Tiger Soul Research Institute.
Training Room.
After hanging up the phone, a look of helplessness appeared on Feng Qi's face. This was already the twenty-seventh call he had received today.
Some time ago, he had returned to Star City Academy and entrusted Bai Fusheng with a task: to help promote Dawn at the various academies in Star City.
Recently, Bai Fusheng had been continuously inviting the management from various academies to experience Dawn.
After the management from different academies experienced the game, their feedback was overwhelmingly positive, which had caused his external phone to be constantly bombarded with calls.
Every day, the principals from various academies came to place orders for the Super Virtual Game Pods.
Some were even willing to pay 20% more than the market price for bulk purchases.
He wasn't interested in money.
Choosing to sell the virtual game pods wasn't even profitable.
The money earned from sales was entirely used to purchase resources and subsidize the employees working overtime at the Virtual Super Factory.
He never intended to profit from the Super Virtual Game.
For Feng Qi, the meaning of this battle line was to fight until death—money was nothing but an external object. No matter how much wealth one acquired, they couldn't take it with them after death.
Ideals were more important than money, and for him, that was no joke.
Despite the persistent requests from the enthusiastic academy management, he could only express his regret.
However, he was already planning the expansion of the Virtual Super Factory.
The factory left behind by Crimson Research Institute before its seclusion was still in its early stages. Even the production of virtual game pods couldn't meet the demand in Star City.
If he wanted to make Dawn a proper training ground, increasing production capacity was crucial.
To achieve this goal, the military department had been putting in a lot of effort recently.
In addition to helping recruit workers for the Virtual Super Factory, the military had also sent some soldiers to join the factory's production line to speed up the Dawn game's rollout.
As for the future distribution of the virtual game pods, Feng Qi already had a detailed plan in mind.
He intended to first satisfy the 30% quota required by each academy.
The rest of the quotas would be earned through competition.
Every month, there would be a quota ranking competition. The academies would compete as teams in 100-player combat matches. The number of teams an academy could send was unlimited, but in the end, the ranking determined the allocation of the virtual game pods.
This method would not only grant the virtual pods' quotas, but also bring honor to the participating academies.
He believed that this competition would result in faster progress.
While thinking about the next steps, the phone rang again.
He picked up the call and saw that it was from Director of Tiger Soul Institute.
"Qi-ge, you need me for something?" Feng Qi asked.
"Ah Qi, the expansion of the Virtual Super Factory is already underway. Recently, the energy consumption there has skyrocketed. The energy lines we set up earlier can no longer support the factory's daily consumption. We need to lay down a new energy line. I've been too busy to go out, and as the highest authority of Tiger Soul Research Institute, you have the power to sign the documents. Could you represent the institute and head over to the Energy Research Institute to sign the paperwork?"
After hearing Director Tiger Soul explain the situation, Feng Qi immediately nodded and replied,
"Understood. I'll head over right away."
After hanging up, Feng Qi stood up and walked toward the changing room in the training area.
After a quick shower and changing into a brand-new set of clothes, he made his way outside the Headquarters building while dialing a number.
A few seconds later, the phone connected.
"Arrange a vehicle for me, I'm going to the Energy Research Institute."
"Understood," a staff member from Tiger Soul Research Institute immediately responded on the other end.
By the time Feng Qi stepped outside, a military vehicle with the Tiger Soul Research Institute logo was already waiting.
The window rolled down, and a fully armed man wearing sunglasses nodded at him, then pressed a button to open the car door.
Once inside, the Tiger Soul military vehicle started heading towards the base gates.
As they left the Tiger Soul base, the vehicle drove towards Star City's Western District.
The four major districts of Star City each had their own specialties.
The Western District primarily focused on the energy industry, supplying electricity, natural gas, and other resources to the other districts.
The research institutes in the Western District were typically centered around energy research.
For instance, Feng Qi's destination, the Energy Research Institute, was located in this district.
After a four-hour drive, the Tiger Soul military vehicle stopped outside the Energy Research Institute's main gates.
Feng Qi got out of the car.
The air quality here was noticeably worse than in the Eastern District. As he looked towards the institute's site, several factories were spewing out thick smoke. The air was filled with a strange odor.
Even though spiritual stone power plants had been established in modern society, the spiritual stone resource quotas in Star City were typically reserved for Scarlet and Tiger Soul research institutes, leaving only a limited portion for the local energy research facilities.
This had prevented the expansion of the clean energy spiritual stone power plants.
Currently, the primary power supply for Star City came from nuclear and thermal power stations.
