Chapter 269: 269: Lin Zhen’s Request (3rd Update)
Chapter 269: 269: Lin Zhen’s Request (3rd Update)
The light spots on the left and right were faintly green, indicating some threat, but not a significant one.
In the middle, it was almost the same color as that of his father’s light spot, and the threat could be ignored.
It was Lin Zhen’s mother who brought An Ning and Yue’er back.
Lin Zhen looked down from upstairs, and sure enough, his mother and the three of them entered the courtyard shortly after. After regaining her vitality, his mother appeared to be as young as a flower trust young woman and looked even younger now, like the sister of An Ning and Yue’er.
The group entered the house and began to make dinner and dumplings, and for a moment, Lin Zhen’s home felt like an ordinary family’s home.
After helping out for a while, Lin Zhen looked at his young parents and two outstanding girlfriends, feeling very contented.
The sumptuous dinner began, with plates full of dumplings and stir-fried dishes covering the table. There was no need to worry about spending money now that the family had money, and all kinds of delicious food were available.
An Ning and Su Mingyue also had wine glasses in front of them. Lin Liye raised his glass, and everyone followed suit: “To celebrate Lin Zhen’s achievements for our country, let’s toast to our family.”
Lin Zhen smiled at his father, thinking that no one knew him better than his father. His father had indeed seen what he was thinking.
An Ning and Su Mingyue both had flushed faces. Although they liked Lin Zhen, they were still a long way from talking about marriage. However, hearing Lin Liye say “our family,” made them very happy.
The group clinked glasses and drank up.
After the meal, An Ning said she wanted to go home for a few days, as she hadn’t been back since returning to Ice City.
An Ning left, and Su Mingyue didn’t stay at Lin Zhen’s house either. She had promised Gongsun Du not to meet with Lin Zhen before the Star-gazing Mirror was repaired. Coming out this time was already an exception, and staying at Lin Zhen’s house would be inconvenient.
With both girlfriends gone and his parents having gone back to practice after dinner, everything returned to normal.
The next morning, the people from the country finally came to express their condolences.
AccomDanving the condolence team was the mavor of Ice Citv Base Citv. Lu
Ming, who was only a Level Eight War God when Lin Zhen was practicing but is now about to step into the Star Realm. Mundane things have distracted him from practicing and progressing.
However, Lu Ming was just a follower; a high-ranking national leader also came.
More than ten aircraft landed in the villa area where Lin Zhen’s house was located. There were not only a large number of accompanying staff but also many journalists, ready to interview on the spot.
Over the past few days, there had been heated speculation online about what kind of request Lin Zhen would make to the country, as this opportunity was rare.
Netizens’ guesses were fascinating, with some thinking Lin Zhen would ask for a lot of money, some thinking he would ask for a top-quality Star Artifact, and even some guessing whether Lin Zhen would ask to be the mayor of Ice City Base City.
Lin Zhen and his parents welcomed the national leader to their home, and a large group of people entered the house for on-the-spot interviews and reports.
Fortunately, their villa was big enough, and the national leader sat on a sofa, chatting amiably with Lin Zhen.
“Lin Zhen, sometimes I envy you, possessing such a great power and being so young. Your future is limitless, much stronger than us worldly people,” said the leader.
Lin Zhen chuckled, “Everyone has their own way of life, and I envy you in many ways too.”
The cameras clicked, capturing the moment with countless pictures.
After chatting for a while, the national leader presented Lin Zhen with a cash reward of 10 billion on behalf of the country, along with a top-quality Star Artifact Spear.
Lin Zhen looked at the spear and was very fond of it. The spear, named Seven Kills, was three meters and five centimeters long, weighed twelve hundred kilograms, and was extremely sharp with its body dark and smooth.
As the Broken Jade Spear was a High-Grade Celestial Device, it was no longer suitable for Lin Zhen’s current level of strength. A suitable weapon was essential for him.
Having accepted the national reward, the leader said, “These gifts are actually not proportional to your actual contributions, and their symbolic significance is greater. But the country will not treat you badly. You can make a request, and I promise here in front of the national audience that as long as it does not violate the ethnic group’s interests or harm national security, I can accept your request. ”
As the leader spoke, the national audience eagerly awaited Lin Zhen’s response, curious about what he would ask for.
At this moment, Lin Zhen also stood up and opened a map of Ice City Base City he had prepared in advance.
Seeing Lin Zhen take out the map of Ice City, Lu Ming’s face changed. Was Lin Zhen really going to be the mayor of Ice City Base City? It didn’t make sense for a Martial Artist like him to become the mayor, it would be a waste.
However, Lin Zhen had no intention of becoming the mayor. Instead, he said to the head of state, “Sir, my request is not simple. I hope that I can build two walls here… here… The scale and defense walls of Ice City are the same, or even a little weaker, but they must be completed within two months.”
Seeing the lines Lin Zhen drew, many people’s faces changed.
