Chapter 125 Inner Palace - 3 "Oh, Elder Yu is here too..."
"Oh, Old Yu is here too?" Fang Yue looked at the old man slowly and deliberately, with a hint of sarcasm: "For a 93-year-old, your legs are still quite strong."
Tang Bufan recognized the old man as Yu Fen's grandfather. Although he had retired, he was still the undisputed leader in the Yu family. Tang Bufan guessed that the old man was the one who orchestrated the destruction of the education group by pretending to be a protester.
Then the seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy next to him must be Yu Fen's youngest son.
The young man was quite good-looking, and seemed very interested in Lu Yi. Although he was helping the old man, his eyes were fixed on him with a bold gaze.
When the two arrived at this point, perhaps because he wasn't looking where he was going, the boy suddenly tripped over the old man's cane and fell forward instantly.
Tang Bufan and Lu Yi both instinctively reached out to help, but Lu Yi, with his longer arms and legs, was faster than Tang Bufan and managed to catch the boy before Tang Bufan could.
"Ah... thank you..." The boy nestled in Lu Yi's arms, looking somewhat shy.
"..." Tang Bufan wasn't jealous at all; for some reason, he found it rather amusing.
"What a nice fall! That was a beautiful flat-ground fall." Fang Yue clapped her hands slowly and said with a smile, "I've never seen such a good flat-ground fall in TV dramas. Yu Shi, you didn't waste your time studying at the drama academy."
Hearing Fang Yue's sarcasm, the boy blushed and immediately got out of Lu Yi's arms.
"Um... I didn't mean to." Yu Shi returned to the old man's side and said to Lu Yidao apologetically, "My name is Yu Shi."
Lu Yi nodded to him indifferently and reached out to take Tang Bufan's hand.
Noticing his movements, Yu Shi looked at Tang Bufan and met the gaze of the handsome man in a moon-white robe.
Tang Bufan was also looking at him, and smiled at him with narrowed eyes.
Yu Shi seemed to be stung by his smile; his eyes flickered for a moment before he lowered them.
The elderly man surnamed Yu shook hands with Lu Yi and then invited him to sit in the peacekeeping faction's tea room.
Lu Yi refused outright: "I'm sorry, I have something to discuss with Miss Fang Yue."
The old man, surnamed Yu, frowned slightly and asked, "What brings the Western Federation to the New Merchant Alliance?"
"What could it be? It's business, of course," Fang Yue said unhurriedly, then led the two to the location of the New Business Alliance.
"Please, gentlemen." Yang Fengqing politely gestured to the two of them.
The two then followed Yang Fengqing and Fang Yue, still able to feel the gaze of the grandfather and grandson.
The New Business Alliance's reception room was on the third floor, decorated in a simple yet elegant style. Fang Yue invited the two of them to sit down, while Yang Fengqing went to make coffee.
Tang Bufan stared at the woman in front of him. Although she looked young, Tang Bufan knew that she was not simple at all. Under Tang Bufan's gaze, Fang Yue leaned back on the sofa and crossed her legs.
"How much did you learn from Pei Zhishu?" The woman got straight to the point, without beating around the bush.
“Not much,” Lu Yi said calmly. “Mr. Pei has been very protective of you.”
Fang Yue curled the corners of her lips: "Using the word 'cover' means you already suspect me, right?"
Tang Bufan and Lu Yi exchanged a glance.
“You have a strong connection with the Rebooters,” Tang Bufan said. “There should be two Penglai in China, but the electronic database only contains information about the Penglai base in Shandong. We believe that the Education and Culture Group deleted the existence of the other Penglai Island.”
Yang Fengqing came over with a tray and placed the steaming coffee in front of the three of them. Tang Bufan glanced at him with concern, but Fang Yue did not ask him to leave.
It seems that Yang Fengqing knows a lot of things.
Fang Yue picked up her coffee and said calmly, "Everyone here is smart, so I won't lie to you. It's true that there were two Penglai in China, and each of them established a base. One was built in the open, and the other was built in secret. The one built in secret existed as a way to preserve humanity's last hope."
After Fang Yue finished speaking, she pointed to the sky.
Tang Bufan was confused, but Lu Yi quickly understood: "Is it space?"
“Yes, space.” Fang Yue said slowly, “A thousand years ago, the Earth’s environment deteriorated so badly that it was directly labeled as the end of the world. At that time, China made three preparations: first, underground cities; second, closed ground bases; and third, space homes. Later, the ground bases were successively breached by the humans who were taking refuge, but the underground cities were able to function properly.”
"What about space?" Tang Bufan couldn't help but ask.
“We’ve been observing it from the shadows,” Fang Yue said. “To protect that Penglai base, our cultural and educational group has been deleting data about it, making it ‘invisible.’ But the relevant work was basically completed nine hundred years ago, and now there are probably only a very small amount of data left on the ground.”
Fang Yue finished speaking and gave a bitter smile: "And as you all know, the Cultural and Educational Group was destroyed when I was 13 years old, so I only learned about these things later through other people."
"You didn't tell Pei Zhishu?" Tang Bufan asked.
"No, my junior is already working very hard on the ground." Fang Yue seemed to have a lot of affection for her junior, Pei Zhishu.
