From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 167 - 158: No One is Simple

After parting ways with Gu Xi, Li Ming went to find Xiao Yu.

"The Chen sisters must disappear." Li Ming sat in his wheelchair, hands resting on his legs, his expression cold and severe. "Otherwise, Xiaoxi will be in great trouble."

Xiao Yu, standing ramrod straight by the window, looked up at his words.

He didn’t probe for the reasons, simply analyzing in a matter-of-fact tone, "The younger Chen isn’t much of a problem, but the elder Chen..."

The Superpower Union seems to be full of experts, but in reality, it’s just a disorganized mess.

Over the past few years, the younger Chen has recruited some people, but in Xiao Yu’s eyes, they’re nothing more than a disorganized mob, hardly a threat.

As for the elder Chen, however...

Although the Chen sisters have withdrawn from the center of power these past years, the Abnormal Ability Research Institute was, after all, founded by them.

The two have deep roots in the Institute. Even after all of Ye Xin’s efforts over the years, she only managed to squeeze the younger Chen out.

The elder Chen is still the head of the Abnormal Ability Research Institute.

And completely sidelining the elder Chen, forcing her into early retirement from the Institute, would obviously be no easy task.

At least, the current Ye Xin isn’t capable of it.

Moreover, the Abnormal Ability Research Institute’s defense level is extremely high, and the elder Chen has holed herself up inside, never taking a step out. Getting rid of her will be very difficult.

"You don’t need to worry about the elder Chen," Li Ming said, his gaze lowered as he lightly tapped the armrest of his wheelchair. "Ye Xin will help us."

Xiao Yu frowned slightly, some thought crossing his mind. "But Ye Xin... she..."

"Ye Xin has always been a very smart woman," Li Ming said meaningfully.

Xiao Yu paused, then raised an eyebrow. "Then I’ll take care of the younger Chen..."

Li Ming looked up at the sharp-featured, expressive Xiao Yu before him. For a moment, he saw not the stern Mr. Xiao who had sat in the Military Department office all these years, but the wild, unruly youth of the past.

After they finished discussing the Chen sisters, Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Ming, according to the latest news from the armory, Lu Chenyuan has been proactively contacting Qee Ran recently. And more than once..."

Li Ming was a bit surprised, and the tapping of his fingers on the armrest paused.

Back in the day, Qee Ran was the most cheerful, sunny boy on their team—a real chatterbox.

Lu Chenyuan, on the other hand, suffered from severe social anxiety.

’By all rights, Qee Ran should be the exact type of person he’d avoid like the plague.’

’Why would he suddenly seek him out?’

Li Ming thought for a moment, then looked up at Xiao Yu. "Has Qee Ran been in contact with you recently?"

Xiao Yu slowly shook his head. The relationship between the military and the base had been tense lately, and he hadn’t seen Qee Ran in a long time.

"Ming," he said, glancing at Li Ming, "should we give Qee Ran a heads-up about the Chen sisters? After all, this is about Xiaoxi..."

Qee Ran used to have a crush on Xiaoxi. All their teammates knew that. But then Yun Ye suddenly appeared and got in the middle of it...

Li Ming pondered for a few seconds before saying, "Forget it. Qee Ran... he might not be on our side anymore."

Xiao Yu gave his former second-in-command a look, as if he wanted to say more, but ultimately turned and left.

...

Once the objective was set, Gu Xi’s efficiency was beyond question.

That very night, she led the group of superpowered individuals into the planting base.

With the full cooperation of the Military Department, they found many suitable plants from all over the country in just a few short days. More and more superpowered individuals were sent to a secret military planting base.

And during this process of screening candidate plants, the military also unexpectedly discovered nearly a hundred plants on the verge of malignant mutation and loss of control.

After the news spread within a very small circle, the situation instantly became extremely tense.

Helicopters and transport planes from the Military Department flew in and out around the clock, nearly blanketing the skies above the Central Base.

Now, no one could sit still.

The base authorities, for their part, held a series of joint departmental meetings. But this time, the attitude of the Military Department’s representatives was tougher than ever before.

—The matter of the plant mutations must be made public.

But the base’s high command was still hesitating.

In this tense atmosphere, no one noticed Li Xiao quietly leaving the Central Base under the cover of night with a few of his trusted subordinates.

On the plane, Li Xiao sat in a window seat, his expression grim to the extreme.

"Still no word from 01?" he asked, turning his head.

His subordinate, Che Cheng, looked up from the Light Screen and slowly shook his head. "No. They haven’t responded to our messages, and the signal frequency we used before has also disappeared..."

At this point, Che Cheng glanced cautiously at his superior’s face before adding carefully, "Mr. Li, this has gotten too big. I’m afraid it won’t be easy to clean up..."

Li Xiao snorted coldly.

’Of course I know it won’t be easy to clean up. Didn’t you see how tough the military representatives were in the last few joint meetings?’

Che Cheng glanced at him and asked, "So, Mr. Li, our next move is...?"

"Head to City A first," Li Xiao ordered coldly.

’It doesn’t matter if we can’t find 01. As long as we find that woman, Ye Xin, he’ll show up sooner or later.’

But the man sitting in the corner disagreed. "Going to City A now makes us too big of a target."

"Now that the Blood-colored Asura is back, Li Ming will definitely be keeping a close eye on City A. Going there now is tantamount to exposing ourselves."

Beside them, Che Cheng froze for a second when he heard the voice.

He instinctively looked toward the corner the voice had come from.

It was a middle-aged man with a very ordinary face.

But strangely, ever since boarding the plane, the man had been sitting silently in the corner, his presence almost unnoticeable.

If he hadn’t suddenly spoken up just now, Che Cheng would have almost forgotten he was even on the plane.

But now, this person dared to directly contradict Mr. Li.

’His identity is clearly not simple.’

’So, who is he?’

Just then, the man suddenly looked up.

Che Cheng met his gaze and instinctively offered a smile before nonchalantly looking away.

’It’s strange. The moment I look away from his face, I immediately forget what he looks like.’

Suddenly, Che Cheng thought of a certain legendary superpower. His fingers, which were resting on the Light Screen, paused for a fraction of a second, but he quickly went back to his work as if nothing had happened.

Li Xiao, however, was displeased.

"Then where do you suggest we go?" he retorted, his gaze on the man turning particularly dark.

The man thought for a moment and said, "Let’s go to Area 0569 first."

Perhaps afraid that Li Xiao would disagree, he paused before adding, "The Institute has a lab there. If Ye Xin goes to City A, she’ll definitely go to that place first..."

But Li Xiao was clearly not so easily fooled.

"Area 0569 is over 200 kilometers from City A. Why would Ye Xin take a detour to go there?" he demanded, looking up coldly at the man in the corner.

"What else are you hiding from me?" he asked, dissatisfied.

But the man remained silent.

Li Xiao hid the mockery in his eyes and frowned. "At a time like this, you’re still being secretive?"

"Is there any point?" he sneered, his tone somewhere between a reminder and a threat. "Don’t forget, we’re all in the same boat. If this boat sinks, no one gets away!"

The man merely lifted his eyelids to glance at him and said coolly, "Mr. Li, there’s no need to keep probing. When we arrive, you will learn what you are meant to know."

Li Xiao understood the unspoken meaning. He was to forget about anything he wasn’t meant to know. He looked up, staring at the man coldly.

After a long moment, he finally let out a cold snort and withdrew his gaze.