Lin Zhen’s lines were along both banks of the Songhua River, building two walls at the edge of Jiangnan District and Jiangbei District. However, according to Lin Zhen’s request, the workload would be too much.
Not to mention how difficult it would be to build the walls, but now with advanced technology, construction would not be very difficult. As long as there was enough money, it could be completed within two months. The difficulty lies in the relocation work along the river banks.
If it were ordinary people, it would be fine. However, the beautiful scenery along the river banks has always been the place of residence for officials and nobles, and even many advanced Martial Artists have residences along the river banks. Even the headquarters of Wan Hao Group is on the list of relocation.
Demolishing these places would face great resistance.
Lu Ming even knew that there were several hidden Star Realm experts living along the river, and these people might not buy into his plan.
There was also a major difficulty: the Sofia Cathedral was not far from the river bank. According to Lin Zhen’s request, the Sofia Cathedral would probably have to be demolished as well.
Even the head of state did not expect Lin Zhen to make such a request. He couldn’t help but ask, “Can you explain why you want to do this? Isn’t this dividing Ice City Base City into Jiangnan City and Jiangbei City?”
Lin Zhen said, “The reason is simple. I have been in the field for a long time and have recently discovered many abnormalities in Mutated Beasts. I believe that high-level Mutated Beasts are about to be born. As everyone knows, once a high-level Mutated Beast appears, it will definitely endanger the safety of Ice City. The biggest loophole in our Ice City’s defense is this river. Once the river surface is occupied by Mutated Beasts, Ice City will be broken. But if we have these two city walls, aquatic Mutated Beasts will not be able to enter the urban area of Ice City, and they won’t be able to cooperate with the land Mutated Beasts. Ice City will be very safe. In order to prevent problems before they occur, I believe that these two city walls must be built.”
The head of state nodded and looked at Lu Ming, “Mayor Lu Ming, what do you think?”
Lu Ming was a bit distressed and said, “We all know the dangers of Mutated Beasts attacking the city, but Ice City has gone through multiple attacks safely in the past. I don’t think it’s as serious as Lin Zhen said. Moreover, there are implementation issues with his request. These two walls’ construction would be close to 100 kilometers in length, including relocation and other expenses. The cost would be astronomical, and Ice City’s financial resources are not that abundant.”
Lu Ming did not want to do this, but it was not easy for him to openly oppose it, so he had to use money as an excuse to stall.
Of course, Lin Zhen saw through Lu Ming’s thoughts. He asked, “How much money will it cost in total?”
Lu Ming roughly estimated, “Including relocation, it would be at least 400 billion. If we also include installing some weapons, it would be about 600 billion.”
“Okay! I will cover this cost, but the walls must be completed within two months. Can you make it happen, Mayor Lu?”
“You’re paying?” Lu Ming couldn’t believe he was looking at Lin Zhen. That was 600 billion, not 60 million.
“Yes, I’m covering the cost. Chief, do you think my request violates the national interest or endangers national security?
The chief shook his head. At this moment, he couldn’t refuse. Now that the words have already been spoken and Lin Zhen is committed to paying, the country must agree, no matter how difficult it may be.
“Alright, Mayor Lu, Lin Zhen is doing this out of patriotism. Let’s settle on this!”
The chief decisively made the decision, and Lu Ming could only agree.
After everyone left, the work was arranged tightly. Construction of the walls started immediately where it was possible, relocation began right away, and difficult tasks were left for later. Lin Zhen immediately transferred the 600 billion to Lu Ming, and this huge sum of money shocked the entire country.
Although they didn’t know where Lin Zhen got the money, the reason for defending against Mutated Beasts was sufficient.
Mutated Beasts could become the enemy that could destroy humanity. Lin Zhen’s actions were beyond reproach, although there was some suspicion of making a fuss over relatively minor issues.
However, the national public applauded Lin Zhen for being able to spend 600 billion for the sake of the country and for defending Ice City against Mutated Beasts. If the water channel were really breached, it would be over.
Lin Zhen had no choice but to do so, with only two months remaining until the monster’s attack on the city. After thinking for a long time, he could not come up with any methods to resist aquatic Mutated Beasts attacking Ice City, so he had to use this permanent solution to completely block the path of the aquatic monsters’ attack. As long as this city wall was built, Ice City could sleep in peace.
Although the method was feasible, there were also some side effects, and Lin Zhen would offend some people because of it.
Some people were less important, and Lin Zhen didn’t care. However, there were some Star Realm experts living along the river, such as Elder Allen from the Sofia Cathedral in the Great Divine Sect, who would definitely be dissatisfied with Lin Zhen because of this matter.
But Lin Zhen didn’t care. He would soon travel to the Five Connected Pools to cultivate. After getting the last special meteorite from Ruyi Lake, he was eager to see the Star Realm experts on Earth.
Just when Lin Zhen was about to leave, he received a video call from a Star Realm expert, surprisingly it was Yue’er’s master, Gongsun Du..