Chapter 518 - 323: Meeting Liu Xingyuan (2)

Without access to the rooftop landing pad yet, Lin Qi could only park his vehicle in the public parking area below.

’I have over three hundred Credit Points left, which is enough to cover the parking fee.’

Lin Qi stepped out of his vehicle. Before entering the H3 Skyscraper, he glanced toward the H4 Skyscraper with a complicated expression.

A half-demolished ruin, vast quantities of slime, and the carcass of a monstrous individual that had fallen against the H3 Skyscraper, collapsing in the direction of the H4 Skyscraper.

The battlefield cleanup was far from complete. Even in the Cyber World, a cleanup operation of this scale would take several days.

One could imagine that in the coming days, a nauseating stench of rot would surely permeate the area, with the H4 Skyscraper at its center.

But even so, not a single company in any of the surrounding buildings, including the H3 Skyscraper, had chosen to give its employees a day off.

Lin Qi felt the Impatient Knife in his Sea of Consciousness stirring, seemingly eager for action.

The resentment from the cyber workers in this area was practically sky-high. All sorts of negative emotions, impatience among them, had already shot through the roof.

But Lin Qi didn’t use the Impatient Knife to harvest the emotions just yet. Instead, he continued to stare in the direction of the H4 Skyscraper.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the slime and the rubble, seeing the HGPD members still carrying out their "cleanup duty" within the wreckage of the H4 Skyscraper.

Lin Qi saw the Prosthetic Engineering Department on the fourth floor. He saw the researchers inside, and he saw Supervisor Wei Wutao...

Except now, they had all become Zombies and were being eliminated by HGPD personnel.

’A small-scale zombification in the Cyber World doesn’t even require the involvement of Extraordinary Professionals. Implanters are enough to handle the cleanup. The Eastern Alliance directly handed this task over to the Liu Clan.’

’As for the Crimson Crystal Stones in the Zombies’ heads... I suppose that’s the Eastern Alliance’s way of compensating the Liu Clan.’

Lin Qi shook his head and concealed his outward emotions.

’I already did my best.’

’Even if I had been on-site, I wouldn’t have been able to save Wei Wutao and the others. They were just too close to the sole Bearer.’

Shaking his head and sighing, Lin Qi stepped into the H3 Skyscraper.

As soon as he entered the H3 Skyscraper, Lin Qi saw a large number of people moving in and out.

’Are they... moving out?’

Lin Qi recalled what Liu Xuan had said.

Once all the companies in the H3 Skyscraper had moved out, it would become the new site for United Pharmaceutical.

Lin Qi didn’t know why Liu Xuan had chosen this place for their new headquarters. Working in the H3 Skyscraper would be like working next to the tombstone of their previous company.

The ruins were a constant presence. No one inside survived, no one could speak, yet their silence was deafening.

He reached the elevators. One had already been designated for the exclusive use of United Pharmaceutical, so Lin Qi didn’t have to wait.

In less than five minutes, Lin Qi arrived on the 130th floor and found the "Director Lin Qi’s Office." It was the only marked room, likely a temporary arrangement by Liu Xuan.

The time was 2:55 PM. Lin Qi had arrived exactly five minutes early.

He entered the office and looked around.

The room contained a desk, a reception area, as well as equipment for remote conferencing and holographic projection.

Everything was brand new.

Instead of sitting at the desk in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, Lin Qi took a seat on the sofa in the reception area.

The person he was about to meet was Liu Xingyuan. He was an elder, after all, so Lin Qi couldn’t act condescendingly, as if meeting a subordinate.

He waited quietly.

Time passed.

Three o’clock sharp.

There wasn’t the slightest sound from outside, which was actually within Lin Qi’s expectations.

He continued to wait in silence.

One minute, two minutes...

Five minutes.

Still no movement.

But just as the time ticked over to 3:06, a knock came at the door.

Lin Qi walked to the entrance and opened the office door.

Two men stood before the office door. One was Liu Xinglu, whom Lin Qi had met before. The other was the man Lin Qi had only ever seen in portraits on the company walls: the head of Liu’s Heavy Industries, Liu Xingyuan.

Liu Xuan hadn’t come. Lin Qi figured it wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but that Liu Xingyuan had probably stopped her.

