Chapter 183: High-End Shura Field

When Shi Lingfeng received the video call, he had just had another Beastman trim his hair.

His current hairstyle featured an undercut on both sides, with the medium-long hair on top either parted down the middle or slicked back. This style made him look even sharper and more capable.

“Are the new reinforcements sent to your side student soldiers?”

Hearing Zhan Heng’s question, Shi Lingfeng’s expression was unreadable as he gave a slight nod.

“So, what do you say?”

Shi Lingfeng habitually reached up to push his glasses by the frame, but he hadn’t been wearing them lately. Taking a deep breath, he said, “I haven’t figured it out yet.”

Zhan Heng furrowed his brows. “What do you mean you haven’t figured it out?”

Shi Lingfeng rested his elbows on his thighs, steepled his fingers, and leaned forward. He lowered his head in silence for a moment before looking up.

“They’re doing this to deploy all the heavy troops to the front lines.

“However, they are genuinely afraid of losing control of the areas surrounding these four wormholes.

“The academy soldiers they dispatched were all selected through the military academy competitions.

“These academy soldiers, whether female or male, are very likely to become the future backbone of the army.”

Zhan Heng chuckled. He sat on the sofa, resting his arms on the armrests and crossing his legs, his expression turning cold.

“I knew it! If you can get these so-called future backbones to owe you a favor…

“The Shi family’s material recycling and processing business will probably reach a whole new level in the future!”

The smile on Zhan Heng’s lips dripped with sarcasm.

Shi Lingfeng frowned slightly. He sat up straighter, resting one elbow on the armrest and propping his knuckles against his jaw. He draped his other arm casually over the opposite armrest and looked at Zhan Heng. “Say, have you ever considered that the Female Master’s Bloodline Purification Bath Liquid could expand its market?

“We could restore the regular price for the academy soldiers! After all, we’ve already provided a lot of support to the Alliance Army!

“Furthermore, the vaccine against the parasitic insect clan has already covered the other two regions!

“We can negotiate terms with the Alliance Army. Do they want us to sell the Bloodline Purification Bath Liquid at a low price to the academy soldiers, or to the Beastmen in the army that we can’t currently accommodate? Let them choose for themselves!”

Zhan Heng instantly understood. He asked softly, “Female Master, what do you think?”

Only then was Gu Weilan’s hidden audio connection revealed.

Shi Lingfeng narrowed his eyes, cursing Zhan Heng for being such a scoundrel. If he had said anything inappropriate just now and the Female Master heard it, she would definitely be disgusted with him! Zhan Heng was too insidious!

On the surface, however, Shi Lingfeng simply lifted his chin. Thankfully, his heart and eyes were entirely devoted to his Female Master! He hadn’t said a single word that would harm Weilan’s interests!

Gu Weilan nodded, looking thoroughly delighted.

“Since the higher-ups of the Interstellar Alliance played a trick on us, we can play them right back!”

Gu Weilan continued, growing a bit excited. “We’ll give them the chance to choose.

“But, at the same time, we’re going to buy land on the habitable planets next to the Resource Stars near the other two wormholes!

“This way, other Beastmen will definitely know we intend to build factories there! As it happens, we don’t have any properties on Chunwei Star yet!

“This move will make the Interstellar Alliance understand during our negotiations that we aren’t pushovers. They can’t just squeeze us and expect us to swallow the loss in silence!

“Secondly, it forces them to make their choice out in the open!

“Besides, the Beastmen who catch wind of us selecting sites for factories will definitely spread the news.

“If the Alliance chooses the academy soldiers, then the army legions on the front lines will definitely be unhappy!

“They will inevitably come to negotiate with us. They’ll either choose the army soldiers, or they’ll choose a portion of the army soldiers while asking us to lower the price slightly to give the academy soldiers some benefits!”

Shi Lingfeng nodded. “Weilan is right! I only just had the initial idea, but I hadn’t thought of the specifics yet…”

Gu Weilan couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Stop right there! How long have I even been exposed to these business tactics?

“Don’t just praise me for the sake of praising me! It’s annoying! It’ll make my head swell!”

As she spoke, her lips curled upward. She tilted her head slightly, wearing a proud little expression that made Shi Lingfeng’s Adam’s apple bob.

Zhan Heng’s dark red phoenix eyes also darkened. Right now, he really wanted to pull Gu Weilan into his arms, kiss her deeply, hold her tight, and then…

His breathing grew somewhat ragged.

Xie Jing appeared beside Zhan Heng. He looked at Gu Weilan, his expression slightly anxious. “Female Master, I… I heard Zhan Hua had a fever a few days ago? Is she alright now?”

Gu Weilan looked a bit embarrassed. “Uh, it’s fine. She’s already recovered. The fever only lasted for a few hours. I was giving the little cub a bath and lost track of time playing in the water…”

The silence was deafening.

Xie Jing hurriedly waved his hands. “It’s fine then. It’s just Zhan Hua being too mischievous.”

Zhan Hua bared her teeth repeatedly. She was ready to throw a tantrum!

Zhan Heng softly steered the conversation back on track. “No matter what choice the Alliance’s higher-ups make, we will demand that the Alliance help us secure a plot of land suitable for building a factory on Chunwei Star. We’ll also have the Elephant Clan’s maternal family step in quickly to construct the buildings.

“What’s crucial is setting up the production line. We’ll see who dares to maliciously hike up the market prices when selling us the various equipment this time.”

Gu Weilan nodded, a smile playing on her lips. “I’m also going to go cry poor and make a fuss to Old Mrs. Rong, Old Mrs. Bai, and Vice Admiral Wu.

“I believe they would much rather see their own Beast Clans reap more profits. With them and Vice Admiral Wu continuing to intervene and escort us, the petty schemes of the Alliance’s higher-ups should be thoroughly dismantled.”

Shi Lingfeng looked at Gu Weilan. After a moment of thought, he spoke up anyway. “The reason they are so determined to take advantage of this situation is probably related to the supplementary liquid that Uncle Zhan Ci specially delivered!”

Gu Weilan could tell that Shi Lingfeng was a little worried. He was afraid she might think the Shi family had intentionally leaked the information.

However, Gu Weilan came from the Apocalypse. How many times had she seen it happen: a piece of information was supposedly only known to the three or five parties involved, only for someone else to swoop in and hijack the prize?

As long as there were people secretly keeping an eye on them—or on the valuable item they were after—those people would analyze, observe, and deduce the truth! Just like those internet sleuths who acted like master detectives to uncover celebrity cheating scandals or downfalls—most of the time, it was the celebrities’ own fans who dug up the dirt, not their rivals!

Gu Weilan waved her hand dismissively. “I don’t think it was any of the Beastmen in the video call that day who leaked the news.

“Even if there was a leak, it wouldn’t be from your family.”

Shi Lingfeng finally felt a little relieved. Because of what that bastard Zhan Heng had said earlier, it sounded as if the Shi family would do absolutely anything just to expand their business!

He scoffed inwardly, “Heh—the Female Master believes me! Take that, you damn Qilin!”

Zhan Heng lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment. “If that’s the case, I suspect it’s the Dolphin Clan.”

Shi Lingfeng was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected Zhan Heng to immediately stab himself in the back! The Dolphin Clan? Wasn’t that Zhan Heng and Xie Jing’s maternal family? How interesting.

Meanwhile, Shen Mianzhou, who had been sitting there in silence, finally joined the conversation. His face was rather pale. “I… I think it might be my Mother…”

Gu Weilan frowned in utter confusion.