Chapter 761: Conflict

Li Xiaofei gave Hu Shuo a deep glance but didn’t say anything further. A moment later, the two of them arrived at the Military Guard Bureau.

Although the Military Guard Bureau was only one of the four departments under the Military Division, it was the most powerful among them. It held the most authority within Chongque City, and was responsible for managing all military base planets.

Unfortunately, their timing was off. The Director of the Military Guard Bureau, Li Sheng, had left on urgent business to meet with the City Lord at the latter’s office and was not present at the bureau. The one who received them was Yue Changxing, the Third Deputy Director of the Military Guard Bureau.

“Hehe, this young brother must be Li Qingchen, the Chief Evolution Officer of Base Planet No. 1818, right?” Yue Changxing said with a broad smile.

He was a chubby man in his thirties, with rolls of fat and a protruding belly. His skin was fair, and when he smiled, his whole body trembled like a laughing Buddha.

“Greetings, Director Yue,” Li Xiaofei bowed.

Hu Shuo also greeted him with a friendly smile. Although Hu Shuo was the Director of the Internal Affairs Bureau, the status of the Internal Affairs Bureau was far lower than that of the Military Guard Bureau, so he kept a relatively humble demeanor.

Yue Changxing appeared kind and affable. After greeting Li Xiaofei, he began chatting enthusiastically. “Brother Li, you’ve done a great job on Earth Base No. 1818. I truly admire your work. Let’s stay in close contact from now on.”

Li Xiaofei glanced at Hu Shuo with a look of surprise.

What is going on? Isn’t this a very high evaluation of my work?

Hu Shuo remained silent. Yue Changxing then ordered someone to serve tea and chatted warmly with Li Xiaofei for a while, acting as if they were blood-related brothers.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, he excused himself due to official duties. Li Xiaofei and Hu Shuo remained in the reception room, waiting for Director Li Sheng to return so that they could give their report.

Another moment passed and a knock sounded at the door. A young man dressed in a red suit, with slicked-back hair and a heavily groomed appearance, walked in with a smile. “Gentlemen, a pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Yue Buchen, Director Yue’s nephew.”

Hu Shuo gave a slight nod. Li Xiaofei also responded with a polite nod.

“You must be Li Qingchen?” Yue Buchen met his eyes with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I have a business proposal I’d like to discuss with you. I hope you can do me a favor.”

Business?

Li Xiaofei was momentarily stunned.

Looking for me to do business?

Is he trying to leverage the influence of the Exploding Star Gang to make some money in Chongque City? That isn’t entirely out of the question.

“Go ahead,” he said.

Given Yue Changxing’s earlier cordial attitude, Li Xiaofei remained relatively polite toward this slick-looking man in front of him.

“I’d like to purchase ten thousand beautiful virgins between the ages of eighteen and twenty, and ten thousand strong men between eighteen and twenty-eight. Preferably those who have awakened supernatural abilities and possess some level of strength. We can negotiate the price, but how soon can you deliver?” Yue Buchen asked bluntly.

Li Xiaofei froze.

What is this guy even talking about? Human trafficking? Where am I supposed to get that many people from... wait a minute. Does he mean to seize those people from Earth No. 1818?

Although Li Xiaofei had heard from Angrus that some of the powerful figures in Chongque City treated the base planets like resource farms that they could plunder at will, it was still infuriating to hear someone actually propose such a thing to his face. His expression immediately turned dark.

“Sorry, I don’t have that kind of supply,” Li Xiaofei rejected him flatly.

Now it was Yue Buchen’s turn to be stunned. He thought he had misheard. He responded in disbelief, “Are you joking? There are over five billion people on Earth No. 1818. You’re the Chief Evolution Officer; just letting a little slip through your fingers would be more than enough. How could you not have a supply? I’m being sincere here, we can negotiate the price.”

“I am a Chief Evolution Officer, not a human trafficker. Don’t bring up such despicable things again, or I’ll consider it an insult to my ears,” Li Xiaofei replied, his tone turning sharp and unyielding.

