A World Worth Protecting

1

“Brother Jin, please, speak your mind!” Wang Baole pondered for a moment before turning his eyes towards Jin Duoming. He knew clearly in his heart. It wasn’t like he was Jin Duoming’s father or anything. The guy didn’t owe him anything. Besides, the high officials’ autobiographies also emphasized one thing. He had spent a great deal of time thinking it over and had been rewarded for it. The one thing they always mentioned was… the thing that often cost you the most in this world, was the thing that came free!

It was clear that while Jin Duoming had come and offered his help to Wang Baole, it wasn’t without a price to pay. In fact, Wang Baole would find it odd if Jin Duoming had nothing he wanted in return.

“First of all, I will do my best to fight for your candidacy, but this concerns the various political powers on Mars. Your competitors will come from all the various political forces. I cannot guarantee a one hundred percent chance of success… if I fail, then, well, that’ll be the end of this matter. But if I succeed, I want you to promise me one thing, brother Baole!”

“What promise?” Wang Baole narrowed his eyes and glanced at Jin Duoming.

“When the time comes, without breaking any Federation laws and regulations, show your favor towards us, the Trilunaris Corporation…” Jin Duoming looked straight into Wang Baole’s eyes and smiled faintly.

Wang Baole pondered for a moment. Then, he said, “You have complete confidence in getting me selected as a candidate?”

Jin Duoming hesitated. Even he didn’t possess that kind of confidence. After some thought, he shook his head.

“There are too many variables. I only have a fifty percent chance of succeeding.”

“If that’s the case, then let’s add another condition to the agreement. It has to be something that doesn’t go against my own principles! Since you only have a fifty percent chance of success, I’m going to have to look for someone else to help me with the remaining fifty percent.” Wang Baole sensed a trap in the other’s words. That was why he set a trap himself. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t ever going to be used, what mattered was that it was there.

Jin Duoming deliberated over Wang Baole’s words and nodded. They stared at each other, then laughed. After, Jin Duoming didn’t prolong his stay. He was worried that Wang Baole would bring up his donkey again, so he said a few words and then bade his farewell, leaving in a hurry.

<em>He left in quite a hurry. </em>Wang Baole shook his head with slight regret. He had wanted to speak more about the donkey, but Jin Duoming left in a hurry before he could. He sighed and shook his head before he returned to his office and immediately called for Lin Tianhao.

He got Lin Tianhao to speak to his father about the message he had left him. He needed his help on that.

Lin Tianhao didn’t know the details, but he knew that this must be something important for his father to speak of it so seriously. He immediately sent a voice transmission to his father. Lin You got Lin Tianhao to inform Wang Baole that he would do his best to help Wang Baole, but he said the same thing that Jin Duoming did. This was a big deal, and he didn’t have a one hundred percent chance of succeeding either.

Wang Baole thought it was enough though. He had both Jin Duoming and Lin You helping him, after all. It might not mean that he was guaranteed success, but there weren’t many things in life that were guaranteed.

He set the matter aside and looked forward to seeing how it would turn out. In the meantime, Wang Baole’s life returned to normal. He continued cultivation and crafting more and more construction puppets.

The donkey continued to leave early in the day and return late at night, and the frequency of such occurrences increased. Wang Baole had been observing it for a while and finally couldn’t contain his curiosity. One morning a few days later, he noticed how the donkey was more animated than usual. It seemed really excited.

He watched the donkey race out early that morning. It rolled around in the school’s pool as if it was taking a bath. That surprised Wang Baole.

<em>Something must be going on! </em>Wang Baole recalled the donkey’s behavior during the past weeks. Initially, there had been slight changes to its behavior, and the changes had grown more and more obvious. It was acting completely out of the ordinary today.

It was as if it had been planning for something for a long time, and today was the day it was finally going to execute its grand plan. Wang Baole blinked. The look on his face grew serious as he left the school hastily and followed the donkey secretly.

The donkey had reached the fourth level of the True Breath realm. Its cultivation had improved vastly, and it wasn’t far from the fifth level of the True Breath realm. Its speed had also increased significantly.

