The news of Qi Yuan standing out in the assessment eventually reached Ke Shoulin's ears through other channels. This caused Ke Shoulin to feel a little worried amidst his anger.
"He's just a refugee. Even if he stepped into the Black Steel Shelter, he wouldn't be able to do much," Feng Qian said in a low voice.
Ke Shoulin shook his head with a gloomy face.
"No, we might have underestimated this guy called Qi Yuan!
In order to stop him from passing the exam, I used many methods. If he was so easy to deal with, there was no way he could pass the exam. I'm worried that he will bring trouble to this conference! "
Feng Qian frowned.
"The preparations for the conference have been completed. The people from Quicksand Shelter and Dragon's End Shelter have arrived. This conference has attracted too much attention. No matter what Qi Yuan's situation is, the conference must go on as scheduled."
Ke Shoulin paced back and forth a few times, his eyes flashing fiercely.
"Is there any movement from Tanqiu's side?"
Feng Qian's eyes narrowed. He had known Ke Shoulin for many years, so from this sentence, he could guess what Ke Shoulin was planning.
He whispered, "Tanqiu has been very quiet these days. Aside from putting Sun Jia into the exam team as a deputy examiner, she hasn't done anything else. Her subordinates haven't left the shelter either."
Ke Shoulin was silent for a few seconds. Suddenly, he exchanged a look with Feng Qian. The two of them did not continue on this topic. There were some things that everyone knew in their hearts, but they could not say it out loud. Otherwise, it would bring more trouble.
"What's going on with Storm Shelter?" Ke Shoulin asked.
Although he wanted to use this conference to earn a lot of reputation for Ke Long, he didn't want too many things to happen that were out of his control.
The people from Quicksand Shelter and Dragon's End Shelter had been carefully selected, and there had been a lot of exchange going on behind the scenes to ensure that Ke Long would win the fight.
Although Ke Shoulin believed that after equipping the berserker, no one below tier 4 could beat Ke Long, this conference was too important. He wanted to make the 99% success rate become 100%.
Compared to the surprise brought by Qi Yuan, the sudden arrival of people from the Storm Shelter and their initiative to join the Mechanical Armament battle made him feel a little uneasy.
"They were invited by Tanqiu," Feng Qian said slowly.
"Zheng Yan and Tan Qiu have always had a good relationship. However, Zheng Yan has always been arrogant and rarely leaves the laboratory. If it's just a press conference for a Tier 3 mechanical weapon, he might not have come all the way from Storm Shelter."
"I suspect that he's here to have a technical exchange with Tanqiu, or to make some kind of deal!"
Although the relationship between the shelters was not very harmonious, under the strong promotion of the academic committee, the relationship between the large laboratories was not bad. Although there was also academic competition, the competition was within the scope of control, and there were not many scandals of vicious competition.
In order to break the academic barrier and promote the advancement of human science and technology, the Academic Committee would also organize various laboratories every year to conduct offline academic exchanges.
It was precisely because of the existence of the Academic Committee that the various shelters had always turned a blind eye to the private interactions between researchers and would not carry out strict scrutiny.
Even Feng Qian himself had personally gone to the laboratories of other shelters to conduct academic exchanges.
"Over at the Storm Shelter, who's going to fight Ke Long?" Ke Shoulin asked.
"I'm not sure." Feng Qian shook his head.
"They only made a declaration but did not give me a list. Moreover, their participants have not yet arrived."
"Don't worry. Twelve years ago, the invasion of the spirit beast caused a disaster and almost destroyed the entire Storm Shelter. Although the spirit beast was eventually expelled, the Storm Shelter was also damaged to the core. The researchers of the Storm Laboratory almost all died, and their overall strength plummeted. The Storm Shelter also fell from the eleventh place to the last place."
"Now, the Storm Shelter has been at the bottom for many years, and their mechanical weapons are their weak link. Although they have improved in recent years, some things are not so easy to catch up."
"Most of the mechanical weapons that the Storm Shelter currently uses are purchased from other shelters. Their own mechanical weapons are still lacking!"
"With the technology accumulated in the Storm Laboratory, the grade 3 mechanical weapons they developed will not be able to threaten the berserkers!"
Hearing this, Ke Shoulin's face relaxed a little, but he still had some worries that could not be erased.
