Dawning City.

The main road to the Union Building.

It's not even noon, and it's bustling.

The widened highway occasionally passes by one or two cars, but most of them are pedestrians on foot or on bicycles.

Looking at the crowds on both sides of the road, Yang Kai, who was standing on the edge of the crowd, couldn't help frowning slightly, and subconsciously stopped.

Spending a lot of time in a lab or a research ship, he doesn't like crowded places.

On the one hand, a lot of people means noisy and noisy, and on the other hand, the air is full of aerosols mixed with droplets.

Jiang Xuezhou, who was following alongside, saw the tutor stop and introduced him in a low voice.

"This is the central avenue of Dawning City, next to the most prosperous North Street, where it is said that the soldiers of the Alliance fought with the marauders of the Chewing Bone Tribe a long time ago, and dug many trenches...... Later, as the displaced people moved in and the trading posts developed, the trenches were widened into sewers, and houses were built with bricks. ”

These things were all told to her by Night Ten.

However, her mentor was obviously not very interested in the past of this settlement, and only said it with a grim face.

"There are too many people."

Knowing that his mentor doesn't like places with a lot of people, Jiang Xuezhou explained in a low voice.

"After all, there are more than 100,000 people living in this settlement."

Yang Kai laughed disappreciatively.

"A settlement of 100,000 people is so crowded."

In contrast, the settlements under the jurisdiction of the Science and Technology Commission are much more scientific.

People work in a step-by-step manner and are subject to scientific management, and even a settlement of hundreds of thousands of people will definitely not be so chaotic.

And, most importantly, they eliminate the waste of resources.

People can efficiently access the supplies they need, and instead of wasting time picking and choosing, they can spend more time on more meaningful things.

Jiang Xuezhou quite liked the excitement here, and couldn't help whispering.

"Maybe it's because there's going to be a celebration soon...... In fact, there are not so many people on the street. ”

"Celebration?"

"Celebrating the end of the wave, the Coalition intends to make this day their official holiday...... Now comes the preparation stage for the celebration, the fireworks display and celebration on the third day after the end of the wave, that is, the day after tomorrow. ”

Jiang Xuezhou whispered.

Yang Kai frowned, let go for a moment, and after thinking for a long time, he gave a pertinent opinion.

"Hmm...... It's really something to celebrate. ”

To be honest, he didn't expect that the group of wastelanders who relied on the equipment they had scraped together would single-handedly defeat the brood that the post-war reconstruction committee had not been able to defeat.

He could barely believe his eyes, who had been watching from the sidelines the whole time.

What happened here can only be described by the word miracle.

However, whether this is a miracle or not, it is definitely a big surprise for the Wasteland-minded Academy.

There are a large number of unexplored ruins in the city of Clear Springs, all of which were previously under the blockade of slime fruiting bodies.

Among them, there are not only pre-war research units, but also various production facilities and equipment of the army and aerospace forces in the era of the People's Union.

Now that the Alliance has captured the brood in the city center, the resources that were once occupied by slime molds can finally see the light of day!

The academy is not only full of interest in the hole cards of the alliance's victory over the brood in the city center, but also full of strong interest in the development of Qingquan City.

Of course, the Academy will not ask for the benefits of the alliance in vain.

Yang Kai communicated with his superiors on the phone, and his superiors meant that they could use the "cooperative R&D agreement" as a condition in exchange.

The college will open up some of its data to the alliance to support the development of technology-intensive industries, and upgrade the hardware of various laboratories.

According to the research and judgment of the Department of Foreign Affairs, for the current stage of the alliance, the technical support provided by the college is more attractive than the economic support provided by enterprises.

It's really not possible, it's okay to transfer a few D-level or even C-level technologies.

As long as the alliance promises not to sell these technologies to potential competitors of Academies such as Ideal City or Triumph City.

In addition to cooperating in the development of the monuments, the Academy's top brass also wanted to establish an office in the Alliance, the so-called Embassy.

Just like the embassy set up by the company in the alliance, it is convenient for the two sides to exchange views on southern affairs and the research of straelus variants in a timely manner.

In fact, in principle, diplomatic work is the work of the Foreign Affairs Division, and this kind of thing should not be the responsibility of one of his research departments.

But for the academy where the level is overwhelming, it is just a principle for professional people to do professional things, and Yang Kai certainly will not let such a big credit slip away from his resume.

