Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for the Lavin’s. Fortunately, the next day was Saturday so they could rest however long they wanted. However, Zhang Lisheng needed to get up early and drive to the hotel for his appointment.

The Ocean Empire Building was composed of three independent high-rise buildings, two tall and one short, using a transparent low hanging corridor. The chaotic war on Earth had made it almost impossible for similar-sized skyscrapers to be reproduced in Noah in the foreseeable future so because of this, this building naturally became a landmark for the New Washington A.

One could say that if it was not for the smaller-scale building revenue support from the Ocean Empire and the more than ten other similar buildings in other large oasis cities that also had integrated business, entertainment and leisure together, the LS Group that had its income in the slaughter industry sharply shrunk would have most likely filed for a bankruptcy.

Of course, if this series of comprehensive buildings had not been built in the first place, LS would not have fallen into a financial crisis either.

As the sun was rising, the jeep drove by the young man appeared outside the huge revolving door of the hotel. As soon as it was stopped, a server wearing a blue uniform and a pair of snow-white gloves immediately stepped forward to open the door.

“Good morning, Dr., I’m Juan Donners, the executive manager of Ocean Empire Hotel. I’m honored to serve you today.” When Zhang Lisheng got out of the car, the other thin white man wearing a black suit standing upright, with his age ranging between middle and old age who was already waiting by the side immediately bowed and said, “Mr. Edward is already in the lobby waiting for you. Would you like to meet him directly or have breakfast first? ”

“Nice to meet you, Juan.” After knowing that this diligent treatment he encountered must be arranged by Charlie. Zhang Lisheng smiled indifferently. “Take me to see Edward first, and then please ask the kitchen to send a beef and sheep mixed stew and iced Coke.”

“Yes, Dr. Please come with me.” Juan nodded and guided the young man though the big door made from ground sand with a dignified yet respectful manner and walked into the hotel lobby.

The floor underneath their feet was made of transparent tempered glass. The hollow grooves under the glass were covered with yellow sand, with various strange dune creatures living in it. Some of them changed their thick skin color and hid themselves in caves while some were shuttling around chasing after the guests’ footsteps, making the people to inadvertently lower their heads while giving off a rustic charm.

Countless of dense and tall shrubs crept along the walls in the distance that seemed to be composed of compact soil. These green trees grew slantingly, causing the air in the entire lobby to exude a kind of fragrant and refreshing aura that could only be found in the forest, allowing the guests to feel refreshed and relaxed being immersed in it.

Taking in deep breaths, Zhang Lisheng followed the man in the black suit to a round wooden coffee table surrounded by four exquisite single leather sofas beside a fountain shaped in oasis and lake that had fishes swimming in it in the center of the hall. When he saw his legal officer was sipping a cup of black coffee, he said with a smile, “Edward, you’re drinking black coffee to give yourself a lift so early in the morning? It looks like you’re ready to have a ‘great fight’ with that Mr. Philips from the Department of Defense, huh?”

“We must not let these high-ranking bureaucrats who straddle the political and military circle take advantage of us, boss.” The LS legal officer put down his coffee cup and stood up. Smiling, he answered, waiting for the young man to sit down before sitting down again.

The coffee table in front of him had a very ingenious location. It was not entirely placed outside of the guest lounge area of ​​the hotel lobby, and it was quite far from other wooden tables. If you did not intentionally raise your voice, you would not have to be worried about disturbing the others. Of course, it would be hard for you to be disrupted by other people too.

Juan chimed in smartly when he brought Zhang Lisheng to Edward, “Dr., I’ll prepare your breakfast for you. Please wait for a moment.”

Then, he bowed and retreated.

Watching his gradually receding back, and the scattered guests around them, the young man suddenly was overwhelmed with feelings, prompting him to remark, “Edward, looks like the increasingly difficult life in Noah has already seriously affected the hotel’s business. Even though the government has obtained a brand new ‘world’, I think that the federal economic index must be showing a straight downward trend compared to ten years ago. If this situation continues, what kind of consequences you think would happen?”

“In the worst-case scenario, there would be an outbreak of a large-scale civil war like the American Civil War and the entire nation would be divided.” Upon hearing slightly sentimental about the question asked by Zhang Lisheng out of the blue, Edward could not help but be stunned for a while. After pondering for a while, he answered, “But I don’t think such a major crisis would take place, boss. After all, in the face of the increasingly strong Atlanteans and the ambitious alien invaders, most Americans know the importance of unity.”

“Oh is that so? What a shame! A united nation is not that easily ‘swallowed’…” Zhang Lisheng had a regretful expression on his face as he murmured under his breath.

The instant his words left his mouth, he saw the executive manager of the Ocean Empire Hotel. Zhang Lisheng was personally pushing a silver dining car slowly out of the lobby staff elevator. After a while, a set of delicious meal with beef and mutton as the raw material, and a glass of steaming iced Coke appeared in front of the young man.

“Here’s your breakfast and drink, Dr. May I know is there anything else that you need?” After the meal was served, Juan asked politely.

“Not for the time being, Mr. Juan. Thank you.” Zhang Lisheng chowed down the beef and waved his hand with a smile.