Lin Qi stared straight into Liu Xingyuan’s eyes. The middle-aged man, who looked to be only around forty, exuded an intensely oppressive aura.

It was the distinct air of intertwined authority and power.

A magnate who had controlled Liu’s Heavy Industries for over twenty years, and was himself a Tier Four Extraordinary, should rightly possess such an oppressive presence.

However, compared to the Liu Clan’s current tragic state, this oppressive force was naturally much diminished in Lin Qi’s mind.

But no matter what, Liu Xingyuan was a Tier Four Wizard, and the pressure emanating from his power was ever-present.

"What are you standing there stunned for? Go on in!"

Seeing Lin Qi and Liu Xingyuan staring each other down, with neither willing to speak first, Fourth Uncle Liu Xinglu chimed in to smooth things over.

Within Liu Xinglu’s field of vision, text was constantly popping up in a discreet chat window.

"Fourth Uncle, no matter what, don’t let Lin Qi and Father argue!"

"Fourth Uncle, you promised me! You absolutely can’t let Father hit him!"

"Fourth Uncle, you have to watch them closely! Lin Qi’s temper might not be as good as you think. If you push him too far, Father might not come out on top!"

Although Liu Xuan wasn’t there in person, she was constantly sending messages to Liu Xinglu, seemingly trying to manage the situation remotely.

Liu Xinglu had, of course, agreed to Liu Xuan’s requests.

Now that Liu Xingyuan had personally entered the fray, there was no need for him to play the bad cop with Lin Qi anymore.

Besides, this nephew-in-law of his had ability, and he had backing!

Whether Liu Xingyuan was satisfied or not, he himself was quite pleased. As long as it was within his power, Liu Xinglu would definitely try to moderate the atmosphere of this conversation.

Perhaps Liu Xinglu’s words had an effect. Liu Xingyuan took the initiative to speak. "Hello. I am Liu Xuan’s father, Liu Xingyuan. Are we going to... have our chat standing in the doorway?"

Liu Xingyuan seemed to be making a joke, as if trying to defuse the tension.

Lin Qi smiled and said, "Oh, if it isn’t Uncle Liu. I was starting to think you wouldn’t make it. You and I had an appointment for three o’clock sharp, and I arrived five minutes early. I just assumed that a ’big shot’ like yourself would have impeccable time management. And that if you ’truly’ couldn’t make it to some ’unimportant’ matter, you’d surely cancel."

"I was just about to leave!"

Lin Qi’s tone was one of warm welcome, but the words he spoke carried heavy emphasis on certain syllables.

’One should respect their elders.’

’But respect is a two-way street. Since Liu Xingyuan deliberately made him wait for a few minutes, he had no one but himself to blame for receiving a dose of Lin Qi’s passive-aggression.’

Setting aside their age difference, in terms of ability, background, and value, Lin Qi and Liu Xingyuan should be on equal footing.

Liu Xingyuan had personally handed Lin Qi the weapon of his own "tardiness," shattering the "respect" owed to an elder.

In the conversation to follow, Lin Qi would not grant Liu Xingyuan the privilege of his "seniority."

Of course, Liu Xingyuan still held one trump card: his strength as a Tier Four Extraordinary.

Unfortunately for him, Liu Xingyuan was still keeping this card hidden. He had only revealed it to Baili Xueyuan and planned to continue concealing it.

The scales of their conversation, once tilted, had now leveled out—and it was Liu Xingyuan himself who had provided the counterweight.

Hearing this, Liu Xingyuan glanced sideways at Liu Xinglu, his pupils flickering for a moment.

Liu Xinglu just shrugged.

Liu Xingyuan’s breathing quickened for an instant.

Liu Xinglu, however, extended an arm, gesturing for Liu Xingyuan to enter the room.

Given the rapport between the two brothers, even these small gestures clearly conveyed the words they wanted to say.

Liu Xingyuan: ’Didn’t you say he’d be five minutes late?’

Liu Xinglu: ’The girl really did send him that message; I intercepted it from the cyber network! Who knew he wouldn’t be late?’

Liu Xingyuan: ’Then didn’t that just set me up? Is my Momentum now going to be weaker than this kid’s?’

Liu Xinglu: ’Stop posturing and get in there to take care of business! You’re Liu Xingyuan!’