She forced a smile, maintained her basic professional composure, left a business card behind, and turned to leave.
"Found it," Wang Bing pushed his glasses up, lowered his head, looking at his smart terminal, "There are many such companies, they look for financially poor but promising individuals to invest in, signing many contracts with hidden clauses."
"Those who are chosen by them have limited experience and are easily deceived, indeed they provide certain resources, but as Li Ming had said, they are self-produced brands, and the prices are several times higher than other brands."
"And the interest is calculated based on the total price offered from the beginning, leading to a number nearly doubling over a few years, and after starting work, they use various methods to reduce the remuneration."
"The key point is, during this process, the interest continues to accumulate, and due to the confidentiality clause in the contract, these people can’t speak out the truth."
This was a huge trap; Liang Long’s face turned pale. If he had really signed just now, he might not have been able to pay off the debt even if he worked like an ox.
"Where did you find this? Why didn’t I find it?" Ge Hong glanced at it, his face dramatically changing, "Shit, The Black Hole Network!"
Wang Bing explained casually, "These pieces of information can’t be found through regular channels, they can only be bought on the Black Hole Network. This kind of information isn’t expensive, you can get a copy for a few hundred Star Coins."
"Jingnan really isn’t a good place," Ge Hong muttered.
"Thank you, guys," Liang Long said after a long silence, standing up.
"We’re friends," Zhang Huaiyuan pressed him back down, saying, "If you really want to take out a loan, borrow from our family, the contracts we offer are quite normal."
His family certainly didn’t have such contracts, but Zhang Huaiyuan was inspired by Liu Yao; Liang Long came from the same place as them, and although he was rather sensitive, he was tenacious and trustworthy, and it was definitely not a loss.
Liang Long looked at Zhang Huaiyuan and nodded firmly.
This little interlude weighed heavily on everyone’s mind, for the first time they felt such blatant malice, and the atmosphere became quite somber.
"Brother Li, how did you know there was something fishy about their contract?" Ge Hong curiously asked, "Have you come into contact with them before?"
"Not really," Li Ming shook his head, still chewing on a piece of meat, "Just asked casually; if they were forthcoming, they would naturally have an answer."
"You really think a lot, you definitely won’t get conned in the future," Ge Hong remarked.
"Getting conned isn’t a big deal, as long as you can fill the hole," Li Ming replied.
"How would you fill it?" the others asked, intrigued.
"Throw a person in, and it’ll be filled up," Li Ming stood up; he had eaten his fill.
The others were stunned.
"Ha...haha..." Ge Hong laughed awkwardly, "That’s a dark joke, using a person to fill a hole... haha..."
With their stomachs full of food and drink, everyone went back to their rooms.
The moment he opened the door to his room, the hairs on his body stood on end as he sensed the presence of a higher-level life form.
"Don’t be nervous, it’s me," a somewhat familiar voice came through.
Li Ming’s heart stirred slightly, "Brother Fang?"
He turned on the light, and standing in the center of the room was indeed Fang Biao.
He carefully closed the door, somewhat surprised, "What brings you here?"
"The Professor asked me to come," Fang Biao crossed his thick arms, speaking in a deep tone.
"The Professor knows I’ve arrived?" Li Ming approached closer.
"Of course, the Professor knew the moment you arrived," Fang Biao motioned for Li Ming to sit down, "Here, the Professor can tap into resources beyond your imagination."
"But that is exactly why the Professor couldn’t come in person, to avoid detection by others, that’s why he sent me instead," Fang Biao added.
Li Ming nodded thoughtfully, and Fang Biao quickly followed up with a question, "The Professor wanted me to ask about the progress of your gene seed development."
"62%," Li Ming considered for a moment before deciding to answer truthfully.
"What? 62%, are you sure?" Fang Biao was astonished.
He suddenly realized something, "Were you developing it all the way here?"