At this time, the legal officer opposite him finally thought back the words muttered by the young man just now. With a pang of realization, he realized that his boss and the god that he believed in was not actually caring about the future and destiny of the United States but had started to covert his eyes on the Noah World maliciously. When Edward looked at the table knife being waved around in the young man’s hands, he could not help but feel chills running down his spine. At once, he no longer dared to make any sound.

Zhang Lisheng finished his meal of chowder in silence and put down his knife. When the clock hanging on the hotel front wall happened to point to nine o’clock, a tall big solemn-looking bald black man with a big face and thick lips who walked with a slight leap in accordance with the ticking of the clock, strode into the hotel.

The man was wearing a fashionable black hunting jacket but gave off an apparent stance of a soldier when he moved. The sharp eyes hidden behind his sunglasses gently swept around before he started to walk straight to the fountain in the center of the hotel.Read more chapter on vipnovel

When the black man finally walked up to Zhang Lisheng, he extended a hand expressionlessly and said, “You must be Dr. Zhang Lisheng. Good morning, I’m Philips Edwards.”

“You’ve guessed correctly, Mr. Philips, I’m indeed Zhang Lisheng. Nice to meet you.” The young man wiped his hands with a napkin and stood up to shake hands with the Department of Defense bureaucrat. Then, he pointed at Edward who was sitting opposite him and said half-jokingly, “This is Edward Wills. Did you know? Dealing with your colleagues the last few times has caused me a lot of trouble so I’ve prepared my lawyer in advance in our meeting this time. I hope you won’t mind.”

“Actually, I mind, Dr…” Philips glanced at Edward with a professional smile on his face and answered stiffly before sitting down on the sofa between the LS’s founder and legal officer.

Afterward, he briefly answered, “Coffee, thank you.” To Juan who briskly walked up to him with a polite question, “What drink would you like to have, sir?”

Then, he looked at Zhang Lisheng and continued, “I thought that this would be a meeting of only you and me, I didn’t expect you to invite another person to join in.”

“It’s obviously a mistake for ‘expecting’ it to be so, Mr. Philips.” Zhang Lisheng shrugged politely and said with an attitude stronger than his guest. Sitting back on the sofa, he said very directly, “You’re from the Logistics and Security Bureau of the Department of Defense and just from this name alone, I can roughly guess your intentions, so of course, I have to certainly take more care to meet you. I’m already showing my greatest respect to the federal government by bringing only one trusted lawyer.”

“Then what kind of intention do you think I have in meeting you?”

Upon seeing that the guest had insensibly started to play a maze game with him, Zhang Lisheng also replied by going around the bushes, “It’s said that the manufacturing of the most powerful conventional weapon of the state cannot be achieved without gold but gold is a kind of intriguingly rare mineral in every ‘world’ that humans can set foot in. The ‘human’s here don’t only specifically refer to us Earthling, am I right, Mr. Philips?”

“It’s not only the conductive parts of the mechanical warriors and the powerful engines of spacecraft carriers but many other sophisticated military equipment and materials— even the newly discovered room-temperature superconducting alloys—would also use up a lot of gold. Human beings need gold to continue civilization, and the government needs gold to defend the country…” Upon hearing the black-haired young man tactfully pointed out his intention, Philips looked at his eyes and interrupted the young man’s words in a straightforward tone without beating around the bush.

Immediately afterward, this senior bureaucrat from the Department of Defense was interrupted again by Zhang Lisheng, “I can’t afford such a big ‘proposition’. You should go look for that Free World’s leader who lives in the White House instead. Isn’t he the ‘savior’ chosen by the citizens of the world’s largest power?”

“I’d like to remind you, Mr. Philips, Dr. Lisheng doesn’t have any due obligations to the federal government.” Edward said at the same time, “If you come with a purely demanding attitude, then there’s no reason for us to continue this meeting.”

“That’s right, Mr. Philips. Mr. Edward has voiced out my thoughts perfectly.”

Upon hearing his two opponents singing at the same tune without leaving any room for him at all, Philips knew that his wish for the best-case scenario had been shattered. After a moment of silence, he asked directly in a cold voice, “Then what do you want, Dr.?”

“You should know that my gold comes from a powerful native tribe of the Shrimp World No. 2. And I believe you’ve also learned from the intelligence that you guys have previously gathered that I have a complicated relationship with that indigenous tribe named Wizard Li before you came to meet me. I’m a Chinese but I achieved my success in the United States. I’ve obtained a huge return from the Wizard Li tribe with an exchange of a little knowledge so, to me, the United States and Wizard Li are both my second hometown. I used to have a plan of turning the Wizard Li tribe into the fifty-first state of the United States through my own efforts but later, due to the arrival of the Atlanteans, the plan was abandoned before it could even be implemented. At that time, the foreign worlds have been transformed and demonized into purgatory by the bad-hearted aliens and the human beings living there are just like the evil spirits…” Now that Zhang Lisheng was slowly unraveling his ‘dagger’, he spoke with a slow and eloquent tone, beating around the bushes as he dropped a hint about his own intent.