Chapter 116

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Chapter 116: Bountiful Rewards

「Paradise Game is entering its routine maintenance period. Upon next launch, we will be entering long-term mission phase.Please patiently wait for the reopening notification. Paradise looks forward for your return.」

As these words illuminated the interface, Zhang Zhiyuan felt himself return to the real world. The air in this world was suffused with a faint scent of disinfectant, and the back of the reclining chair felt soft and warm against his back .

At least, compared to the hard, wooden bed on which he had slept for several days straight, the medical recliner provided by the higher ups was a rare luxury.

He removed his VR headset, rubbed his slightly sore, numbed eyes and turned to look at his two colleagues. “How are you guys feeling? You aren’t uncomfortable anywhere, are you?”

“I felt like I was just a tourist on sightseeing… The mission ended without me even doing anything,” Choi Jeon-eun said, her eyes looking somewhat vacant. “Why was there not even a combat scenario in this round of the game? I was really looking forward to show off some of my skills in that area.”

“It’s because the main quest this time is about helping the Cathedral escape its predicament? The framework for the pharmaceutical company has already been set up. This mission is completely different from previous ones.”

“I hate management games,” she muttered under her breath.”There’s no challenge in merely selling products.”

“What about you? How do you feel? What’s your take on this?” Zhang Zhiyuan turning towards Xue Quan, deliberately ignoring Choi Jeon-eun’s complaints.

“All I can say is that it was a truly eye-opening journey,” Xue Quan replied with a appreciative smile. “Personally, I don’t subscribe to the idea of heaven’s mandate, but sometimes fate really works in mysterious ways. If we want our names to be recorded in history, we’ve got to work even harder.”

Uh… Is this the caliber of talent the nation has selected? Their depth of understanding and ideological awareness seem on another level entirely. Zhang Zhiyuan wondered, feeling a tinge of embarrassment as he compared his own understanding to Xue Quan’s profound insights.

At that moment, all three of their phones rang simultaneously. Zhang Zhiyuan picked up his phone and saw a delivery notification text.

“You got one too?”

“Yeah… The sender is ‘Paradise,'” Choi Jeon-eun confirmed. “It’s probably the reward we redeemed with our credits.”

Since there was no battle this time, most of their credits were preserved. Moreover, Zhang Zhiyuan noticed a new option labeled “Bright Stone” in his exchange menu. So, he decided then to convert all his points into these seemingly unremarkable stones.

His logic was simple, since this material comes from another world, these items were bound to be in short supply for research. By exchanging more, more experts would have access to the specimens—which couldn’t hurt.

He also noticed that the Exchange Interfaces for all three of them were nearly identical. Each featured the option to exchange for these ‘Bright Stone’, though the others players seemed to have slight differences options. He had privately asked Zhou Zhi about it, who mentioned that he didn’t have the stone exchange option at all; instead, his interface offered an extra ticket.

In other words, Zhou Zhi would no longer need to spend one million dollar to to re-enter the game. As long as he had a certain amount of credits, it would suffice.

“The sender address is Yucheng… that’s quite a change from Jindu last time.” Zhang Zhiyuan casually remarked as he forwarded the message to his boss, Old Gao. After doing all the hassle work, he decided to step out for some fresh air.

The other world might be novel, but its nightlife left much to be desired—especially when it came to food. Without a diverse array of spices and hot peppers to complement the dishes, his palate was practically numb from blandness. He felt like he was about to lose interest in eating entirely.

“How about hotpot tonight? it’s my treat.”

“Sounds fantastic! Count me in!” Choi Jeon-eun cheered, pumping her fist.

“I don’t have any other plans, so I’m free too,” Xue Quan added in agreement. “I’ll follow your lead.”

What Zhang didn’t know was that the very moment his message was sent, the entire Sentinel Center’s command post sprang into action!

****

1:22 PM, Yucheng.

A police car bearing a local license plate pulled into the North Ring Sorting Station of Jingxi Express. After presenting their credentials, two police officers and a supervisor of Jingxi took away three boxes of parcels, citing “hazardous materials” as the reason. Although the sorting station’s staff found this rather odd, the company headquarters had issued a notification and even dispatched accompanying personnel, so there was little room for objection.