Moreover, he had good reasons to convince his superiors.

First of all, the others happened to be near Qingquan City, and secondly, they were also carrying out support missions related to the Alliance.

As a result, through some operation, the entire work that should have belonged to the Department of Foreign Affairs was cut off by the Research Department.

For this meeting, Yang Kai was full of confidence, after all, he couldn't think of any possible reason for the alliance to refuse......

The two of them walked along the central avenue for a while, and after entering the boundary of the northern suburbs of Qingquan City, they saw the boxy building not long after.

The whole building is not high, only a few floors, but it covers a lot of land and is very spacious.

I heard that most of the time the Coalition's administrators are in the Vault on official business, and most of the permanent offices here are ministers at all levels, as well as middle and high-level staff from various departments.

It is not difficult to see from the bicycles and small electric donkeys that fill the parking lot that with the gradual expansion of the scale of the alliance, the organization construction to match it is also gradually improving.

Yang Kai glanced up at the sky, where several hummingbird drones were cruising over the building, and the entire area was under the coverage of the alliance's surveillance.

This is probably the most rigorous security protection in the entire alliance, and its importance to the alliance is naturally self-evident.

The corners of Yang Kai's mouth couldn't help but curl up a little proudly.

It seemed that as he expected, the management of the alliance attached great importance to this meeting, and his face couldn't help but feel a little smelly.

Noticing Yang Kai and Jiang Xuezhou standing at the door, the guard on duty standing next to the guard booth stepped forward and gave a military salute and asked.

"Hello, who are the two of you?"

"B-level researcher of the academy, Yang Kai."

Yang Kai stretched out his index finger and swiped lightly in the air, pushing the unfolded holographic window in front of the guard, and continued.

"This is an invitation from your manager."

The guard looked at the holographic window in front of him and was stunned, but when he heard his name, he reacted and said with a smile.

"It's Mr. Yang, the manager has explained your affairs, please come with me!"

Yang Kai nodded in a good mood, and then looked at Jiang Xuezhou.

"Just send me here, you can find a place to pass the time, and I'll call you when you need it."

This kind of opportunity to show off your skills without any risk is too cheap to bring this follower around.

When someone dismantled his platform, he said that he left the work to his students to do, and he hid far away by himself.

Looking at the confident master, Jiang Xuezhou was still a little uneasy, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"Don't you really need me to follow?"

"No, no," Yang Kai waved his hand, "I've met that Chu Guang many times, and I can handle it alone." ”

With that, he looked at the guard.

"Lead the way."

The guard said politely.

"Please come with me!"

Following the guard's footsteps, Yang Kai stepped into the Alliance Building, and after a while along the spacious corridor, he stepped into a spacious conference room.

After opening the door to the conference room for him and inviting him in, the guard continued.

"Our managers are meeting with representatives of the company, so please wait a moment."

"Representatives of the enterprise?" Yang Kai was slightly stunned, frowned, and subconsciously looked at the time.

It's 1:40 now.

There were still twenty minutes before the time of their meeting, and it was true that it was not yet the agreed time.

But what he didn't expect was that the guy wasn't waiting for him in the conference room, and there was a meeting before him.

And it's also a company that has never dealt with the academy.

The guard nodded, and told him the truth, as the manager had instructed.

"Yes, there's been a lot going on in the area of Qingquan City lately, and you should have heard about it. The Enterprise, the Rift Valley, and many of the survivors who are still plagued by mutant slime molds today are all interested in what we have achieved. ”

If it was an experienced diplomat, he might not take this bluff to heart, but Yang Kai didn't have that much diplomatic experience, so he only felt that the credit that had been nine out of ten was suddenly not so stable, and he couldn't help but panic.

"What are they talking about?"

The guard was slightly stunned, as if he didn't expect this guest to ask such explicit words, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.

Yang Kai also gradually realized his subconscious gaffe, and coughed lightly to cover up his gaffe.

"Nothing...... When I didn't say. ”

It is undoubtedly rude and presumptuous to ask a public official of a country about the content of his high-level talks with third parties.

Yang Kai secretly scolded himself in his heart, this reckless performance really shouldn't have happened to him.

The guard saw his embarrassment and smiled and said for him.

