Chapter 108
What did he say?
Could it be that the teacher was kidnapped by the Fu family after disappearing for so many days?!
Pei Yuheng stared blankly at Fu Zong's smiling face, his mind going completely blank. Following the other's meaningful gaze, his eyes involuntarily fixed on the vaccine.
He could almost hear the voice of his own desperate plea from years ago: "Professor Chen, please, if you just give me a chance, I can help our lab get published in a top journal."
The man sighed helplessly and refused, annoyed, "Xiao Pei, it's not that I doubt your abilities, nor is it a matter of whether it's a top-tier publication or not—do you know who you've offended? Even if you have the ability, a top-tier publication needs to be able to get published."
"I'll be very busy after this, so please don't come again."
The door slammed shut, completely blocking Pei Yuheng outside. He could hear his breathing growing heavier and heavier, and the floor beneath his feet seemed to turn into a mud pit. With each step, sticky mud clung to his legs, making him feel heavier and heavier.
He was almost too weak to walk when suddenly a refined and gentle voice came from behind him: "Pei Yuheng? It really is you! Did you come to see me before? I was in a meeting outside at the time, but I have time now. I've read your emails. You've already produced results before graduating, that's quite impressive. After graduation, would you like to come and work directly with me?"
“I may not be very capable,” Zhou Chaosheng smiled as he turned around, his eyes wide with surprise, “but I can still guarantee you a master’s degree.”
...
The orange-yellow potion was as thick as blood. An unbelievable thought pierced Pei Yuheng's heart like a thorny bramble, making his heart almost stop beating. His hands almost instantly reached for Fu Zong's collar, his eyes bloodshot: "You—"
A slight pressure pressed down on Pei Yuheng's arm. Fu Zong had won everyone's favor with the vaccine; now was definitely not the right time to start a conflict.
Pei Yuheng was preoccupied with his mentor's situation and couldn't calm down at all. Xie Xubai tried to soothe him with his mental power and sensed the continuous flow of resentment he felt towards the Fu family. Pei Yuheng's hand, which was holding Xie Xubai's, trembled uncontrollably, like a caged beast spinning in circles.
Xie Xubai frowned and stared coldly at Fu Zong.
With everyone at the base eager to know the origin of the vaccine, and Pei Yuheng's mentor suspected of being imprisoned, they had to go to the Fu family, even if it was a dangerous place.
Seeing that the Fu family members looked travel-worn, everyone decided to set off again the next morning so that everyone could have enough rest.
Fu Zong did not refuse. In addition to the vaccine, he also had access to outside intelligence, and could accurately say which parents were being treated at which hospital, and which siblings were being taken to which shelter.
The news that the Alliance's political situation had decided to use force to eradicate the pollution was true, which greatly increased everyone's psychological burden, creating an extremely somber atmosphere.
Under such circumstances, hearing news from relatives and friends is like a deadly weapon piercing the heart; even just a few casual words can bring tears to one's eyes.
Fu Zong's patient words of comfort once again earned him a lot of goodwill from everyone.
Fu Zong waited patiently, waiting for Pei Yuheng to lose his patience and come to beg him to tell him about his mentor's situation, but he didn't see him until dawn.
— Pei Yuheng is extremely loyal and sentimental, how could he remain so calm?
Fu Zong waited all night, feeling an unexpected surge of anger, and his expression turned rather unpleasant.
When he arrived at the meeting point in a flurry with his men, only to find that Pei Yuheng and the other man were not there, he immediately had a bad feeling.
The researcher in charge of counting the number of people asked in surprise, "Director? He and the deputy director left last night, didn't you know?"
Although Fu Zong claimed that the Fu family was key to vaccine development, no one believed that the Fu family in the alternate world was the same as the one in the real world. Furthermore, because Fu Zong feigned mystery and refused to reveal any clues, everyone was understandably uneasy, worried that the actual outcome might differ from reality.
Xie Xubai then used this opportunity to say that they were going ahead to scout out the route and check for dangers. Most of the researchers were left behind to wait for Fu Zong and the others to set off together.
Fu Zong was incredulous: "They actually abandoned us and left first?"
Before Xie Xubai left, Dr. Li pulled him aside for a talk, putting on a kind smile to smooth things over: "It's not that we're leaving first, it's that we're going to scout ahead. Young Master Fu doesn't know how dangerous this place is. There are monsters everywhere. The Fu family you know may have changed a lot. It's safer to investigate first before we go, don't you think?"
Fu Zong looked around at the expressions of deep agreement on everyone's faces and suddenly realized that he had underestimated their loyalty to Pei and Xie. Such an unreasonable arrangement, yet not a single person thought there was a problem!
If the base's managers knew what Fu Zong was thinking, they would probably scoff at it.
When Fu Zong uttered the word "vaccine" and was not protected by heavy weapons, at least ten people in the crowd began to stir. Having experienced so much life and death and witnessed so many tragedies, people's hearts had long since become selfish and indifferent, adhering to the principle that "nothing is real unless you hold it in your hand."
The only reason they were willing to receive Fu Zong and his group was because Xie Xubai and his companion remained on site and still held considerable prestige. Otherwise, they wouldn't have waited a single night, let alone a single second; they would have forced Fu Zong to reveal the specific development process of the vaccine.
People are feeling a bit restless right now.
Everyone gathered around Fu Zong, subtly inquiring about the vaccine's origin. They didn't believe Fu Zong's original explanation—what did he mean by "no one would believe it"? Wasn't that just dangling bait and making empty promises? Regardless of how unrealistic the facts might be, they would decide for themselves after hearing the rest!
Fu Zong originally thought that controlling everyone at the base was a piece of cake, without considering the consequences of being perfunctory with them. Now that Xie Xubai has urgently distributed a pair of sunglasses to everyone, he has tasted the bitterness of his abilities being ineffective.
Faced with the seemingly friendly but actually aggressive questioning of twenty or thirty people, his expression grew increasingly flustered, and a closer look revealed a hint of disgust and impatience: "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's that I can't say it outright—"
Everyone present was shrewd. If Fu Zong had previously disguised himself well and won their favor, their impression of him had completely changed now: "Is it that you can't say it outright or that you don't want to say it? Young Master Fu, we trust you so much, you can't treat us like fools!"
Seeing the crowd taking advantage of his position, Fu Zong became furious. In an instant, something appeared out of thin air in his hand, and a huge shockwave exploded from it, violently blowing everyone gathered there away!
Caught off guard, their bodies slammed into the floor, nearly shattering. Fu Zong looked down at them, seemingly unworthy to speak, a sinister smile playing on his lips. In his hand was something like a remote control; a single press could unleash a shockwave that no ordinary person could withstand.
Unexpectedly, a golden light shot out from the side, grabbed his five fingers tightly, knocked the object down, and seized his wrist.
Fu Zong's expression changed instantly as he stared at the two figures that had appeared in the shadows. Xie Xubai and Pei Yuheng hadn't left!
He glanced at the two men, then at the crowd who were getting up from the ground, their eyes filled with resentment, and suddenly realized: "Did you plan all of this?"
Even if Xie Xubai didn't arrange it, he must have expected it to force him to speak amidst the restless crowd. Fu Zong guessed that Xie Xubai was doing this to strip everyone of their trust in him, but then Xie Xubai picked up the remote control from the ground, smiled, and asked the question that terrified him: "Player?"
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