boyutpedia Chapter 244 The Chief's Talk
Chapter 244 The Chief's Talk
After the first stage of the preliminary rounds concluded at 11:00 AM, the remaining preliminary rounds would begin at 2:00 PM. Li Chenglong and the people from Dawn City went to the canteen for lunch. Just as everyone was eating, a level 10 dual-elemental ability user (lightning and wood elements) approached Li Chenglong's large table and said with a smile, "You must be Commander Li Chenglong. Let me introduce myself. I am Xu Chu, currently a commander at the Anxi Base of the Central Theater Command. I saw that your team performed very well today, and I would like to get to know you."
Li Chenglong stood up and shook hands with him, smiling as he said, "Commander Xu Chu, I've long admired your name. I heard that in the recent battle you single-handedly killed more than 30 level 8 and level 9 zombies. Your strength is so great that many officers in our Dawn Army feel ashamed and full of admiration." Xu Chu scratched his head sheepishly, "Not at all, you guys are the truly amazing ones. I just watched the performance of your four Dawn Army members carefully, and each one is stronger than the last. Even Han Xiaoling, that little girl, I feel that nearly half of the level 9 ability users in the competition wouldn't be a match for her."
The two chatted for a while, and Li Chenglong introduced everyone from Dawn City who had come to Xu Chu's city. When Xu Chu saw the ten special forces members, all at level eight, he was somewhat surprised by the team's strength. Currently, the special forces team consists of 50 people, divided into 20 main combat members and 30 support members. They are called support members because their strength is relatively weak; Li Chenglong, to minimize casualties, hasn't let them participate in any major battles, focusing instead on training and improving their own abilities.
However, none of the 50 special forces members were yet level 9 ability users. But after the last battle, Han Xiaoling, Yang Liu, and Wang Shuang were all close to reaching level 9. Xu Chu chatted with the group for a while, getting to know them. Through their conversation, Li Chenglong learned that Xu Chu was 30 years old, a soldier before the apocalypse, and had received two second-class merits and several third-class merits. After the apocalypse, he became an ability user by chance and had been fighting alongside the army ever since. Due to his outstanding military achievements and upright character, he was recently promoted to army commander.
It was only noon after lunch. Feng Tian had to give a report, so he said goodbye to Li Chenglong and left with his guards. Li Chenglong then led the four participating team members and ten special forces members back to the courtyard they were assigned to, telling them to rest for a while and that he would wake them up around 1 p.m.
He and Yunlan entered their shared bedroom. As soon as they came in, Yunlan hugged Li Chenglong and pressed her body against his. Li Chenglong followed Yunlan and lay down on the bed. Yunlan's cheeks flushed slightly: "Draw the curtains and lock the door." Li Chenglong quickly drew the curtains, locked the door, and pressed himself against her again. Yunlan gently unbuttoned her clothes, preparing to engage in deeper intimacy with Li Chenglong, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
Startled by the knock, Yunlan quickly dressed. Li Chenglong also tidied himself up and went to open the door, only to find Han Fei, General Chen Guoqiang's secretary. Han Fei smiled and said, "General Li, General Chen would like to invite you and Yunlan over. He has something to say to you." Upon hearing that his superior had summoned him, Li Chenglong dared not delay and immediately said that he and Yunlan would go with Han Fei right away.
The two men entered General Chen Guoqiang's office and saw Feng Tian still there. They saluted in unison and said, "Greetings, Commander!" Chen Guoqiang gestured for them not to stand on ceremony and to find a seat. Han Fei then poured a glass of water for each of them and placed it on the table before standing to Chen Guoqiang's side.
Chen Guoqiang smiled and said, "I just heard from Feng Tian about your recent battle. You performed well, both in combat and logistics. You did almost the best. Not only did you have reinforcements, but also armored vehicles. Even the newly established rocket regiment and air force participated in the battle. Information support units, logistics support units, and so on had clear division of labor, coordinated efforts, and worked together to achieve such great results. Although there were some casualties, compared to other bases in your theater and the troops in the other two theaters, the losses were very small."
