The Night-Luminescent Pearl Project was a series of plans developed by the Federation's higher-ups to explore outer space. From Plan 1 onwards, the Starbow Group had been leading the research and development. Due to Cartel's incident, the leadership had fallen into the hands of the Sheng Hao Group. The Sheng Hao Group had taken the lead in Plan 2, 3, and 4. Not only had they earned a huge amount of wealth from the Federation's government, but they had also suppressed the Starbow Group over the years.
Now that Plan 5 was about to start, the Starbow Group's higher-ups had learned from their painful experience. This time, no matter what, they could not let the Sheng Hao Group take the lead again.
The Transit String was said to be a must-win, but in fact, she knew that the possibility of this was very small. The fundamental reason was that the Starbow Group's development path had begun to take a detour over the years.
Although the Starbow Group's size was very large, it was involved in too many fields. It was too many but not good, too mixed but not pure. For example, in the two fields of the Star Wars League and the entertainment industry, giants like the Sheng Hao Group and Starbow Group would definitely be involved. If this kind of involvement could be compared, it was like a person who would only spend a little money for entertainment after eating and drinking. However, you couldn't spend a lot of money to seek pleasure when you couldn't even afford to eat. This was against the way of survival.
The Starbow Group was now facing such an awkward situation, especially when the proportion of its tertiary industry was increasing year by year. There were already signs of an overall imbalance, and the group's internal competition had become the norm. The higher-ups were not united, and they did not pay attention to talents. The gap between them and the Sheng Hao Group was widening day by day. This was completely different from the Starbow Group in the past.
On the other hand, the Sheng Hao Group had been firmly focused on the core fields of space technology, military research and development, and energy exploration. Its hard strength was quite strong. Although the Sheng Hao Group also had various internal problems and had always been unscrupulous in doing things, this was very helpful to the overall development. At least, they focused all their strength on one thing and would not put their main energy in those fancy fields.
In fact, Star Rainbow's biggest advantage over Sheng Hao had always been Star Splendor University. Every year, Star Splendor was the most important factor in Star Rainbow's talent transfer. After these young talents who stood out in the certification exam entered Star Rainbow, they were like eagles released to the sky, freely soaring in the world of innovation.
However, as Starlight's fame increased year by year, more and more aristocratic children entered the school, and the number of talents gradually decreased. This did not mean that the atmosphere was bad, but that the path for those from humble backgrounds to enter was getting narrower and narrower. Cartel was a classic example. In fact, in Starlight, many people felt sorry for him. They did not feel sorry for Cartel's situation, but they felt that someone like Cartel should not end up in such a lonely and painful state. This was not the original intention of Starlight to nurture talents.
On the contrary, the young students nowadays relied on their family conditions and cultivation resources to compete, show off, indulge in pleasure, indulge in debauchery, and indulge in a life of luxury. The poor students were also affected. Everyone hoped to join the Battlecraft League or enter the entertainment industry. After all, it was the fastest way to earn money …
In the end, in this impetuous era, there were too few young students who were willing to focus on research and development or put in the hard work to cultivate their basic skills.
In the past few years, Xinghong had also gradually realized the severity of this problem. If they wanted to regroup, the Night-Luminescent Pearl No.5 plan was a very good starting point. Ling Xingxian came to the Blue Moon Branch Division to summon the forgotten seniors like Cartel back and gather them together to fight against Sheng Hao.
Now that Cartel's question made him blush, the Transit String mustered up his courage and said, "Mr. Cartel, our Starlight Corporation cannot do without the support of seniors like you. The ideals of pioneers like you are the true wealth. It is the foundation of the entire corporation …"
If Ding Meng was a straight man, then Cartel was an old straight man. He rudely interrupted the other party and said, "Support?
Hehe, when you dealt with me back then, did you think that we were wealth?
That we were the foundation of your foundation?
You treated us like criminals. You wanted us to hand over the project and violently chased us away. When Rou Manrou left Saint Splendor's headquarters, she didn't even have 5000 Star Coins on her. Poor her. She worked hard for Starlight for so many years. Is this how you treat her? "
"I'm sorry, Mr. Cartel …" The Transit String lowered her head with a sad expression.
Cartel suddenly became agitated. He waved his hands and said, "My assistant, Xiao Yan, was such a good lad. How did Kang Min treat him?
He said that he was the main person responsible for the theft of the Curved Mirror technology and handed him over to the Public Security Department. In the end, he was convicted, sentenced, and locked in Red Jade Prison. When I went to see him 17 years ago, he was tortured to death. Do you think he was willing to go to prison?
He voluntarily confessed to his crime to protect me. Look at what you have done. You want me to go back? Dream on … "
Even Ding Meng and Li Yu did not know about this. At this moment, the few people in the hall were shocked.
