353: Chapter 353 Blood Fiend's Budget and the "Hibernation Pod Accident"

The matter of Blood Fiend Old Demon demanding a triple budget was argued in the council for an entire afternoon.

The old man—though given his age, calling him "Old Demon" was already an honorific—stood at the podium, his greying hair standing on end like an agitated old lion.

He slammed the table, his voice hoarse but full of vigor:

"Is triple really that much? Do you have any idea how ingenious the memory protection field scheme I improved is?

It fuses my seven hundred years of Demonic Path Cultivation Technique, the Star People's seventeen types of energy resonance theories, and that damn memory aggregate's spirit field simulation technology!

Back in the day, this level of secret Cultivation Technique would have been enough to establish a sect! Now that I'm just asking you to approve some Materials costs, you still think it's expensive?"

Senior Brother Zhang adjusted his glasses and calmly retorted, "It's not that it's expensive, it's that your budget includes an item for '3,600 catties of Advanced Yao Beast essence blood'—where would New Homeland get 3,600 catties of Advanced Yao Beast essence blood? Even if we drained all the Moonlight Rabbits on the entire planet, it wouldn't be enough."

"Then raise them!" Blood Fiend Old Demon said righteously, "I can help with domestication and breeding, but that's a separate breeding fee, overtime pay is negotiable, and the construction cost for the domestication site is also negotiable..."

"This is no longer a triple budget," Wang Wu looked at his abacus beads (he insisted on using an abacus, saying it made him feel at ease) and wiped sweat from his forehead, "Counting these 'negotiables,' a conservative estimate is 7.8 times the original budget."

"7.8 times is fine too!"

"No!"

The meeting dragged on from afternoon until dusk, with the tea being refilled four times. Blood Fiend Old Demon managed to cut the budget from triple to 2.1 times—the price was his promise that the "Advanced Yao Beast essence blood" would be replaced by purified low-level Yao Beast essence blood, he would provide the breeding site himself, the domestication technology would be made public for free, and he would be responsible for training three additional Yao Race technicians.

"I've never suffered such a loss in my life," after the meeting, Blood Fiend Old Demon walked out of the council hall with a gloomy face, "In the past, anyone who dared to haggle with me would have already been drowned in a sea of blood."

"That was in the past," Zhao Iron Pillar interjected recklessly, "Now you have to use reason, evidence, and feasibility analysis. This is called human—civilizational progress!"

Blood Fiend Old Demon glared at him, but surprisingly didn't take action, and walked away with a cold snort.

Zhao Iron Pillar scratched his head: "This old devil has been in a much better mood lately."

"It's not that his mood is better," Little Li leaned over, lowering his voice mysteriously, "I heard from the Yao Race side that Senior Blood Fiend has been competing with Mountain Roar Lord for the top ten of the 'New Homeland Contribution Ranking'. The old man never cared about these superficial titles before, but ever since he discovered that contribution points could be exchanged for Advanced permissions in the memory library, he's like a different person."

Wen Youyi smiled upon hearing this. This wasn't strange. Although Blood Fiend Old Demon had a perverse personality, he had a near-paranoid pursuit of "becoming stronger." The lost Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques, ancient Formations, and forbidden secret arts in the memory library were the greatest temptation for him.

Having pursuits is good. People with pursuits are willing to reason.

After leaving the council hall, the sky had already darkened. Wen Youyi wasn't in a hurry to go back, but instead paced slowly along the town's newly paved bluestone road.

On both sides of the road were newly planted silver-blue saplings, emitting a soft glimmer in the twilight. A few children ran past, chasing glowing butterflies, their laughter crisp. In the direction of the distant farmland, one could faintly hear the work chants from the rainbow potato harvest—those were labor songs created by the Mortals themselves, with simple tunes but a strong sense of rhythm.

Patrolling Yao Race warriors passed by and nodded to Wen Youyi in greeting. A few months ago, these Yao Race would have felt awkward for a long time just because they had to "nod to a human," but now it was much more natural.

Wen Youyi suddenly felt an unreal sense of trance. Three years ago, this place was still a wilderness. Three years later, there were already towns, farmland, workshops, schools, hospitals... and one hundred thousand people who chose to believe in him and followed him all the way here.