Not long after leaving the station, the police car merged into a massive convoy. The convoy was led and tailed by police motorcycles, while in its center, the escort was formed by four special forces anti-landmine vehicles. At the same time, the highway leading to Yucheng Airport was converted to a one-way route and following the instructions, highway police set up temporary roadblocks at every exit to ensure that only the escorted convoy could access the expressway to the airport.

At exactly 2:00 p.m., the confiscated parcels were loaded onto a military transport aircraft and flown directly to North Hall. Throughout the operation, not a single member of the escort knew exactly what they were protecting.

At 4:35 p.m., the cargo shuttle landed at the North Hall Aviation Training Base, where it was met by another special forces convoy in waiting.
When this convoy pulled into the front yard of the Sentinel Department, the yard was already filled with people.

Among them was standing Professor Fu Jiangshui. His idea was simple, he just wanted to see with his own eyes how this unbelievable material was being delivered into their hands. What he discovered was astounding.

As the researcher carefully opened the temperature-controlled container and the moment they removed the three boxes of express parcels, a collective gasp swept through the crowd. The reason was simple enough. The packaging was so unremarkable and ordinary that it looked like a 10 yuan bargain from an online street stall. The cardboard boxes were clearly reused multiple times, with visible signs of having been crushed.

Fu Jiangshui could only feel the pulsing of veins on his forehead as he thought, Are these people completely clueless? Do they have no idea how precious this stuff is? Had it not been for years of self-restraint, he might have lost his temper and cursed out loud on the spot!

But the moment he saw the stones wrapped in newspaper inside the boxes, all lingering complaints vanished in an instant. Because this time the quantity was more than ten times the previous batch!

Fu Jiangshui already knew that last time everyone had received samples cut from a single stone. Each piece was no larger than a thumbnail. This time, there were about twenty stones, some of which appeared to be of even superior quality.

Of course, the Sentinel Center wouldn’t possibly distribute the stones as easily as slicing up sweet potatoes in the courtyard. Their gathering there was merely for visual enjoyment. After a brief visual inspection, all the Yao stones were reboxed by thw staff and then transported in small carts into a heavily guarded storage room.

“Professor Fu, I’ve finally found you,” a familiar voice called from behind.

Fu Jiangshui turned around. “Ah, it’s you, Director Gao. May I ask what brings you here?”

Ever since arriving at the center, he had been completely absorbed in his research, and the only administrative staff member he really knew was Director Gao Wei. Although their work rarely intersected, Gao Wei would always greet every researcher during meal times in the cafeteria—and occasionally even join them for a meal. Over the past few days, everyone had become fairly familiar with one another.

“It’s not that I needed to see you specifically,” Director Gao explained, “but the department plans to hold a technical conference tomorrow evening at 8 PM in the multifunction hall. Your report on superconductors created quite a stir among the experts and academicians, so your presence is required at this meeting.”

With that, he handed over an official written notice .

“For even something this minor thing, you still have to come in person? Really…” Fu Jiangshui said with a smile as he accepted the notice. He then pulled a pen from his pocket, signed his name along with a notation indicating receipt, and then handed the paper back to Director Gao. “Can’t they arrange for a secretary to handle these little matters?”

With the network restrictions and limited phone access, the most ancient method of ‘written communication’ once again became the mainstream means for handing over work.

“When it comes to confidentiality, the fewer people involved the better,” Gao Wei said as he carefully put away the notice. “You can go ahead; I still have several people to contact.”

“Wait a minute… Director Gao,” Fu Jiangshui called out, unable to hold back. “Can you tell me now, where these stones came from? When I saw the packaging, I almost thought they were dug up from someone’s field.”

Gao Wei shook his head slightly. “I wish I could be more forthcoming, but orders are orders.”

“Alright then,” Fu Jiangshui replied with evident regret. “But I still hope you can pass along a message and ask the excavators to put a bit more thought into the packaging. Using plain, recycled cardboard just isn’t acceptable! These things are undoubtedly priceless—we’re certainly not short on funds. If necessary, I’m willing to personally step in, if they really are being excavated.”