The Transit String looked at the ground and shook her head. She seemed to be sighing. If she was born 20 years earlier, this tragedy would never have happened. She raised her head again and said, "Mr. Cartel, I hope you can consider this problem from the big picture …"
It would have been better if she did not mention this. Once she did, Cartel became angry again. "That's what you told me back then. What pressure from the Federation? What influence from the media? What big picture? What do you want me to do?
I've already retreated here, and you still don't want to let me go? "
The old man in the suit sighed helplessly. "Old fool, Miss Ling was still young back then. She didn't know anything, but at least we were classmates.
We didn't make things difficult for you, right?
Think about your other classmates. They treated you very well back then. They often helped you and helped you. Think about our tutors. They even slept in the middle of the night to train you. When they heard that you were at a bottleneck, they rushed back to the school to help you draw. I'm sure you remember all these, right?
You've been here for so many years. Even if you don't want to admit it, you can't deny that you have feelings for Starbow. Now that the opportunity is here, why don't you seize it? I'm still waiting for you to make me a weapon … "
His words were quite sincere, but unfortunately, the iron man couldn't hold it in anymore. "Can I understand it this way? When you want people, you think they're important. They're talents, wealth, and the foundation of a foothold. Once you don't want them anymore, they'll become criminals, unemployed, and good-for-nothings. Why didn't you say these things when Mr. Cartel was demoted by the higher-ups of Starbow?
Or rather, did anyone stand up for him?
I'm sure you didn't, right? "
The old man in the suit's face darkened, but Ding Meng couldn't be bothered with him. He continued, "Mr. Cartel sacrificed so much for Starbow Corporation, and in the end, he got such an ending. Or rather, did Mr. Cartel do anything wrong?
He should have been thrown here for 50 to 60 years … "
The old man in the suit frowned. "Forgive me for not recognizing you, but I haven't asked who this little brother is."
Xu Mengqing walked over. "Miss Ling, he's Ding Meng from Bogor Planet. He's a Level 3 VIP that I've invited."
"Oh!"
The Transit String's reaction was very calm. She also didn't care about the existence of a small fry, but she still put down her pride and took the initiative to greet him. "Hello, Ding Meng!"
Although she was trying to be friendly, the old man in the suit couldn't tolerate Ding Meng's impudence. His body seemed to tremble slightly, and a powerful aura quickly left his body.
The people around him didn't sense this aura at all because the old man had controlled it very precisely. It was only targeted at Ding Meng alone. Ding Meng could feel that this aura was clearly a combination of Cheng Rifeng and Mao Zhan's Origin Steel Shield. It was a combination of hardness and gentleness, and it had a powerful aura.
The problem was that this was just an aura. It wasn't a real martial skill or Origin Energy release. If even the aura was at this level, it was hard to imagine how ridiculous the old man's strength was.
Ding Meng didn't dare to activate his Origin. If he used Origin Energy to resist, it would probably affect Cartel, who was next to him. As such, when the steel-like aura pressed down on him, Ding Meng quickly reached out with his right hand to stop it. Even so, most of the aura still slammed into his body. He was too lazy to care about it, so he might as well take it head-on.
In the Transit String's vision, Ding Meng bent over slightly. It was obvious that his abdomen had been attacked. However, as he activated the Diamond Starfusing Art, his palm absorbed all of the other party's aura into his body.
The Transit String turned to look at the old man and said in a somewhat reproachful tone, "Old Teng!"
The old man understood and immediately stopped exerting pressure.
At this moment, Ding Meng stood up straight and spat out a white mist from his mouth.
"Hm?" The old man was surprised. "This kid has some skill."
He had just used his will to exert some pressure. He hadn't even attacked, but anyone below the War Supremacy level definitely wouldn't be able to withstand this kind of pressure. They would be forced back on the spot.
However, not only did Ding Meng not retreat, he actually easily neutralized it.
At the very least, he thought that it was very easy. In reality, Ding Meng felt extremely uncomfortable. It was as if someone had slammed him with a steel plate. His entire body stiffened, and he had no choice but to circulate his Origin Energy to relieve himself.
Little Rascal sighed. "This old man is probably a Champion, right?"
Xiao Ai said, "He shouldn't be any weaker than a Junior Champion. He's at least an Intermediate Champion."
The Transit String also looked surprised. Only then did he pay more attention to Ding Meng. "Mr. Ding Meng, I'm very sorry. After all, you're a guest of Star Rainbow."
Ding Meng was also very angry. "So you know this too. Then why did he still attack me?"
"Attack you?"
The old man laughed disdainfully. "If I really attacked you, you would be dead by now. However, young man, you're pretty good. You actually managed to block it."
Ding Meng didn't answer because he knew the other party wasn't spouting nonsense. The old man was just thinking about it. If he really attacked him, he wouldn't be able to resist at all.
Let alone attack him, even if the old man just blew at him, he would probably be sent flying.
It couldn't be helped. Warrior-level powerhouses were that strong. Even if he wasn't convinced, he had to accept it.