Chapter 175 - The Indomitable Young Man
Chapter 175: The Indomitable Young Man
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Chapter 172: The Indomitable Young Man
Wang Wen had a long list of questions.
For example, why did he live in such a place even though he was wealthy?
Why did he treat Wang Wen so well? Why did he leave the First Consortium to work for Wang Wen? That was the First Consortium. Was he insane?
He also knew that the old man had a lot of questions for him.
How did he know he was here, for example? How did he discover it?
How did he survive the First Consortium’s missile bombardment? He had only reached the 300th floor, so what was he doing that even those who had reached the 500th floor could not?
However, Wang Wen did not ask any questions.
He said, “The academy is almost complete. Move in with me.”
The old man asked no questions.
He looked around, patted his pants, and smiled hesitantly. “Okay.”
They were both very familiar with each other.
A simple response indicated that the old man had abandoned his comfortable retirement life and was returning to help Wang Wen build the academy into the second First Consortium.
It also meant that Wang Wen promised to look after the older man who had been his best friend for two lifetimes. He would not let him leave the place he had guarded for most of his life, even though he was elderly and had no relatives or friends.
Wang Wen assisted Gu Jianbing in packing his luggage.
“In the future, if we only have a bowl of noodles for a meal, I will never only let you have the soup,” he said to Gu Jianbing before leaving the house.
Gu Jianbing spat angrily and said, “I almost vomited from eating noodles these past few days! I am craving meat!”
They exchanged glances and burst out laughing.
They exited the courtyard after closing the doors and windows.
Wang Wen saw the dark and skinny Weak Kidney Brother, who was choosing pork ribs at the market’s entrance, as they approached the end of the street.
He was making a decision when he said to the camera on his phone, “Then I will not cook today. Thank you for the tip, Sick Indifference. I will buy some pork ribs and melon. Then, I’ll return home to cook and drink some beer. It’ll be a complete meal, and I’ll finish it all!”
Wang Wen walked right past him.
He cocked his brow and was about to sigh about how fantastic fate was.
The phone in his pocket rang unexpectedly.
He took it out and answered it.
“I was wondering if you had gone to the slums after not seeing you for the past few days,” Luo Shan said through the receiver. “The Tiansheng Group doesn’t appear to be involved in this aspect. You’re smart!”
“How did you know I was in the slums?” Wang Wen asked.
“If I can’t even gather that little bit of intelligence, how can I be the intelligence department’s leader?” Luo Shan joked.
He would never admit to seeing it by chance while watching the live broadcast.
Wang Wen nodded and realized the other party could not see him, and he asked, “Is Mo Ran still a member of the First Consortium? Inform him that the old man has joined me at the academy. I hope he remembers what he said.”
“Why don’t you call him and tell him yourself?” Luo Shan said suspiciously.
“You are more acquainted with him.” Wang Wen politely smiled.
He would never admit that he was already picturing Mo Ran beating up Luo Shan.
During the taxi ride to the portal…
“I always have a memory that I don’t know if it’s a dream or real,” Gu Jianbing said to Wang Wen as if telling a story. “There appears to be another me in another time and space in the fragmented images. I knew a young man who was unbreakable at the time and place. I could not make out his face, but his outline was very similar to yours.”
After hearing that, Wang Wen could not help but squint.
He looked at the old man who appeared to be telling a story and remembered Senior Li, who climbed to the 300th floor in a week.
Some of his guesses appeared to be becoming increasingly apparent.
Wang Wen silently turned his head to look out the car window at the scenery.
Time passed by.
They soon arrived at the teleportation portal.
Wang Wen assisted the elderly gentleman in transporting his luggage through the teleportation portal to World Tower Square. He was already on the street outside the academy when he stepped out again.
Gu Jianbing sighed, looking out at the bustling street. “It used to be very lively here, right?”
“The teachers and students do not have many places to go for fun,” Wang Wen said, nodding. It was how those merchants benefited.