"It's okay, but your question ...... I really can't answer, and I don't understand. If you are interested, I suggest you ask our administrators. ”

Yang Kai touched his nose in embarrassment.

"I will."

Perhaps it was not a good idea to take the job from the Foreign Affairs Department, and he suddenly found that he was not just bad at dealing with such situations.

There's even a bit of mild social fear.

Face-to-face conversations are completely different from communicating with holograms, you can't press the pause button at any time to hang up, think about what to say next while drinking coffee, and have to deal with the embarrassment and accidents that may arise in various occasions.

Yang Kai suddenly regretted that he had confidently left his apprentice outside just now.

If you really mess up, you don't even have someone who can dump the pot......

Not noticing Yang Kai's mental activity, the guard then looked at the waiter next to him and nodded, motioning for the latter to pour a cup of tea for the researcher, and then exited the door.

Yang Kai casually found a place to sit down and waited for a full twenty minutes in a nervous mood.

The person who had not seen the manager for a long time, just as he was gradually starting to feel impetuous, finally heard footsteps in the corridor outside the conference room.

It was almost two o'clock when the door to the conference room opened, and a man in azure power armor walked in from outside.

Almost a conditioned reflex, Yang Kai got up from his seat with a "poof", but overturned the chair with too much force.

And that's not all.

He blushed and held back for a long time, but a "welcome" popped out of his mouth, and Chu Guang, who was about to welcome him, suddenly couldn't get rid of it.

"Ahem, it's me who should say welcome......" Seeing that face getting redder and redder, Chu Guang coughed lightly and said in a joking tone, "Welcome to the alliance, I hope I didn't keep you waiting." Also, take it easy, although this is probably the first time we've met face-to-face, we've probably met many times before. ”

In other words, are the researchers of the academy so individual?

Chu Guang couldn't help but think of the Li Ke who was greeting the New Year at the gate of Falcon City......

This guy's reckless appearance simply subverted the unfathomable impression left in his heart before.

Or is it ......

He's just not good at "offline" communication?

The waiter on the side wanted to laugh but didn't dare, so he stepped forward with a stiff face and quietly helped the researcher up in his chair.

Yang Kai nodded stiffly, watching Chu Guang squeeze a smile out of his face.

"It does ......"

Walking to the conference table, Chu Guang pulled out his exclusive chair and sat down, looking at the visiting researcher representing the academy and continued.

"So, since it's not the first time we've dealt with each other, don't waste time on red tape and get straight to the point."

Yang Kai nodded, and when he was in the hologram, he was like two people, and said with a sigh of regret.

"That's exactly what I mean."

After speaking, he stretched out his index finger and swiped lightly in the air, unfolding the holographic screen, and then took out a projection pen from his arms and placed it on the table.

"Qingquan City is the Qingquan City of the People's Federation, and its legacy should belong to all the descendants of the People's Federation. We hope to send a scientific research team ranging in size from 50 to 100 people to Qingquan City for a long time to conduct observational investigations of local relics. The ruins and the harvest from the ruins belong to you, and the digital materials we have obtained will be copied to you for ......"

Saying these words in one breath, Yang Kai thought for a moment to confirm that there was no omission, and then took a deep breath and continued.

"In addition, we will send a research team to you to provide you with some assistance in the technical field and help you purchase some professional research equipment...... It's all in front of you in this research collaboration. ”

While Yang Kai was giving a brief introduction to this agreement, Chu Guang browsed the documents on the holographic screen while observing the expression on his face through the holographic screen.

To be honest, this guy is a real amateur in diplomacy.

However, it is not incomprehensible to think that he is the head of the research department after all, and diplomacy is not his business in the first place.

Under normal circumstances, everyone first asks for a sky-high price, and then takes a step back to negotiate the conditions. However, he was the opposite, as if he was afraid that he would refuse, and first he reasoned and then put all the chips on the table.

To be honest, the chips he put out were indeed very attractive, and Chu Guang admitted that he was already moved by the halfway point of listening to him.

However, his behavior is equivalent to throwing his bulging wallet on the counter and telling the boss how much money you can do for yourself.

Seeing the agreement at the end, Chu Guang held back the urge to smile, coughed lightly, and spoke.