As for wind energy, solar power, and hydropower, they were unable to be used on a large scale in Star City due to geographical limitations.
The research institutes located in each district were major consumers of electricity.
The spiritual stone power plants alone could not meet the daily energy consumption of the Star City research institutes and the city's residents.
As Feng Qi arrived at the Energy Research Institute's gates, he underwent a facial scan by the security personnel before being allowed entry.
Following this, he was guided by the arriving staff to the headquarters of the Energy Research Institute.
They walked towards the third floor.
Along the way, he saw many staff members passing by, all wearing high-level protective suits, tightly sealed around their bodies.
Feng Qi was not surprised by this.
The Energy Research Institute was responsible for more than just the output of energy like electricity. It also conducted research on new materials.
For instance, when a new spiritual material or spiritual stone is discovered, one that doesn't exist in the current material database, it would be sent to the Energy Research Institute for analysis.
A detailed evaluation would follow, covering aspects like mineral hardness, spiritual energy content, and the quality of the spiritual energy, and all this data would be entered into the Star City Database and shared with the databases of the other five major cities.
Research on new materials is full of risks.
Some spiritual ore can emit strong radiation with incredible penetration power. Regular protective suits are unable to block such radiation, and exposure can damage the human immune system, triggering diseases like leukemia.
For ores with high radiation, just being near the radiation range can cause rapid decay in the body, leading to death within a short period.
In addition to radiation, the study of new spiritual plants also poses risks.
There have been several cases of researchers being killed by spiritual plants.
For example, years ago, three blood-red plants were sent to the Energy Research Institute for analysis. However, the plants grew rapidly and ended up swallowing two researchers alive.
By the time the security personnel arrived and dissected the plants, the bodies of the swallowed researchers had been completely corroded, with not even bones remaining.
Explorers always face numerous challenges, but many valuable lessons come from these bloody experiences.
The Energy Research Institute's special-level protective suits had undergone numerous improvements.
The purpose was to prevent accidents from occurring during the research on new materials.
When Feng Qi reached the third floor in front of the director's office, the staff member left, and Feng Qi took two steps forward and knocked on the door.
"Come in," a soft female voice called from inside.
Without hesitation, he pushed the door open and entered.
In front of him was a simple office, sparsely decorated with warm-colored tones. A young woman in Energy Research Institute uniform was sitting at the desk, her gaze fixed on the screen, busy with her work.
Her appearance was charming and graceful, a stunning beauty. The way she focused on the screen gave her eyes a subtle, alluring glint, capable of captivating anyone's attention.
Feng Qi was surprised to find that the current director of the Energy Research Institute was such a young woman.
At that moment, the woman turned her head toward him, and a charming smile appeared on her face.
"Feng Qi, right? I'm Yin Ling, the current director of the Energy Research Institute. Please, have a seat."
Upon hearing this, Feng Qi immediately walked over and sat down at the desk.
After he sat, the woman lowered her head, began searching through the papers on the desk, and spoke as she did.
"Old Qi has already explained the situation to me. We've already outlined the plan for the new energy line, but the process still needs to be followed. After all, this document needs to be submitted to the Star City Supreme Council for approval."
She then suddenly looked up at him.
"I'm curious though, you're so young, yet you hold the highest authority at Tiger Soul Research Institute. Of course, if this is confidential information, just pretend I didn't ask."
In response to her question, Feng Qi smiled and nodded.
"At Tiger Soul Research Institute, we value personal ability, not age. Besides, you're not exactly old either, yet you're already the director of the Energy Research Institute."
"True, ability is the most important thing," the woman smiled softly.
As she found the document she was looking for, she pulled it out from the stack, stood up, and handed it to Feng Qi. She pointed to the end of the page and said, "Here, just sign here."
Feng Qi nodded, took the pen she handed him, and skillfully signed his name on the document.
After handing the document back, he asked curiously, "Director Yin, I shouldn't have any more business here, right?"
"No, everything's set. I'll handle the process for the energy line's architecture, and if anything else comes up, I'll coordinate with Old Qi from Tiger Soul Research Institute."
"Since that's the case, I'll take my leave then."
Once he was sure he had no further matters to attend to, Feng Qi stood up.
Yin Ling smiled and nodded.
After leaving the office, Feng Qi made his way out of the Energy Research Institute headquarters building.
However, he couldn't help but feel curious about Yin Ling. How had such a young woman become the director of the Energy Research Institute?
In other institutes like Tiger Soul Research Institute and Crimson Research Institute, the directors were all older individuals.
It wasn't that the structure was outdated.
