Inside the private room.

  As soon as Brahma took his seat across from the Head Elder, the latter placed a cup of tea in front of him and politely said, “Have some tea.”


  Brahma smiled. “I don’t like beating around the bush, so you can just get straight to the point, Head Elder.”


  He didn’t touch the cup of tea.

  Seeing this, the Head Elder decided to cut to the chase. He put down the teapot, picked up his own teacup, and slowly leaned back. “It’s been more than ten years since Killer Alliance set foot on Jijing Island.”


  The reason why the Elders’ Association was able to quell the unrest on Jijing Island so quickly back then was because they had had Killer Alliance’s help. That was the only time the Head Elder had ever worked with Brahma all these years.

  Brahma was a genius biologist, so it couldn’t be any more obvious what his purpose for coming to Jijing Island was. He was here for Base 102’s cutting edge biotechnology.

  Brahma rested his arms on the chair’s armrests and laughed. “Yeah, and my Fifth Sister is the young lady of Jijing Island’s Gu family. Working with Base 102 will be much smoother in the future!”


  The Head Elder rubbed his fingers against his teacup. “Do you think you’ll be able to get what you want if Gu Mang takes over Base 102?”


  Brahma cocked an eyebrow. “Of course, working with my Fifth Sister is better and more convenient than working with Leng Xuan.”


  The Head Elder shook his head. “If Gu Mang knows what you’re after, she definitely won’t work with you.”


  Brahma narrowed his eyes slightly and laughed. “Looks like it’s true that things have been really chaotic on Jijing Island and that you’ve chosen Leng Xuan.”


  The Head Elder admitted it frankly. “Be it the Head of the Council or Base 102, they have to stand on the same line as the Elders’ Association. Don’t you agree?”


  “What does it have to do with me?” Brahma drummed his fingers against the armrests. “What makes you think that I’ll choose you guys over Gu Mang?”


  The Head Elder wasn’t angered by what Brahma said. In fact, he looked as calm as ever. “Do you know who was behind the chaos at Base 102 back then?”


  Although Brahma was pretty influential, not even the current Killer Alliance was Base 102’s match at its peak. It was said that Base 102 had existed for at least a century, but he had only come to know of its existence due to the great chaos. That said, he knew only a little of this place, including what happened back then.

  Brahma tugged his lips indifferently. “Wasn’t it Gu Xian’s doing?”


  The Head Elder shook his head. “He was only clearing up the mess. It wasn’t his doing.”


  “Does it have anything to do with me?” Brahma crossed one leg atop the other as he looked at the Head Elder with slight arrogance. “Don’t bother sowing discord between my Fifth Sister and me. Leng Xuan can’t be compared to her. I naturally have to choose the person who’s more capable to work with.”


  Clearly, he wasn’t cooperating at all.

  The Head Elder remained just as calm as before. “Have you heard of the name Gu Zhen before? He is Gu Mang’s father.”


  Brahma’s eyes widened slightly, although he didn’t say anything in response. He had looked into the Gu family’s background, but all he found out was that they had offspring outside Jijing Island. He remembered clearly that the name Gu Zhen wasn’t included in the information he found. When Gu Mang’s identity was exposed upon her return to Jijing Island, he had looked into her background as well, but there was very little information on her.

  “I believe you don’t need me to tell you what exactly the Biomedical Research Core Office is researching. Gu Zhen felt that too much sacrifice was needed for this project, so he’d rather die than continue with it. He even wanted to seal off and destroy all the research findings, but nobody agreed to it. This was what led to the eventual chaos at Base 102,” added the Head Elder.?

  Brahma recalled the riot on Jijing Island. It was an abrupt event that started from the four major clans rushing to Base 102 upon receiving a mysterious letter. Despite investigating for a long time, he couldn’t find any useful information apart from the disappearance of the juniors who were sent to Base 102. In hindsight, the letter was likely sent by Gu Mang’s father.

  As the Head Elder laughed, the wrinkles on his face deepened. “Based on Gu Mang’s character, do you think she’ll work with you when her father wanted to destroy the project and its technology?”


  Brahma looked at him with a deep gaze.

  “Gu Si was our most important experiment subject, yet Gu Mang took him away and nearly destroyed the entire lab.” The Head Elder had a faraway look on his face.

  “If that’s the case, then why did you arrange for Gu Mang to take the assessment?” asked Brahma with squinted eyes.

  This was the worst mistake the Head Elder had ever made in his life, but it was too late for regrets. He said, “In our agreement, it was stated that Gu Mang will become Leng Xuan’s experiment subject if she fails the test. I didn’t know that she was God Ji at the time.”


  Only then did Brahma know what game the Head Elder was playing. The latter calmly sipped on his tea. “If you want to work with someone capable, you’ll have to first see if that person is willing to work with you.”


  Silence ensued for a long time.

  The Head Elder’s eyes gleamed as he looked up at Brahma from time to time before adding, “Even without Gu Mang’s appearance, we already agreed to work together, didn’t we?”


  Brahma stared at him.

  …


  The door to the private room was pulled open. When Brahma’s trusted aide saw him coming out of the room, the former bowed respectfully to him.

  Brahma had a hand in his pocket as he walked ahead, deep in thought, with his subordinate quietly following behind.

  Once they entered the elevator, the Head Elder came out of the private room and stood at the entrance.

  Elder Bi came out of the next room and walked over to the Head Elder’s side while glancing at the elevator. “Did he agree to work with us?”?

  “It’s not confirmed,” answered the Head Elder with a shake of his head before turning to look at Elder Bi. “How did the talk between Leng Xuan and Lu Chengzhou go?”


  Elder Bi shook his head too.

  “He’s a devoted lover. I wonder what he sees in Gu Mang.” The Head Elder, who had already expected this answer, sneered.?

  …


  Brahma was deep in thought the entire journey back to his car. He had talked to the Head Elder for a long time and had basically agreed to work with the Head Elder. If it weren’t for the sudden exposure of Gu Mang’s identity, he would’ve long started working with Base 102.

  However, he hadn’t expected this to happen after all the delays. He had his eyes on Jijing Island’s ancient medical technology for a long while now and had been planning this for many years, so he couldn’t allow any mistakes to happen now.

  He looked up and coldly ordered, “Pass down my order: suppress all of God Ji’s forces.”