"Director Lin, this isn’t considered accepting a bribe, right?" Li Ming pondered.
"How could this possibly be considered accepting a bribe?" Lin Yaoxian’s face showed complete surprise, seemingly confused as to why Li Ming would ask such a question, "If you were giving it to me, it might be considered bribery, but how can a superior sponsoring a subordinate be called bribery?"
"Indeed." Li Ming nodded, then impassively opened his Star Coin account.
This kid didn’t even hesitate, so natural? Lin Yaoxian cursed inwardly, while his actions were smooth and fluid.
Li Ming glanced at it, slightly raising his eyebrows, 500,000 Star Coins, truly a large sum.
It might not look much, but all of it was above board.
"Many thanks, Director Lin." Li Ming suddenly said solemnly.
Although Lin Yaoxian felt the pinch, he still smiled happily. He wasn’t afraid of Li Ming rejecting it; instead, he was worried Li Ming would be too naive.
He wanted to invite Li Ming for a meal, but in the end, Li Ming still waved his hand and refused, asked where the Internal Affairs Department was located on which floor, and then stepped into the staircase.
"Brother Li..." Li Ning, who had his head down walking, heard a familiar voice, lifted his head in surprise, and his face immediately lit up, "Li Ming?"
"When did you become an F-class life form?" Li Ming sensed an unusual aura from Li Ning and asked as he walked.
Not long ago, after all, Team Yang has now become Yang Ke. Li Ning winked suggestively; there were quite a few people greeting Li Ming in the corridor, all familiar faces, mostly those who were Yang Peng’s old subordinates.
A new king, a new set of loyalists, as the saying goes.
"Yang Ke’s office is all the way in the back. The department head had his own floor, but Yang Ke didn’t want to go there. He’s been too busy these past few days, also assuming the role of Logistics Head due to the shortage of manpower." Li Ning talked while he processed documents on a smart terminal.
"Li Ming!" Old Wu ran over, looking quite busy these past few days, his hair had even thinned significantly.
"Brother Wu." Li Ming greeted.
"Came to see Yang Ke, huh?" Old Wu flipped through some files, slapped the back of Li Ning’s head, "Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but you should be careful, Yang Ke isn’t happy with you."
"Ah?" Li Ning was a bit puzzled, "Why, I haven’t noticed."
"How many years have you been with Yang Ke?" Old Wu sneered, laughing sharply, "You eat from the bowl and look into the pot, be careful not to mess it up."
While Li Ming was still a bit puzzled, hearing this, he was at a loss for words, tugged at his skin slightly, and the two went their separate ways to their tasks.
Li Ming knocked on Yang Peng’s office, and an impatient voice came from inside: "Come in..."
"...you send him to find the former logistics head, I don’t acknowledge the contract he signed, the nutrient solution is less than 97% qualified, how could you use this supplier..."
When Yang Peng saw it was Li Ming, his expression changed slightly, he cursed a few times then ended the communication, gestured for Li Ming to sit down, then looked complex.
"Haven’t congratulated Uncle Yang yet." Li Ming initiated the conversation.
"Enough." Yang Peng waved his hand, "I know what the situation is. You and Secretary-General Fan... everything’s fine, right?"
"What could be wrong?" Li Ming shook his head, "Others spread rumors, even you believe them."
"Don’t tease me." Yang Peng glared at him, he seemed about to say something more, but just muttered under his breath, giving up saying, "You young people’s stuff, I can’t manage it."
"Do you want to transfer to my Internal Affairs Department, or what? Go to logistics? You’re too young to be a department head; it might cause some issues."
"Uh..." Li Ming pondered for a moment then said, "No thanks, I should be leaving Silver Grey Star soon."
Yang Peng paused slightly but wasn’t surprised, "I had guessed as much."
"By the way, Uncle Yang, have Tu Zheng and his crew fled?" That was what Li Ming initially came for.
Tu Zheng and his group were still carrying million-level bounties on their heads, likely due to Qin Xiao being temporarily detained, no one had rescinded the bounties.
"Hmm, their information networks are indeed responsive, but the Sixth Survey Fleet is still blocking the space channel; they are still on Silver Grey Star." Yang Peng spoke seriously, "They can’t run."
Tu Zheng had Yang Peng’s men around him; naturally, he couldn’t escape.
The two talked for a while, Li Ming learned that Yang Peng had moved Yang Yu and Old Yang both to city defense.
As a department head, his family could enjoy special protection.
Leaving Yang Peng’s office, Li Ming was prepared to find Old Wu; as he passed by the first floor, his expression paused slightly.
In the first-floor lounge, Xu Wei and Yang Yu were chatting, very engrossed in their conversation.
The hall was bustling with people, and the two didn’t notice him; Li Ming left directly, found a quiet place to change his appearance, then went back to the Silver City Hotel.
This time, the security personnel had become familiar with him; no one checked him again.
"Professor." Li Ming sat opposite Professor Wu, who put away the complex holographic projection in front of him, Fang Biao stood in the distance, occasionally casting curious glances over, then quickly diverted his eyes.
"Are you satisfied with how things have developed?" Professor Wu asked slowly.
"The professor’s ability to influence the course of events invisibly is truly admirable," Li Ming sincerely praised.
Professor Wu faintly smiled, "Your flattery isn’t bad."
He continued, "Additionally, I have already warned that Conclave Deacon through the beast tide incident, not mentioning you of course, but they probably won’t dare to come to Silver Grey Star for a while."
"Once I leave, you won’t need to worry about this affair."
Is this what it feels like to have a powerful backing? As Li Ming listened, a large stone seemed to lift from his heart.
"Of course, when they re-investigate this matter later, they will discover your involvement, but by then you will probably have already entered the capital’s University of Science and Technology and joined my laboratory."
"If there’s any conflict, I’ll handle it then."