“…… We value our relationship with you and are interested in the research cooperation agreement you mentioned. ”

Hearing Chu Guang's words, Yang Kai was overjoyed, thinking that his worries were really unnecessary. However, before he could completely relax, Chu Guang changed his words again and continued.

"However, there are disagreements on our side about some of the terms in the agreement."

Hearing this vague wording, Yang Kai suddenly became nervous.

"What objection? You said. ”

Chu Guang swiped his index finger lightly in the air, moved the holographic screen to the side, looked directly into his eyes, and continued.

"Qingquan City is the Qingquan City of the People's Federation, and its legacy should belong to all mankind, but its actual controller is us, and it is also us who solves the problem.

Seeing the unhappy expression on Chu Guang's face, especially those eyes, Yang Kai panicked in his heart, and hurriedly explained.

"I didn't ask you for the ruins of Qingquan City, I said that it was just an observational investigation, and the ownership of the ruins is still yours! And we understand your efforts, so we're willing to help you in the field of technology recycling, and it's not gratuitous—"

"This is where I have objections," Chu Guang looked at him and continued, "You mentioned in the agreement that you would send at least a hundred researchers to Camp 101 to set up a branch of the academy to communicate with our researchers, but in my opinion, one-way open communication is not real communication. ”

Yang Kai was stunned.

He didn't expect Chu Guang to raise objections on this matter.

After all, the Free State of Bougerra begged them to send someone to assist them in their research, but they did not agree. As a result, now that they have taken the initiative, the alliance has actually ...... Objections?

"What do you mean......

Looking at the bewildered Yang Kai, Chu Guang continued cheekily.

"The scale of communication is entirely in your hands, isn't it? Even if you send some indiscriminate researchers, there's nothing we can do. We don't expect you to transfer us the most advanced equipment, including the research equipment, but if you take some of the scraps that have been obsolete and make up the numbers—"

"How could we do something like that!" Yang Kai's face flushed, and he interrupted Chu Guang to say the general words,

It's just his voice, but he doesn't have much confidence.

To be honest, it is really possible for someone from the Department of Foreign Affairs to do such a thing, after all, it is a credit to be able to save costs for the college.

The promotion system of the college determines that most middle-level and even middle-level and high-level researchers will be more inclined to short-term benefit decisions when making decisions.

If the Academy can achieve the ascension they dream of within a hundred years, there is nothing wrong with doing so.

However, Chu Guang didn't want to be the boss of this wrong.

He has never been the only one who cuts other people's leeks, and is it unreasonable to cut them on his head?

"I didn't say you'd do it, but we have to make sure it doesn't happen, do we?"

Seeing that Yang Kai couldn't refute, Chu Guang patiently continued.

"It's actually a pretty good problem to solve, we have some academies in-house — ahem, I mean know the people of the academies, and I want to work out the details of the agreement on our side. For example, make a specific list of the types of transferred equipment, the various parameters of the model, and the most critical price, so as to ensure that you don't suddenly remember that there is a batch of equipment to be cleared, and then dispose of it to us who don't need it at all. ”

Yang Kai nodded stubbornly.

"Row ......"

This is not an excessive request.

If the alliance asks for something they can't give, such as research equipment related to graviton research and FTL engines, it's a big deal to explicitly refuse it in the agreement.

At least this list is negotiable!

Chu Guang smiled and nodded, and continued inch by inch.

"The other one is the personnel issue that I just mentioned."

"We are certainly in favor of the freedom of academic exchange, but this exchange should be mutual, not unilateral...... In addition to sending some people to us on your side, we also want to send some people to communicate with you. ”

Yang Kai was slightly stunned and said immediately.

"It can't be! Only researchers can enter the Academy! The rest of the survivors are mostly active in the SCC's settlements! We can't design a separate system for you...... Don't go too far! ”

The college implements a K and G score system, which is inseparable from the most basic transportation and even the acquisition of daily necessities.

There is simply no room for outsiders to survive in the academy.

Although Chu Guang felt that it was not a difficult matter, in his opinion, it was a big deal to add a special identity of "diplomat" to the original system.

As for the resources consumed, the alliance side will pay for it.

However, looking at Yang Kai's resolute expression, Chu Guang knew that there would probably be no result if he persisted in this matter.

So, Chu Guang also made some small concessions.