Fang Biao’s expression changed slightly, this kind of perseverance was rare to come by.
"There is one more thing," Fang Biao said, calming himself, "The professor told you not to hold back during the selection; he will be there in person and then promote you to the special training class."
"Once you are in, it will be easier for the professor to reach out to you."
"Was this special training class set up by the professor?" Li Ming asked.
"You’ve got it wrong," Fang Biao shook his head: "The Blue Star higher-ups had this idea six months ago. It was a requirement put forth by the Yitelan advanced civilization, they are the main civilization bolstering our Blue Star."
"Some had approached the professor in the past wanting him to come out of retirement, but he refused them all, because of you. After Professor returned, he voluntarily chose to start teaching."
So that was it. Li Ming nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "What do you mean by the professor promoting me?"
"Normally, you’d have a hard time getting into the special training class. Don’t take it the wrong way, those in the front of the queue, the E-level life forms, their development progress is close to, even exceeding 90%."
"Their development potential is not much different from yours, there are some at level six too."
Fang Biao paused, feeling he had spoken too bluntly, then soothed, "But rest assured, the professor will be there. He has had contact with you on Silver Grey Star before, and will use the reason that he ’took a liking to you’ to get you into the special training class."
"Took a liking to me?" Li Ming’s expression was odd, what an incredible excuse.
"But don’t take it lightly. The others are no pushovers. If you perform too poorly, it will be difficult for the professor as well," Fang Biao cautioned, "The professor has high hopes for you, don’t let him down."
After finishing, Fang Biao did not linger, his face changed and he left cautiously.
The surveillance cameras of Jingnan Star were everywhere, with no heavily polluted atmosphere to obstruct them, the satellites orbiting close to Earth could function perfectly.
But there were inevitably blind spots.
"I wonder how much Brother Biao actually knows about my situation," Li Ming pondered, with Old Wu already having prepared the script, he just needed to follow along.
Merging with the crowd from an unremarkable corner, Fang Biao arrived at an area not marked on any map, teeming with experimenters in white lab coats.
Passing through multiple reinforced alloy doors and after exchanging greetings along the way, Fang Biao reached the innermost room, where everything was exceedingly simple, without much decoration.
Behind a white desk, Professor Wu was engrossed in an experimental report.
"Professor Wu." As soon as he entered, he began to report: "I’ve made contact with Li Ming, his gene development progress has reached 62%."
"62%?" Professor Wu paused his actions and looked up at Fang Biao.
Fang Biao immediately said, "It seems he hasn’t stopped developing since he left for Silver Grey Star, his resolve is very strong."
"Good." Professor Wu nodded, not showing any particular pride at having his judgement affirmed, understanding what was most important in this interstellar expanse.
He became increasingly satisfied with Li Ming.
"I’ve also conveyed the message you told me to... " Fang Biao continued: "With his current strength and development potential, he will definitely be able to enter the advanced training class. I’ve also specifically warned him, so don’t worry."
"Warned him?" Professor Wu looked at him.
"Yes, I’m worried he would become complacent." Fang Biao explained.
"Self-satisfied." Professor Wu lowered his head again, continuing to read his experimental report.
Fang Biao scratched his head, accustomed to being scolded, and didn’t mind.
As the start of the school year approached, the entire Jingnan Star grew more and more bustling, with hotel prices skyrocketing, making many grit their teeth in anger.
By early October, there were activities going on everywhere across Jingnan Star, attracting a large number of youth.
The majority of young people were thinking of enjoying a wild time, yet Li Ming still followed his own routine, continuing to develop the gene seed whenever he had the time.
In his room, Li Ming’s breathing was rapid, his body burning hot. Bioelectric currents were stimulating his body at a high frequency, making his bones and joints experience an unimaginable itch.
Until a certain moment, when both the pain and itch faded, but before he could catch his breath, his body let out a muffled groan, and a tearing pain, as if rending his flesh, surged from all over his body.