Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 987 - 853: That’s It?

The mayor walked away angrily, but he did take the warning seriously.That’s the affair between influential figures; what could he, with his small arms and legs, possibly involve himself in?

Upon returning to the town, he reported the news, describing those people’s attitudes.

He didn’t know whom he was delivering the notice to, so he couldn’t help complaining a bit.

Meanwhile, Qu Jianlei was impassively perceiving, watching what the fellow was saying.

Actually, the town did have equipment installed to detect anomalous electromagnetic waves, marking a contrast between inner and outer circles.

But Qu Jianlei had observed closely before, and the sensitivity of this equipment... was rather touching.

Don’t mention Supreme Spiritual Power; even A-level Spiritual Power needs close proximity to trigger a reaction.

In short, it’s better than nothing, having such equipment in such an ordinary town, already much stronger than Celestial Hook.

Anyway, with Qu Jianlei’s current grasp of Spiritual Power, this equipment wouldn’t detect him even if its sensitivity was increased twofold.

Besides, Little Lake was also searching for relevant information online.

The internet on Homeland Star is comparatively open, compared to Celestial Hook Star Realm, providing more accessible information.

For instance, a portion of news from Outer Star Realm can be seen here, unlike Celestial Hook, where even local realm news is scarce.

Qu Jianlei believed that this was likely a choice made by the Central Government for management... or to establish control.

–– Look at how backward and chaotic the Edge Star Realm is; you, living on Homeland Star (Warhammer Star Realm), should cherish it!

Dulling policy, not surprising, isn’t it? Which society could be devoid of it?

Simply having a relatively relaxed internet environment led to numerous checkpoints online, with rigorous filtering and auditing.

Little Lake had complained that the internet environment on Homeland Star isn’t so smooth — at least not friendly enough to it.

Nevertheless, even with this, it easily found information.

The mayor indeed reported through the internet, and the other side even opened the message.

It traced the conversation partner of the mayor, confirming, through wristwatch number query, that it’s a staff member from the city hall.

Qu Jianlei thought this staff member probably was just a middleman.

But it didn’t matter; he instructed Little Lake to keep monitoring, using keyword screening to eventually find the person in charge.

After delegating to Little Lake, he put the matter out of his mind — as Old Ben said, see who dares to come knocking.

His priority was in currently adjusting the ordinary version of the Spirit Gathering Array, encountering a bottleneck.

Some materials are rather conspicuous even if ordered online; it’s best to purchase them personally.

Online shopping is indeed convenient, but confidentiality is too poor; if someone were to investigate, they could compile all his purchases.

The list would mean nothing to ordinary people, but the fear is... the antagonist might be a seasoned expert.

He wouldn’t want to be associated with such speculations in the slightest; being exposed is one aspect, but research results possibly leaking is the crucial point!

However, an excursion now is slightly untimely.

He believed the old lady and paranoiac could effortlessly deal with land acquisition, but at this point, departing was inappropriate.

He understood well enough the governmental system; once the project has launched, his party could be under surveillance.

In conclusion, he didn’t want to take risks; waiting longer was no matter to him.

Besides, the dark attribute A-level cultivation technique hadn’t been fully deduced, and... the teleportation array analysis had preliminary progress.

Time flies; half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

That day, once again the mayor came, bringing along two city guards.

He presented a notice, both in paper and electronic form, "This is the consent form; sign it."

The farm was contracted under Bentley’s name; he blinked and coldly spoke.

"Seems like you didn’t pay attention to what I said last time?"

Old Ben’s appearance was actually rather simple, but speaking expressionlessly now transformed him into a different person.

The mayor spread his hands calmly, "I did report but... there was no response."

"Then go," Bentley waved his hand decisively, "I won’t possibly sign it."

The mayor said nothing, but a city guard spoke instead, "This time, we come to fulfill the obligation of informing."

"If you refuse to sign, it won’t be easy next time."

Bentley smirked slightly at the words, questioningly, "I seem to have never seen you before."

"I’m from the city," the city guard replied blandly, "The city hall places high importance on this matter."

Bentley nodded slightly at this, "So... are you threatening me?"

The city guard’s expression turned slightly grim; as a C-level Awakened, the person opposite was probably just an ordinary being; how dare you speak to me like this?

However, noticing the two B-level individuals watching from not far away, he restrained himself, merely stating flatly.

"I’m just a messenger faithfully narrating the facts."

"It’s fine, embellishing the story doesn’t matter," Bentley’s expression grew even stranger, "as long as you can bear the consequences."

