Chapter 1817: Chapter 1810: Times Have Changed
"Hello, everyone, I’m sorry to keep you waiting."
As they approached, the two men put on a very professional smile, though no one on Tang Ye’s side spoke. A pair of eyes continually assessed them.
Their appearance was far from commendable, with roughly textured skin, some places peeling and dry, vaguely resembling scales. Among them, one person looked somewhat normal, but the other was different; his arms were uneven in size, causing his body to tilt involuntarily as he walked, and his hair stretched from the back of his neck down to his shoulders, revealing dense hair through his collar.
The flesh at his collarbone even had an open wound!
Bai Huipeng exchanged a glance with Chu Zha beside him, and they both understood the situation. In the Cloud Gorge Base, aside from the eleven led by Xu Tianyu, the rest had been "cleansed." The evolution crystal cores left behind were useless to Su Sigui, naturally needing to exert their own influence, and these two in front were newly promoted by forcefully consuming the Level 8 New Human evolution crystal cores!
But such actions came at a price!
The excessive growth of flesh forced their features to squeeze and distort together, rendering their appearance extremely ugly.
Perhaps sensing the unusual gaze from the crowd, the two became discontent but understood the circumstances; amidst so many Level 8 strong individuals, displaying emotions too overtly could likely trigger conflict.
They were fortunate to become tools, the underlings, under someone’s hand!
But they were displeased with others mocking them.
Some might regret, but regret here costs one’s life. They could choose not to be the underlings, but many others were willing to be. So-called dignity disappears before that person, yet in front of others, they are esteemed Level 8 New Humans!
Dignity, where is it as important as surviving?
Huang Quanjiu, beside Tang Ye, seeing the two men, smirked slightly, thinking they arrived at an inopportune time.
Their appearance, however, made the Royal Court folks straighten up quite a bit, not wanting to lose face.
"Everyone, the feast is ready, follow us now, please." With that, the two turned and headed back the way they came, displaying an attitude that made people somewhat uncomfortable.
Yet, no one spoke up, including Tang Ye, more than thirty people followed as well.
Behind, Tang Ye pondered for a moment, eventually moving to the front to chat with one of them.
"Are you Su Sigui’s new subordinates?"
The person Tang Ye spoke to glanced at him strangely; Tang Ye noticed the expression and raised his brows, unsure of what he said wrong.
What’s with that gaze?
He quickly realized, Su Sigui is now the Emperor of Cloud Gorge Base, casually using her name seemed disrespectful.
Indeed, the fact that he was a "Level 9 New Human" was only known to Su Sigui; to others, Li Henian and he were still Level 8 New Humans.
The person turned away and quickly nodded.
"Yes, the previous group wasn’t very obedient, so we replaced them."
"Replace, eh... How many replacements like yours?"
"Quite a lot, around seventy to eighty, currently focused on their tasks."
"Their tasks aren’t quite grandiose, huh." Tang Ye accidentally glanced at the dense building structures below, sensing a gathering of over thirty Level 8 New Humans working busily, surrounded by even more people.
Not like an army, more like some sort of construction project.
The person glanced at Tang Ye again, assuming he knew some inside information. "Mayor’s orders, to build a Sanctuary underground seventeen kilometers within three months; they are assigned to loosen soil."
"Loosen soil, using Level 8 New Humans?"
"Yes." The person nodded while Tang Ye pondered; what kind of sanctuary construction requires Level 8 New Humans?
He seemed to understand something; a while later, his expression turned odd. Underground seventeen kilometers, coincidentally his sensing limit, below that, nothing could be detected.
"Seed plan, huh..." he thought to himself.
"By the way, I heard you implemented a unity system, no cleansing of Level 8 New Humans from other bases?"
"No, they were wise, promptly submitting to the Mayor."
"And where are they now?"
"Still at Cloud Gorge Base, now other bases are managed by our people."
Tang Ye nodded, indeed Su Sigui’s doing; submission isn’t just spoken. To survive, expose oneself under their watchful eyes, showcasing everything to ease concerns.
But Tang Ye soon shook his head, Su Sigui remained too merciful. If he were in her position, he would directly act like that Level 9 New Human she mentioned; regardless of true submission, kill them all. Many are willing to become Level 8 New Humans, why waste expressions?
As the sun’s western rays left a sliver, the two had led Tang Ye and others to an imposing building. Tang Ye looked up at the luxurious golden sign overhead, reading "Prince Hotel."
Somewhat unexpected, he thought the celebration banquet was at some mansion but ended up being just at a hotel.
Not that he found their choice of venue austere; rather, Prince Hotel was the top hotel in Cloud Gorge Base, a place for society’s elite.
Just the approach felt straightforward to Tang Ye.
Instead of calling it a banquet, it seemed more like a meal, as if Su Sigui stood before him saying, "Indeed, there’s something I need from you."
"Interesting, let’s go inside." Tang Ye muttered, then led the group inside. Quickly, he glanced back at the two who led them, they made no further move, indicating they weren’t part of the event.
"Why aren’t you coming in?"
"Li... President, we’re not involved in what’s inside..." The two, with awkward expressions, hesitated on how to address Tang Ye, resorting to old titles.
"Just us?" Tang Ye squinted; these two didn’t seem too smart, and the whole hotel had few people inside, his senses detecting less than ten, none exuding significant presence.
"I don’t know." One of them replied dismissively. Tang Ye looked at him, and the person didn’t back down, meeting his gaze. But soon, the person yielded; Tang Ye said nothing, leading his crew into the hotel.
Just then, the person called out.
"President Li."
"Hmm?"
"I must remind you, times have changed, please mind your words."