Chapter 120: Major Announcement

Chapter 120: Major Announcement

"For the currency of Guixu City to be freely exchangeable with the alliance's credit currency, we must have a significant reserve of the alliance's credit currency."

"Currently, Guixu City is practically an empty shell. There have already been teams of psychics with questionable reputations taking on a large number of tasks from Guixu City, and we are deeply concerned about their intentions."

Zhu Zhuan expressed his concerns at the routine joint meeting of the command center: "We consulted economists. If the other party deliberately comes to complete a large number of tasks and then redeems a large amount of alliance currency in a short period, causing a run, our entire economic foundation is too weak and would suffer a financial impact."

Qin Mu said, "If a run really happens, we can temporarily close the exchange mechanism for alliance credit currency. We can also arrest those with ulterior motives who are inciting unrest. By force, we can overcome any schemes they have. We can just catch them and assign them to herb cultivation."

Zhu Zhuan shook his head: "Without trust, society cannot function. This would greatly damage Guixu City's reputation. It would be difficult to attract psychics and other technical and research professionals again."

Everyone looked at Zhou Yun, who was sitting at the head of the table, and Guan Yuanfeng beside him.

Guan Yuanfeng also looked at Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun was idly toying with a piece of rose quartz in his hand.

In addition to the official seal of the city lord, he had numerous documents to sign every day. To alleviate the burden, he planned to carve a personal seal.

After hearing this, Shen Lan retrieved a box of seal stones from the collection at Nirvana Manor and gave it to him.

He picked a piece of rose quartz but had yet to begin carving. These past few days, he had been holding it in his hand, pondering over the design.

Guan Yuanfeng watched his fingers deftly playing with the delicate rose quartz, nimble and fluid. His long, fair fingers and the crystal-clear pink of the rose quartz harmonized perfectly. However, he couldn't help but think of the intimate scene from last night that was meant to remain private, and his ears gradually grew warm.

Zhou Yun, unaware that the serious-looking Guan Yuanfeng sitting so close had lost focus during the meeting, decisively said, "Continue to release a large number of tasks, collect mutated herbs, mutated plants, and mutated creatures, purchase shadow crystal cores and food in large quantities, and buy construction materials like cement, concrete, and steel."

"Recruit psychics and technical professionals to participate in infrastructure construction. Release tasks for building the inner city walls, the construction of the hydropower station, the roads connecting Guixu City to nearby bases, communication infrastructure, and the installation of solar and wind power generation equipment. Offer generous compensation for these tasks."

Qin Mu was startled: "Do we need to assess our current reserve of alliance credit points first? Most of the orders we received at the city lord's meeting were only partially paid. If a run happens, it would indeed be dangerous."

Zhou Yun said, "No need. Spread rumors that we have a method of combining psychic abilities, which can significantly enhance their effects."

Qin Mu was stunned: "Is that really true?"

Zhou Yun was honest: "No, only for wood-element abilities for now." In his previous life, he was a researcher and didn't study combat abilities much.

Qin Mu: "..." So it really is about luring people here.

Guan Yuanfeng said, "I have valuable experience from training special forces. It is indeed possible for people of the same psychic level to jointly use their abilities to achieve better effects. I can demonstrate it for you when I have time."

Zhou Yun said, "That would be best."

Master Xinhai coughed lightly, somewhat embarrassed: "Can the Taoist priest and I also recruit monks and Taoists? We will cover all expenses ourselves." He taught the Yijin Jing daily and earned a considerable income.

Zhou Yun said, "Yes."

He looked around the meeting room and explained, "We need industries, we need to build quickly, and we need people."

"Currently, Guixu City only ensures basic sustenance but cannot provide more job opportunities for residents. There is almost no industrial base, let alone a foundation for a virtuous cycle of industries."

"With a large influx of talent, there will be consumption and construction, and Guixu City will come alive."

"Moreover, winter is approaching. Once they come to Guixu City, they will at least stay through this winter."

"Even those with ulterior motives who come to Guixu City will have to abandon their schemes."

"Who is fishing for whom remains to be seen."

=======

Once the mission was posted online, it spread like wildfire across the task boards of major bases.

Psychics and elite talents from all corners of the globe accepted the mission online and flooded into Guixu City in droves.

Ren Yuefei called Guan Yuanfeng: "Are you crazy? If there's a panic, I won't be able to bail you out. The major bases will look out for themselves first."