It didn’t take the common, wide roads but instead chose to sprint through the small alleys. It was like a black lightning bolt snaking through alleys and the occasional underground canals…

This shocked Wang Baole. He realized he had been neglecting the donkey. He didn’t know the creature had become so familiar with the city.

If he didn’t have the ability to sense the donkey’s location, and he had been someone else instead, he would have had to spend a lot of trouble and effort to keep up with the donkey. An error in judgment might result in him losing its trail.

<em>This ass is definitely up to no good! </em>Wang Baole’s curiosity grew. He relied on his speed and innate senses and followed the donkey secretly. The donkey didn’t seem aware of Wang Baole’s stalking as It snaked out from the underground canal and reappeared in Zone Twenty-Seven. It seemed familiar with the area and raced towards the beast station located in the zone.

There was a beast station located in Zone Twenty-Seven. It had been set up by the Martian government to train beasts. The beast station provided trained beasts to the military as well as for sale to the public.

It was like the Beast Taming Pavilion in the Ethereal Dao College, except it also bred beasts instead of just cultivation and taming them.

The donkey drew nearer to the beast station and snaked into the underground canal again. Wang Baole stopped where he was. His senses told him that the donkey had snuck inside the beast station.

This gave him another shock. He had no idea how the donkey had found out about this place.

<em>What’s it doing here? </em>Wang Baole was shocked and intrigued. He sensed the donkey leave the canal and appear inside the beast station, and then it snuck back into the canal after a while.

Wang Baole hid and eyed the entrance of the canal the donkey would be reappearing from. His eyes widened in shock when the donkey appeared.

The donkey was not alone. It had in its mouth a white lion beast that was much bigger than it was!

The beast was a beautiful creature, with white fur and eyes like gems. It looked majestic. Upon a closer look, one would be able to tell that it was a male lion. It was obvious that it was a fine male specimen amongst its own species. It would have reigned supreme in the pride.

Its cultivation was also at the fourth level of the True Breath realm. Despite that, this fine beast was cowering before the donkey. Its eyes shone with fear, and it shuddered violently. It seemed like it was about to whine and cry for mercy, but the donkey snorted a few times fiercely, and the lion instantly lost all fight in it. There was despair in its eyes.

<em>What’s it trying to do… </em>Wang Baole went from shock and straight into a daze. He stared, stunned, at the limp lion that had stopped struggling and at his donkey. The latter picked the lion up with its teeth and dashed out of the underground canal. Then, with another startling burst of speed, it raced into another canal and sped away.

This time, it was headed towards Zone Thirty-Six, where the military base was!

Wang Baole tried to recover from his shock. He followed them all the way to Zone Thirty-Six. He saw his donkey appear in a corner outside the military base while carrying the lion.

Its timing was impeccable. It seemed to know the timing of the shift duties very clearly. The timing it had chosen to appear was when the base seemed most empty of people. It had also made a deliberate choice of where to appear…

It had appeared at a small back gate which wasn’t normally used. The donkey seemed to grow more cautious as it neared the gate. It flung the lion at the entrance and growled at it in a threatening manner.

The lion trembled and growled back. It seemed to be stating its refusal. The donkey grinned and opened its mouth wide, sinking its teeth into the curb beside them. With a loud crunch, it bit off a huge chunk of the curb. Then, it turned and stared at the lion.

The lion shuddered, and terror colored its eyes. It lowered its head in submission.

Wang Baole watched incredulously as the pleased donkey sped away. It hid in the bushes nearby. As it folded its legs and sprawled on the ground, the fur on its body shifted colors. It transformed and blended perfectly into its surroundings.

Wang Baole’s eyes widened when he saw that. The donkey’s presence vanished in the same instant. It had concealed itself perfectly.

Wang Baole was once again shocked by the discovery. He realized that the donkey was somehow changed after it had eaten the gray mosquito… he didn’t have time to ponder further though. The lonesome lion started howling outside the back gate of the military base, its voice filled with anguish.

Its howling wasn’t loud. It was as if it were summoning something…

The faint howling continued for a while. Before long, the back gate, which was hardly unlocked, creaked open a crack. A white donkey stretched its head out. It seemed to recognize the lion, and there was a strange light in its eyes…

“What’s that all about? A honey trap?” Wang Baole’s eyes almost popped out of his head. He muttered in confusion.

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