"Can you meet with Zheng Yan and see what they have to say?" Ke Shoulin asked.
"My people just sent news that Zheng Yan went to Tanqiu's place. Moreover, with Zheng Yan's personality, even if we take the initiative to meet him, he may not meet us," Feng Qian said.
Ke Shoulin exhaled and took the initiative to change the topic. He slowly said, "This time, there are five arms dealers participating in the conference. I believe that they will not let go of the berserkers' opportunity to make a fortune. Have you thought about which one you want to cooperate with?"
Feng Qian nodded.
"The few that came have already met with me privately. The offer from Dragon's End is the best. They are willing to use Asterite to pay part of the price!"
Asterite!
Ke Shoulin raised an eyebrow. Although the Door of Truth, Last Armaments, and Flesh Alliance, which stood at the top of the food chain, worked together to introduce paper money, at the level of Ke Shoulin and Feng Qian, paper money was meaningless. What they wanted was not something that could be bought with paper money.
The core resources and benefits of each shelter were traded without paper money. Most of the time, they bartered or used energy cores as the currency of the transaction.
Although star energy stones were more popular, they consumed a lot of them, and they were difficult to obtain. Every shelter did not have enough for their own use, so very few people were willing to trade star energy stones for something else.
"What other conditions do they have?" Ke Shoulin asked.
If Dragon's End was willing to use Asterite to pay part of the price, they must have other plans. Otherwise, even if they had water in their heads, they would not have made such conditions.
"The first condition is exclusive authorization," Feng Qian said.
Exclusive authorization meant that only they could mass-produce berserkers. This was equivalent to a buyout.
In the new era, the conversion between technology, power, and wealth was more direct. This was the main reason why the laboratory had such a high status.
Ke Shoulin nodded. This condition was not harsh, and it was within their expectations.
"The second condition is the optimization of a special Level 6 energy matrix. I have already accepted it."
As a Level 4 researcher, Feng Qian was good at many things, but he was most proficient in energy matrices.
Although there were a few Level 4 researchers in the Biological and Mechanical Research Laboratory, there were very few who could optimize Level 6 energy matrices.
There were also not many who could use Level 6 energy matrices.
Ke Shoulin quickly thought of Dragonthroat, who was a Level 6 Mechanic.
"Is it Dragonthroat?"
"That's right!" Ke Shoulin nodded.
"Although there are a few researchers in Dragon's End who have the ability to optimize Level 6 energy matrices, Dragonthroat's relationship with them is not good. Therefore, Dragonthroat could only look for me here."
Ke Shoulin could not help but shake his head.
"He gave up his human body and transferred his consciousness into those metal cans. Even if he obtained a longer lifespan and greater strength, what's the use?
"Dragonthroat is already a Level 6 expert, but once his mechanical body malfunctions, he can only entrust his own safety to others!"
After talking about Dragonthroat, Ke Shoulin suddenly changed the topic.
"I've already contacted Mi Ye, and Mo Sheng has already met with them. Xu Geng probably won't dare to show his face anymore."
"What do you plan to do with the descendants of the Xu family?"
"Keep them for now. It's rare to see such experimental samples with some inherited bloodline power," Feng Qian said calmly.
Although Xu Geng was powerful, he was far from powerful enough to invade the Black Steel Shelter.
To others, the Bloodline Revenge of the Xu family might be terrifying, but to Feng Qian, it was just a research project.
"Be careful. Although Xu Geng is strong, he's definitely not strong enough to escape the Truth Gate. Recently, he's been active in the wilderness around the Black Steel Shelter. Aside from avoiding the Truth Gate, I suspect that someone above him has made a deal with him."
Feng Qian nodded. After all, Xu Geng had stepped into Level 7 and stood at the peak of power in the shelter. He had to be careful of such an existence.
While the two were talking, Qi Yuan, who was speeding through the wilderness, finally noticed something strange.
Pei Zongyan pretended to move his body. The moment he crossed his fingers, he gently turned the ring on his left middle finger.
Qi Yuan had been observing Pei Zongyan with Area Detection, so he knew that the ring on his finger was not an ordinary ring. It was a very delicate piece of machinery.
