The First Order

Ever since Ren Xiaosu snatched the laboratory data out of the Pyro Company’s hands, everything seemed to have calmed down, and it became peaceful again in the stronghold. Other than the Zhou Consortium issuing a warrant for Wang Congyang, there didn’t seem to be anything else that cheered Ren Xiaosu up.

In the dead of the night, Ren Xiaosu was alone in his hotel room going through the Pyro Company’s research data. He was quite curious about the Pyro Company because he had once faced the monsters this organization had created. That group of Experimentals was still forcibly occupying the wilderness in the Southwest, and it was unknown when they would become a threat to humanity once again.

If he did not get rid of such a terrifying existence, there would probably be a much greater calamity in the future.

Therefore, Ren Xiaosu was very curious about what the Pyro Company really did.

However, when he browsed through the data, he was surprised to discover it was different than he had imagined. This life sciences research laboratory had genuinely been researching anti-cancer drugs. Furthermore, based on some of the research papers’ background and significance, the Pyro Company had no other objectives but to treat patients and save lives.

There was nothing in the data to suggest they were against humanity. If Ren Xiaosu were to just look at this information, he would probably think the Pyro Company was a typical medical institution whose mission was to treat and save lives.

This was quite different from the Pyro Company Ren Xiaosu knew.

But it wasn’t like Ren Xiaosu was starting to feel that the Pyro Company was a benevolent organization after reading through the information. Instead, he was wondering why the Pyro Company had become the current organization they were after The Cataclysm.

It was very difficult for Ren Xiaosu to have a good impression of the Pyro Company’s mass abduction of supernatural beings. Disregarding the other things they did, that matter alone was enough for Ren Xiaosu to hate them.

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu suddenly saw a separate document on its own. The document’s content was very short, but in it, it was stated that Laboratory No. 39 had made a breakthrough in cancer treatment. The single nucleus cells in a patient were turned into binucleated cells and managed to reach a state of equilibrium. However, the treatment’s conditions were extremely particular and difficult to replicate.

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. There seemed to still be a lot of cancer patients after The Cataclysm, possibly due to the aftereffects of radiation from nuclear fallout.

But he did not expect the Pyro Company to have already found a treatment for cancer before The Cataclysm.

However, what were these particular conditions the Pyro Company was referring to?

While Ren Xiaosu was reading through the information, Li Ran and the others seemed to have returned to the hotel after a banquet. Many of them had too much to drink and were being rowdy in the hallways. However, this did not affect Ren Xiaosu at all.

But in the middle of the night, Li Ran actually knocked on his door again in another drunken stupor. Ren Xiaosu simply pretended to not be in the room so he could have some peace and quiet.

The next morning, Li Ran’s assistant, Fang Zhi, came over to invite Ren Xiaosu to the film set on the pretext of touring the place.

Zhou Yingxue would definitely have to go since she was Li Ran’s bodyguard. However, Ren Xiaosu was not interested and rejected him.

It was probably Director Mu Wan’ge’s idea to have him go down to the film set.

When Fang Zhi realized he could not convince Ren Xiaosu, he lied that Li Ran and Zhou Yingxue were in danger on set and asked him to hurry over to help them. However, Ren Xiaosu shot him a look and closed the door without even bothering.

Like hell I’d believe you! Both the Pyro Company and the Anjing House had already pulled out of the stronghold, so what kind of danger could there be? Even Wang Congyang had probably run far away by now, while the underworld criminals have started to keep their distance from Stronghold 73.

You could say Stronghold 73 was one of the safest strongholds in the entire world right now, and that wouldn’t be an exaggeration at all.

After the film crew wrapped up for the night, it became Mu Wan’ge’s turn to harass him personally. He was constantly talking about having Ren Xiaosu play some role in his production.

After Ren Xiaosu chased Mu Wan’ge away, he asked Zhou Yingxue speechlessly, “When will that Li Ran set out for the next stronghold?”

Zhou Yingxue said, “According to the schedule, we should’ve set out two days ago. After all, the concert in Stronghold 74, which is the farthest west one, is slated to take place in seven days. We were only supposed to be here for the audition, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, this director suddenly became very enthusiastic towards Li Ran. In fact, he even arranged a very good role for her in his current production, and they’re working overtime to film the scenes right now.”

Ren Xiaosu gazed up at the ceiling. He knew the “unforeseen circumstances” was probably referring to him.

However, when Zhou Yingxue mentioned Stronghold 74, Ren Xiaosu got a little uneasy. He felt like something bad was about to happen. However, it was only a fleeting thought. He would definitely not try to persuade the tour group to change their schedule with something so baseless.

But it was not that he had no evidence to support that thinking. When the Zhou Consortium’s reinforcements did not head to Stronghold 73 and were redirected to Stronghold 74 to set up the defenses there, Ren Xiaosu was very puzzled. It was as though the Zhou Consortium knew something was going to happen at Stronghold 74.

Ren Xiaosu told Zhou Yingxue, “If anything happens at Stronghold 74, ignore Li Ran and her team’s wishes. Get the situation under control and take them away with you.”

Could the Zhou Consortium have received news about the possibility of a Qing Consortium invasion? After all, the Qing Consortium was the closest to Stronghold 74.

Ren Xiaosu asked, “So when are they planning to leave for Stronghold 74? Aren’t they gonna hold a concert there? They have to get there early to make preparations, don’t they?”

“No need. It’s all handled by the concert promoter.” Zhou Yingxue said, “They plan to set out in five days.”

Ren Xiaosu gazed at the ceiling again. He would have to be harassed for another five days?

He got up and said to Zhou Yingxue, “Stay here and protect her. I’ll head to Stronghold 74 first. I can do some missions or steal some cell phones while I’m there. I remember you telling me that there’s also a black market at Stronghold 74, right? I’ll go there and sell off some of the cell phones first.”

Zhou Yingxue panicked. “Master, are you going to leave right now? But I’ve already told them I’ll bring you to the set….”

Ren Xiaosu silently gazed at Zhou Yingxue.

Zhou Yingxue knew she had said the wrong thing again. “Director Mu promised me that as long as I convince you to join the crew, he’ll give the female lead to me and cast Li Ran as the supporting actress.”

Ren Xiaosu got furious. Mu Wan’ge actually succeeded in turning Zhou Yingxue against him? He looked at Zhou Yingxue with disappointment. “Do you really wanna be the female lead that badly?”

With that, Ren Xiaosu turned around and left. After he went out of the stronghold, he suddenly remembered he had forgotten to ask Zhou Yingxue where Stronghold 74 was.

Furthermore, all of their vehicles had been detained by the Zhou Consortium, so he did not even have a car he could drive.

Walking in the wilderness, Ren Xiaosu got angrier the more he thought about it. He really wanted to go back there and give Mu Wan’ge, Zhou Yingxue, and Li Ran a good thrashing.

But right then, Ren Xiaosu heard the roar of an engine behind him. He turned around and saw an off-road vehicle approaching.

As the vehicle passed Ren Xiaosu, it came to a stop. A middle-aged man looked at him and said with a polite smile, “Where are you headed, young man? Why are you walking by yourself?”

Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “I’m going to Stronghold 74.”

While speaking, Ren Xiaosu started sizing up the other party. There were only two people in the vehicle, one of which was a middle-aged man, while the other was a young man who looked to be about the same age as Ren Xiaosu. The two looked like they were father and son.

The middle-aged man smiled and said, “We happen to be heading to Stronghold 74 too. Get in, we’ll give you a ride.”