From Apocalypse Boss to Farmer: My Vegetables Make Me Stronger!-Chapter 170 - 161: When a Wall Falls, Everyone Pushes

Chapter 170: Chapter 161: When a Wall Falls, Everyone Pushes

Beside her, Wei Heng looked at her, hesitating to speak.

Gu Xi: ?

Wei Heng was silent for a moment before he said, "Gu Xi, the assassins that day... I think they were two different groups."

Gu Xi gave him a surprised look.

’Human nature is inherently selfish. It’s a classic case of ’if I can’t have it, no one can.’ The people after Yang Qiao were definitely not just one group... so running into two sets of assassins isn’t strange.’

But for Wei Heng to bring it up specifically, there must be another reason.

Sure enough...

"I suspect the target of the other group of assassins was Director Chen," Wei Heng said.

’Someone wants to kill Chen Lu?’

Gu Xi looked up at Wei Heng. "What did you find?"

Based on her understanding of Wei Heng, he would never reach such a conclusion without some kind of discovery.

Besides, Shen Yue hadn’t mentioned this before she came, which meant Wei Heng had kept it hidden even from him.

’So what on earth did Wei Heng discover? Something he had to hide even from Shen Yue?’

Gu Xi couldn’t help but give Wei Heng another look.

Wei Heng lowered his head slightly, a hint of conflict in his eyes. He was silent for a long while before finally speaking. "I wasn’t planning on showing myself that day, but then something unexpected happened... When I fought one of them, I realized his style was very familiar..."

Gu Xi raised an eyebrow. "One of our own?"

Wei Heng nodded. "Yes... It was very similar to the Special Service Team’s combat style." He had spent over ten years on the Special Service Team; he would never mistake it.

Gu Xi fell silent for a moment. If the people who tried to assassinate Chen Lu were from the Special Service Team, then the identity of the mastermind behind it was worth careful consideration.

After a moment of thought, she asked Wei Heng, "This matter... have you asked Ye Junhan about it?"

"After it happened, I tried to sound Mr. Ye out..." Wei Heng looked up, frowning slightly. "He’s been out exterminating malignant mutant plants lately, working himself to the bone. He doesn’t know anything about this..."

"Besides Ye Junhan, who else... can mobilize members of the Special Service Team?" Gu Xi asked softly, her gaze lowered as she fiddled with the small green sprout on her fingertip.

Wei Heng glanced at her, then looked down to hide the complex emotions in his eyes. "The entire Special Service Team has over 200 members, divided into 40 squads..." Although the selection process was strict, there was no guarantee that other factions hadn’t infiltrated its ranks.

Ye Junhan, as the captain, had an impressive combat record and outstanding abilities, and he commanded great respect within the team, but people’s hearts are ultimately hard to fathom...

At the side, Qi Xiang saw him beating around the bush and couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Wei Heng, what are you trying to say?"

Gu Xi also found it a bit strange. ’It seems like Wei Heng is trying to make excuses for someone.’

So...

"You already have someone in mind, don’t you?" she asked, looking up at Wei Heng.

Wei Heng was quiet for a good while before nodding. "The person I fought was probably Liu Zhen. He’s the leader of Squad Three. He was parachuted into the Special Service Team five years ago and has always been deeply trusted by the higher-ups..."

"Whose man is Liu Zhen?" Gu Xi asked directly.

Wei Heng looked up at Gu Xi. "Liu Zhen was once... Mr. Xiao’s orderly." And among the few generals with real power in the Military Department, Mr. Xiao had always had the closest relationship with the Shen Family.

That was why Wei Heng had subconsciously hidden this matter from Shen Yue.

Furthermore, he had a gut feeling that this might have something to do with Gu Xi...

After all, this girl was shrouded in far too many secrets.

Gu Xi wasn’t surprised to hear that this was related to Xiao Yu.

’It’s just... why would Xiao Yu choose this specific moment to assassinate Chen Lu?’

’Was it for revenge? To frame someone else? To create a diversion? Or... to silence a witness?’

The moment the thought of silencing a witness surfaced in her mind, Gu Xi almost instinctively thought of Li Ming, and the conversation she’d had with him that day...

’So, did Ming guess something?’

Gu Xi lowered her gaze and poked the two tender little leaves at the tip of Sprout.

