Xiao San nodded numbly: "To be honest, this is the first time I've seen the parents go all out. I just can't understand how those bastards at Base A02 dared to imprison him..."
The word "parent" is mysterious and sacred at parent-teacher meetings.
Chen Zhuoqu and Hu Jingyi watched this scene silently.
Hu Jingyi said, "I heard you say that as long as I climb the last cliff, I can follow him, is that right?"
Chen Zhuoqu nodded: "Otherwise, why would he spend so much manpower, resources, and money to train us?"
Hu Jingyi asked longingly, "Does that mean I can become as powerful as him in the future?!"
“You’re overthinking it,” Chen Zhuoqu sighed. “Even if you follow the same path as him, you won’t be as good as him.”
Hu Jingyi: "That hurts..."
The golden lightning slowly subsided, and Qing Chen stood up and walked slowly toward the defensive line, his hands covered in mud.
He extended all four strings of the marionette and offered up the charred rat carcasses on the ground as a sacrifice.
One rat after another turned to ashes, and wherever Qing Chen passed, the streets became clean again.
The benefit of sacrificing a single rat is minimal, but with tens of thousands of rats, a single battle caused Qing Chen's marionettes to grow their fifth and sixth threads.
The sixth one is just a little short of becoming the complete form.
Behind him, Zhang Mengqian was panting as she led the refugees to arrive.
Qing Chen came to the back of the defensive line and looked at Xiao San: "Are the casualties high?"
Xiao San's expression darkened: "Of the 12,000 family members, only more than 8,000 remain. Some were not able to be recalled from the city, some died on the front lines, and more than 1,000 escaped by sneaking into the Key Gate out of fear."
Qing Chen nodded and said, "Don't worry about those who escaped. Faced with a disaster of this magnitude, it's their freedom to make whatever choice they want, as long as they don't stab us in the back. We still have tough battles to fight."
"Parents, when will the Federation Army arrive?" the third child asked expectantly.
Qing Chen gave him a deep look: "The nearest Federal Army Group should be 710 kilometers away. Before I crossed over, I entrusted a few people to spread the word about the situation here. They couldn't possibly not know that a disaster is happening here. Given the speed of the airships, if someone wanted to provide support, they would have appeared 20 hours ago. So, the fact that we haven't seen any reinforcements means... there won't be any more reinforcements."
In fact, Qingchen had already made the worst-case scenario plan 20 hours earlier.
This city number 10 has become an isolated city.
The mistress murmured, "Why isn't anyone coming to save us? Don't they care about the lives here?"
After a moment's thought, Qing Chen replied, "We were not abandoned. I believe that the Qing and Li families will definitely come unless there is an extremely important reason. The reason that can restrain the Qing and Li families is quite obvious. I guess that Shendai and Kashima must have launched a war against the south, keeping the Qing and Li families tied down on the main battlefield. If it's even more serious, the Chen family might be sending troops to the Central Plains. At this point, the gain or loss of a city is not even important."
All the family members felt a wave of despair upon hearing this.
Qing Chen said calmly, "I know it's hard for you to accept this reality, but I'm only giving you two hours to process your feelings."
The young woman rubbed her face and laughed, "It won't even take two hours. We're all ready. Let's get back to the fight!"
...
...
"The power of the parent-teacher association is far greater and more impressive than I imagined," He Jinqiu said with a smile as she slowly walked out of the building, accompanied by a middle-aged woman and a young man.
Qingchen looked at Boss He and remained silent.
He Jinqiu smiled and asked, "Shall we continue with that transaction now?"
“Continue,” Qingchen said, “Everything I said on Whale Island still stands.”
During his seven-day return, Qingchen planned everything for everyone, leaving only a little time for himself to make a backup plan.
So, at noon on the last day before the journey, Qing Chen approached He Jinqiu and proposed a deal: to exchange thirty-six Purple Orchid Stars for the Hu Clan's intelligence agency to find and escort Yuan Yang's widow.
However, somewhat surprisingly, He Jinqiu did not agree immediately. He said that Hu's intelligence agents were also human beings, and how could he let them risk their lives in the city? Besides, they might not even have time to arrive.