The pressure was immense, but he also felt very grounded.

When he reached the edge of the town, the communicator suddenly rang. It was Luo Chen, his voice unusually urgent:

"Wen Youyi, there is a situation on the hope... You'd better come over."

Wen Youyi's heart tightened. The hope had been docked in New Homeland's orbit as the final refuge and research platform. It was usually maintained by Luo Chen and a group of Sky Patrol technicians, and rarely had any issues.

"What's the situation?"

"You'll know when you get here," Luo Chen paused, "It's not dangerous, it's... very strange."

Half an hour later, Wen Youyi boarded the hope.

Luo Chen was waiting for him on the bridge, with Aila (she had recently been helping Luo Chen organize technical data on the hope) and a few technicians with strange expressions standing beside him.

"This way." Luo Chen didn't explain much, leading Wen Youyi across the bridge to an inconspicuous cabin door behind the medical area.

This was the hope's cryo-sleep cabin area, containing dozens of cryo-pods brought out from the Ranch World—most were severely injured people rescued from various perils back then, who hadn't had the chance to be awakened and treated.

"Which pod had an issue?" Wen Youyi asked.

"It's not an issue," Luo Chen pushed open the cabin door, "It's... awakened."

Wen Youyi went in and looked, stunned.

The lid of cryo-pod number three was completely open, and it was empty. Sitting beside the pod was a person—judging by the figure, it was a woman, wearing the standard Spark medical patient gown, her long hair disheveled, sipping a cup of hot tea.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up.

It was a young face, with delicate features, but her eyes held a ... vicissitude that didn't match her age.

"Wen Youyi?" She put down the teacup, her voice a bit hoarse, but her tone was very calm, "I've long admired your name. I am the sleeper from pod number three, serial number T-3742, my identity before waking up was..."

She paused, as if recalling memories sealed away for a long time:

"Creation Heavenly Court, 'Observer' reserve."

Wen Youyi's pupils contracted slightly. Beside him, Aila had already instinctively assumed a defensive posture.

The woman didn't move, just looked at them calmly and continued:

"Don't be nervous. I defected three hundred years ago."

Three hundred years.

Wen Youyi forced himself to calm down and sat opposite her: "What should I call you?"

The woman thought for a moment and revealed a bitter smile: "It's been too long since I used a name, let me think... I think it's... Lin Jiang. Jiang as in deep purple."

"Ms. Lin Jiang," Wen Youyi didn't beat around the bush, "How did you end up in a cryo-pod in the Ranch World? Defecting Observers should be hunted down by the Heavenly Court; they wouldn't let you live."

"Because I have already 'died' once," Lin Jiang's tone was very calm, as if telling someone else's story, "Three hundred years ago, after I discovered the truth of the Ranch World, I refused to execute a Heavenly Mandate marking mission and was sentenced to 'consciousness formatting.' Before the execution, my mentor—an old Observer who also harbored doubts about the harvesting System—exchanged my corpse for a defective Law fragment, secretly transferred my consciousness into a spare body, disguised it as the corpse of a Ranch World native, sealed it in a cryo-pod, and mixed it in with the remains of harvested Cultivators."

She paused: "I thought I would slowly dissipate in my sleep. I didn't expect that three hundred years later, your ship would save me and bring me here."

The cabin was silent.

Wen Youyi suddenly asked: "What about your mentor?"

Lin Jiang's eyes dimmed: "Dead. One hundred years ago, the Creation Heavenly Court purged 'ideologically impure' members from within. He voluntarily exposed himself to cover the evacuation of several other doubters. I heard he was sentenced to 'consciousness annihilation,' leaving not even memory fragments behind."

Silence again.

After a long time, Wen Youyi stood up: "You should rest well and recover your body first. If you need anything, just ask."

Lin Jiang looked at him, her eyes somewhat complex: "You don't want to ask me more? Like the internal secrets of the Creation Heavenly Court, the Observer training System, or the historical loopholes of the harvesting System?"

