After saying goodbye to his father and mother at the gate of Dragon City University, Meng Chao went straight to the Lair Reconstruction Committee's office.

Just like the other regions of Dragon City, the Lair had also experienced tremendous development in the past six months.

The rotten flesh of the past had all been removed, and the wounds had all been scabbed. After the scabs peeled off, new shoots grew out.

The current Lair was no longer the chaotic place where the poor streets and alleys ran rampant, and the illegal buildings were as messy as inferior building blocks.

That was due to Dragon City's scale being several times larger than half a year ago. Under the initiative of the Home Party, the authorities built several large residential areas outside the city, using the method of "zero down payment, cost price, and low-interest rate." They gave priority to selling to citizens whose living space did not meet the standard.

Almost all the residents of the Lair met the requirements.

In addition, Meng Chao used the Underground Emperor's inheritance and mobilized the relationship between Broken Star Club and Blue Home to make a large number of short-term loans to cover the relocation costs of the residents.

He successfully helped more than 30 percent of the residents of the nest city solve their living problems and let them move to the sleeping city in the suburbs.

The nest city, which had greatly reduced its population density, could finally clean up the ruins, demolish illegal buildings, optimize the community structure, plan new financial, commercial, and industrial blocks, and build skyscrapers that reached the clouds.

Although the overall height had increased a lot, because of the large number of tempered glass, it created a transparent feeling. Walking on the streets, the sun was bright, and the air was fresh. It was more than ten times brighter than before.

Not only were major entertainment venues in the Lair, which had been completely renovated and upgraded, more magnificent than in the past, but there was also a lot less foul smell.

In short, the visible and invisible walls between the Lair and the other areas of Dragon City were gradually dismantled.

Even the members of the original gang gradually became handsome and looked like good citizens.

Meng Chao was self-aware, and this was naturally not thanks to him.

Although he had the titles of "Golden Tooth Lair leader" and "Chairman of the Lair Reconstruction Committee," he was a hands-off manager. Other than helping the Lair connect with the outside world and providing some resources and connections, he rarely interfered in specific matters.

The original major gangs of the Lair still enjoyed a high degree of autonomy.

As for the direction of development, it was up to Lu Siya and A'Ji, one in the open and one in the dark, to be controlled by the two experts.

A'Ji did not need to be mentioned—this kid was originally the rejuvenated version of "Saber" Jin Wanhao. He handled the affairs of the Lair with ease.

Lu Siya, on the other hand, had worked hard and made great contributions. Apart from completing her job in the Abnormal Beast Research Department, she spent every day and night in the Lair office, managing her business in an orderly manner.

That made Meng Chao feel a little embarrassed.

One had to know that Lu Siya had also been promoted in the Abnormal Beast Research Department.

Thanks to her outstanding performance in the Lair battle, the Abnormal Beast Research Department had perfectly sniffed out the Vortex's plot. The deputy director, Nie Chenglong, had led well, successfully getting rid of the word "deputy" and becoming the head of the department.

Ye Xiaoxing, the team leader of the ninth special search team, who had been Lu Siya and Meng Chao's direct leader, had taken over the position of deputy director.

Due to Lu Siya's contributions in the raging mountain range battle, Blessed Paradise murderous pets case, the attack on Noble Descent Hotel, and the battle in the Lair, she naturally deserved to be promoted to the team leader of the ninth special search team.

The current ninth special search team was already a well-known trump card of the Abnormal Beast Research Department.

Lu Siya was also an ambitious woman who was determined to make progress. She was not willing to stop there.

She was determined to make some achievements, so she naturally did her best. She had a lot of things to do every day and a lot of things to do at night.

On one hand, she had to eliminate the hidden dangers of the monster remnants in Dragon City. On the other hand, she had to investigate the strange things in the depths of Monster Mountain Range. On the other hand, she also had to take time to deal with the business in the Lair. She had to work 24 hours a day.

Just thinking about it gave Meng Chao a headache.

He felt even more sorry for leaving such a headache to Lu Siya to deal with.

Especially today.

When he saw Lu Siya in the office of the nest city with two large dark circles under her blood-red trench coat, her skin was even paler than his, who had not been exposed to the sun for a long time. Her face was full of lack of sleep, and she was yawning slightly, this feeling of guilt was even stronger.

"Sister Ya, how long has it been since you slept?"

Meng Chao said in surprise and guilt, "What big case have you encountered again? Aren't you working too hard?"

"Even if there aren't any big cases, do you think I have the time to be idle?"

Lu Siya looked at Meng Chao with deep resentment. "I realized that partnering with you was the biggest mistake of my life. Who would have thought that you would be such an irresponsible fellow? You just risked your life and mine in the Lair. It wasn't easy for you to seize the dominance of the Lair and have the opportunity to develop your grand plans. You even joined hands to create a world-shaking undertaking, but in the end, you ended up slapping your a** and going into the Supernatural Tower to enjoy yourself. You left me outside to battle with those people who wouldn't even spit out a bone. Aren't you embarrassed?"

"I'm sorry."