Li Chenglong and Yun Lan stood up and said in unison, "Thank you for your praise, Commander. This is all thanks to the support of the General Affairs Department of China and the Zombie Countermeasures Committee, the support of all the people of Dawn City, the strong assistance of other bases in the Eastern Theater Command, and the hard work of all the soldiers of the Dawn Army." Chen Guoqiang nodded in satisfaction, "Very good. You are not arrogant in victory or discouraged in defeat. Well done. Since your air force is developing well now, I wonder if I could visit you? To be honest, after watching many of your videos, I really want to visit you."
Li Chenglong, Feng Tian, and Yun Lan exchanged glances. Li Chenglong said, "Of course we'd like. It's an honor for Dawn City and the Dawn Army to have you grace us with your presence, Commander." Chen Guoqiang walked over and patted Li Chenglong on the shoulder: "Then it's a deal. After the competition, I'll arrange for a delegation of members from the General Affairs Council and the Provisional Military Commission of China to visit Dawn City." Li Chenglong smiled and said, "Okay, once the time and personnel are set, we'll send two β-type spaceships to pick us up. Each β-type spaceship can carry 50 people."
The group chatted for a while, mostly casual conversation, without discussing anything serious. Before leaving, Li Chenglong presented General Chen Guoqiang with a gift he had prepared beforehand: a psionic apple. General Chen Guoqiang was over 70 years old, and although he was in good health, Li Chenglong could clearly see that he looked very tired due to the recent battle. He had discussed it with Yun Lan and Feng Tian, deciding to give Chen Guoqiang a psionic apple. If General Chen became a superhuman, it would be a good thing for both China and Dawn City, which he had always strongly supported.
In fact, there is an 88% chance that a purple crystal will turn a human into a superhuman, but that 12% chance is enough to deter many people. Chen Guoqiang had previously considered taking a purple crystal, but after his idea was discussed in a meeting, it was rejected by everyone. After all, if he were to hit that 12% chance, the loss would be unbearable.
Furthermore, there are only seven levels of crystals that can turn someone into a superhuman, ranging from red to purple, with the lowest level, red, having only an 11% success rate. As for the level 9 pink crystal, it cannot turn someone into a superhuman; if an ordinary person consumes it, they will explode and die.
As for Li Chenglong possessing psionic apples, it was already an open secret in the Eastern Theater Command. Some base leaders had even offered to buy them at high prices, but Li Chenglong generally wouldn't sell them because he didn't have enough of his own people, let alone others. He only gave psionic apples as gifts to those he considered true friends. For example, last month when Xu Limin's wife celebrated her birthday, Li Chenglong sent a representative with a psionic apple, and Xu Limin reciprocated with seven cyan crystals as a token of gratitude.
Yunlan explained the effects of the psionic apple to Chen Guoqiang, who was greatly surprised. He held the bright red apple with a faint white glow in his hand, looking at it again and again. Han Fei said from the side, "Commander, this fruit is amazing. We've eaten some other kinds of supernatural fruits, but I've never seen a fruit that contains such powerful vitality."
Chen Guoqiang smiled and said, "Thank you all, this is truly the best gift." He was about to put it away when Li Chenglong said, "Commander, this apple should be eaten while it's fresh; it won't be as effective if left for too long." Chen Guoqiang nodded, picked up the apple, and ate it. A moment later, a green and cyan energy was released from General Chen Guoqiang's body. Li Chenglong activated his True Dragon Eye and saw that his commander had become a dual-elemental power user of both wind and wood elements. He immediately smiled and said, "Congratulations, Commander, on becoming a dual-elemental power user of both wind and wood elements!"
Chen Guoqiang sensed his body and felt he had inexhaustible energy. Li Chenglong, Yun Lan, and Feng Tian exchanged glances and said in unison, "The competition is about to start, so we'll have to leave now, sir." Chen Guoqiang nodded and smiled, saying, "Alright, we'll talk more later."