After Zhao Sifang's speech ended, the establishment ceremony was successfully concluded.
Next came the free banquet and dance time.
The entire hall was filled with the melodious sound of ballroom music.
Zhao Sifang and Gu Yunxuan started dancing, looking sweet and affectionate.
Around Gu Yunpeng, several elegantly dressed young women seemed to be trying to invite him for a dance.
However, Gu Yunpeng's gaze was full of perfunctory disinterest. Clearly, he had no interest in women.
If he weren't the Vice President of the Zhao Chamber of Commerce, he would probably have left already.
In a dimly lit corner, Qin Siyang was staring at Gu Yunpeng with venomous eyes, "Hmph, what's so great about being handsome!"
Then, he fiercely bit into the apple in his hand, only to spit it out immediately.
"Damn, so sour!"
"It really is super sour," Beside him, Li Tianming swirled his wine glass leisurely and spoke.
Qin Siyang glanced at Li Tianming, snorted twice, and said grumpily, "You can talk to me freely. They can't hear our conversation."
"Huh? You can block conversations too?"
"What do you mean 'too'? Look around. Can you hear anyone else talking?"
Qin Siyang focused on listening but only heard the ballroom music echoing in his ears.
"They..."
"Once you reach a certain level, everyone carries devices that block conversations. It's common knowledge," Saying that, he took out a brand-new silver ring.
"This is from Old Lu. He overheard your conversation with Zhao Longfei and realized you didn't have a device to block conversations."
Qin Siyang took the ring, "Help me thank Professor Lu!"
"The ring has a red line on it. Rotate the ring to activate the conversation-blocking function. If the red line faces the back of your hand, it blocks conversations, only people within a one-meter radius can hear you and read your lips."
"If the red line faces your palm, it returns to normal."
Qin Siyang smiled and nodded, "As expected of Professor Lu! This thing is awesome!"
Li Tianming looked at Qin Siyang, "Sometimes, I really wonder—do you have anyone backing you? No one ever told you about these things?"
Qin Siyang scratched his backside through his suit.
He almost forgot, Old Li always suspected that he had a powerful force backing him.
Li Tianming muttered, "It's not the military, not the Chamber of Commerce, not the researchers, not the United Government, and not even the churches. What exactly is your background?"
"Without a background? If you had no background, how could you be this freakishly talented? An ordinary orphan shouldn't have this kind of insight and intelligence...", Li Tianming furrowed his brows in deep thought.
Qin Siyang remained silent.
Let him keep guessing.
Even if Old Li racked his brain, he would never figure out how Qin Siyang had gone from an ordinary orphan to where he was today.
After a while, Li Tianming shook his head, "Can't figure it out. Whatever, no need to dwell on this pointless mystery."
Seeing that Li Tianming was no longer muttering to himself, Qin Siyang took the chance to ask his own question.
"Old Li, when Chu Xiao'ang killed Hua Weicai, did you see it clearly?"
"See what clearly?"
"Did you see how he made his move?"
"Come on, there are tons of weird God-hunting artifacts out there. How would I know what he used?"
"So it was an artifact, not a skill?"
"Of course it wasn't a skill. He's not stupid, revealing his abilities in public like that would just be asking for trouble."
Qin Siyang thought for a moment and asked another question, "Old Li, you once told me that within the Safe Zone, the strongest sequence ability users are you researchers. Could you beat Chu Xiao'ang in a fight?"
"Little Qin, why do you always like talking about fights and killing?"
"Just curious, that's all."
Old Li chuckled.
"Chu Xiao'ang may be the Legion Commander, but his real strength lies in the massive number of subordinates under him. Tens of thousands of sequence ability users."
"In a one-on-one fight, I'd say he's about on the same level as Zhao Longfei."
"Hmm? So from what you're saying, Zhao Longfei can't beat you?"
Li Tianming thought for a moment and answered seriously, "As of now, I probably wouldn't win against Zhao Longfei. But if I break through my research bottleneck, that would be a different story."
"Your research is that powerful? Then by your logic, if Guo Jiuxiao overcomes his research bottleneck and fights you one-on-one, he could kill you with ease?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. Even if Zhao Longfei wanted to kill Guo Jiuxiao, he'd have to rely on the Zhao family throwing bodies at him. A clean assassination in a one-on-one fight is impossible."
"That's why just thinking about Guo Jiuxiao gives me chills."
Qin Siyang picked up a glass of juice and swirled it lazily like Li Tianming, "Old Li, your research bottleneck needs quite a lot of materials, huh?"
Li Tianming sighed, "Yeah. It's really frustrating."
Qin Siyang's lips curled up, "Old Li, now that you're bound by the Crimson Crystal and have signed a bunch of sharing contracts, you definitely can't leave the Safe Zone anymore."
"That's right. Which makes it even more frustrating."
Qin Siyang's grin widened, "Then, for gathering these materials for you..."
"It'll have to be Zhang Kuang."
"Huh?", Qin Siyang had originally planned to negotiate some leverage over Li Tianming.
But Li Tianming outright said he'd rely on Zhang Kuang instead.
Qin Siyang was stunned, "What do you mean? You don't trust me?"
Li Tianming glanced at him coolly, "With your survival skills in the wild, it's hard to trust you."
Qin Siyang immediately protested.
"Come on, Old Li! That Vine Core, the Crimson Crystal, and the Titan Foxtail Grass Inner Leaf Fragments—I was the one who brought them back."
Li Tianming nodded, "That's true, but what you brought back only helps my side projects. They don't contribute to my main research at all."
"I even gave you a Thunder Snow Wolf's Fang!"
"That's about the only thing that was actually useful to me."
Li Tianming's eyes filled with worry, "A fist-sized Crimson Crystal, a whole Titan Foxtail Grass Inner Leaf, these are once-in-a-lifetime finds. Even Zhang Kuang might not be able to help. I need to think of other options."
After saying that, he chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Maybe I'm just destined to lose to Guo Jiuxiao in this lifetime."
"Old Li, have you ever considered that I might be the key to your comeback?"
"You?"
Li Tianming shook his head.
"The materials I need are nearly impossible to obtain. Forget about the Ice Crystal Moth and the Lava Crocodile, no one has even figured out how to kill them yet."
"Even if you ran into the Corrosive Black Centipede alone, you'd be dead for sure."
"I...", Qin Siyang thought about it and couldn't refute.
'Damn, Old Li really has a sharp eye,' His evaluation of Qin Siyang's combat ability was pretty accurate.
If he fought the Corrosive Black Centipede alone, he'd definitely lose.
But what if he ran into the Ice Crystal Moth and Lava Crocodile at the same time?
Eh, no rush.
Even if he handed over all his loot now, Li Tianming would still be stuck because he was missing the Yellow Silver Star Ore.
He could take his time.
In a few days, once he completed the Management Bureau's mission to hunt the Corrosive Black Centipede and retrieved its acid sac, then he'd make Old Li kneel and sing in submission.
But for now, Qin Siyang had an even more important question to ask.
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