The First Order

Ren Xiaosu looked at the Wolf King and said, “Don’t continue giving chase. We’re not far from the outpost anymore. Besides, they still have some cluster grenades left. I saw them take out eight, but they only threw three at us.”

The Wolf King nodded and expressed that it wouldn’t be giving further chase.

Ren Xiaosu took out nine vials of the black medicine for the Wolf King and said in a serious tone, “Don’t use it too frequently.”

The Wolf King was silent.

“It’s time to go. Head deeper into the mountains this time. After this group of people get back, there will be a large number of troops coming here. When that happens, there will be real danger,” Ren Xiaosu said.

The wolf pack would only be safe if they hid deep in the mountains. Beyond the quest, Ren Xiaosu was also hoping that no harm would befall the wolves.

Although the nanomachines were a priority, he believed he would still find a lot of chances to get his hands on them.

On top of that nanosoldier who had been killed earlier, a total of ten nanosoldiers had died this time. Ren Xiaosu took their sabers and put them away in his storage space. He was in no hurry to inspect them since he had to run back to the outpost.

When Ren Xiaosu took a detour and returned to the outpost, everyone there had already been startled by the explosions caused by the cluster grenades. They were all standing out in the open space in front of the outpost and discussing what might have just happened. Ren Xiaosu took advantage of the chaos and went over to the group to join the discussion with everyone else.

By the time Ren Xiaosu got back, Lin Qi and the other officers had still not made it back to the outpost yet. The off-road vehicles they arrived in were still parked there quietly.

But it wasn’t long before the originally dignified-looking nanosoldiers sprinted out of the mountain path. They all looked miserable and pathetic.

They saw the outpost’s soldiers chatting, and Ren Xiaosu was the first to rush over and ask, “What happened in the mountains just now? Are you all OK?”

Although Ren Xiaosu looked extremely sincere, why would Lin Qi and the officers care to answer a refugee like him?

“Make way.” Lin Qi sneered as Ren Xiaosu stepped aside for him.

The outpost’s soldiers watched as these nanosoldiers got back into their off-road vehicles and drove back down the mountain. Even though they didn’t show it on their faces, people like Li Qingzheng could still sense the fear in them.

“There were more of them when they went into the mountains.” Wang Yuchi said, “I counted 48 of them earlier when they went in, but they only have 38 people now.”

Li Qingzheng nodded and said, “It looks like a battle broke out after they headed into the mountains. Was it with the wolf pack? Everyone, remember this carefully. We don’t know anything about the wolf pack lurking around here, understand? All of us ate the meat the wolves brought to us, so it won’t do any of us any good if this gets out.”

“Understood!” everyone at the outpost said in unison. They had somehow become a group that shared a secret.

In fact, psychologists had conducted studies into this a long time ago and came to the conclusion that people got closer if they shared a common secret.

All of a sudden, Ren Xiaosu realized Hu Shuo had not stepped out of his house all this while. It was as though he wasn’t interested in the goings-on of the outside world.

But of course, there could also be another possibility, and that was Hu Shuo not wanting to break the status quo with everyone at the outpost.

Actually, any smart person who stayed here for a few days would surely know there was something fishy about this outpost. How else could the matter of the wolves sending meat over be explained?

What? Did the wolf pack have to pay a property tax to the outpost? That wouldn’t be believable at all!

But Hu Shuo did not seem too concerned about this and looked like he just wanted to spend the Lunar New Year here in peace.

After Lin Qi and the officers left, no one else came to the outpost again for the next two days. If it was really as Hu Shuo had said about the Li Consortium wanting to gather real combat data. The Li Consortium’s research laboratory was most likely working around the clock to analyze Captain Zhou and his platoon’s data.

But Ren Xiaosu knew that whatever would come could not be avoided. It was just a matter of time. He only hoped that the wolves had already taken the rest of their pack far away from here.

Hu Shuo continued holding classes as usual for Ren Xiaosu and the others during these two days. Everything was calm, as though nothing at all had happened. Moreover, Ren Xiaosu also kept his promise to not ask any questions in class for three days. This made Hu Shuo feel like there really was an air of festivity.

As for what this air of festivity was, it was probably being comfortable in both mind and body, the feeling of not having to work.

During dinner, Hu Shuo reminded Ren Xiaosu, “When you say you won’t ask questions for three days, that doesn’t mean you can save three days’ worth of questions to ask me on the fourth day. Don’t try any tricks, understand? It won’t work!”

Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. He had not expected Hu Shuo to anticipate this and shut down his plan. Experience really did come with

age.

At this moment, Chen Wudi, who was eating next to them, asked, “I have a question I’d like your help with.”

Hu Shuo looked to Chen Wudi and said kindly, “You’re different from Ren Xiaosu, so ask

away.”

Chen Wudi nodded and said, “The height and diameter of a cone, SC, are equal, and the radius of SC and a cylinder, OM…” Chen Wudi then looked at Ren Xiaosu and said, “Master, I don’t remember the rest of the question.”

Ren Xiaosu patiently reminded him, “And the radius of SC and a cylinder, OM, are also equivalent, as are their volumes. What is the ratio of the curved surface area of SC and OM?”

Hu Shuo looked up into the starry sky and said with a sigh, “You’re… just… great…”

Ren Xiaosu suddenly said, “If you don’t want to answer this question, then fine, I can ask a different question.”

When Hu Shuo saw Ren Xiaosu being so serious, he turned around and looked at him. “Let me hear what you have to ask first.”

“Who exactly are you?” Ren Xiaosu asked.

Hu Shuo was a little taken aback. He suddenly realized this question was much simpler to answer than the other questions Ren Xiaosu had. Besides, he had not shied away from anything either. It wasn’t like he couldn’t say

it.

“I, Hu Shuo, served as director of the Li Consortium’s 1st Army Group’s Office of Special Investigations. My rank is lieutenant general, and I’m the interim overseer of Stronghold 108,” Hu Shuo answered.

Ever since the incident at Stronghold 109, the Li Consortium quickly took over control of all the strongholds under them. The original stronghold overseers outside the organization had only remained in power because of an agreement between the corporations.

At that time, the organizations had only just started out and were not as powerful as now. They tried all sorts of ways to infiltrate into the strongholds and slowly grew their own armies. It wasn’t until several decades later that the consortiums slowly became the true controllers of the various strongholds. But even after that happened, no one was willing to break the status quo.

Now that the Li Consortium had taken over all their various strongholds, they became the official owners of 11 strongholds. Moreover, the banks in these 11 strongholds started completely rejecting the currencies of the other organizations. All of a sudden, the other organizations’ currencies depreciated within these 11 strongholds.

Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt like he understood why Hu Shuo had maintained his neutrality all this while. Could it be that, as the current overseer of Stronghold 108, Hu Shuo was thinking of using other forces to weaken the Li Consortium’s grip on power and achieve the goal of true authority for himself?

However, Hu Shuo looked at him and said with a smile, “I can guess what you’re thinking. But the truth is that what you’re looking at is just the surface. Perhaps you’ll come to understand it one day. I’m looking forward to seeing your face when that happens.”