If we really want to save that widow, He Jinqiu has to take action himself.
He was indeed in City 10, but he wasn't sure if he could fight his way to that building, or if he would make it in time.
Qing Chen wasn't sure if He Jinqiu was genuinely in a difficult position or if it was just a bargaining game. He just wanted to have a backup plan, so he asked: How can we get Boss He to take action personally?
However, He Jinqiu did not agree, nor did she state her conditions.
Mr. He simply said: "Give it a try, and we'll discuss the terms if it works out."
Qing Chen asked, "What does Boss He want?"
“Thirty-six portions of Purple Orchid Star, and the forbidden item ACE-004, the Black Eye of True Sight,” He Jinqiu said.
Qingchen was shocked, because the forbidden item ACE-004 was so precious, how could it be used to exchange for just a clue?
The original deal between Zheng Yuandong and Qing Chen was that Qing Chen would find an orthodox cultivation method for the Time Walker Academy, and Zheng Yuandong would exchange it for the Black True Sight Eye.
Therefore, although Qing Chen has not yet obtained the stone, he has only lent it to Kunlun for a short period of time. Zheng Yuandong must hand over the Eye of True Sight to Qing Chen within a month.
It already belongs to Qingchen.
Now, He Jinqiu's goal is very clear: she wants this thing.
He Jinqiu laughed and said, "Were you startled? Don't worry, I will only use this forbidden item for 6 months, and then I will return it to you. So, the real condition is that you have six months' use of the forbidden item ACE-004."
Qing Chen: "Deal."
“You two, tell him everything you know. That way you’ll repay my life-saving grace. In addition, I will give you two gold bars worth fifty million, so you can live a life of comfort and ease,” He Jinqiu said with a smile.
Yuan Yang's widow pulled a photograph from her pocket: "Yuan Yang never harmed anyone, but a mysterious client once approached him wanting to customize a neurotoxin drug. The client requested a mixture of 268 neurotoxins, and the drug had to be able to kill an A-level superhuman. However, Yuan Yang did not agree to it, and things remained calm for a while. Then one day, Yuan Yang encountered that client again at a banquet in a certain city, and the client had become a waiter at that banquet."
Qing Chen was taken aback: "Didn't this person conceal his face when he met Yuan Yang?"
This person, disguised as a waiter at a banquet, must have a new assassination target. He's a professional killer, so why would he meet Yuan Yang in his true form?
“It was blocked,” Yuan Yang’s widow said. “Yuan Yang recognized his voice.”
At the banquet, Yuan Yang was talking with his friends when he heard a waiter say to a lady not far away, "Miss, your champagne."
Yuan Yang recognized the voice, and his body suddenly stiffened.
The waiter noticed his reaction when he turned around.
Yuan Yang did not linger at the banquet and left in a hurry, starting preparations for his escape overnight.
He knew what a neurotoxin agent intended to kill someone of Class A or higher meant: it was an assassination attempt within the vortex of power!
Qing Chen took the photo; it was a screenshot from a surveillance video at an upscale banquet, and the man in the picture appeared to be around thirty years old.
"Go on."
Yuan Yang's widow said, "After arranging things for my son and me, Yuan Yang disappeared. He told us not to try to contact him, because if we did, we would all die. The next day, I saw Yuan Yang at the bar where I worked. At first, I thought he was alright and had come to see me. But I felt something was wrong. Yuan Yang had made a promise with me that if it was safe, he would order a Godfather at the bar, and if we were still in danger and I needed to escape the city immediately, he would order a Moriarty. But that day, Yuan Yang ordered his usual Scarlet Mary..."
“I suspected that the Yuan Yang wasn’t the real person, so I didn’t dare to talk to him. Besides, that Yuan Yang was strange; his speech was mechanical, different from his usual tone, like he was deliberately imitating someone. Maybe he could fool others, but he couldn’t fool me,” Yuan Yang’s widow said. “But strangely, I later secretly went to Yuan Yang’s workplace to observe him. I saw him going to and from get off work, acting like nothing was wrong. At the time, I resented him, thinking that he was making up a story to get rid of me and the child. But one day, I watched him from afar; one second he was there, and the next second he disappeared…”
Qing Chen breathed a sigh of relief; they had matched up.
