Yang Fei lit a cigarette and said to Hu Lizhong, "You handle it, I’m going to sleep."
Hu Lizhong was stunned and became anxious, "No, everyone’s here, why are you still sleeping? Can you even sleep? Besides, you can’t just leave me alone like that, that’s not showing any loyalty."
Yang Fei chuckled, "We’re not fighting, what are the two of us doing staying here? I’m annoyed, out of sight, out of mind. You’re an old-timer from the Military Department, it’s enough for you to handle them here."
Hu Lizhong thought about it and agreed.
Just now, Minister Qin had admonished him on the phone to keep a close eye on Yang Fei, not to let him act impulsively and cause trouble.
Now that he was avoiding the situation himself, wasn’t that even better?
Watching Yang Fei go to the dormitory, Hu Lizhong even began to doubt whether Minister Qin’s words about Brother Yang being prone to impulsive trouble were a misunderstanding. Brother Yang had a pretty good temperament.
In a short while, twelve military aircraft arrived over Yunwu Mountain.
A few helicopters dispersed, hovering over several positions around the valley for a while. During this time, many soldiers descended from the aircraft and took up positions on several high points outside the valley.
The blinding lights shone on the valley, lighting up the whole valley as if it were daytime.
After circling for a while, the aircraft gradually descended.
Although the valley was large and the open area left was enough to accommodate a dozen vehicles, these military aircraft that could carry a dozen people each took up a significant amount of space. With more than a dozen in total, the parking lot could only fit three helicopters, while the other nine landed directly in the Medicine Land, destroying a large swath of medicinal herbs.
Upstairs, Yang Fei frowned slightly as he stood by the window and watched the scene.
Downstairs, Hu Lizhong also felt a twinge of pain as he saw so many good herbs being damaged. However, when people from the Central Battle Zone came to handle things, the helicopters had to find a place to land, and the losses were inevitable.
"We are from the Central Battle Zone. Everyone in the valley, listen up. Come out of your rooms immediately and gather in the open area downstairs. Stay where we can see you."
A voice echoed through the loudspeakers, reverberating endlessly in the valley.
Soon, many fully armed soldiers descended from the landed helicopters.
After getting off the aircraft, these soldiers spread out, orderly guarding the surroundings of the valley. At the same time, a dozen people rushed towards the dormitory building at great speed, taking Zhou Fu and more than ten other medicinal farmers who had come down from the dormitory building to the open area, lining them up in a row.
Zhou Fu and the others were somewhat baffled.
They had heard from Yang Fei that people from the Military Department would come to take over, and then the Tong Family would arrange for them to work at another medicinal herb base.
They did not expect the Military Department to come so quickly, and with so many armed troops.
For the first time in reality, these people were witnessing such a scene. They were excited, yet extremely nervous, and all cooperated obediently.
"Who’s in charge here?" Hu Lizhong saw a few soldiers approaching him, asking him to join Zhou Fu and the others in an orderly line, and he immediately felt disgruntled.
"Stay quiet and stand over there. This area has been taken over by the Central Battle Zone and, as of this moment, is considered a secret military base. We will soon arrange for someone to take you away," said a squad leader.
Hu Lizhong said, "I want to see your superior."
"Are you in charge here?" the squad leader asked with puzzlement.
Hu Lizhong shook his head.
The squad leader frowned and said, "Then stop talking nonsense and follow the command to go over there and line up."
"Heh, quite arrogant," Hu Lizhong laughed disdainfully and reached into his pocket to pull out his credentials.
"Don’t move, raise your hands." The soldiers beside the squad leader immediately raised the muzzles of their guns, aiming at Hu Lizhong, and sternly shouted.
Their gaze was sharp, their eyes cold, and their murderous aura penetrating, clearly that of well-trained soldiers who had seen combat.
Hu Lizhong’s eyebrows furrowed, a flash of killing intent swept through his eyes as he glanced at the two men.
The oppressive aura deliberately emitted by a Unique Tier fighter, even well-trained soldiers could not withstand it, and the two soldiers were immediately intimidated.
The squad leader was taken aback and started to take the middle-aged man before him seriously. He asked, "Are you a Martial Arts master?"
Hu Lizhong said, "Although I’m aware of the military’s way of doing things, you need to understand, we are not prisoners, nor are we your enemies. Treating us is extremely impolite."
The squad leader’s expression became stern as he asked, "Who are you?"
Hu Lizhong pulled out an identification card from his pocket.
This time, the captain and his soldiers did not overreact.
After checking the documents, the captain immediately straightened up and saluted, saying, "Good day, Commander."
Even though they were not from the same battle zone or department, military ranks were universal, and Hu Lizhong was a veteran in the Military Department and a genuine Unique Tier expert, so his military rank was not low.
"Hmm, are you the commander of this operation?" Hu Lizhong asked.
The captain returned Hu Lizhong’s documents and then reported, "No, Commander, I am not. This operation is being personally led by Major General Chu Que."
Hu Lizhong smiled upon hearing this and said, "Chu Que, an old comrade, I’ll go see him."
"Yes, I’ll immediately report to Commander Chu."
After speaking, the captain contacted Chu Que in front of Hu Lizhong using the communication device and said, "Commander, there is a Major General Hu Lizhong here, and he says he wants to see you."
"Old Hu? Where is he? I’ll be right there."
"Just downstairs from the dormitory building."
It wasn’t long before they saw a middle-aged military officer with a group of soldiers striding towards them.
Hu Lizhong greeted him with a smile.
"Aye, it really is you, Old Hu, hahaha, it must have been four or five years since we last met, you... eh, you seem to have made quite the progress."
The visitor was a square-faced, burly middle-aged man with a loud voice.
Hu Lizhong was quite proud of himself upon hearing this.
In the past few years, he hadn’t really improved much, but these seven or eight days in Yunwu Mountain had led to a dramatic increase in his strength. Seeing Chu Que so surprised made him exceptionally thrilled.
Moreover, he felt that he was about to enter the Innate Realm very soon.
At that time, he would become the first among their group of Unique Tier members created by national resources to step into the Innate Realm.
The thought was exhilarating.
It was all about encountering the right benefactor.
"Hehe, you’ve made significant progress as well, Old Chu. Everyone is progressing, so I, Hu Lizhong, can’t fall behind either," Hu Lizhong laughed heartily.
Chu Que looked at him with a mix of surprise and scrutiny.
He always felt that the current Hu Lizhong exuded a sense of hidden sharpness, even giving him a sense of pressure.
"How come you are here?" Chu Que walked over and shook hands with Hu Lizhong, asking.
Hu Lizhong’s smile broadened as he replied, "You really don’t know?"
Chu Que was startled, "Know what?"
"Know that I am here," said Hu Lizhong.
Chu Que stared at him and said, "Nonsense, weren’t you over at Binhai Military Department? How did you end up in this remote forest? I wouldn’t know if you hadn’t told me in advance."
Hu Lizhong chuckled and did not delve further into whether the other was feigning ignorance, simply asking, "What are you guys doing here?" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel-fire.ɴet
"We detected that this place is a geomantic treasure spot, and the Central Battle Zone has decided to establish a military base here," Chu Que responded without concealing anything.
Hu Lizhong said, "That really is a coincidence. Our Military Department has just taken a fancy to this place and planned to use it as a secret base as well."
"Ah? Such a coincidence?" Chu Que was stunned.
Hu Lizhong saw a hint of a smile on his face.
Damn it, he knew all along.
The Chu Family obviously had their sights set on Qin Yanyang.
If this had happened before, Hu Lizhong would definitely have stayed neutral, not getting involved in the struggle between the two families, but now, he had his own choice to make.