After Yue Hengyi and Shen Feng had made their arrangements, they departed from Yuzhou. He directly stepped onto a massive rock and headed out to sea. He needed to find sea beasts, particularly those that had captured the meteorite, and kill them to obtain the meteorite and complete his planned objective.
However, after Yue Hengyi went to sea and searched for several months, he was unable to find any trace of the meteorite. Even if he wanted to use satellites to detect the meteorite's location, many areas could not be accurately probed due to the influence of volcanic ash, rendering the satellites useless.
Yue Hengyi had heard that later, in the Indian Ocean, the world's largest blue whale died after being stranded. Before its death, it sprayed water, expelling the meteorite into the sea. Eventually, the meteorite was captured by a giant octopus and taken away.
Therefore, Yue Hengyi's goal was simple: as long as he found the giant octopus carrying the meteorite and killed it, the meteorite would be within his grasp.
Yet, no matter how much he searched, he couldn't find any trace of the octopus. He encountered many sea beasts, but none were octopuses. He initially searched in the Pacific Ocean, but after careful consideration, he went to the Atlantic Ocean to search, but still found nothing. In the blink of an eye, it was almost Chinese New Year, and a year had passed. The Northern Hemisphere once again entered a frozen state.
This Chinese New Year was destined to be a lonely one. Normally, even the poorest people could dig up wild vegetables and boil some thin porridge for a full meal. But this year, many people found themselves unable to even eat wild vegetables, as they had either frozen to death or been completely dug up.
Yue Hengyi was helpless. Whether it was himself or many foreign fleets, finding the meteorite was incredibly difficult. He had no idea where the damned octopus had taken the meteorite, as it remained unfound. He could only choose to return to China before the New Year.
Yue Hengyi first arrived in Yanjing and was warmly welcomed. No one mentioned his past indiscriminate killings anymore. In fact, due to his excellent performance in killing a large number of locusts previously, he received the admiration of countless people.
Yue Hengyi also learned that the food crisis across China had been temporarily resolved. This was because Shen Feng, by mobilizing the entire nation, had extensively built food production bases. Coupled with Chang Jianyi's abilities in supplying fertilizer to various regions, they had finally managed to feed all of China. Greenhouse farms could also barely produce food during winter, and the famine had been alleviated to a certain extent.
"It seems Brother Feng is still all bark and no bite. He said he wouldn't help other regions, but in the end, he couldn't help but step in!" Yue Hengyi exclaimed upon hearing this. When he had seen Shen Feng's resolute attitude before, he thought Shen Feng was determined not to support other regions. However, judging by the outcome, Shen Feng had still chosen to compromise.
However, when Yue Hengyi's exclamation was overheard by someone else, they immediately shook their head and said, "People nowadays have no insight at all, to think that Shen Feng is a good person. He is just an ambitious man now!"
Yue Hengyi, seeing someone refuting his words, did not get angry. He immediately asked, "Brother, you seem to have a lot of dissatisfaction with Shen Feng, but I can tell you one thing: at this moment, only he can solve the current food crisis. Can you tell me why you have such a negative view of Shen Feng?"
The person was stunned when he heard Yue Hengyi's question, then said, "Everyone thinks that way. If you ask me to give a reason, then I'm sorry, I can't give one, but Shen Feng is an out-and-out ambitious man!"
"There is no love or hate in this world without reason. You cannot dislike someone casually. As Shen Feng's good brother, I have now heard others speak ill of him, and I cannot stand by and do nothing. So tell me, who is it that is calling Shen Feng an ambitious man?" Yue Hengyi pressed on.
If others were being gossiped about behind their backs, Yue Hengyi would never bother to interfere. But now, he heard that Shen Feng, his very good friend, was being discussed, and he couldn't stand it.
This person had not paid attention to who was speaking earlier. Now, upon carefully observing the identity of the person before him, he realized that it was Yue Hengyi. He immediately panicked, not expecting that the person speaking to him was Yue Hengyi, the "god of slaughter."
Although Yue Hengyi's reputation had improved significantly, and he had killed a large number of locusts when facing the threat of mutated insects, many people still remembered his past actions. He had indeed killed thousands of innocent people, a fact that many knew but usually dared not mention.
Thus, this person was immediately terrified. The current world no longer valued laws but strength. If one's strength was insufficient, even if they were killed, no one would inquire about it.
Yue Hengyi, who had been a demon who killed countless people in the past, and to whom he had just spoken in such a manner, would surely face terrible retribution if he sought revenge.
With this thought, the person who had spoken earlier began to tremble, wondering what his future fate would be.
Yue Hengyi could now see the other person's fear. The person opposite him was trembling all over, indicating he was truly terrified. As for what he was afraid of, it was naturally that Yue Hengyi might suddenly take action.
