Chapter 164: Visitors from the Primordial Wilderness

Lin Qiu took a sweeping glance around and used the system to verify their identities.

"I have seen your sincerity. Now, I hope to see the remainder of the Steel Great Wall Project completed within fifteen days."

Having verified their identities, Lin Qiu spoke once more. He was well aware that given the nation's mobilization capabilities, if they had truly wanted to go all out from the beginning, the entire Steel Great Wall Project could have been completed a month ago, rather than being dragged out like this.

"No problem. However, since we have already shown our sincerity, can Your Excellency also show us yours?"

Wang Changqing raised no objections to Lin Qiu's words and instead countered with a question. Having paid such a heavy price this time, they naturally hoped to see corresponding sincerity from Lin Qiu's side; they were unwilling to engage in a one-sided cooperation.

It was precisely because they were unwilling to participate in a one-sided cooperative effort that they had chosen not to cooperate with the Prehistoric factions. Understanding this logic, a faint smile appeared on Lin Qiu's face.

He then used a substantial amount of evolutionary points to exchange for several blueprints from the system. These blueprints recorded advanced weaponry. Since humanity had missed out on this round of evolution, it meant their physical limits had essentially been reached; if they wished to survive this evolutionary tide, they had to unearth their technological potential.

To put it another way, given humanity's current foundation, developing technological prowess was the best course of action. Furthermore, these weapons were designed to complement the Steel Great Wall. It was just that initially, Lin Qiu did not have enough evolutionary points to exchange for them all at once, and later, when humanity showed lukewarm enthusiasm for the Steel Great Wall Project, he saw no point in wasting his evolutionary points.

Right from the start, Lin Qiu had never intended to rely solely on a Steel Great Wall to deal with the creatures of the ocean—that would have been far too fantastical.

"These blueprints are for weaponry that relies on the Steel Great Wall. As long as you can equip the Steel Great Wall with these weapons before the awakening of the oceanic royal lineage, you will be safe from any threats for the next year."

Lin Qiu handed the exchanged blueprints over to Wang Changqing. A look of excitement flickered across Wang Changqing's face as he scanned the documents in his hands. He understood the implications of these blueprints better than anyone, and he appreciated just how terrifying a Steel Great Wall equipped with such weaponry would become.

Only now did Wang Changqing realize that the Steel Great Wall was not the most crucial part of the plan after all. The true centerpiece was the combination of these weapons with the Steel Great Wall. Previous internal divisions had stemmed from a lack of confidence in the Steel Great Wall alone, but if they had possessed weapons of this caliber back then, everything would have been easily resolved.

"Is this sincerity of mine sufficient?"

Lin Qiu was not surprised by Wang Changqing's reaction. It was a pity that such structures could not be built on the seabed, otherwise Lin Qiu would have loved to construct an underwater Steel Great Wall across the East China Sea to fend off invasions from other oceanic territories.

"Sufficient, more than sufficient."

Wang Changqing replied to Lin Qiu, his tone laden with excitement.

Meanwhile, Xu Bancheng's expression remained sullen and gloomy, as if he had something heavy on his mind that he wanted to tell Lin Qiu.

Noticing something amiss with Xu Bancheng, Lin Qiu walked over to his side and asked in a low voice, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Hearing Lin Qiu's words, Xu Bancheng raised his head and looked at him, his eyes filled with hesitation.

"If there's something on your mind, just say it. If it's a problem you can't handle, it doesn't mean I can't handle it either."

Lin Qiu was quite interested in Xu Bancheng's situation. Having interacted with him before, Lin Qiu knew his personality well; only when faced with a truly insurmountable problem would Xu Bancheng display such a demeanor.

"..."

"Xu Bing has left with the people from the Prehistoric faction."

After a brief moment of silence, Xu Bancheng spoke again, his tone heavy with helplessness.

Upon hearing this, emotions erupted within Lin Qiu's heart, and his face turned pitch black.

The phantom of a Zulong materialized behind him, and a towering, oppressive aura coalesced, forcing everyone present to take several steps back, even Wang Mengmeng, who was at the eighth tier.

"Say that again!"

As for Xu Bing, Lin Qiu had never truly figured out how to handle her feelings for him, yet she had actually been taken away by the Prehistoric faction.

Why would the Prehistoric faction take Xu Bing? What would they do to her?

The chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind caused Lin Qiu to lose control of his emotions. The power within his body surged violently, and the fifth-tier bottleneck began to loosen continuously. He had actually been capable of breaking through to the sixth tier earlier, but had deliberately kept it suppressed. Now, under the influence of his runaway emotions, the bottleneck was becoming difficult to hold back.

"Calm down! Watch out for a backlash."

Sensing Lin Qiu's condition, Wang Mengmeng quickly stepped forward, moving to suppress the turbulent energy rampaging inside his body. With Wang Mengmeng's intervention, Lin Qiu's condition improved significantly. He reined in the power within his body, and the Zulong phantom gradually faded away.

"Tell me in detail. What is going on?"

Having stabilized his condition, Lin Qiu asked Xu Bancheng once more.

"The Bai family forcefully took Xu Bing away, claiming she is the reincarnation of some saintess. I couldn't stop them..."

At this point, Xu Bancheng's voice was full of self-reproach and shame. Clearly, he felt that failing to protect his younger sister made him an unqualified older brother.

"The Bai family!"

Lin Qiu said coldly, a monstrous killing intent bursting forth from him. He had nearly died at the hands of the Bai family on several occasions, and now they actually dared to lay a hand on Xu Bing. This was equivalent to touching Lin Qiu's reverse scale, a line he could not tolerate being crossed.

"How long ago did this happen?"

"Three days ago. It was because of my sister's situation that I wasn't able to pay much attention to Wang Mengmeng's side. It was my fault." Xu Bancheng added. The reason he hadn't fully focused on guarding Wang Mengmeng's side was entirely due to the crisis involving his sister.

"None of that matters now. Minister Wang, I want to establish an organization. Carve out a piece of territory for me; from now on, Wang Mengmeng will handle the liaison and cooperation with you."

Lin Qiu turned to look at Wang Changqing, who nodded and said, "No problem."

With that, Lin Qiu turned and strode away. He did not go looking for Xu Bing directly, figuring she had already been taken into the Prehistoric Realm by the people of that faction. Instead, he was heading off to find the ancestor of the Bai family, who was currently suppressed deep beneath the earth.

The Bai family taking Xu Bing away could only mean one thing: they intended to use her as leverage to threaten Lin Qiu into releasing their ancestor. At least in Lin Qiu's eyes, that was their true motive. As for the so-called saintess nonsense the Bai family had fed to Xu Bancheng, it was undoubtedly nothing more than a convenient excuse.