“But these two attacks have already threatened his life!” Tang Bufan frowned, feeling that Pei Zhishu had the right to know.
Lu Yi remained silent for a moment, then calmly looked at Fang Yue: "So, Miss Fang Yue doesn't know the location of Penglai either."
“Yes.” Fang Yue nodded helplessly: “It’s precisely because he doesn’t know that he feels the Book of Telling is useless and will only add to his troubles.”
Lu Yi thought for a moment and then asked, "Would you mind telling me what your collaboration with Zero is?"
Fang Yue's eyes flickered slightly, her red lips pursed, and after a long while she said seriously, "I can tell you, but Mr. Louis needs to promise me one thing."
Lu Yi's gaze deepened slightly: "Miss Fang Yue, please speak first."
"You have to agree first."
The two looked at each other. Tang Bufan sat to the side without saying a word, while Lu Yi smiled faintly and said calmly, "Miss Fang Yue, you are a businesswoman and should understand that transactions are based on interests, and my promises are very expensive."
Fang Yue fell silent, then gave a self-deprecating laugh: "Mr. Louis is right, it was my oversight."
After she finished speaking, she lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then looked up seriously: "Although I don't know the location of the Rebooter base, Zero gave me a pass to the base. How about adding this bonus?"
Lu's eyes brightened slightly, but he still hesitated.
"Don't worry, I won't make things too difficult for you." Fang Yue continued, "This promise doesn't involve the Western Federation; it's just a personal request of mine."
Hearing Fang Yue say this, Lu Yi hesitated for two or three seconds before saying, "Okay, I promise you."
Fang Yue was slightly pleased. She then smiled and told the two, "Cooperating with Zero is to defeat our common enemy."
Lu Yi scrutinized Fang Yue, his tone slightly serious: "Is it a collaboration to bring down the Yu family, or a collaboration to bring down the Guo family?"
Tang Bufan was secretly startled; Lu Yi's words immediately gave him many more guesses.
"Oh dear, of course it's about working together to bring down the Yu family." Fang Yue clarified with a smile, "I haven't even managed to take down the monkeys in the mountains, how could I dare to take down a tiger?"
After Fang Yue finished speaking, she became more serious: "I have no problem with the Guo family. They have taken good care of the ground, which has saved us humans a lot of trouble. Moreover, the construction of the new base still requires manpower from the orcs."
Tang Bufan listened from the side, somewhat puzzled: "You said that the cooperation with Zero is to bring down the Yu family... Does Zero also have a grudge against the Yu family?"
“…Yes.” Fang Yue’s expression became slightly complicated. She hesitated for a moment before telling the two of them, “Zero and I are old acquaintances, and what I asked Mr. Louis to agree to is also related to him.”
Fang Yue looked at Lu Yi and said slowly and deliberately, "The Rebooters led by Zero are very strong, but the poison people he released have already offended three Orc Federations. As far as I know, Guo Shen has already contacted the Northern Federation to discuss military cooperation. He should have mentioned it to you as well. Under such circumstances, I think it's only a matter of time before the Rebooters are found. So I hope... Mr. Louis can protect Zero and save his life in times of danger."
Tang Bufan and Lu Yi were both stunned; Fang Yue's request was beyond their expectations.
Lu Yi frowned quickly, his one gold and one green eye staring sharply at Fang Yue: "Zero is also a member of the education group? What exactly is your relationship with him?"
Their common enemy is the Yu family, and Fang Yue is protecting him so much, it's hard not to suspect their relationship.
Tang Bufan began to quickly recall Fang Yue's information. She became an orphan at a young age and later built her business on her own. After her business gradually grew, she secretly gave birth to two children, but she kept her husband and children hidden.
Tang Bufan then thought of Zero's age, around 30 years old, could it be...?
Tang Bufan looked at Lu Yi beside him with suspicion, trying to get an answer from him. If it was really as he guessed, then Zero's access card to Fang Yue's restarter base would make sense.
But Lu Yi didn't speak; he just frowned and stared directly at Fang Yue.
Fang Yue refused to give a clear answer, only saying, "I said, we are old acquaintances. Zero... was indeed a member of the Cultural and Educational Group. Our parents were both high-ranking members of the Cultural and Educational Group. However, after the Cultural and Educational Group was destroyed, I joined the New Business Alliance, while he entered the Academy of Sciences. Later... later he secretly went to Penglai."
The Academy of Sciences has connections with the Rebooters, which is practically an open secret, but they're hiding underground, so the orcs can't do anything about them.
The peace treaty stipulates that orcs are no longer allowed to enter the dungeon. If Guo Shen breaks the rules, there is a possibility of reigniting the war between humans and orcs.
The Eastern Federation is now in a state of chaos due to the Rebooters.
“Miss Fang Yue, you asked me to protect Zero, but he now wants the destruction of all the orcs in the world.” Lu Yi finally spoke slowly, his tone unusually unpleasant: “His existence has already affected the Western Federation.”
Even though the pass Fang Yue had was very useful, her request was still too much to ask.
Fang Yue understood this herself. She thought for a moment and then turned to look at Tang Bufan: "What if I said that Zero could bring that child back to life?"
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