Chapter 112: A Clever Response

Kang Hongyuan's words were just like someone praying to God while standing at death's door, only for God to lean down and say, "You call this a desperate situation?" before kicking him right off into the true abyss.

It was only then that Zhao Li remembered: indeed, explaining things to two young women versus explaining them to the higher-ups were two entirely different worlds. To begin with, the identities of Sanders and James were completely unexplainable, to say nothing of that miraculous medicine that could bring someone back from the dead.

"Then what should I do?" Zhao Li asked instinctively, looking at Kang Hongyuan in anticipation of an answer.

"What should you do?" Kang Hongyuan struck a pretentious pose and gestured for a long time. "Do whatever you're supposed to do! If I have to solve every single problem for you, what do you even keep that brain of yours around for?"

With that, Kang Hongyuan found a comfortable spot nearby, sat down slowly, and muttered endlessly to himself, "Sigh, young people these days really don't know how to respect their elders or let them rest, nor do they know how to use their own heads. I've already pointed out the most critical problem, yet they still expect an old man like me to rack my brains and come up with a solution. Sigh!"

Though Kang Hongyuan's voice was not loud, every word carried clearly to Zhao Li's ears. Hearing this, Zhao Li could not help feeling a pang of shame. Just as Kang Hongyuan had said, he seemed to have grown a bit too dependent on others. Sometimes, these were matters he ought to resolve himself.

After the adrenaline rush faded, Zhao Li felt a wave of exhaustion—not just physical, but mental as well. Having just pulled off such a daring stunt, he felt lingering fear compounded by even deeper weariness.

Yet, faced with a problem like this, he could not afford to rest whenever he pleased; he had to push through. The foundational physical conditioning arts were best for recovery, so he naturally began to circulate his internal energy by force, striving for a rapid recovery.

With Kang Hongyuan right beside him, Zhao Li had no worries or defenses. He simply let go of his anxieties and plunged straight into a full, deep cycle of the seven-and-nine heavenly circulation. When he finally opened his eyes, he discovered that the room had gained quite a few occupants—both Christine and Li Mengdie were there. Upon seeing Zhao Li, Li Mengdie's cold and aloof face flushed with an uncharacteristic blush.

Through this thorough circulation, both his body and mind received ample rest, and Zhao Li returned to normal. The surging vitality that had previously radiated from within his body could no longer be felt; the effects of the mysterious sand must have worn off. Sanders had implied earlier that he hadn't fully discharged his energy inside Li Mengdie, but by now everything should be fine! He would definitely have to ask Sanders about it when he had the time.

Thinking of this, Zhao Li could not help glancing at Li Mengdie. However, he met Christine's gaze instead. It still held that mix of reproach and grievance, though this time the reproach seemed heavier, tinged with a palpable sense of dissatisfaction, as if she strongly disapproved of his reckless gamble.

Not to mention Christine, even Zhao Li himself felt that his performance had been terribly reckless. But how was he to talk about it now? How could he keep it hidden? While his mind raced wildly, his body moved on autopilot, carrying him back to the soldiers to supervise their cleanup operations.

To Zhao Li's surprise, aside from the military camp personnel, there were now quite a few police officers present—and, even more numerously, doctors in white lab coats. Judging by their attire, they were not military doctors, but rather employees from some city hospital.

As he watched in confusion, an emergency medical shuttle took off right before his eyes, the prominent characters reading "Golden Star City First People's Hospital" clearly emblazoned on its belly.

Turning his head, he saw Kang Hongyuan silently nodding to him from a distance. Was this arrangement intended to leak the matter to the civilian media?

Yet, upon second thought, the whole ordeal had started as a public provocation in the civilian media, so the logical conclusion had to be announced there as well. Not only would this boost the military's prestige among the populace, but it would also indirectly showcase their strength, serving as a deterrent to the other factions. Handling it this way meant Kang Hongyuan must have weighed all the factors carefully.

Certain matters—such as explaining the whole sequence of events to the higher-ups and the two women—could be put on the back burner for now. The most crucial task was to handle the immediate situation at hand.

This place required plenty of manpower, not to mention the hundreds of prisoners. Transporting them all back to the military camp would raise the question of whether there was even enough room, and the mere disposal of these captives alone would give everyone a headache. If too many personnel were tied up here, the military camp itself would remain vulnerable.

