Dawn City.

The main avenue leading to the Alliance Tower was bustling even before noon.

The widened road saw the occasional vehicle pass through, but most people were on foot or riding bicycles.

Seeing the dense crowds along both sides of the street, Yang Kai couldn’t help frowning as he stopped instinctively. Having spent most of his life inside laboratories and research ships, he had little fondness for crowded places.

Too many people meant noise and chaos, and worse, an air thick with aerosolized droplets of other people’s breath.

Seeing her mentor stop, Jiang Xuezhou lowered her voice to explain. “This is Dawn City’s Central Avenue, right next to the busy North Street. I heard a long time ago the New Alliance soldiers fought the Bonechewer Clan here and dug lots of trenches... Later, as refugees arrived and the Trade Station developed, those trenches were widened into sewers, paved with bricks, and built over with houses.”

All her information had been told to her by Night Ten.

But her mentor clearly had no interest in the settlement’s history. His expression stayed cold as he muttered tersely, “Too many people.”

Knowing he disliked crowds, Jiang Xuezhou quietly offered, “Well... there are over a hundred thousand residents here.”

Yang Kai chuckled dryly. “A settlement of a hundred thousand, yet it’s planned so poorly.”

Compared to that, their committee’s settlements were far more properly organized.

People worked in orderly shifts, managed by data and efficiency. Even settlements of several hundred thousand never fell into such chaos. Above all, they eliminated waste.

People received exactly the resources they needed, no more, no less, freeing time for productive pursuits instead of wasting hours picking through choices.

Jiang Xuezhou, however, rather liked the liveliness, and couldn’t help whispering, “Maybe it’s because the festival’s coming up... It’s not always this crowded.”

“Festival?”

“To celebrate the end of the Tide. The New Alliance plans to make it a legal holiday. Right now they’re still in the preparation stage, fireworks, performances, and celebrations. The main event is the day after tomorrow.”

Yang Kai frowned, then relaxed. After a moment of thought, he nodded in approval. “Hmm... that’s worth celebrating, I suppose.”

To be honest, even he hadn’t expected that those ragtag wastelanders, fighting with scavenged weapons and improvised gear, would actually defeat the Hive that even the Post-War Reconstruction Committee had failed to destroy.

He had watched the entire event from afar, scarcely believing his own eyes. What had happened here could only be described as a miracle.

And miracle or not, for the Academy, which still cared about the wasteland’s future, it was a massive boon.

Clearspring City was full of undeveloped ruins, many sealed off for decades by the Slime Mold entities.

Those ruins included not only pre-war research facilities, but also production plants, army and aerospace stockpiles from the Federation Era.

Now that the New Alliance had conquered the Hive, those resources were finally within reach again! The Academy’s interest wasn’t just in how the New Alliance had managed to win, but also in the future development of Clearspring City.

Of course, the Academy didn’t intend to take advantage of it for free.

After discussing with his superiors via comms, Yang Kai had been authorized to propose a “Co-Development and Research Agreement” as an exchange.

The Academy would open portions of its databases to the New Alliance, support the growth of technology-intensive industries, and upgrade the New Alliance’s laboratory hardware. According to the Foreign Affairs Department’s analysis, such technical assistance would be far more attractive to the New Alliance than pure financial investment.

If necessary, they were even prepared to transfer a few D-class or even C-class technologies, as long as the New Alliance promised not to resell them to potential rivals like Ideal City or Triumphant City.

In addition, the Academy leadership hoped to establish an official mission in the New Alliance, a permanent office akin to the Enterprise’s embassy, facilitating discussions on affairs in the South and Slime Mold research.

Technically, diplomacy was the jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs Department, not the Research Division.

But at the Academy, hierarchy outweighed job boundaries. “Specialists doing specialized work” was only a guideline, not a rule. Yang Kai had no intention of letting such an easy political achievement slip away.

And he had good reasons to convince his superiors. He was already stationed near Clearspring City and was engaged in a support mission for the New Alliance. So, with some schemes and favors he called in, he managed to steal what should have been the Foreign Affairs Department’s job for himself.

Yang Kai was confident about the upcoming meeting. By every logic imaginable, the New Alliance had no reason to refuse.

...

After walking down Central Avenue for a while, the two entered the outskirts of the north of Clearspring City and soon saw the square-shaped building ahead.

It wasn’t tall, just a few stories, but broad and solidly built.

It was said that the New Alliance’s administrator usually handled affairs from the shelter, so most people stationed there were important decision makers or mid-to-senior department heads.

From the packed parking lot full of bicycles and electric scooters, it was clear that as the New Alliance expanded, its organizational structure was becoming more complete.