The three who came exchanged glances, surprisingly, no one responded.

Then they turned and walked out. Once outside, the City Guard spoke loudly, "I hope you don’t enlighten yourselves!"

"Just come at us!" The Fourth Master released a B-level aura.

His voice wasn’t loud, but it was very penetrating, extremely clear, "The Empire is a society governed by law!"

This should have meant the talk had broken down; Qu Jianlei’s side was also mentally prepared, ready to respond to sudden changes at any time.

However, in the following days, surprisingly, nothing happened.

Until five days later, around noon, suddenly six SUVs of various sizes arrived.

The two largest SUVs were exclusive vehicles of the City Guard, similar to armored personnel carriers, each carrying about a dozen people.

The slightly smaller one was indeed an armored car, also a standard configuration for the City Guard.

This type of armored car can easily bully C-level Awakened individuals, but against B-level... it’s a bit inadequate.

However, besides this, two B-level Awakened individuals also got out of the other cars.

They didn’t speak, just stood coldly with arms crossed at the back of the crowd.

According to their estimation, having two B-level on standby, plus an armored car, should basically hold off three B-levels.

The remaining forty-odd individuals, with three C-levels among them, and many thermal weapons, should suffice.

The most crucial point is, they represent City Hall, a manifestation of the Imperial government’s will.

If both sides really clashed hard, it would undoubtedly mean resisting the Central Government’s official orders, and even the Awakened would find it hard to escape punishment.

But any minor skirmish would be powerless against these forty or so people.

The C-level City Guard who came a few days ago stepped forward again, speaking loudly.

"Informing you for the last time, even if you don’t sign, City Hall’s order must be firmly executed!"

"Now, giving you the last chance to relocate before dawn tomorrow, if overdue, bear the consequences yourselves!"

He repeated it three times, then the courtyard door opened, and Bentley, the Fourth Master, and Xiao Qin came out.

The Fourth Master also emitted a B-level aura, calmly stating, "We didn’t see any related public notice online."

The C-level City Guard answered without hesitation, "City Hall’s decision doesn’t have the obligation to be publicly announced!"

This response left the Fourth Master slightly surprised.

He spoke following Panda’s advice, but indeed, the Imperial Empire is vast and there are variations in local policies across various Star Realms.

However, it didn’t matter; he merely looked at the opponent calmly, "You are being a bit too active."

"Are you threatening me?" The C-level City Guard’s face turned sullen, this time, he no longer hesitated.

With so many teammates behind him, he was fearless, "Everyone must be accountable for their words and actions!"

The Fourth Master slightly twitched the corner of his mouth, looking at him with a mocking expression, as if he was watching a clown.

The C-level City Guard subconsciously sensed something was wrong, but then, recalling the people behind him, straightened his back.

However, he really didn’t dare provoke further—there was actually no need; standing firm was enough, why rush to the front?

After both sides confronted for a while, the visitors turned and got into the vehicles, the six vehicles slowly started up again and left.

A voice came from a vehicle’s speaker, "Tomorrow we will bring demolition equipment!"

Watching them leave, Claire blinked, "They came all this way... just for this?"

She had been cultivating today, but rushed out upon hearing some commotion, only to find it was a waste of time.

"Giving us the last opportunity," Xiao Qin replied calmly, "implying we have some connections... better act quickly!"

Having mingled within the system before, although not good at these things, she understood the other party’s intentions well.

Claire furrowed her brow, thought for a moment and realized, "So they weren’t in a hurry before because they were waiting for us to find someone?"

Youyou, who had completely recovered, also came to watch the commotion, and upon hearing this, snorted in displeasure, "A bunch of bullies who fear the strong but bully the weak!"

Having been in the army since graduation, she looked down on such roundabout implications.

The Fourth Master just looked towards the sky, a hint of a cold smile at the corner of his mouth, "They even left a drone to monitor us."

Qu Jianlei answered nonchalantly, "There’s probably data monitoring too, to move against us... they do need to calculate thoroughly."

He did not believe the other side had no pressure dealing with them.

Land acquisition issues like this, he experienced them on Blue Star too; typically, even developers wouldn’t mess with strong occupiers.

Usually, those trying to be tough without strength are the ones who suffer the most.

If it weren’t for this, why would they intentionally leave some time for us?

Unfortunately, they indeed couldn’t find someone to help speak on Homeland Star.

Maybe the old lady had some connections, but even if so, it certainly wasn’t convenient to use them at the moment.

Flower Scorpion sneered upon hearing this, "This drone is pretty good, it can just prove we didn’t leave the house at night!"

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