"I want to," Wen Youyi said candidly, "but not now. You just woke up; your body and mind need time to adapt. When you are ready, we will talk."

He turned to leave, but Lin Jiang suddenly called out to him:

"Wen Youyi—three years ago, when you destroyed the spirit net control center, did you encounter a residual consciousness named 'Profound Mechanism Master'?"

Wen Youyi stopped.

"He was my mentor's mentor," Lin Jiang said softly, "My mentor once said that Senior Profound Mechanism Master was the first Observer to question the harvesting System. After he was modified into a System interface, he had been waiting for someone who could end all of this. Did you... see him?"

Wen Youyi was silent for a few seconds, then nodded:

"I did. He helped us, and then... passed away."

Lin Jiang lowered her head, her long hair covering her face, making her expression unclear. But her shoulders were trembling slightly.

"That's good..." her voice was very light, "He finally waited."

Wen Youyi exited the cabin and gently closed the door.

"What do you think?" Luo Chen lowered his voice, "Is she credible?"

"I don't know," Wen Youyi shook his head, "but if she were a spy for the Heavenly Court, there would be no need for her to voluntarily reveal the identity of an 'Observer reserve.' Plus... her reaction when mentioning Profound Mechanism Master didn't seem like acting."

"Then how should we handle this next?"

"Settle her normally," Wen Youyi said, "assign her a place to live, register her contributions, just like everyone else. But keep a secret watch—Aila, you and Silver Thorn are responsible for this. Don't let her notice."

Aila nodded.

When walking out of the hope, the night sky was filled with stars.

Wen Youyi stood on the gangway, looking at the lights of the New Homeland town in the distance, and suddenly remembered the words Profound Mechanism Master said before he dissipated:

"Under the starry sky, there should be freedom."

A defector from three hundred years ago and an awakened one from three hundred years later, under the same starry sky, came together for the same belief.

This was no coincidence.

This was the spark passed down by generation after generation of "Awakened Ones" with their lives.

Wen Youyi took a deep breath and walked down the gangway.

New Homeland had a new resident named Lin Jiang. She was taciturn and reclusive, rarely interacting with anyone except for necessary registration and medical check-ups. Some gossiped that she was "arrogant" or "aloof," and others were curious about her background, but she never explained.

Only a few people knew her true identity.

Wen Youyi didn't rush her. Three hundred years was too long, long enough to wear down a passionate young person into the weary and calm state she was in now.

She would need time.

But at least, she had finally found a place where she could stay.

That night, Wen Youyi had a dream.

In the dream, Profound Mechanism Master stood on the stargazing platform, the night wind blowing through his white hair. He turned to look at Wen Youyi with a relieved smile on his face:

"Young man, you have done very well. Better than I imagined."

"Senior..." Wen Youyi wanted to say something, but found he couldn't make a sound.

"That child—Lin Jiang, I know she has awakened," Profound Mechanism Master's figure gradually became transparent, "Tell her, there is no need for guilt, no need for self-reproach. The path she took is the right one."

"I must go now."

"Thank you for letting me finally... close my eyes."

Starlight scattered, and the old man's figure turned into countless points of light, merging into the night sky.

When Wen Youyi woke up, his pillow was wet.

Outside the window, the sky was already faintly bright.

He sat up, watching the morning light slowly spread over the town, farmland, and forests of New Homeland.

The communicator received Wang Wu's daily report: Blood Fiend Old Demon's budget was officially approved, the Construction Department's new residential area was topped out, the Agriculture Department's rainbow potatoes had completed a new round of improvement, Little Girl's "Bright Fur Ball" successfully learned to walk upside down last night...

And one more, from Lin Jiang, short and containing only a few words:

"Thank you."

Wen Youyi looked at it for a while, smiled, and put the communicator into his pocket.

There were still many things to do today.

For example, continuing to study that blue crystal that refused to open.

For example, confirming the purification scheme for the Yao Beast essence blood with Blood Fiend Old Demon.

For example, going to the school to check on Little Girl's homework—she was studying mathematics recently, and it was said to be not going very smoothly.

For example...

He walked out the door, facing the morning sun, towards a new day in New Homeland.

(End of chapter)