The outer area of Tianjing Mountain, in the secret underground cave.
After the call, the Bureau Chief’s mood was not bad. It seemed Lucifer’s curse did not take effect on Hong Dali. Although there was a little accident, luck was still on his side. Hence, the Bureau Chief was not overly worried.
“Rascal, do you still have anything on today? If there’s nothing, go back and rest first. I’ll bring you to New Lanxiang tomorrow morning. The speed of the construction is quite fast. I brought over the entire Air Force Construction Team.” The Bureau Chief was actually very busy. As the leader of the National Security Bureau, there was no time for him to fool around. The problem was, something had almost happened to Hong Dali. He needed to take care of him to ensure that everything was okay.
“Ah? Okay!” Hong Dali didn’t mind it. There was nothing urgent he needed to attend to. The virtual reality online game could not be rushed, the sci-fi city was a long-term project, and the decomposition of the Mechanical Holy Garment was pending the stock’s arrival. As for perfecting the Granzon… it would still take some time. Considering that, he had to find something fun to do.
“Go back first, then.” The Bureau Chief smiled. “Leave things as such. I will get professionals to investigate the situation. If there is any new discovery, I will let you know. The giant pangolin is a treasure. But you’re the expert when it comes to animals. We will get your advice then. Oh yes, you can drive now. I remember you have a very good Granzon. You can show it to me tomorrow!”
“Deal!” Hong Dali beamed with delight. “I can finally drive it! It wasn’t easy!”
…
That night, at the National Security Bureau.
The Bureau Chief and the mysterious middle-aged man sat on the sofa. The mysterious man calmly asked, “How were things today? Did you really find something good underneath the cave?”
Hearing that, the Bureau Chief sighed, shook his head, and smiled. “Today was really out of my expectation. I didn’t think much of the rascal, but I was almost scared to death.”
“An accident happened?” The mysterious man was shocked. “What happened?”
“In a nutshell, Hong Dali really fell in. According to Lucifer’s Weibo, the second verse came through—he fell into a bottomless abyss.” The Bureau Chief rubbed his temples and said, “The good thing is that rascal was really lucky. He didn’t even scrape his skin.”
“That cave is really deep!” The mysterious man was astounded. “He really fell in, and was completely okay? Did we deduce wrong, then?”
“Transfer disaster?” The Bureau Chief shook his head. “That conclusion seemed rather accurate at the moment. But the problem lies in its uncertainty. In other words, it seems not all of it can be transferred. Or maybe a weaker curse can be transferred but a stronger curse can’t.”
Judging from the things that happened after Lucifer’s appearance, Hong Dali had transferred almost all the disasters that could have happened to him to people with malicious intent. But what happened today was something that both of them didn’t expect.
This bothered them.
“Seems we still have to be careful.” The mysterious man wasn’t sure of what could happen.
At that moment, the Bureau Chief carefully asked, “Oh right, the thing that we sent to the laboratory to research, I wonder what’s the progress like.”
“The laboratory? I didn’t think too much about it. This is beyond the science and technology of our world. It won’t be easy.” The mysterious man smiled bitterly. “Aye, I never thought I would have to be involved in something like this. If news got out, it’ll be a laughing stock.”
“For the Heavenly State.” The Bureau Chief appeared helpless. “Because of this precious treasure, we have no choice. Let’s treat it as a research project. Rather believe that it exists. It’s neither good nor bad. We’ll just do it to the best of our ability.”
“That’s all we can do. Right, what did you find under the cave?” The mysterious man thought for a while and decided to ask something practical. “Hong Dali fell in—with his luck, it’s impossible that he found nothing, right?”
“Yes. And it was plenty.” The Bureau Chief found it miraculous to discuss about it. “You’ll never guess it. There was a forest of jade trees of the highest quality. It was really a huge plot of land worth. And they could be considered finished products. No additional works required.”
“That can’t be?” Even with his status, the mysterious man’s mouth gaped in astonishment. “Jade trees! Those are really rare! At present, I know that only places with special climatic conditions near the equator could have something like that. That kid Dali found that under Tianjing Mountain?!”
“Indeed. Even I find it hard to believe…” The Bureau Chief spread his hands out. “Based on the area, I estimate it to be worth at least two billion. After all, we have not analyzed its quality. But it shouldn’t be less than two billion—just the quantity is worth that much.”
The mysterious man was stupefied.
Jade trees worth at least two billion. All it took was for the kid to go in the cave?!