"You should know that major bases have always been cautious and flexible with their credit point exchange rates to avoid being controlled by the alliance. You need to get an economist to handle this properly—don't mess around."

Guan Yuanfeng said: "Don't worry, Zhou Yun has it under control."

Ren Yuefei: "...Is he really that capable?" He thought for a moment and added: "Is Green Bird planning to sell some miracle drug? Even if it's a resurrection elixir, people will still put base survival first. Your operation is too big—be careful not to lose control."

Guan Yuanfeng said: "Got it, thanks for the reminder."

Not long after hanging up, Ye Yuqing's call came through: "Are you planning to release that psychic activation method? It's best not to take such risks. Without absolute certainty, you could easily be accused of something like human experimentation. The alliance government and major bases will surely unite to pressure you into handing over the specific experimental methods. No matter how strong your psychic abilities are, you can't hold out unless you're willing to sacrifice the entire city."

Zhou Yun, lying next to Guan Yuanfeng, was both amused and exasperated by Ye Yuqing's spot-on and all-too-familiar conspiracy theory, lamenting his own naivety in his past life.

He took the phone and said to Ye Yuqing: "General Ye, rest assured, we do not have a method to activate psychic abilities." Truthfully, even with Guan Yuanfeng as a success story, it hasn't been proven universally applicable. This requires more professionals to join the research and ongoing verification—something he can't pull off alone.

Ye Yuqing: "..."

Zhou Yun smiled: "If we had it, you'd be the first to know, General Ye."

Ye Yuqing was skeptical: "Really?"

Zhou Yun laughed: "Guess?"

Ye Yuqing: "..."

Zhou Yun continued: "Getting back on track, General Ye, your Sky Wolf team has a guy named Wei Anguo, codenamed Jumen. He was injected with a hormone that activates psychic abilities, boosting their effects in the short term. But long-term use of this drug can cause genetic mutations and collapse."

"In simple terms, this hormone regulates the transcription and translation rates of human genes, changing the quantity and activity of psychic gene products, altering gene expression patterns, and ultimately causing genetic mutations, abnormal hormone secretion, and genetic collapse."

"I know you're ruthless, but the side effects of this genetic drug are clear as day. I suggest you stop using it. I don't want to see more innocent people hurt."

"Your researchers might have been too eager for quick results and skipped sufficient long-term animal testing, overlooking the long-term side effects. But theoretically, these consequences are predictable. I'm warning you now—if you keep using it, I'll consider going public with Wei Anguo's case. When that happens, Lin Dong Base will be condemned by everyone, and in the eyes of some conspirators, you'll be the ones holding the bag."

Zhou Yun's voice carried a warning.

Ye Yuqing was stunned, his expression turning serious: "Thanks for the heads-up. I'll give the order."

Zhou Yun hung up decisively.

Ye Yuqing pondered for a while, listened to the call recording again, and wrote down Zhou Yun's words on paper, reviewing them repeatedly.

He called Ling Dingxiu in: "You mentioned before that the psychic activation and enhancement drugs from Haiyuan Laboratory are effective?"

Ling Dingxiu was beaming: "Yeah, I used it, and it shot me up to near fifth level! Even ordinary people have a shot at activating psychic abilities, and if it fails, there are no side effects. The lab says it's safe, I recommend you try it."

Ye Yuqing looked at him thoughtfully: "You used it?"

Ling Dingxiu: "Yes. General, trust me, I wouldn't recommend it if I hadn't used it myself. There were no adverse effects after using it."

Ye Yuqing scrutinized him for a long time: "The Sky Wolf team, codenamed Jumen, is named Wei Anguo?"

Ling Dingxiu was startled: "Jumen? I don't know his name, wait, I'll call him in."

Ye Yuqing said: "I mean the previous one, the one captured and left in Guixu City. Not the newly recruited one. Do you know if he was injected with this drug?"

"I don't know," Ling Dingxiu said, looking surprised and shaking his head. "General Ye, I’m not in charge of selecting personnel for the Tianlang team. They follow my orders, but the personnel are all from the special dispatch department."

Ye Yuqing was somewhat puzzled, "Since when hasn’t it been your responsibility?"

Ling Dingxiu replied, "After you left for Central Base, the air force and fleet were transferred to Major General Ye Lihui. The vanguard troops were initially picked from these two units. Back then, they decided to form an all-psychic team, so they pulled people straight from the vanguard."

Ye Yuqing pondered for a while, "Stop using that medication for now. Recruit a few genetic experts discreetly, and get the formula and medication from the lab. Don’t let Major General Ye Lihui or the security research institute director catch wind of this. Get the main components and data of the formula from the lab assistants on the sly."

