Chapter 1857 - 2049: The Greatest Beneficiary (2)

"Do you know where Zhu Hong is right now?" Ling Chen retorted with a question.

"Uh... it doesn’t matter, I can find a way to locate him. As long as he’s still in the country, I refuse to believe he won’t appear."

"Although the Soul Stone is in Zhu Hong’s hands, we don’t need to rush," Ling Chen said. "Zhu Hong is different from Chen Younian and the others; he’s just an ordinary person. Even if he has the Soul Stone, he won’t be able to use it for now. Forcing a fusion with the Soul Stone would only damage his body, and if severe, could even be fatal, so we don’t need to worry for the time being."

"So what do we do now? We can’t just do nothing."

Ling Chen pondered for a while and asked, "Chen Younian is dead, so what about Su Cheng’en and Su He? What’s their status?"

"They escaped earlier, probably returned to the Su Family in Beijing. Su He’s injuries are severe; one arm was blown off, and it will likely take a long time for him to recover."

"Fatty, did you hear that? Find out where Su Cheng’en and Su He are. Since they are severely injured, we might as well take this opportunity to eliminate them, saving us from future troubles."

"No problem, I’ll start searching for their whereabouts right away," Hu Fei replied and immediately got busy in front of the computer.

After leaving the control room, Ling Chen went straight to Ling Gengqiu’s resting room. After the implantation of that blood-red Soul Stone, Ling Gengqiu’s condition had improved significantly, and his body was gradually returning to normal. Upon entering the room, Ling Gengqiu was already awake, sitting on the bed, holding a magazine and reading it with great interest.

"Brother."

"How did you get here?" Ling Gengqiu pointed to a chair beside him, saying, "Have a seat."

"Where’s Dad?"

"Him? I found an excuse to send him away. Your dad is too much; I naturally don’t like being tended to, and he insists on staying by my side."

Hearing his complaint, Ling Chen couldn’t help but smile. Ever since Ling Gengqiu was injured, Ling Kun has been constantly attending to him, fearing any mishaps. Given Ling Gengqiu’s personality, he couldn’t tolerate it. After making a few jokes, Ling Chen told him about Chen Younian. As expected, Ling Gengqiu was even more shocked than they were and took a while to regain his composure.

"Kid, you... you’re not lying to me?"

"Brother, how could I lie to you about something like this? I know this news is hard to accept, but the Zhu Family has confirmed that Chen Younian is indeed dead. I’ve already instructed Fatty to find Su Cheng’en’s whereabouts and try to deal with him first."

"That works." Ling Gengqiu nodded, "As long as we can settle the long-standing grudge between us, I no longer need to worry about life and death."

"Hey! Brother, is this Soul Stone in you any different from the previous one?" Ling Chen asked curiously.

"This Soul Stone’s power is immense. I guess I benefited from the disaster; after fusing with this Soul Stone, my strength not only didn’t weaken but actually increased significantly. In my current state, if I encountered a master like Chen Younian again, even if I couldn’t win, I’d have no problem escaping." Saying this, Ling Gengqiu couldn’t help but sigh, "Su Cheng’en and Chen Younian have been my adversaries for many years. I always wanted to settle it myself, and now, well, that guy died, and in such a pathetic way."

"As they say, good deeds bring good rewards, and evil deeds bring evil consequences. I believe heaven is fair," Ling Chen chimed in.

"Fair?" Hearing this, Ling Gengqiu’s expression turned somewhat melancholy, and he smiled bitterly, "By your logic, wouldn’t that make me an evildoer too?"

Ling Chen was slightly taken aback, suddenly remembering all the things Ling Gengqiu had gone through before. To complete the first phase of evolution, one had to have blood on their hands, whether it was Chen Younian, He Honggang, or Ling Gengqiu; their hands were stained with the blood of innocents. If good and evil do have consequences, with He Honggang and Chen Younian dead, Ling Gengqiu might be the next to suffer retribution.

"Uh... Brother, I was just saying it casually, don’t take it to heart."

"Alright, no more of this useless talk. With my current physical condition, it will take at least another week to recover. Find Su Cheng’en’s whereabouts quickly, and when the time comes, I’ll confront him myself. As for Zhu Hong... I’ll leave that to you for now."

"I understand. Brother, you continue to rest; I won’t disturb you anymore." With that, Ling Chen got up and left the room.

...

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

In a small town more than a hundred kilometers south of Beijing, a man appeared outside a narrow alley, looking suspicious. He glanced around and then quickly walked into the alley. At the end of the alley was a rusty iron door. The man gently knocked on the door, three long knocks followed by two short ones. Shortly after, the door was opened from the inside.

Passing through the iron door, the man went straight to a room and said, "Mr. Qi, it’s me."

"Come in." As the voice from inside came, the man quickly pushed open the door and walked in. The room was spacious, but the curtains were drawn, making the light dim, and only a faint figure could be seen sitting on a single-seater sofa.

"Mr. Qi." The man walked up to the person and greeted him respectfully.

The person nodded and asked, "Has he asked about my whereabouts in the past two days?"

"No," the man replied, "he stays in the lab all day studying those broken stones and doesn’t have time to care about anything else."

"Good, continue to keep an eye on him when you go back, and report to me immediately if there’s any movement. Got it?"

"Rest assured, Mr. Qi. I won’t disappoint you. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back now." With that, the man retraced his steps and left the room.

After the man left, the person hidden in the shadows slowly stood up and walked toward the door. After leaving, he went alone to the next room. This room looked like an ordinary house, but its walls were specially reinforced with thick steel plates, which might not even be blown open with explosives.

Upon entering the room, it was filled with numerous medical instruments and equipment, with two white-coated researchers busy working constantly. Seeing the person approaching, the two quickly greeted him.

"How’s it going, is everything ready?"

"Everything is in place. Now we just need the final checks, and as long as all the instruments are working, we can start." Pausing, one researcher continued, "Mr. Qi, this is a continuous experiment. One experiment ends, and another begins immediately. I’m worried your body won’t withstand it."

"That’s not something you need to worry about. Since I instructed you to do it this way, I’ve naturally prepared for it."