A World Worth Protecting

Zhao Yameng’s expression was that of exasperation as she listened to Wang Baole’s shameless greeting. She had long since discovered that when others disrupted her in her daily routines, she needed only to lift her head and give them a long, deep look before they would lower their heads nervously. This tactic of hers had allowed her to drive away the many irrelevant people around her.

But Wang Baole was simply too thick-skinned. He seemed naturally immune to her tactics; they were useless before him. He had also saved her life. Most importantly, Zhao Yameng did feel more warmly towards Wang Baole than towards other people.

Zhao Yameng smiled when she heard Wang Baole’s unpredictable words. Fortunately, no one saw her smile. If anyone in her department saw that smile, they would undoubtedly be dazzled and dazed by it. The Zhao Yameng of their memories was distant and dignified. She was composed and unfazed. Such an authentic smile that came from the heart was a rare display.

“Have you gotten yourself into some other trouble on Mars? Is that why you’ve come looking for me?” Zhao Yameng smiled and said casually.

“How is that possible? I’m the leader of the Adonis Association, beloved by all. Flowers blossom when I walk past them. Everyone’s fallen in love with me since I arrived on Mars.” Wang Baole coughed and thudded his chest.

“Is that so.” Zhao Yameng picked up a file and continued reading it.

Wang Baole could hear the disbelief in Zhao Yameng’s voice. He grew slightly unhappy and decided to list the various examples that proved his point…

“You don’t believe me? Let me tell you a secret. You heard of the Governor of the Martian Colony? I realized that she’s been looking at me in a funny manner…” Wang Baole whispered, pleased. He couldn’t see Zhao Yameng, who had placed her documents down and had a strange expression on her face.

“My charm is just too great. I can feel that the Governor really admires me. She might be considering making me her son-in-law, but it would be hard for her to succeed. I’m just too popular. Do you know? So many young women on Mars are fighting to give me their transmission contact details. Girls these days are all perverts! I’m only the most good looking person on Mars. It has caused me so much trouble. If only I wasn’t so good looking.” Wang Baole got extremely excited. He didn’t have anyone around him to talk to about such matters after all. That was why he couldn’t control himself as he started bragging.

As he rattled on and on, he suddenly realized the silence on the other end of the voice transmission. He froze.

“Yameng?”

Zhao Yameng raised an eyebrow and looked at the voice transmission ring. Wang Baole couldn’t tell if she was smiling or not as she narrowed her eyes. It was rare to see such expressions flickering across her face.

“Ah, how amazing you must be!” After a moment, Zhao Yameng spoke softly and was about to end the transmission. Wang Baole seemed to sense the change in her emotional state. He laughed awkwardly then went straight to business. He told Zhao Yameng about his views and about modifying his mystic technique into an array formation.

Zhao Yameng, who had graduated from the Array Runes Pavilion of the Ethereal Dao College, had extraordinary talents in the area of array formations. She started thinking after hearing what Wang Baole had said. She discussed with Wang Baole the finer details of his idea, and Wang Baole sent her the simplified version of the Qi Devouring Art.

They spoke for a while more. Wang Baole also told Zhao Yameng that he would be informing the Sect Lord of this matter and that he would study the array formation together with Zhao Yameng.

Their transmission ended. Zhao Yameng set her voice transmission ring down. She did not know why, but the voice of Wang Baole bragging appeared in her head.

She thought for a bit before turning on her voice transmission ring. She found a contact number and tried calling. After chatting for a while, she finally went away, pleased, to study the simplified Qi Devouring Art that Wang Baole had given her.

At the same time, Wang Baole had contacted the Sect Lord immediately. He didn’t conceal his ambitions. The Sect Lord was surprised when he heard Wang Baole’s ideas. He took a few breaths, and his eyes shone.

“Baole, are you sure this array formation will speed up the erosion of the wall?”

“Sect Lord, I swear on the lives of my four vice mayors!”

The Sect Lord grew silent when he heard that. He realized he shouldn’t have tried to confirm whether the plan was feasible. He smiled wryly.

“That’s alright, as long as you’re sure. I will contact Zhao Yameng regarding the modification of the array formation and follow her lead. We will work together and help you keep this a secret!”

The conversation ended. Wang Baole was brimming with energy and excitement. He felt as if the doors had just opened to a brand new world. He had everything going smoothly. He only needed the array formation now. Once the array formation was deemed a success, he would become a Primary Rank Three Noble!

He walked out happily and did a round of inspection, catching sight of the donkey. Since he was in high spirits, he did the rare thing and didn’t send a kick in the donkey’s direction. He even patted the donkey on its head, his eyes shining with tender care for it.

