The Great Worm Lich

“Tina, can you tell me how you’re going to help me expand my slaughterhouse?”

“Of course. First, I would like to ask you something Lisheng. How much waste coming from the slaughtered livestock can the little pets you cultivated digest at the moment?”

“Safe to say it’s ten times more than before at maximum capacity.”

“Will it grow in the future?”

“It should grow, yes.”

“Then you must leave Kaiserland Town.”

“Why?”

“It’s very simple. Although it’s near to New York, the transportation’s inconvenient while the land around the slaughterhouse is private property. It’s not easy for you to buy them bit by bit to make it into a bigger land…” Tina’s tone became confident while she spoke.

“Buying private property is difficult, so are you suggesting that I should buy America government’s public land?”

“Not the America government’s public land, but the New York City government’s public land. Now that I think about it, that’s not the first thing you should focus on. The first thing you should focus on is to establish a biological science company…”

Zhang Lisheng’s phone began ringing ‘chirp chirp chirp’ all of a sudden while Tina was still speaking.

“I understand what you mean, Tina. In reality, I initially planned to give the excuse of me mastering a new technology to dissolve ecological waste to explain how I handle the livestock wastes. Never have I expected that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) would never come to me…” Zhang Lisheng picked up his phone while he spoke.

“Sir, people from the EPA are here. They want to see you.” Willy’s stiff voice came from the phone.

“I think I’ve just jinxed it. I’ve just said that people from EPA would never come to me and now my employee from the slaughterhouse just called and told me that people from EPA are waiting for me,” Zhang Lisheng covered the phone’s speaker and said that to Tina. He then let go off his hand. “Willy, tell the people from EPA that I’m in New York now…”

“Mr. Zhang Lisheng, I’m the EPA’s senior affairs officer Joseph Georgewina. My colleague and I need to speak to you regarding your slaughterhouse expansion near New York City.” The voice that came from the phone became unfamiliar all of a sudden.

“Slaughterhouse expansion?”

“Yes, didn’t you submit the application online?”

Zhang Lisheng looked at Tina in front of her and noticed the girl’s proud smile. “Oh, yes Mr. Joseph but I’m having lunch in New York City at the moment. I can only meet you later.”

“That’s alright. We could look around your slaughterhouse and wait for you, if you could allow us to do that.”

The EPA was powerful, they could give heavy penalties as soon as they found out any business or individuals that have offended the federal law such as severely polluting the environment. However, in America, the country administrative organization’s prerequisites for the exercise of power would be finding out illegal activities or the signs of upcoming illegal activities.

Although LS Slaughterhouse which was under Zhang Lisheng’s name did not hire any professional waste management company to handle the waste while he never had any ecological waste to handle, his business never had any signs of violating the environmental law since the day it began operation. Therefore, although Joseph represented the country’s authority, he could only look around Zhang Lisheng’s private property after getting his permission.

“Of course you can, please go ahead.”

“Thank you very much Mr. Zhang, we’ll be waiting for you. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.” Zhang Lisheng hung up the phone and said to Tina, “The people from EPA said they’ll be waiting for me at the slaughterhouse.”

“I’ll go with you later.”

“I don’t have much experience handling America’s civil servants. Do you think I’ll get into trouble?”

“You won’t get into any trouble for now. The suggestion I gave a while ago about establishing a biological science company earlier was just a precaution. It’s just an explanation to the masses when your slaughterhouse grows. About the people from EPA, they’re just doing their jobs. They can’t do anything to you when there’s nothing for them to catch. Don’t forget you still have the Kaiserland Town’s National Farmers Union and Trish’s dad Mr. Howick supporting behind you.”

“Mr. Howick…What does he have to do with this?”

“I bumped into Mr. Howick when I visited Sheila at the hospital. I intentionally mentioned that you’re managing a factory called the LS Slaughterhouse when we talked about you. I also told him that you’re planning to expand it in the near future. I have no idea why your matter seems to be etched in his mind. He even talked to me about it for a while, showing that he’s interested to pull ties for you. He has a lot of connections you know, even knowing many powerful people in Washington D.C.

“Really? Tina, I realized that doing business seems to become something very simple ever since I met you.”

The Herbivore restaurant’s waiter happened to be setting the table with a trolley while Zhang Lisheng was speaking.

“Thanks.” Tina scooped a spoonful of truffle risotto after thanking the waiter and said happily, “Lisheng, there’s a saying that goes ‘different people are good at different things’. In the jungle or during some ‘unique moment’, I might be nothing compared to you even if there are 100, 1,000 or 10,000 copies of me but in New York, the concrete jungle’s market, I’m much more helpful than 100 or 10,000 of you combined. I’ll meet the EPA affair officers with you at the slaughterhouse later. You’ll need to write an authorization letter and I’ll register the company for you tomorrow. Get a loan, pick a great land… In a nutshell, all you’ll have to do is wait for your new slaughterhouse to be opened.”

Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a moment before saying, “Thanks, Tina.”

“Lisheng, if we’re talking about gratitude, I’ll need to thank you for the entire day when we were in the Amazon. We’re good friends, we should help each other, shouldn’t we?”

Zhang Lisheng chuckled silently and nodded.

“You know what Lisheng? If I’m not 18 right now but my cousin’s age, 28 where she’s eager to get married, I might make you my boyfriend. Too bad I’m only 18 at the moment. And to be honest, it’s a little dangerous to be your girlfriend…” Tina said that out loud all of a sudden, watching the faint smile on Zhang Lisheng’s face.

“Tina, whether you’re 18 or 28, it makes no difference to me. The thought of having a white girlfriend has never crossed my mind at all. Furthermore, my cultivation is at a critical junction right now. I have no plans to get into a relationship at all…” Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a moment and said while his cheeks were slightly flushed.

“What’s wrong with white girls? What makes you think that you can be racist to us?” Hearing what the young man said, Tina, who initially thought Zhang Lisheng secretly had the same opinion as her, questioned with a mad expression on her face.

“This isn’t racism, it’s just purely unacceptable to me. Alright Tina, let’s get back to business. How long do you think the new factory will take to be up and running?”

“At least three months. Lisheng, what’s wrong with white girls exactly? Compared to yellow-skinned girls like you, we’re taller, have bigger breasts and bigger butts… Forget it, you’re a strange man who probably has no taste anyway. Perhaps you haven’t even hit puberty hehe…” Tina laughed out loud as if she was taking revenge.

Zhang Lisheng had no mood to fight with the girl. He looked out of the window and unintentionally saw a large patrol team on the street. There were three armored vehicles with guns and seven to eight police cars. He frowned deeply without realizing.

“What’s wrong, Lisheng?” Tina asked in doubt, noticing that Zhang Lisheng was completely ignoring her after she was laughing for a while. He was frowning and deep in thought instead.

“Nothing. I just thought it’s odd that there are so many armored military vehicles on the streets.”

“I thought so as well. This is New York, not Afghanistan,” Tina nodded in agreement. “But that’s something that they have to do, it’s better than doing nothing. The Middle Eastern terrorists attacked our New York Harbor. If they didn’t boost the security, New York might have another tragedy just like ‘911’. If that happens…”

“Now how come it’s Middle Eastern terrorists who attacked New York Harbor? Didn’t they say it was done by giant beasts or aliens?”

“Giant beasts or aliens? Don’t be silly Lisheng, naturally terrorists would be the only ones who would do this. My dad said that those rumors on the internet were just the government releasing fake news on purpose to cover up their failed attempt to fight the terrorists and started a war. Such an incident has happened before in American history. He won’t donate a single cent to the Democratic Party in the next election,” Tina said in a firm tone. She did not think that the young man sitting across her was the culprit who caused the disaster in Queens Harbor at all.

“What you said makes perfect sense,” Zhang Lisheng was stunned after hearing what the girl said. He nodded and said while feeling relieved. 1,000 people might have 1,000 different understandings on an unexplainable incident. Perhaps it was not as serious as the young man thought. The two of them finished their lunch while chatting happily. Tina then rushed to LS Slaughterhouse near the Kaiserland Town border with Zhang Lisheng right away.

The girl drove much faster than Zhang Lisheng did. In less than an hour, the two of them had gotten onto the little road headed to the slaughterhouse. The road was narrow, only allowing two cars driving side by side. The SUV Tina was driving was blocked by a truck that was driving slowly with a bucket full of livestock at the back.

“See, this is why I don’t support you expanding LS Slaughterhouse right away.” The lady hit the honk madly sitting on the driver’s seat.

“You can drive on the gravel road next to it. I’ve tried it, it’s not as bumpy as you think it is.”

The young lady said nothing and turned the steering wheel to the direction towards the gravel road next to the small road. Very soon, she rushed into the slaughterhouse at the end of the road. It had been half a month since Christmas passed, the slaughterhouse had resumed its business much earlier. Although business was not as insane before the new year, the flow of money was considered great.

It was Tina’s first time coming here again since the terrifying incident back then. She looked lost for a few moments and then said while watching the few reliable farmers in cowboy overalls getting their livestock into the factory from far away, “Lisheng, it seems like your business is good.” She parked her car outside the factory that was turned into a resting room as she spoke.