405: Chapter 402 Releasing Mineral Water.

Ye Ouyang nodded.

"Alright, I understand your dream." He stood up from his chair and waved at Li Mo. "Then I'm leaving. Good luck with your research, I hope your dream comes true soon."

Li Mo looked up at him, his lips curling slightly.

"Thank you," he said. "Goodbye."

Ye Ouyang walked out of the laboratory, the door closing gently behind him.

He stood in the corridor for two seconds, suddenly realizing he didn't know what to do.

Training Area? Didn't feel like training today. Cafeteria? Not hungry. Dormitory? He'd just be lying there staring blankly. He scratched his head and decided to wander around.

The base's corridors were long. He walked aimlessly, passing the Training Area, the Archives, and that Lounge that always smelled of coffee. Finally, he circled back to near the East Exit, which connected to the passage leading outside; people occasionally went in and out.

Just as he was about to turn a corner, he suddenly saw someone standing ahead.

It was a young man wearing rimless glasses, with a quiet temperament, looking down and tinkering with a small device in his hand. He wore a deep gray uniform, simple in style but with a special texture, and a small silver briefcase hung at his waist. He looked like he was about to go out.

Ye Ouyang, for some reason, just walked over and raised a hand in greeting.

"Hey, hello there!"

The person looked up at him.

"My name is Ye Ouyang!" Ye Ouyang reached out familiarly. "What's your name?"

The other person was stunned for a moment, then smiled, reached out, and shook hands with him.

"Hello, my name is Chen Xing."

Just then, a somewhat aged voice came from nearby.

"Hmm? You are... Ye Ouyang?"

Ye Ouyang turned his head. A middle-aged man around forty years old stood a few steps away, with a buzz cut, a resolute face, sharp eyes, and a sturdy build that made his deep gray uniform look tight. He was looking at Ye Ouyang with a scrutinizing gaze, but not the uncomfortable kind.

Ye Ouyang blinked: "Oh, you know me?"

"I do." The man walked over and nodded. "My name is Zhan Yong."

Ye Ouyang gave an "oh" and waited for him to continue. But Zhan Yong just looked at him, then at Chen Xing beside him, and waved his hand.

"Hmm, you continue," he said to Chen Xing, then nodded to Ye Ouyang again. "I have things to do, I'll be going now."

After saying that, he turned and walked in another direction, his steps steady and powerful, quickly disappearing around the corridor corner.

Ye Ouyang watched his back disappear, scratched his head, and turned to Chen Xing.

"Are you going out to conduct an investigation?"

Chen Xing nodded: "Yes, why?"

"Nothing, just asking." Ye Ouyang said, his eyes lighting up. "I want to go too, can you take me along?"

Chen Xing looked at him and didn't speak.

Ye Ouyang quickly added: "And I can transform! I'm guaranteed combat power!"

Chen Xing thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Sure, let's go together."

The two walked out side by side. Ye Ouyang was talkative, Chen Xing was quiet, but Ye Ouyang could carry the whole conversation alone, talking from Li Mo's research just now to which window in the base Cafeteria had the best food. Chen Xing occasionally responded or nodded, and the two walked and talked like that, leaving the base gate and heading down the road outside.

They hadn't gone far when they encountered someone else.

It was a young man, not much older than Ye Ouyang, followed by a cat—no, that wasn't an ordinary cat. The cat was a size larger than a normal one, with smooth and tough dark orange skin, and eyes with vertical slit pupils like a reptile's; it sat there, unhurriedly licking its paws.

Beside the young man stood a researcher in a white lab coat, writing something on a clipboard.

Chen Xing paused.

The researcher looked up, saw him, and his eyes lit up.

"Hey, Chen Xing!" He waved. "Wait a moment!"

Chen Xing stopped and turned his head: "What is it?"

The researcher pointed to the young man beside him: "Look, Li Zhe is here too."

Chen Xing looked at the young man and nodded.

"Hello Li Zhe, we meet again."

Li Zhe also nodded: "Hello, Chen Xing."

The researcher leaned in, looked at Chen Xing, then at Ye Ouyang behind him.

"Are you heading out for an investigation?"

"Yes," Chen Xing said.

"That's great!" The researcher clapped his hands. "Take Li Zhe with you! He's almost finished his training, it's time for his first mission."

Chen Xing looked at Li Zhe.

"Want to come along?"

Li Zhe nodded and walked over.

"Let's go together," he said, then looked at Ye Ouyang. "This is..."

Ye Ouyang immediately stepped forward and reached out his hand.

"My name is Ye Ouyang! Hello!"

Li Zhe shook hands with him.

"Hello, I'm Li Zhe." He stepped aside and pointed to the cat licking its paws behind him. "This is Big Orange."

"Let's go," Li Zhe said, looking down at the palm-sized Detector on his wrist. "I've detected energy fluctuations from evo factor evolution just ahead."

Chen Xing nodded and led the two into a Black SUV provided by the base. The car drove for about ten minutes, finally stopping by a river.

The three got out of the car, and before they could even steady themselves, they saw a group of elderly people gathered by the river. They were holding mineral water bottles—not just one or two, but crates of them. They unscrewed the caps and poured the water into the river, muttering something under their breath.

The three watched this scene in silence.

"Releasing mineral water..." Ye Ouyang murmured, "Uh, this..."

Chen Xing rubbed his brow and didn't speak.

Li Zhe stood nearby, his expression also somewhat complicated.

"Release it, release it," one old lady muttered as she poured water. "Infinite Karma, infinite Karma..."

Ye Ouyang suddenly turned and disappeared.

Chen Xing and Li Zhe looked at each other, and before they could ask, they saw Ye Ouyang running back from a nearby convenience store carrying a large crate of mineral water. Panting, he put the crate down near the elderly people and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Hey—mineral water for sale! One yuan a bottle! Cheap, cheap!"

The elderly people immediately surrounded him, taking bottle after bottle, and the crate of water was soon snatched up. Ye Ouyang ran back happily, clutching a handful of change.

Chen Xing looked at him with a complicated expression: "...How did you do that? So fast?"

Ye Ouyang shook the money in his hand with a smug face: "Hey, I learned this from the internet. It says that if you want to get rich, you must seize any opportunity to make money."

Chen Xing sighed.

He turned to Li Zhe: "Let Big Orange stay in the car. It's not time for combat yet, or rather, we don't need him yet."

Li Zhe nodded, then looked at the air beside him.

"Big Orange has been right here."

Chen Xing was stunned: "Where?"

Li Zhe reached out and felt the air beside him—the large, smooth-skinned dark orange cat was crouching by his hand, its reptile-like vertical pupils quietly watching them. It had been invisible just now.

"Oh... uh, it really is." Chen Xing also reached out and touched it; it felt hard and smooth. "Alright then."

He took a deep breath and walked towards the group of elderly people who were still muttering.

"Sir, Ma'am," he began, trying to keep his tone polite, "what are you doing?"

One old lady looked up, glanced at him, and continued pouring water, muttering things like "Buddha bless," "accumulating Hidden Merit," and "releasing brings blessings."

An old man nearby chimed in: "We're releasing mineral water! It increases Hidden Merit, how wonderful!"