Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'

Chapter 978 535: The Resentful Spirit of the Underground City

At 8:50 in the morning, Shen Jingye was in his office flipping through the meeting materials.

There would be three meetings today, expected to last the whole day, and the first one would start at nine.

Shen Jingye had stressed that all these meetings were very important, yet he had never read any of the materials beforehand; he only used the ten minutes before the meeting to skim through them.

Shen Jingye often quoted a line: "The purpose of a meeting is not to solve problems, but to raise awareness." From the overall quality of the meeting materials, one could see how deeply the relevant personnel understood the meeting and how seriously they took it, one could see…

Di-la di-la~

The landline rang.

Seeing the caller ID, Shen Jingye fell into thought.

He thought for only five seconds, because he knew time was very tight.

He immediately pulled out his mobile and called the driver directly, telling him to get the car ready; he was going to a subordinate unit to conduct field research.

As for postponing the meeting, that could wait until he was in the car to notify the relevant people. Shen Jingye hung up, left the office at once, didn't even lock the door, and walked straight to the elevator.

He pressed the down button; the elevator doors opened, and Li Qi walked out from inside.

Shen Jingye was silent for less than a second before a smile instantly surfaced on his face: "Director Li, you're back. That was a long trip, must've been tough. I'm just heading out now, we'll talk when I get back."

Shen Jingye walked calmly into the elevator, then was pulled back out by Li Qi.

"Little Shen, come to my office."

...

Sitting in Li Qi's office, Shen Jingye's face was dark.

Li Qi frowned and said, "I really didn't expect that after I come all the way back, this is the attitude you greet me with!"

Shen Jingye adjusted his expression: "Bureau Chief Li, I do have important work on hand."

"What work could be more important than what I'm dealing with right now? I've signed the Contract Book with the Inner State side, and you're not interested in taking a look?"

Shen Jingye very much wanted to know the outcome of Li Qi's negotiations with the Inner State, yet at the same time he couldn't afford to know.

"Director Li, this piece of work was mainly carried out in Puluo State, and the principal responsibility should lie with the Defense Agency. The one who should really be hearing the progress report ought to be Chief Envoy Liao."

Li Banfeng smiled: "So what you're saying is you don't want to listen?"

"Not exactly. I just think Chief Envoy Liao ought to have first-hand information."

"You want to dump this on Liao Zihui?"

"I absolutely have no intention of shirking, but the division of responsibility has to be clear."

"So you're saying you don't want to deal with this anymore?"

"I really don't…" Shen Jingye's lips had gone a bit pale.

Li Banfeng handed the Contract Book to Shen Jingye: "Write the report according to this."

Taking the Contract Book, Shen Jingye didn't want to read a single word.

But not reading wasn't an option; Li Qi had shoved it into his hands like that, and he couldn't very well claim he was illiterate.

Fortunately, the outcome was good: after the Defense Agency withdrew from the Soda Kiln, the Inner State promised not to pursue the Gatekeeper incident any further, and the war crisis between the two sides was temporarily lifted.

Li Qi took a sip of tea and continued, "I've also come to terms with the Greenwater Beggar. He won't be coming to the Outside Provinces again in the short term."

Shen Jingye wasn't too satisfied with this result: "Director Li, what exactly does 'short term' mean? Shouldn't there be a clear time frame?"

Li Qi shook his head: "Right now it really can't be nailed down. Green Flower has always been fickle in how he does things. This is work we still need to keep following up on. Getting him to promise never to come again is impossible. We also need to have our own positions and ideas on this side so I can continue negotiating with him."

After thinking for a moment, Shen Jingye said, "If that's the case, we'd better report together to Director Du."

Li Banfeng nodded: "No problem. You bring him to me. I don't have too much on my plate these two days, I can spare some time to meet him."

Shen Jingye looked troubled: "That might not be appropriate."

Li Banfeng was taken aback: "What's inappropriate, his illness isn't cured yet?"

"It's cured, but in terms of his position…"

The fact that Du Wenming's illness had been cured interested Li Banfeng very much: "Was it Director Du that Kang Zhenchang cured?"

Shen Jingye didn't conceal it: "Right now he's the only one capable of it."

"What level Medical Cultivator is Kang Zhenchang?"

"Seventh Layer!" Shen Jingye answered very naturally. "Among Therapists, Kang Zhenchang has the strongest skills, so of course he also holds the highest level."

Therapist was what the Outside Provinces called a Medical Cultivator. In the general understanding of the Outside Provinces, the limit of Dark Ability was the Seventh Layer; Shen Jingye had given a standard official answer.

Of course, Li Banfeng knew that answer was pure nonsense. How could a Seventh Layer Medical Cultivator possibly cure the Greenwater Beggar's lesion.

"I'd like to meet Doctor Kang. Can you set that up for me?"

Shen Jingye shook his head: "That's extremely difficult. Kang Zhenchang is a special talent under special protection. Even when our bureau needs his cooperation on a task, we have to submit a request in advance."

"Does the bureau have any related files on Kang Zhenchang?"

"We do have some materials, but they're top secret. As for the procedures…"

As they were talking, both their phones rang at the same time.

A task.

A "self-conscious Dark Energy aggregate" had appeared in Menghao Underground City, and the Dark Star Bureau was required to go handle it immediately.

Li Banfeng looked at his phone and said, "What is a self-conscious Dark Energy aggregate?"

Shen Jingye explained, "It's a product formed by residual consciousness at the end of life aggregating with Dark Energy. In Puluo State's terms, it's called a Resentful Spirit."

Li Banfeng frowned: "Is that something that needs to be labeled 'in Puluo State'? Do the Outside Provinces not have the word 'Resentful Spirit'?"

"Because the concept of 'Resentful Spirit' itself isn't scientific, we seldom use that term in daily work. Director Li, I very much want to participate in this mission, but given that your work has achieved important results, I hope you can go with me to Director Du and give a work report."