In the clues of his memory, Shadow found all the neurotoxin experts, but couldn't find the person named Zhang Cheng, which is why he suspected that Zhang Cheng was murdered to silence him.
If Yuan Yang already knew the inside story, then Shadow should have been able to extract something from him.
According to Yuan Yang's widow's account: someone approached Yuan Yang to make a neurotoxin, but Yuan Yang refused out of fear of getting involved in the conflict. Later, Yuan Yang recognized the assassin's identity, so the assassin came back to kill him to silence him and created a puppet for him.
The assassin knew that Yuan Yang had a mistress, but didn't know who she was, so he used a puppet to fish for her, following Yuan Yang's life trajectory.
Fortunately, Yuan Yang's widow was quite alert and had a pre-arranged signal, so she was not fooled.
This clue... actually reminded him of something else: Keihara, who could create puppets.
Given Qingyuan's age, he certainly has nothing to do with this matter.
But what if the person who could create the puppet was actually Keihara's father?
Qingchen can't draw a conclusion yet, but he can use the photos to find the person!
He looked at He Jinqiu and said, "Thank you."
"No need to thank me," He Jinqiu said with a smile. "Fair trade, no cheating the young or old. I'm on Whale Island. Remember to let me know when Boss Zheng gives you the Black Eye of True Sight."
Qing Chen sighed, "Alright."
He called over his mistress: "Settle this mother and child in, let them line up with the residents to leave the city, and have their family over there keep an eye on them."
"Understood," the mistress nodded.
Qing Chen then called Chen Zhuoqu over: "Did you do the inventory task I asked you to handle?"
Chen Zhuoqu, with her hair tied in a high ponytail, looked exceptionally neat and efficient: "I've taken stock. Of the 99 Time Walkers, only 42 have arrived. 38 of them have suffered casualties, but because of the good route planning, there haven't been any major losses."
Qing Chen's mood turned somber; there were still 57 teams that hadn't arrived.
At this moment, the mistress said urgently, "Could it be that everything has happened to them?"
“No,” Qingchen shook his head: “I later planned seven refuge points for them along the way. If they encounter a rat swarm blocking the road, they can hide in them. Not everyone will be in danger. Xiao San, I’m leaving this to you. I’ll go and bring them back.”
Xiao San paused for a moment: "Parent, you just went through a battle? Let us go. Qin Shuli and I will take the men, and you can stay here to command the battle."
Qing Chen shook his head: "You've done a good job of commanding. I'm not needed here. Besides, only I can remember all the refuge points, and only I can find them one by one."
Xiao San became anxious; Qing Chen had indeed been fierce in that battle.
However, after the three calamities, Xiao San clearly saw a deep weariness in Qing Chen's eyes. The other party had been fleeing for so long with more than three hundred refugees and had experienced a great battle. Now he was probably at his limit.
There are 57 teams, and each team has 7 prepared refuge points. If he is unlucky, Qingchen will have to search 399 places to find all the teams.
Chen Zhuoqu tried to dissuade her, saying, "I've memorized all the refuge spots. I can take Xiao San and the others there."
Qing Chen was taken aback: "You can remember that?"
Chen Zhuoqu explained, "Well, most of them are actually bank branches, which is easy to remember."
Qing Chen shook his head: "Even if you can remember it, you can't go. You're too weak."
Chen Zhuoqu nodded, acknowledging the reality.
The mistress chimed in, "Parents, why don't you rest a bit before you go?"
Qing Chen turned and walked towards the outside of the defensive line: "I'm leaving this to you. The rat swarm will probably come back soon. I also want to rest, but the children of Timewalker Academy can't wait much longer. Time waits for no one."
More than 600 people from Kunlun are still trapped in the city, searching for a clue in order to fulfill his orders.
How can he rest?
Chapter 685, Hold the line! Not a single step back!