The elderly individuals here had all started as regular workers, gradually gaining experience as they progressed, and had risen through the ranks. To become the director of a research institute, aside from outstanding work ability, life experience was also crucial.
When Feng Qi mentioned his ability, he was merely being polite.
In reality, a combination of ability, experience, and personality were the key factors in determining who could steer an institute.
It was never just about work ability.
Take Crimson Research Institute for example. Who could surpass Wei Wei in work ability?
However, the directorship of Crimson Research Institute had changed hands several times in history, with even Wei Wei's own disciples rising to become the directors, while Wei Wei herself remained a mere department head.
Thus, personal ability was only one of the factors in rising to the top.
But Feng Qi did not think much more on this matter.
Having completed his task, he decided to return to Tiger Soul Research Institute to continue his intense training and prepare for the tough challenges that awaited him in the future.
...
After Feng Qi left, Yin Ling, the director, looked curious.
While Feng Qi was curious about her youth, Yin Ling was equally curious about him.
She turned her gaze to the computer screen, then typed a few keys and opened the permission database.
After glancing at the documents on her desk, she typed "Feng Qi" into the personnel information search bar.
After applying the filter, the detailed information about Feng Qi appeared on the screen.
Star City Academy teacher, recipient of the Humanity Outstanding Medal, founder of Tiger Fist, founder of Soul Capture...
The more she read, the more shocked she became.
When Feng Qi mentioned his personal ability earlier, she had dismissed it.
Now, she realized how truly exceptional Feng Qi's abilities were.
At such a young age, he had already earned numerous honors.
But what puzzled her was why, despite his status as a teacher at Star City Academy, he secretly held one of the highest authorities at Tiger Soul Research Institute.
This made Yin Ling ponder deeply.
As she thought, a suspicion arose in her mind.
Looking at Feng Qi's history, it seemed that he specialized in martial arts theory. Could it be that he had been secretly collaborating with Tiger Soul Research Institute?
But collaboration alone would never grant someone the highest authority at Tiger Soul Research Institute.
Could Feng Qi have developed a super martial technique, or even a god-level technique?
That would explain why Tiger Soul Research Institute valued him so highly, granting him the highest authority even though he hadn't officially joined the institute.
But such project information was kept confidential, which was why it hadn't been made public.
With this thought, Yin Ling's expression grew cold.
All the evidence pointed to Feng Qi being an extraordinary genius, and in her eyes, that was far from good news.
As her emotions fluctuated, her black hair gradually transformed into silver-white, and the silver light in her black eyes bloomed like a flower.
"Sister, do you think he could be a threat?" At this moment, a handsome young boy appeared, stepping out from a space distortion beside Yin Ling.
He held a flute-like instrument, his expression cold.
"There's a genius like him in Star City. He will definitely enhance Star City's overall strength. From a historical perspective, this will have far-reaching consequences. We must find a way to eliminate him!"
Upon hearing this, the young boy immediately nodded.
The Silver Moon Clan's future plan was to first occupy Star City, then use it as a springboard to participate in the future battle for supremacy among the ten thousand races.
The enhancement of Star City's strength was absolutely unacceptable to them.
The stronger Star City became, the more they would have to face in terms of losses when they eventually brought their people to the city.
From this perspective, Feng Qi had already become a potential threat.
"Sister, should I go and eliminate him?" the young boy asked coldly.
"No need. If you go, it risks exposing us. Go ahead and do something else. I will find a way to handle him."
After hearing this, the boy didn't respond. His form twisted and disappeared in an instant.
Once the boy had left, Yin Ling opened a drawer, retrieved an encrypted phone, and dialed a number.
A moment later, a hoarse voice came from the other end of the line.
"Who is this?"
"My identity isn't important. What's important is that I have a task for you."
"What's the reward?"
"Three hundred high-level spiritual stones as compensation. The target is Tiger Soul Research Institute... no, it's a Star City Academy teacher named Feng Qi."
"No problem. We'll take this task. We can carry it out as soon as someone is available to take the order."
After hanging up, Yin Ling smiled.
...
Ten days later.
At Tiger Soul Research Institute, Feng Qi received a package.
Inside the package was a glass bottle containing a faint purple liquid.
After taking the bottle out, he didn't hesitate and drank it immediately.
Instantly, related tasks that had recently been assigned to the Domain Weak Tribe Alliance, preparing for registration, appeared in his spiritual sea.
As he flipped through the tasks, he suddenly froze.
Assassination Task: Kill Star City Academy teacher: Feng Qi. Reward: 280 high-level spiritual stones!
"Well, well!"