It was obvious his happiness was premature. The Bureau Chief continued, “And a pangolin six to seven meters long.”
“A pangolin six to seven meters long!” The usually calm mysterious man stared in bewilderment. “What’s with Dali and animals? How does he manage to find rare stuff like that? Previously, he found Big Turtle. Now a pangolin. Furthermore, it’s six to seven meters long?!”
“Yes, this rascal has an exceptional affinity with animals.” The Bureau Chief laughed. “I even wonder. If he takes the aircraft carrier out to sea, will he find a dragon? I think it’s highly possible. After all, humans have not fully explored the deep sea.”
“If a real dragon really came up…” The mysterious man took a deep breath. “That will be fun…”
“Haha, anything can happen with that rascal around.” The Bureau Chief continued his report. “He also found a peculiar plant. I’ve never seen it before. Hong Dali named it Dali beans. No one is allowed to touch it. He said that it will be his snack from now on.”
“Dali beans. Good name…” The mysterious man mocked. “Does eating it cause any reaction?”
“Not at the moment. He’s still running all over the place.” The Bureau Chief smiled. “I ate two as well. Here, this is it.” He took out two beans from his pocket. He had hidden it in his pocket when Hong Dali gave them to him. “It doesn’t taste bad, it’s quite yummy.”
“Oh.” The mysterious man took one and ate it. It’s not bad, indeed. He nodded. “Not bad. We’ll do that. If he likes it, then he can have them as snacks. It’s just food. That should be fine. Anything else?”
“And a huge meteorite.” The Bureau Chief said, “Metal meteorite. It looks bigger than any other meteorite in the world. The most important thing is…” The Bureau Chief looked around. Although there was no one around, he still whispered. “According to our analysis results, this is not just ordinary iron!”
“Special meteorite?! And it has metallic properties?!” The mysterious man was really shocked. “Is it from the universe? Are you sure it’s a meteorite and not something else?”
“We have checked it using a life detector. It’s confirmed to be a meteorite. There are no signs of life.” The Bureau Chief slowly said, “But we’re not sure of the composition of the metal. The professionals are thinking of a way to transport it out. They have already gotten samples to do more research on.”
“This Hong Dali is really…” The mysterious man laughed. “He’s really our precious treasure!”
…
In the early morning of the next day, Hong Dali and the others got ready at Chenhui Building. A shiny perfect-grade Granzon, a perfect-grade Valsion, and four other slightly under par Granzons awaited. When the Bureau Chief arrived, they set off and soon arrived at the square in front of the main door of the New Lanxiang campus city.
As they alighted, Hong Dali felt something was amiss—there was nothing wrong with the constructions. The problem was, there were too many people here today…
The parking lot area in front of the school gate was about 20,000 square meters, but there were more than a dozen buses parked there. Each could take about 60 passengers. Moreover, 20 buses turned into the carpark under the directing of Ling Xiaoyi’s younger brother, Ling Mufeng. Behind the buses were media cars of major TV stations, followed by endless other vehicles. This included the reception staff arranged by the government.
When Hong Dali and his entourage arrived, the parking lot became even more packed. It was the first time the perfect-grade Granzon had appeared in public. It attracted the attention of a large group of people. Countless people took photos of Hong Dali, their voices fluctuating as they discussed.
“Quick look, look. That car is so cool!” “Yeah, that body, the shine, the deep blue color… It looks too handsome!” “I know that car. I’ve seen it on the internet. The header was ‘Courting girls without saying a word’, it’s amazing!” “I wonder how much it costs. What brand is it? Can we still buy it?” “It should cost quite a bit—quick look, someone is alighting from the car. Aye, isn’t that Young Master Dali?” “Really! Wow, it’s really Young Master Dali!”
The crowd pointed at Hong Dali and started talking among themselves. Some even took out their phones and started taking pictures.
Fortunately, there were no reporters. Otherwise, they’d be able to get a scoop. The Bureau Chief winked at the people from the National Security Bureau and someone immediately stepped forward to evacuate the crowd. “Don’t get too excited. Young Master Dali is here to inspect the construction works. Please do not affect the ongoing works. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Since they had already said that, the crowd slowly dispersed while talking and laughing, all the while taking pictures.
“What situation is this?” Hong Dali, who had just alighted the car, stared in bewilderment.
At that moment, a familiar voice sounded. “Young Master Dali!”
Hong Dali turned around and was elated—the handsome, earth-shattering Liu Mingxin was standing in front of him with his manager, Xiao Ming, looking to have fun.