Chapter 1/3

Chapter 2/3

Fortunately, with the local police involved, the captives immediately became arrested drug-manufacturing and drug-trafficking criminals. The evidence was already secured, meaning they could be directly locked up in police detention centers without wasting the military camp's facilities, saving a tremendous amount of trouble. As long as the key figures—Wen Tianming and his bodyguards—were kept under strict control, the military would still claim the lion's share of the credit, allowing the soldiers to focus entirely on guarding the camp.

With this realization, Zhao Li hurriedly instructed the elite tactical squad members to take charge of Wen Tianming and evacuate him first. However, when the gunman in charge heard Zhao Li's order, he simply pointed at Kang Hongyuan and said, "The old man already had us transfer Wen Tianming to the military camp right from the start and assigned a dedicated guard to him. It's foolproof."

Kang Hongyuan had already taken care of numerous details from the very beginning, for which Zhao Li was deeply grateful. Was this arrangement Kang's way of hinting at a proper handling method?

Zhao Li was not an arrogant man; he knew where he fell short and what he still needed to learn. Therefore, he observed with utmost humility while pondering the situation himself. Once he gained some insights, he planned to consult Kang Hongyuan again. He believed the old man would certainly not ignore him, though he wondered why Kang thought so highly of him in the first place. Could it simply be because he had won a sliver of favor from the old prison warden?

The old man's preemptive handling of the situation seemed to spark an inspiration in Zhao Li. Although his circulation session had only taken a few hours, the police seemed to have wrapped up most of their work here. Staying behind would serve no purpose other than boosting his exposure in the civilian media. He simply issued orders for the gunmen to assist the police with the cleanup before returning on their own, then turned around to invite Christine, Li Mengdie, and the old man back to the military camp together.

James's whereabouts were unknown, but Sanders was still around. The guy seemed to be resting comfortably inside the warship. Thanks to Zhao Li, everyone's hostility and questioning were directed solely at him, leaving Sanders completely out of the picture.

Christine and Li Mengdie had remained silent throughout the journey, and Li Mengdie showed no signs of the pain typically associated with losing her virginity. After a brief moment of puzzlement, Zhao Li figured it out: it must have been the powerful regenerative properties of that mysterious sand. Though its side effects were considerable, it was an absolute supreme remedy for saving lives. He definitely needed to chat more with Sanders about it when he had the chance.

There were few people inside the warship, and no one spoke. Neither Sanders nor the old man took the initiative to break the silence, while Christine and Li Mengdie kept casting strange looks at Zhao Li. Though Zhao Li was thrilled that Li Mengdie had recovered completely and even more overjoyed that she had opened her heart to him while unconscious, with so many people around, he could not find the words to say anything, forcing him to sit there in awkward silence.

The entire trip back to the military camp passed in silence. Because of Zhao Li's reckless stunt, a significant number of personnel had been drawn away from the camp, leaving only a skeleton crew on guard duty, though order was well maintained.

After checking the cell where Wen Tianming was locked up and confirming he had no chance of escape, Zhao Li returned to his office alone to nurse a headache. He truly had no idea how to face the two women, especially Li Mengdie. Of course, an even greater headache was figuring out how to explain the whole affair to his superiors.

Knock, knock, knock. Someone was at the door.

"Come in!" Zhao Li blurted out without thinking, only to snap to his senses immediately. He had been spacing out far too deeply.

It was Li Mengdie who entered. Alone with Zhao Li, she shed her icy demeanor, replaced by a trace of shyness. After all, this was her first time, and it had even happened while she was unconscious. Strictly speaking, what Zhao Li had done back then was no different from taking advantage of her.

Watching Li Mengdie sit across from him, her watery eyes fixed on him, Zhao Li knew he had to say something. He gave a dry cough and forced himself to brace for the explanation: "Ahem, Ah-Die, I..."

"Sister Christine said you saved my life." Just as Zhao Li was stammering, unsure of how to phrase things, Li Mengdie took the initiative to thank him openly: "Thank you!"

Her composure caught Zhao Li off guard. "Ah-Die, do you... mind... that thing?" The words he wanted to say refused to come out, turning him back into a stutterer. Although Li Mengdie had expressed her feelings while unconscious, she hadn't been in her right mind at the time. Who knew if she would hold the same sentiment now that she was awake?

"Zhao Li, do you like me?" Ignoring his stutter, Li Mengdie changed the subject and asked, staring straight into his eyes.

"Like you! Of course I like you!" The answer slipped out without a second thought, and only then did Zhao Li realize he had just confessed his feelings to Li Mengdie out loud. For a moment, he didn't know whether to feel overjoyed or overwhelmed.