"Don't be scared now. Tell me everything you know, and also, you need to tell me who spread this rumor. I won't lay a hand on you," Yue Hengyi said quickly.
Upon hearing this response, the middle-aged man opposite him hurriedly said, "This rumor wasn't spread by me at all. It was an old man from the south who said it. He directly called Shen Feng an ambitious man, and he had valid reasons. All of us believed him."
"So that's how it is. Tell me where this old man lives. I'll go find him now. How dare he spread rumors indiscriminately, I won't let him get away with it!" Yue Hengyi said angrily.
"This old man is currently residing in the City Lord's Mansion, and he has been treated as an honored guest. His name is Chen Yide. It is said that he previously guarded the Three Gorges Dam, but later the Three Gorges Dam was acquired by Shen Feng, and he went alone. We encountered many dangers on the road and were almost cooked and eaten by others. After finally arriving here, his words were considered strategic, and he was immediately made an honored guest by the City Lord!" the middle-aged man quickly revealed everything he knew.
"I didn't expect it to be such a person. I'm going to find him now. I want to question him why he is spreading these rumors!" Yue Hengyi immediately set off after learning the source of the rumor. He had to find that detestable old man and teach him a lesson, so he would understand that one should not casually speak ill of others behind their backs.
The City Lord's Mansion in Yanjing was naturally where He Qiuan worked. He was there 24 hours a day because he was not married and had no family. Therefore, he lived alone and did not need luxurious housing or exquisite clothing. So, he decided to live in the City Lord's Mansion.
When Yue Hengyi arrived, he first saw Gong Changfa, who was still processing many documents. These documents indicated the need to excavate sufficient black soil and transport the soil to Yuzhou for food production.
"Little Yue, you're back! You've worked hard this time!" Gong Changfa was very happy to see Yue Hengyi return, as he had finally met an old friend, and his mood was quite excited at the moment.
"I'm back, but I've heard some rather bad news, so I want to understand it. I hope you won't stop me!" Yue Hengyi said.
"Don't hesitate to tell me any bad news. I can offer you advice. Let's discuss everything openly and not keep these bad things bottled up inside!" Gong Changfa said.
Yue Hengyi said, "Because I heard in the city that many people are speaking ill of Shen Feng, and the reason they are speaking ill of Shen Feng is because an old man is spreading rumors, calling Shen Feng an ambitious man. So I couldn't help but want to teach this old man a lesson. I heard he is in the City Lord's Mansion, so I've come to find him now!"
"The old man you're talking about wouldn't happen to be Mr. Chen, would he? Please don't offend him. He has great strategic vision and is guiding us young people on how to handle future plans! After all, without a long-term perspective, one will eventually be led by the nose!" Gong Changfa said.
"That's right, the old man I'm talking about is this fellow. Now I'm going to let him know why the flowers are so red. How dare he casually speak ill of others, it's clearly sowing discord! We are already in a very difficult situation during the apocalypse. We finally have a region for food production, and yet he is slandering Shen Feng, and Shen Feng is a big brother I deeply respect. Now I'm going to let him understand that he cannot casually speak ill of others behind their backs!" Yue Hengyi said sternly.
"This... I actually think there might be some misunderstanding between you. It's best to clarify the matter. Coincidentally, the City Lord and Mr. Chen are currently in conversation. If we go over now, we can clarify the previous misunderstanding. After all, we will be working together in the future, and it would be too much if our relationship isn't good!" Gong Changfa said.
Yue Hengyi nodded, and then the two walked towards a conference room. Inside, only two people were conversing in secret. Their conversation was about the news from Yuzhou, because Shen Feng had announced explosive news on television: he planned to build an aerospace rocket, and after its completion, he would send the meteorite into space, thereby ending the apocalypse on Earth.
Once this news was confirmed, everyone was in an uproar. This was because the seven southeastern provinces had dispatched troops towards Jiuquan. First, they traveled by water to Yuzhou, then took a train all the way north. Upon reaching the border, they continuously advanced until they found Jiuquan. During this journey, any mutated beasts they encountered were killed.
If I had only said I wanted to build an aerospace rocket, most people would not have believed it, because building an aerospace rocket is not an easy task. But now, even the launch center, Jiuquan, had been found, which meant that Shen Feng was very serious about this matter.
This plan could be said to directly affect people all over the world, because if the meteorite was salvaged, then someone would possess alien technology and even obtain extraterrestrial elements. The person who salvaged the meteorite would inevitably become the ruler of the world.
If Shen Feng was now stating on television that after finding the meteorite, he would send it into space, wouldn't that mean that everyone would be deprived of these scientific achievements that surpassed current human technological levels, as well as a large amount of elements from beyond the solar system?