed your desire to cooperate. You're just trying to get something for nothing."
"You can name your terms for cooperation. If they are reasonable and within my capabilities, I will agree. As for honesty..." Cheng Wenfei paused, then said, "What do you want to know?"
It seems Cheng Wenfei is indeed sincere; after all, he could have easily continued playing games, but he chose to be direct. This pleased Lan Hua.
“However, cooperation is a two-way street. If you choose to cooperate, shouldn’t you be honest?” Cheng Wenfei said.
Lan Hua nodded. "Yes, that makes sense."
Then, he chuckled and said, "It's not like we've finalized whether or not to cooperate yet."
Cheng Wenfei: "..."
Lan Hua looked at Cheng Wenfei with a meaningful smile. Cheng Wenfei wanted cutting-edge technology, yet he kept it a secret from the Tianjian Galaxy and the Central Galaxy; he clearly had ulterior motives.
Of course, none of this concerned him. His sole purpose in traversing the Hela black hole was to find Regas. But the universe is so vast; finding a single person is incredibly difficult.
"Ugh, why am I the only one suffering like this?" Lan Hua grew increasingly angry. Couldn't Regas have been a little more assertive and come out of the black hole on his own? People called Regas the "Light of the Empire," but he's so useless; he should be called the "Imperial Trash." Despite her anger, she still had to find him. If Regas could have come out on his own, Lan Hua wouldn't have been dragged along by his father for two years before ultimately choosing to come in and search for him herself.
"What?" Cheng Wenfei felt that he could no longer keep up with this person's jumping thoughts.
"Oh, I'm cursing someone in my mind," Lan Hua waved her hand and said, "It's none of your business."
Cheng Wenfei: "..." Sorry to bother you.
"How have you considered the cooperation?" Cheng Wenfei asked.
Lan Hua suddenly asked, "Why do you think I would know about spaceship technology? You can pilot a spaceship, but do you know how to build the spaceship you pilot?"
Cheng Wenfei, awakened by Lan Hua's words, smiled helplessly. Their eagerness for the plan and the sudden, unknown opportunity had indeed led them astray, blinding them to the fact that they had forgotten even the simplest truths.
"How much did you guess?" Cheng Wenfei asked.
Lan Hua smiled and said, "I have absolutely no interest in your affairs; you're just too impatient."
“If you are not capable of cooperating with us, but have guessed some things—” Cheng Wenfei sighed, “then I’m sorry, you may not be able to leave here.”
Lan Hua was not alarmed by Cheng Wenfei's words. He rested his cheek on his hand and said with a smile, "Does Your Excellency want my life? After all, only the dead can keep secrets completely, and if you leave your head, someone might be able to read your brain."
Cheng Wenfei: "...I just won't let you leave, I don't want to kill you." Does this guy have a death wish? Isn't living good enough? He's never seen anyone so reckless.
“I can make a deal with you,” Lan Hua said, changing the subject.
"Didn't you say before that you didn't know anything about spaceship technology?" Cheng Wenfei asked in surprise.
Lan Hua shrugged. "Did I say that?"
Cheng Wenfei thought back for a moment; Lan Hua hadn't explicitly said he didn't know. But his previous words, in the eyes of others, were all hints and reminders that he didn't know.
Cheng Wenfei came to his senses and said, "Speak, what are your conditions?"
"You're a smart man." Lan Hua's lazy attitude vanished, his aura instantly turning sharp as a blade. "I don't have data on the crashed probe ship, but I do have data on other ships." Lan Hua actually had the data on the black hole probe ship in his personal computer, but he didn't want to give it away.
"Although it can't compare to the one that crashed, it's still more advanced than the latest spaceship announced by the Cali Federation," Lan Hua added.
"What do you need?" Cheng Wenfei asked directly.
"Don't we need to check it first?" Lan Hua said with a smile.
"You don't need to lie to me. It wouldn't benefit either of us, would it?" Cheng Wenfei retorted.
“I just love talking to smart people,” Lan Hua praised. “There’s no need for cooperation. All that talk about honesty before was just empty words. After all, I’m not interested in your affairs. This time, you and I are just doing a deal, a one-off transaction.”
If it were truly a so-called collaboration, he would be trapped in District 36 by Cheng Wenfei under various pretexts. After all, Cheng Wenfei was interested in more than just cutting-edge technology. Lan Hua didn't want to get involved in this cosmic conflict; he just wanted to find the person and leave.
"I hope your terms are within my capabilities," Cheng Wenfei said. After this exchange, he completely abandoned his previous plans. He couldn't keep Lan Hua, but it wasn't a complete loss either.
"Don't worry, you can definitely do it."
Tell me about it.
"Just give me the money," Lan Hua said.
"Pfft—" Cheng Wenfei, who was drinking water, choked suddenly. "Cough cough."
Then he looked up at Lan Hua in disbelief: "Are you kidding me?" These days, wars are fought for cutting-edge technology, because it's something that can't be measured in money.
Lan Hua was heartbroken: "The only thing I lack now is money." It was truly a sad story; he himself never imagined that he would ever be short of money.
"Money is not a problem," Cheng Wenfei said generously, waving his hand.
“I need another identity,” Lan Hua said.
“No problem.” Cheng Wenfei gave Lan Hua a deep look, but did not ask why.
He knew from his investigation of Lan Hua that Lan Hua had no nationality, and he never expected that he would be the one to help Lan Hua solve this problem. However, if he were to ask for the reason, this deal would definitely be terminated.
"One last thing," Lan Hua asked, "Besides me, have any other unidentified people suddenly appeared here?"
"Your question is too broad," Cheng Wenfei shook his head. "There are many kinds of unidentified people: space pirates, refugees, fugitives, rebels, and all sorts of others. Those who appear and disappear suddenly are countless. If it weren't for your spaceship, we probably wouldn't have paid much attention to you. The more remote the star system, the more chaotic it is." Cheng Wenfei spoke frankly. The security in Sector 36 was considered good; other digital planets were basically a world of survival of the fittest. Those so-called "god-like" administrators simply wouldn't bother with the affairs of ordinary people, whom they considered no different from ants.
"Do you know any places where I can get any information?" Lan Hua asked.
"An intelligence agency?" Cheng Wenfei asked.
"I'm looking for someone."
Cheng Wenfei thought for a moment and said, "If it's just about finding out someone's whereabouts, I know someone who can help you. This person can help you find the person you want with 100% certainty. However, you will have to pay a price."
"Oh, tell me about it." Lan Hua's eyes lit up, not taking the precondition of "having to pay a price" to heart.
“That person is a ‘god-like’ being on Tianjian Star.” Cheng Wenfei spoke of the word “god-like” with a strong sense of sarcasm. He continued, “It is said that he has the genes of a ‘prophet,’ so he can obtain any information by paying the same price as he wants to know something, as long as he can afford the price.”
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