The donkey, which had been prepared to be kicked, shuddered at the sight. Its eyes shone with shock and terror. It seemed to sense that Wang Baole was behaving abnormally at that moment, which made it nervous. It thought that some disaster was about to happen. It shuddered and didn’t recover from his shock and alarm even after Wang Baole left. It thought for a while and finally crept away, deciding that it would avoid appearing in front of Wang Baole during this period of time.

Wang Baole ended his inspection and began his seclusion. The night passed. On the second day, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Wang Baole was about to continue his inspection when suddenly, he received a voice transmission from the Martian Colony Governor.

The Governor started by asking about Wang Baole’s work, which took Wang Baole by surprise. She had just left yesterday and completed her own inspection. Why was she sending him a voice transmission and inquiring about the new city zone?

Regardless, Wang Baole patiently and respectfully reported everything again. Before he was done, the Governor caught an oversight Wang Baole had missed. She flew into a rage immediately and gave him a scolding over the voice transmission. He was reprimanded for half an hour before she hung up.

Wang Baole was dazed by the verbal lashing he had just gotten… only recovering after a long while. He stared in shock at his voice transmission ring. He found it incomprehensible. The Governor, who was busy all the time and could only afford half an hour to meet him then, had called and reprimanded him for half an hour. Why had she done that…

She specifically called so that she could scold me… could it be that someone has been talking bad about me behind my back? Has someone been passing along reports to the Governor secretly? Wang Baole gasped as violence flashed across his eyes.

It must be Li Yi!

Wang Baole thought Li Yi simply too despicable. She actually tried to stab him in the back. He was extremely displeased. It was then that Lin Tianhao came looking for him to report on the progress of their work. He had a stern expression on his face. As soon as Lin Tianhao saw Wang Baole, he spoke immediately, and his words made Wang Baole’s eyes turn cold.

“Mayor, Li Yi has been unilaterally modifying the design of the city infrastructure. On the surface, it seems that she’s building the Eternal Fortress, but she’s actually secretly building the city model that she built during the trial!”

“Hmm?” Wang Baole raised his eyebrows. His eyes flashed. Lin Tianhao quickly shared the findings of his report with Wang Baole.

Li Yi had been very careful with what she was doing. However, she couldn’t keep everything under wraps indefinitely. Her occasional carelessness was caught by Lin Tianhao, who had been watching her closely. He had then started to investigate further. The results of his findings had shocked even him.

Li Yi had used her authority and modified the design of quite of few areas in the new city zone. The external appearance of the city seemed to be based on the Eternal Fortress’s design; however, the core of the design and its inner infrastructure had been tweaked to replicate the Global Dharma City.

She had been very careful, though. Many of her modifications had been difficult to spot. Lin Tianhao had watched her for a very long time before he had been able to retrace what she had been doing and got his hands on evidence of her tampering.

Wang Baole grew serious as he listened to the report. He had given Li Yi greater authority so that he could catch her making a mistake. He hadn’t expected her to be so bold. She hadn’t just made a simple mistake. What she had done would affect the smooth running of the array formation. The disaster that would befall them was unimaginable should any instability occur.

This was especially so with the imminent mass migration. If something went wrong with the array formation after the residents had settled in, the consequences would be disastrous!

The thought made Wang Baole furious. He immediately summoned Jin Duoming, Kong Dao, as well as Li Yi. She was to see him immediately.

Kong Dao and Jin Duoming arrived first. They sat in his office, staring at Wang Baole’s somber face with slight surprise. They noticed Lin Tianhao and the lack of expression on his face as well. Kong Dao and Jin Duoming looked at each other but didn’t ask any questions. Soon, an annoyed Li Yi walked in. Before she could sit down, Wang Baole slammed his desk loudly.

“Li Yi, did you get your head kicked by a donkey? Or maybe some dog pissed on your guts, making it swell to such an extent! That’s some guts you have!” His palm slammed loud against his desk. Wang Baole’s furious roar descended like a storm, erupting in the room suddenly.

“Wang Baole, what do you mean by this!” Li Yi lifted her head, her eyes shining with icy hostility. She had a temper as well. She was emboldened by the support the four Dao Colleges were giving her and hence faced Wang Baole’s anger head-on.

“What do I mean by this?” Wang Baole pulled out Lin Tianhao’s jade slip containing the findings of his report and threw it at Li Yi.

“I made you responsible for building the new city zone. Instead of doing that, you went behind my back and secretly built the city model you had designed for the trial. Li Yi, are you trying to start a revolt? Or are you trying to sabotage the Martian project and go against the Federation’s mandate?”