Gu Jianbing shifted his gaze to Wang Wen. “Do you blame me for failing to help the academy?” The academy would not have been in this situation if the First Consortium had intervened.
“Things progressed far too quickly.” Wang Wen’s face was expressionless, and his tone had no discernible ripple. “I didn’t expect the academy to be gone after I entered the World Tower. Nobody in the First Consortium is to blame. They have no obligation to assist the academy. But I believe an unreasonable and unruly group like the Tiansheng Group should not exist.”
They talked for a while.
They entered the academy’s gates.
They ran into Li He as he walked toward them.
When Li He saw Wang Wen leading a familiar old man into the academy, he asked no further questions. He nodded at the old man. “Just in time,” he said to Wang Wen. “I heard you are barred from the tower. In the coming weeks, take care of the academy’s reconstruction progress. I have made it to the 400th floor and am planning to rush to the 500th floor next week.”
Wang Wen had mentally prepared himself, so he was not surprised.
Gu Jianbing, who was standing next to him, was stunned. He asked Wang Wen, with a strange expression, “You spent a week going up to the 300th floor, and now there is another person who wants to go up to the 500th floor in a week? Do the students track their progress up the tower by the week?”
Li He appeared extremely busy and had no time to talk to them. On Wang Wen’s behalf, he politely nodded to the old man before exiting the academy’s main gate and heading straight for the teleportation gate.
“That was just an isolated phenomenon and can’t be used as a reference,” Wang Wen explained after a brief pause. “In the future, I will do my best to advise my friends to take things slowly and not rush.”
The old man looked around the academy and nodded noncommittally. “Where am I staying?”
“Senior Li had already completed all the procedures.” Wang Wen scratched his head casually. “This place was now completely ours. We have the freedom to stay wherever we want.”
The old man’s eyes glowed. “Such a big area? The mechanisms must be properly set up then.”
“I am particularly interested in the protective mechanisms that the intelligence department had built for the First Consortium,” Wang Wen said with a smile. “I am curious if we can create something similar here. In order to keep some strange little flies from flying in.”
The old man scoffed dismissively. “I can make something even better if there is enough money! We can only cover one building if the intelligence department pays for it.”
Wang Wen opened his optical computer and touched his wrist to check his account.
He asked, “How much money do you need?”
Gu Jianbing had finished looking at the academy’s walls. Then, he said calmly, “Let’s start with one billion.”
What?
Wang Wen halted while typing on the keyboard. At the same time, his smile froze. In disbelief, he turned to look at the old man. “How much?”
…
On Wang Wen’s request, the collaboration with Boai Group and Chen Hansheng was officially launched that afternoon.
There were 500 people who wanted to climb the tower.
To be precise, there were 493 members from the resource team, plus five members of Mi Lailai’s team, to round out the total. They barely made up 500 people with Chen Hansheng and his assistant.
Wang Wen’s nose twitched as he looked at the group.
He asked Chen Hansheng in puzzlement, “You said that you could gather 5,000 people at any time. So why are you in the group? And what’s the situation with Mi Lailai over there? That’s the resource team, not the elite team. Does your family have a mine? Why are you putting your elites in the resource team?”
Chen Hansheng scratched his chin awkwardly and explained, “I had to clean up my list, and I only realized then that there were only so few people that I could trust.”
His expression changed in the next second. He motioned to the 500 people on the field. “But don’t worry, I guarantee that everyone here today is trustworthy!” Chao Wang Wen said proudly. “They might not be the best tower climbers, but they’re good people. No one will take anything for themselves.”
Mi Lailai was also unconvinced. “What’s wrong with the elite team?” she demanded, raising her brow. “Are you snubbing the elite team? Do you think you can beat them just because you’ve had a breakthrough?”
After hearing that, a tall and handsome young man walked out of the elite team. He walked unhurriedly to a spot not far from Wang Wen and stood there. He raised his chin and asked, “You’re Wang Wen?”