Ling Dingxiu was taken aback, "Not tell Major General Ye?" Isn’t he General Ye’s own uncle?

Ye Yuqing looked at him, and Ling Dingxiu straightened up, "Yes!"

Ye Yuqing knew Ling Dingxiu wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed and spelled it out for him, "I remember Wu Yuru, who was previously detained, also had achievements in genetics. Reach out to her discreetly. Figure out a way to move her to a different detention facility, keep her under our thumb, and promise to get her out of this mess."

===

In Guixu City, General Tan also called Guan Yuanfeng, sounding equally worried and reminding him, "You’re great at fighting, but when it comes to running things, you should listen to the public management experts. Don’t be so pigheaded and set in your ways. The Alliance government officials don’t think too highly of you."

Guan Yuanfeng could only keep reassuring him that everything was under control.

Guan Yuanfeng somewhat helplessly told Zhou Yun, "A lot of city lords have been calling me, all with friendly advice."

Zhou Yun laughed, "General Guan, you’ve got connections all over the place."

Guan Yuanfeng shook his head, "No, this is really their way of subtly showing where they stand. If things go south, they won’t be able to fix it and might just save their own skins."

Zhou Yun softly kissed his lips, "And yet you still trust me."

Guan Yuanfeng quickly grabbed his arm, not letting him pull away, "Of course I trust you."

===

Within a month of putting out the word, Guixu City took in a huge influx of people. Teams of psychics from various bases and professional technical personnel settled in the designated residential areas of the city.

A project team handled the reinforcement and expansion of the inner city walls, composed of top architects and earth psychics, using the latest building materials and earth psychic abilities to construct the inner walls.

The civil engineering of the hydroelectric power station, under the guidance of experts and with the addition of psychics, was completed on schedule.

The most impressive project was the road construction linking Guixu City to nearby bases. They repaired and maintained the original highways, restoring traffic.

The wide, flat roads acted like arteries, tightly linking Guixu City to nearby Beiming, Jing Nan, and Sanchu Base. Wood psychics planted drought and cold-resistant street trees along the roads.

Earth psychics built safety bunkers along the roads, providing emergency shelters and compressed dry rations to ensure the safety of people traveling and to facilitate the flow of goods.

In terms of communication infrastructure construction, engineering technicians from various bases reactivated and repaired the high-speed fiber optic network, establishing wireless communication base stations covering the entire city. Whether it was daily communication for residents or remote work and data transmission for staff, everything was secured.

In the industrial area of Guixu City, solar panels, wind turbines, biogas power generation, and other power generation facilities were installed to maximize the use of sunlight and electricity.

Without having to worry about the city's civil engineering, the stationed troops in Guixu City focused on building barracks and training grounds in the outer city, which also took shape within a month.

In just two months, the entire Guixu City was transformed.

=====

In early December, a paper titled "On the Application Potential of Shadow Hemp Gene Editing Technology in Psychic Biological Defense" by Dongjun was published in various academic journals of the Alliance.

All bases were in an uproar, and the phone of the city lord of Mobei City was ringing off the hook.

After the paper was published, the city lord of Mobei City had a king-level shadow hemp, locked in a cage, airlifted to him as a gift, thanking him for benefiting the people of Mobei City, and also presented him with a permanent honorary resident plaque.

Although it was of little use, upon receiving the ceremoniously strong, golden honorary resident crystal plaque, and seeing the more than ten privileges listed on the back, such as VIP treatment, priority admission for children, tax-free permanent residence, free medical check-ups, free travel, and other honorary resident benefits, Zhou Yun was quite moved. He inexplicably felt a sense of responsibility towards Mobei City.

So he immediately followed suit and also created an honorary resident title for Guixu City, ready to award it to those who made significant contributions to Guixu City.

Following this, Green Bird Pharmaceuticals held an online press conference in Guixu City, announcing the development of the latest psychic affinity test paper.

The press conference claimed that everyone, including animals, has psychic affinity. The newly released psychic affinity test strips can utilize a special coating on the strips, combined with biometric algorithms, to quickly capture and identify the psychic affinity information from biological blood.

These test strips are easy to operate, fast in detection, and highly accurate, representing a significant breakthrough in psychic research.

During the press conference, several psychics were tested on-site. Their attributes were first measured, then they were asked to demonstrate their corresponding abilities. Ordinary doctors were also tested.