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Chapter 3/3

"I like you too!" Hearing his words, Li Mengdie blushed and lowered her head, replying in a voice so soft that only she could hear, "I don't mind. I like it."

Though her voice was barely a whisper, Zhao Li's ears were as sharp as a hound's at the moment. Hearing those words, he was so happy he almost jumped out of his chair. Looking at Li Mengdie's flushed face, his courage flared up. He reached out to grab her small hand resting on the desk, stood up, walked around the desk, pulled her to her feet, and wrapped her tightly in his arms.

"Ah-Die!" He murmured softly against her ear, lost in a wave of wild ecstasy. This wasn't some unintentional confession uttered in delirium; it was a clear, conscious declaration. A few simple words made Zhao Li feel as though he might burst with joy, instantly sweeping away every headache and worry. He thought about how useless he had been all those years—if only he had spoken up sooner, he could have avoided years of inner torment.

"Don't be so reckless in the future. I'm not that easy to kill!" After a long moment, the two finally parted. Zhao Li couldn't help urging her to be careful. Li Mengdie didn't say anything, just gave a gentle nod.

"Are you completely healed?" he asked about her physical condition. Resting against his chest, Li Mengdie nodded silently without speaking. After lingering against him for a while, she seemed to remember something and asked, "What method did you actually use? Why is there not a single scar on my body, and why does my internal energy cultivation even seem to have increased after waking up?"

"It's a long story!" Instead of explaining immediately, Zhao Li countered with a question: "That Ice Qi cultivation technique you practice—what number is it in the manual? Didn't your instructors tell you what its actual effects are when you were learning it?"

"No," Li Mengdie answered with certainty. "If its effects were clearly known, it wouldn't have a number like that. It's an experimental technique, and I was meant to practice it so they could gather clear data on its effects."

It sounded as though even the Genius Academy didn't know whether the technique was good or bad before making their students practice it. If anything went wrong, the consequences would be unthinkable. While feeling immensely grateful that Li Mengdie had emerged unscathed, Zhao Li was once again thankful that he hadn't acted on impulse and followed her into the Genius Academy; otherwise, he might have ended up brain-dead or a corpse due to practicing some experimental technique.

"I'll explain all that to you later." Because the matter touched upon the unique characteristics of his own internal cultivation—his deepest secret—and he hadn't yet fabricated a seamless lie, he could only use it as an excuse to brush past it. "Did you find anything strange about this operation?"

"Strange? In what way?" Li Mengdie asked, unsure of what he meant.

"For instance," Zhao Li thought for a moment, "for instance, that bizarre weapons cache, those high-tech weapons, Sanders, James, and so on."

"What's so strange about that?" Li Mengdie looked up into Zhao Li's slightly troubled face and gently reached out to stroke it. "The military secretly set up a weapons cache here, and naturally they sent people down from above. I know these are military secrets—you don't need to trouble yourself with explaining them to me. I was introduced to the secrecy regulations years before you were, and I know the rules much better than you do! Don't worry, you don't have to explain anything to me, and I won't ask."

Her words sent a flash of light through Zhao Li's mind, as if the clouds had suddenly parted to reveal the sun. The difficult puzzle that had been plaguing him suddenly seemed to have an answer: "Haha, I get it!"

"What do you get?" Li Mengdie asked, looking puzzled.

Zhao Li smiled without answering, simply urging her to go back and rest on the grounds that her injuries had just recovered.

After seeing Li Mengdie off, Zhao Li strode enthusiastically over to Kang Hongyuan, dragged the old man back to his office, and spilled his thoughts.

"The soldiers have no idea where they came from; they just assumed they were operatives sent from above and took it as a military secret, so no one will ask questions. As for the higher-ups, any reports go through me, so naturally I can selectively omit certain details, and the soldiers will just think it's standard protocol for confidentiality. That way, I don't have to rack my brains trying to explain anything—whatever I say goes! Isn't that right, old man?" Zhao Li poured out the inspiration that had just struck him, looking expectantly at Kang Hongyuan for his verdict.

"You finally figured it out. You're a piece of jade worth carving!" A look of satisfaction spread across the old man's face. "In the military, slapping the label of 'classified' on something allows you to hide anything. Remember, kid: skillfully pulling the wool over the eyes of your superiors is an essential basic skill, whether you're making your way in the military or the political arena!"