When Pei Zongyan pretended to turn the ring unconsciously, Area Detection did not detect anything wrong, but Energy Control sensed a subtle energy fluctuation.
If he had not focused most of his attention on Pei Zongyan, he would have missed this weak energy fluctuation.
Qi Yuan looked at Pei Zongyan and suddenly broke the silence in the car.
"Who are you sending a message to?"
Pei Zongyan was shocked, and he subconsciously hid the ring on his finger. But he quickly recovered and scolded, "Don't talk nonsense.
I was just moving my body. I didn't send a message to anyone. "
Qi Yuan was not going to let him go. Pei Zongyan's purpose for secretly sending a message was obvious.
Qi Yuan walked past Sun Jia and grabbed Pei Zongyan's right hand.
"You used this to send a message. Don't think that no one noticed you."
Pei Zongyan's expression changed. He did not expect Qi Yuan to catch him red-handed the moment he sent out the message.
Pei Zongyan did not have time to think about how Qi Yuan had discovered him, but he knew that the ring could not fall into Kou Haitao's hands.
Although the design of the ring was delicate, Kou Haitao was a Level 4 Mechanic. If he checked the ring carefully, he would be able to discover his little trick.
The ring would also be used as evidence to convict him!
Qi Yuan's sudden attack startled everyone in the car. Sun Jia looked at the ring on Pei Zongyan's middle finger and quickly understood what had happened.
Sun Jia chose to believe Qi Yuan without hesitation. Pei Zongyan's target could only be Qi Yuan, and he would definitely be implicated.
Kou Haitao was still in the car. If the enemy wanted to deal with Qi Yuan, they would definitely be stronger than Kou Haitao.
"Are you crazy?
You're still in the car. Do you think you can survive if you're really ambushed? "Sun Jia roared.
Pei Zongyan tried to break free from Qi Yuan's grip, but he realized that Qi Yuan was too strong for him to break free. Just as he reached out his left hand and was about to destroy the ring, Kou Haitao suddenly made his move.
Kou Haitao took off the ring on Pei Zongyan's right index finger and looked at it carefully. His face turned pale immediately.
Just as the driver was hesitating whether to stop the car, Kou Haitao shouted.
"Don't stop the car!
Let's split up and move faster. "
Kou Haitao turned to look at Pei Zongyan and said coldly.
"If there's an ambush ahead, you'll be the first to die!"
Pei Zongyan's face turned pale.
"No!
I didn't do anything!
Qi Yuan is framing me!
You can't do this! "
Kou Haitao snorted coldly. A blue electric arc flashed and struck Pei Zongyan between his eyebrows. Pei Zongyan, who was still struggling violently, immediately lost the strength to fight back. He fell limp to the ground and could only stare at the people in the car in horror.
The two cars sped through the wilderness, kicking up a cloud of dust. They were like two long dragons, speeding in two different directions.
Qi Yuan expanded the area of detection to the maximum, vigilantly guarding against an ambush. Sun Jia also took out an exquisite handgun and looked out the window nervously.
Kou Haitao's breathing was getting heavier. Qi Yuan could vaguely feel that a powerful force was awakening in Kou Haitao's body.
Qi Yuan was shocked when he felt the surge of energy that was far stronger than his own.
Was this the true strength of a Grade 4 Mechanic?
Suddenly, Qi Yuan saw that the other car that was still within his line of sight suddenly lost control and crashed into a huge rock. Then, it exploded with a loud bang and turned into a blazing fireball.
Kou Haitao's pupils constricted. He did not expect the ambush to come so quickly. This meant that the enemy had been lying in wait for the car to pass by.
Where was the enemy?
How did they do it?
Kou Haitao's body tensed up as he searched everywhere for traces of the enemy.
The explosion of the car came too suddenly. There were no gunshots or traces of the enemy. It was so sudden that even he did not notice anything unusual.
With danger looming, Qi Yuan swiftly discarded the nervousness in his heart and prepared himself for battle.
The enemy was already here, but he still could not find any trace of the enemy!
Qi Yuan used his area detection to search the wilderness outside, but he did not find anything unusual.
At this moment, Qi Yuan suddenly felt the car under him shake as if it had lost control.
Qi Yuan's pupils constricted when he looked at the driver's seat. The driver who had been driving had died unknowingly, turning into a shriveled corpse.