Meng Chao cleared his throat and explained, "By the way, Sister Ya, whether it's Dragon City or the Other World, the strong preys on the weak. In a place where the winner is king, what is the most important thing in doing business? In the end, it is still the size of your fist.

"As long as your fist is big enough, even if you don't know anything about business, there will naturally be resources, business opportunities, and professionals around you to give you advice and ideas to build a huge business empire.

"What if your fist is not big enough? Even if you spend all your energy, jump up and down, and earn a mountain of gold and silver, you will still be making money for others. You might even be seeking your own death.

"Take the Lair gangs for example. Why are they willing to listen to our order to 'rebuild the office'? Do we really have the final order of the Underground Emperor in our hands, or do we have 'special charisma'? This is all nonsense. It's nothing more than us and the combat strength behind us that can temporarily intimidate them.

"At the moment, our career has entered a critical and deep stage. We can't always rely on unexpected factors like 'Saber' Jin Wanhao to save our future development. If we want to become bigger and stronger, we still need absolute military force to protect us.

"That's why I went to the transcendental tower to cultivate in seclusion. It's also for our common future interests!"

Meng Chao's voice sounded like it could hypnotize Lu Siya. She relaxed and even began snoring gently.

Only when Meng Chao finished speaking did she jolt awake. She frowned slightly and mumbled, "...That makes sense. I forgive you."

Then, she pointed at the things in Meng Chao's hand. "What are those?"

"They're for you. They're perfect!"Meng Chao placed the two big boxes on the desk.

Lu Siya was slightly startled. "Why did you give me these?"

"Oh, just now, my parents and I sent my younger sister to register at Dragon City University. When we came out, they asked me where I was going. I said I was looking for you. They said that we hadn't seen each other for a long time and that we couldn't come to see you empty-handed. We had to buy some gifts."

Meng Chao said, "I think it makes a lot of sense. After all, you've put in too much for our business, so I picked these carefully!"

"Hmph!" Lu Siya snorted from the depths of her nose. She did not know whether she was satisfied or not, but she picked up a box and tore the packaging with her pinky finger. "What? It's so mysterious and heavy?"

"The latest high-grade oral gene nutrition liquid developed by Dragon City University. I bought the highest-grade, which is most suitable for high-end businessmen like us who have reached Heaven Realm!"

Meng Chao took credit, "It tastes completely different from Agricultural University's nutrition liquid. I thought you must be tired of drinking Agricultural University's nutrition liquid, so I specially changed the taste for you. Judging from your haggard appearance, you must need it very much. Now, open a bottle and drink it!"

Lu Siya's movements froze.

The corners of her eyes twitched slightly. She asked with a fake smile, "Why? Do I look that haggard?"

"It's okay. I look haggard too."

Meng Chao seriously said, "The three critical periods of cultivation, career, and war are like this. You'll be fine after you get through this period."

Lu Siya took a deep breath.

She raised her head and studied the patterns on the light bulb for ten seconds.

She lowered her head again and took another deep breath. Pushing away the oral nutrition liquid, she reached out to open another box. "Don't tell me this box is also filled with gene medicine?"

"Yes, this box is as well, but it's not for you. It's for Ms. Mulian," Meng Chao said.

"...Oh."

Lu Siya stood up and expressionlessly said, "Is there anything else?"

"Ah?"

Meng Chao was stunned. He thought to himself, "Is there something else? I haven't even sat down yet!"

"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

Lu Siya said, "I have a mission tonight."

Meng Chao scratched his head. "I thought I would come here to have a meal with you and talk about the progress of the project."

"I'm not free."

Lu Siya paused and explained, "I'm really not free. It's a temporary special mission. I have to report back to the station by seven o'clock at the latest. If there's anything else, just stand here and say a few words. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

"It's nothing much. It's just that I haven't understood your situation for a long time. After being team nine's leader, you must be so busy that you have to hit the back of your head, right? Don't worry. My project in the Supernatural Tower is about to end. I'll be able to break out of seclusion soon and help you. When that happens, our career will be on the fast track!"

Meng Chao thought for a moment before adding, "Oh right, there's also my sister. She has repeatedly reminded me to thank you properly. Without your help, she wouldn't have been able to awaken so smoothly and enter Dragon City University's Martial Arts Department."

"We're all friends. That's nothing."

Lu Siya calmly said, "I quite like your sister's personality. We got along quite well."

Meng Chao thought about it and agreed.

The Queen Bee and Dark Witch should have a lot of common topics, right?

After that, he was speechless again.

He felt that the atmosphere was very tense.

Of course, it could also be because the two of them were currently involved in too many secrets.

Meng Chao and the ancient ruins research center had signed a confidentiality agreement of the highest level. Naturally, they could not take out the test items in the ancient ruins and talk about them.

Lu Siya had become the leader of team nine and was also in charge of many top-secret cases.

On top of that, Meng Chao was also a non-staff member of the Abnormal Beast Research Department.

However, even if he was an official investigator, he did not have the right to know the details of a case that he wasn't personally involved in.

Both were industry insiders. They naturally knew their limits and would not probe into the root of the matter to put the other in a difficult situation.

'I guess I'll just have to leave it at that.'