The academic community was shocked, raising numerous questions online and hoping that Green Bird would provide the related technology and formulas. However, Green Bird clearly stated that they would only sell the finished test strips and would not disclose the formulas or technical principles. They announced the establishment of the Green Bird Laboratory, offering generous benefits and welcoming researchers and experts to join and participate in psychic research projects.

Soon, Green Bird received substantial orders from the alliance, and Guixu City received countless alliance credit points from the Central Bank of the Alliance.

Major bases were willing to pay high prices to purchase the psychic affinity test strips.

After all, since the emergence of psychic abilities, any base with some strength has been secretly researching methods to give ordinary doctors psychic abilities.

Thus, the so-called psychic activation vaccine from the Psychic Research Institute was sold out before it even hit the market, only to end up being a false hope.

Now, with the appearance of these psychic affinity test strips, who wouldn't want to buy and try them? Could it be that previous attempts to activate psychic abilities failed due to mismatched attributes? What is one's own attribute?

Many even suspect that Dongjun has already mastered the method of activating psychic abilities.

If they could get those test strips, detect the method, or continue psychic activation research under conditions of psychic affinity, could they achieve better and faster progress?

If they don't buy, other bases will.

====

Ye Yuqing sighed, "What a clever Dongjun."

"By only selling psychic affinity test strips, everyone can buy and test. This way, even if someone suspects Guixu City has mastered the method of psychic activation, they can't unite to hold them accountable."

"And such a small test strip is truly a groundbreaking discovery. Is psychic awakening random or is there a pattern? A small test strip can measure psychic affinity, so all future experiments on activating psychic abilities will focus on this direction. It's incredibly powerful."

"Every base will feel they have a chance."

Ling Dingxiu said, "The Psychic Research Institute contacted me, saying that with these psychic affinity test strips, they can advance many research directions and hope for our support. They also want to obtain the material formula for these test strips. They say Guixu City is selling them at too high a price."

Ye Yuqing sneered, "Those fools at the Psychic Research Institute." He didn't want to waste more time on fools and simply asked, "How much are the test strips selling for?"

Ling Dingxiu replied, "Ten thousand alliance credit points per test strip, and a crystal core can be exchanged for five strips."

Ye Yuqing laughed, "Dongjun has indeed found a way to break through the alliance credit points. The alliance government will be disappointed. What a pity..." He had wanted to take advantage of the situation to lure Dongjun over.

Ye Yuqing sighed regretfully, "Any news from Wu Yuru?"

Ling Dingxiu said, "She mentioned that genetic mutation and genetic collapse cannot be ruled out. However, rigorous scientific results require supercomputers to process the data. There are only a few supercomputing centers left with supercomputers, and Central Base has one. I didn't dare to contact them, fearing a leak."

Ye Yuqing's lips curled into a cold smile, "No need to run the data, I already know the result." After the apocalypse, data centers everywhere collapsed, but the supercomputing center at the Safety Research Institute in Lindong Base remained intact and fully powered.

The Haiyuan Laboratory, formed by experts in the biological field and gene specialists, was part of the Safety Research Institute.

No wonder... they were so eager to have me control Dongjun as soon as possible.

As a research institute, they were more sensitive and earlier to realize Dongjun's importance.

But they overlooked Dongjun's fearsomeness.

==

Indeed, besides the massive credit points from the psychic affinity test strips, Guixu City also offered discounts on Guixu City credit coins for purchasing psychic test strips, new mutation drugs, and crystal cores.

High-quality crystal cores are priceless and rarely appear on the market, only showing up at auctions and black markets.

Especially now, with the increasing danger outside the city, where does Guixu City get so many crystal cores of various attributes?

For a time, the psychics who contributed the most and held the most Guixu City credit coins were in no hurry to exchange them for alliance credit points, instead waiting to purchase more affordable crystal cores and new drugs.

"Strength can indeed overcome ten strategies, but power can also be manifested in other ways."

Zhou Yun sat on a high tree branch, stroking Comet's fur. He smiled as he watched Guan Yuanfeng beside him strike down a bolt of lightning, killing the mutated beasts that were continuously attracted by the scent of the psychic ginseng he had summoned beneath the tree.

"The alliance government has forgotten that, more than alliance credit points, the real deal is the king-level crystal cores."

"In the apocalypse, strength is everything. Compared to the mere numbers of alliance credit points, the shining king-level crystal cores that can tangibly enhance the power of psychics are the true hard currency."