’Back then, the Chen sisters were undoubtedly the ones who understood my ability the best. Now, my ability has evolved again... Then there was the missing Zombie Emperor’s Crystal Core, and what Yun Ye said that day.’

’He said that they were the same kind of people...’

A thought she had once forcibly suppressed resurfaced in her mind... Gu Xi’s movement paused slightly.

Her slender, pale fingertip came to a stop right between Sprout’s two little leaves.

Sprout seemed to sense its master’s emotions, and its two small leaves quietly closed around her fingertip...

A cool sensation spread over her fingertip. In that instant, something exploded in Gu Xi’s mind like a firework.

In a flash, she suddenly caught some blurry images from among the splendid fragments of the fireworks...

Meanwhile, Li Ming went to find Xiao Yu again.

"Xiaoxi has gone to see Wei Heng." Sitting in his wheelchair, Li Ming got straight to the point. "Pull your men back for now."

Xiao Yu nodded. "Okay."

He hadn’t expected things to be such a coincidence.

Originally, Xiao Yu had planned to use the assassination attempt on Yang Qiao to fish in troubled waters, getting rid of the younger Chen sister in the chaos. No one would suspect them; it would just make the other factions suspect each other in a dog-eat-dog mess.

But who would have thought that Liu Zhen and his men would run right into that kid, Wei Heng.

It was a pity to waste such a golden opportunity.

Xiao Yu lowered his gaze, hiding the regret in his eyes.

"Then, about Xiaoxi..." He stood behind Li Ming, pushing the wheelchair toward the distant lake.

"I’ll explain it to her." Li Ming rested his hands on his lap, his eyes narrowing slightly. "However, there is another matter that requires you to make a trip in person..."

Xiao Yu’s steps faltered for a second.

"I remember, the elder Chen hasn’t left the Abnormal Ability Research Institute in years, has she?" Li Ming asked, turning his head to look at him.

Xiao Yu nodded. "Ever since the younger Chen proposed the G01 project back then, the elder Chen began to gradually withdraw from the public eye." In all these years, she hadn’t taken a single step out of the Abnormal Ability Research Institute’s gates.

Back then, some people had speculated that the Chen sisters had a falling out over the G01 project.

But Li Ming clearly didn’t think so.

He pulled out an exquisite little box from under the blanket on his lap and handed it to Xiao Yu behind him. "Find some time, go to the Institute yourself, and deliver this to the elder Chen."

"Tell her that as long as the Institute agrees to the Military Department’s proposal at the joint conference and discloses the matter of the malignant mutant plants to the public, I will grant her wish."

Xiao Yu nodded and took the small box. Without asking what was inside, he simply raised an eyebrow and casually agreed, "Don’t worry. I’ll deliver this to the elder Chen personally."

...

A few days later, the Central Base held another joint conference.

But this conference was different from previous ones. It was personally initiated by that reclusive Director Chen from the Abnormal Ability Research Institute, who hadn’t been seen in public for many years.

Everyone knew that the elder Director Chen had paid no mind to worldly affairs for many years. Her sudden reappearance not only caused a huge stir within the Institute, but even the high-ranking officials of the base took it very seriously.

Therefore, not only would the heads of all departments at the Central Base attend this joint conference, but the main leaders from other bases would also attend remotely.

The scale was truly unprecedented.

Even Li Xiao and Ye Xin, who had already left the Central Base, attended the conference remotely.

Everyone knew that after this meeting, the higher-ups were likely in for a complete and total reshuffle.

But what no one expected was that the first person to make a move at the start of the conference was Zhou Jinyu.

"Mr. Li." The moment Zhou Jinyu spoke, he aimed his attack at Li Xiao. "I heard that on the grounds that the Military Department has successfully cultivated reverse-evolved crops, you ordered a fifty-percent reduction in the grain supply allocated to the military for next year. Is this true?"

Before Li Xiao could even speak, someone else interjected.

"Mr. Zhou’s information network is as impressive as ever. But this matter doesn’t seem to have anything to do with your Abnormal Ability Research Institute, does it?" The words seemed to be in defense of Li Xiao.

However, the speaker immediately changed their tune. "Mr. Li, you were too careless. How could you arbitrarily leak such an important matter to outsiders before it was submitted and approved?"

It sounded like earnest advice, but in reality, it was pinning the hat of "dereliction of duty" squarely on Li Xiao’s head.

What was even worse, as the saying goes, when a man is down, everyone kicks him.