"Then let's take a step back, our personnel will not enter the interior of the academy, but will conduct academic exchanges with you in the settlement under the management of the Science and Technology Committee...... Of course, this has to be the place we designate. ”

The talents of the college are not completely cultivated in the college, and there are also a few settlements that are responsible for the sorting of cultural relics and data processing.

These settlements usually have a higher standard of living and are not as frugal as in other settlements. And because of their access to the core business of the college, many children have been exposed to it from an early age, and the proportion of prospectors and researchers born is much higher than in other settlements.

The families of many of the Academy's mid-level researchers live in these settlements as an alternative to not allowing them to live directly in the Academy.

This was what Chu Guang had heard from Yin Fang, and it was the potential of these settlements that he had taken a fancy to. If he can send the people of the alliance to study, he can not only help him train a group of skilled explorers and even researchers, but also maybe abduct a few unjust people who are not deeply involved in the world.

The more Chu Guang thought about it, the more he felt that his idea was too special.

As for being abducted?

Inexistent.

The attraction of wandering swamps is no greater than that of Ideal City.

Chu Guang knew very well what those researchers really needed, if someone was really abducted, it meant that that guy was not suitable for the alliance.

Let's go.

Yang Kai pondered for a moment and said with difficulty.

"It's not in line with the rules...... Some settlements are not open to the public, and it is impossible for you to go to any settlement you want, so we will let you in. ”

Expecting him to say this, Chu Guang's face showed a smile like a spring breeze, and he said happily.

"Then it's up to us to designate this settlement together, and we can set up a special zone in the swamp."

The first time he heard this word, Yang Kai was stunned.

"Special Zone?"

"That's right," Chu Guang nodded, smiled and continued, "The researchers we sent to visit only operate in the Special Administrative Region and communicate with your researchers in the Special Economic Zone...... Don't think I'm joking, don't underestimate our ruins excavation skills, we've recovered a lot of ruins over the years, and we can learn from each other. ”

Yang Kai pursed his lips in his heart, and didn't take that sentence of learning from each other seriously.

The academy had been studying the field of ruins for more than two hundred years, arching and arching inside the ruins that had been turned over, and he didn't think the alliance had anything to learn from them.

However, Chu Guang's words made him think.

After all, that doesn't sound like an exaggeration.

The SCC's settlements are not the core area of the college, and even if some of the settlements are home to the families of the researchers and there are research facilities directly under the college, those research facilities are only engaged in non-core areas.

Thinking of this, Yang Kai nodded.

"Okay...... I don't think it's a problem, but I still have to discuss this with my superiors. ”

Looking at Yang Kai, who was still vigorously opposing one second and turning one hundred and eighty degrees the next, Chu Guang couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

Even though he expected that this guy had no reason to refuse, he didn't expect this guy to agree so quickly.

It's over.

Yang Kai simply got up to say goodbye, and hurriedly left the conference room with his projector pen, as if he had escaped from this place.

Looking at Yang Kai's back disappearing at the door, Chu Guang couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

I didn't expect the researchers in the academy to be surprisingly easy to get along with?

The work is clean and neat, and it is much more refreshing than the grinding council.

Looks like you misunderstood them?

Just as Chu Guang was thinking this, there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the door of the conference room. After a while, an unexpected face appeared in the doorway.

Looking at Old Charlie who appeared at the door, Chu Guang, who was in a good mood, pushed away the chair and got up, and walked over to him with a smile.

"What wind brought you here?"

The elder Charles is still president of the trade union.

Although the Merchant Guild is a direct organization of the Alliance, it is more of a service nature than an administrative one, so the office is not located in the Alliance Building, but in a separate building, on the site of the former outpost on the edge of Linghu.

There was a time when Chu Guang's office was still there.

“…… Don't worry about the wind, let's take a look at this. Old Charlie had an anxious expression on his face and stuffed a newspaper into Chu Guang's hand.

Chu Guang took the newspaper and glanced at it twice, and when he saw the bold and enlarged headline, his eyebrows involuntarily raised upward.

"The brood in Qingquan City has not fallen! was secretly captive by the administrator! 》

There is also a line of subheadings below the heading –

[Qingquan City Daily reveals for you, the shocking conspiracy hidden in the eastern district of Qingquan City! ] 】

-

(My eyes are itchy and dry, like sand, and I'm probably in a state of one eye open and one eye closed now.) ）

(End of chapter)