Yang Kai looked up. Several Hummingbird drones patrolled the skies above the building. The entire area was under the New Alliance’s surveillance network.

This was probably the most heavily secured site in the entire New Alliance, its importance self-evident.

The corner of his mouth curled in satisfaction.

Just as he expected, the administrator was taking the meeting very seriously. His chest swelled a little with self-importance.

Noticing the two visitors at the entrance, a guard at the post approached and saluted. “Good day. May I ask who you are?”

“B-class Researcher of the Academy, Yang Kai.” Yang Kai lifted his finger, swiping the air to project a holographic display toward the guard. “This is the invitation I received from your administrator.”

The guard blinked at the floating screen, then his eyes lit up in recognition. He smiled. “Ah, Mr. Yang! The administrator informed us of your visit. Please, follow me!”

Yang Kai nodded, pleased, then turned to his student. “You can leave me here. Go find somewhere to pass the time. I’ll call you if I need you.”

There was no risk in this meeting, and it was a perfect chance to shine. Dragging his assistant along would only cheapen the moment, and he didn’t want anyone later accusing him of letting his student do the work while he hid behind the scenes.

Jiang Xuezhou still looked uneasy. She asked quietly, “Are you sure you don’t need me to come?”

“No, no,” Yang Kai waved her off. “I’ve met Chu Guang plenty of times before, virtually, at least. I can handle it alone.”

Then he turned to the guard. “Lead the way.”

“This way, please,” said the guard politely.

Following the man through a wide corridor, Yang Kai entered a spacious conference room.

After opening the door and ushering him in, the guard said, “Our administrator is currently in another meeting, with a representative of the Enterprise. Please wait a moment.”

“A representative of the Enterprise?” Yang Kai frowned and glanced instinctively at his watch.

It was 1:40 in the afternoon.

Their appointment was at 2:00 in the afternoon, so technically, Chu Guang wasn’t late.

Still, he hadn’t expected the man to be busy with someone else first, and worse, with a representative from the Enterprise, the Academy’s usual rival faction.

The guard nodded and explained truthfully, as instructed.

“Yes, sir. There’s been much happening around Clearspring City lately, you’ve probably heard. Many parties are interested in our results. the Enterprise, the Great Rift Valley settlements, and other survivor factions are still troubled by Mutant Slime Mold.”

A seasoned diplomat might have ignored this kind of posturing, but Yang Kai lacked that experience. What had seemed like a guaranteed success now suddenly felt less certain, and anxiety crept in. He couldn’t help but ask, “What are they discussing?”

The guard blinked, surprised by the bluntness of the question, unsure how to respond.

Realizing his own slip, Yang Kai coughed lightly to cover it up. “Never mind... forget I asked.”

It was, after all, rude, and presumptuous, to pry into a government’s private talks with third parties.

He silently cursed himself. Such recklessness didn’t suit him at all.

The guard, noticing his embarrassment, smiled and said kindly, “It’s alright. But I really couldn’t tell you, sir, I don’t know. If you’re curious, perhaps you can ask our administrator yourself?”

Yang Kai rubbed his nose awkwardly. “I will.”

Maybe grabbing this job from the Foreign Affairs Department wasn’t such a great idea after all. He wasn’t just bad at handling these situations, he might actually have a touch of social anxiety.

Face-to-face conversation was nothing like a holographic call. He couldn’t hit pause to gather his thoughts or sip coffee while drafting his next line, and he had to navigate all the little awkward silences and unpredictable turns in real time.

He suddenly regretted leaving his student outside. If things went south, he wouldn’t even have someone to take the blame.

The guard, unaware of his inner turmoil, signaled to a nearby attendant to pour the guest a cup of tea before stepping out.

Yang Kai sat down, nerves wound tight, waited for 20 long minutes.

However, there was still no sign of Chu Guang. Just as irritation began to fill his heart, footsteps finally echoed down the hall.

Right on the dot at 2:00, the conference room door opened.

A man in an azure exoframe stepped inside.

Almost by reflex, Yang Kai shot to his feet, so quickly that his chair toppled backward with a clatter.

The embarrassment didn’t stop there.

Face flushing crimson, he stammered for several seconds, and somehow blurted out in fluster, “Welcome!”

The greeting caught Chu Guang completely off guard.

“Uh... I think I’m the one supposed to say that,” he said with a light cough, smiling as he broke the tension. “Welcome to the New Alliance, Mr. Yang. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting. And relax, we may be meeting face-to-face for the first time, but I think we’ve already met plenty of times before, haven’t we?”

Are all Academy Researchers this awkward?