Yue Buchen’s eyes widened in shock. After a long moment, he raised a finger, and jabbed it at Li Xiaofei with force before letting out a cold, mocking laugh. “Alright, you’ve got guts. Heh... refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit. Just you wait.”

He turned and walked out.

“Sigh.” Hu Shuo let out a long breath and said, “You could have agreed to it, actually. It’s just a small matter. You could just simply lift your hand and it would have benefited your future work.”

A small matter? Lifted my hand?

Li Xiaofei gave Hu Shuo another deep look, his second one of the day. Once again, he said nothing.

About thirty seconds later, Guli Reza, the female officer, appeared and said, “Gentlemen, Director Yue would like to see you.”

Li Xiaofei had now understood what was coming. The beautiful aide escorted them to Yue Changxing’s office on the same floor.

Bang.

The moment they entered, a stack of document jade slips came flying toward them. Li Xiaofei neatly sidestepped, dodging them. The jade slips slammed into the wall and shattered into pieces.

“You even dare to dodge?!” Yue Changxing, who sat behind the desk, was seething in rage. “Li Qingchen, just look at yourself! What exactly have you been doing on Earth No. 1818 for the past year? Why is the evolution progress of the entire planet still under one percent?!”

Li Xiaofei couldn’t help but marvel at how utterly shameless this man was. Not long ago, he had been acting like a long-lost brother, calling him ‘Brother Li’ with all the warmth in the world. Now, just because he had rejected his nephew’s ‘business,’ the man’s face had turned as quickly as flipping a page in a book.

Li Xiaofei stared at him, wearing a faint, mocking smile without saying a word. His attitude clearly enraged Yue Changxing. He stood up from behind his desk, walked right up to him and raised his hand to slap Li Xiaofei across the face.

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Li Xiaofei’s mind. But in the end, he stepped backward to dodge. To Li Xiaofei, a deputy director like Yue Changxing was utterly insignificant. But he didn’t want to cause a scene inside the Military Guard Bureau.

After all, the evolution path of Earth No. 1818 still had a long way to go, and many matters down the line would inevitably require some form of collaboration or at least strategic pretense, with the Military Guard Bureau, this powerful department.

But that single step back only made Yue Changxing even more furious.

“You dare dodge again? You fucking dare to dodge?! Damn it, I’ll beat you to death today!”

He lunged forward again. His fat palm forcefully whipped through the air, aiming directly for Li Xiaofei’s face. A sharp glint flickered in Li Xiaofei’s eyes.

Pa.

He raised his hand and caught Yue Changxing’s wrist.

“Don’t mistake kindness for weakness,” Li Xiaofei said slowly, his eyes locked onto the man.

“Are you insane?” Hu Shuo was shocked at the scene.

He rushed forward and grabbed Li Xiaofei’s arm. “You dare lay a hand on Director Yue? Let go and apologize, now!”

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Li Xiaofei turned his head to look at him.

“Is that a suggestion... or an order?” He asked, slowly and clearly.

Without hesitation, Hu Shuo barked, “I order you, right now, apologize to Director Yue immediately!”

“And if I don’t?” Li Xiaofei asked.

“Don’t forget who put you in the position you hold today. I can raise you up and I can drag you down just the same.”

“Oh?” A cold sneer curled on Li Xiaofei’s lips.

Without warning, he swung his hand around and slapped Yue Changxing hard across the face.

Pa!

The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the office. Yue Changxing’s bloated body flew backward like a baseball struck by a bat. He slammed hard against the wall, then collapsed to the floor. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth.

“Guards! Someone, get in here!” He roared, the sound like that of a wild beast whose mate had been snatched away mid-rut. He was filled with rage and humiliation. His howl reverberated throughout the entire building.

Hu Shuo’s mind went blank.

Trouble. Serious trouble.

He had never imagined that Li Qingchen would be such a reckless fool nor so utterly ignorant of the consequences. Now things had spiraled completely out of control. Footsteps pounded through the hallways as a crowd began to gather outside the office.

Suddenly, a sharp and commanding voice rang out from the entrance.

“What’s going on here? Why is there such a commotion inside the Military Guard Bureau’s administrative building? The three of you better give me a damn good explanation!”