Why did you provoke me?

Hua Shulang and Jing Ancheng stared at Nian Nian in astonishment. Hua Shulang couldn't help but take a step back. "You actually kept it? That's an alien. Why did you keep it?"

Nian Nian rolled her eyes at him. "What's the big deal? Why can't I keep such good aliens? If that man wasn't watching so closely, I could have kept more."

Jing San wasn't too surprised; this was more in line with Nian Nian's personality. Besides, the alien was just a little brother in Nian Nian's hands, not much of a threat.

Yu Meng clapped her hands, and everyone stopped and looked at her.

"The question now is, should we cooperate with them?"

Niannian asked with some worry, "Fourth Sister, judging from their tone, their motives are impure. If we go along with them, won't they use us as cannon fodder?"

Jing San couldn't hold back any longer, "Where did you get the idea that we're destined to be cannon fodder?"

Hua Shulang nodded in agreement, "Exactly, how can you talk about yourself like that?"

Niannian's anger immediately turned to Hua Shulang, "What do you mean by that?"

Hua Shulang felt there was nothing wrong with what he said. "I was just agreeing with Third Brother."

Jing Ancheng stood aside, watching them. It didn't seem like they were discussing anything important about the future.

Yu Meng looked at Niannian and asked, "When you treated him, did you hold anything back?"

Niannian's eyes began to wander.

"That's it." Yu Meng knew Nian Nian would do this.

"Fourth Sister, such a big shot, what if they think I don't have a backup plan?" After saying this, she looked at the other three with a righteous air. "Now it seems that my backup plan was the right thing to do. They were actually investigating us behind our backs and wanted to drag us into their mess."

The next moment, Yu Meng's words stunned everyone. "I know that long-haired man. He's probably the same kind of person as the cripple who guards the gate in Jingchuan."

"Fourth Sister, do you want to cooperate with them, rather than join them?"

Hua Shulang felt relieved; the difference in status between cooperating and joining was like night and day.

At this point, Jing San asked, "Should we still stop the investigation?"

"We have to stop them. We can't let them find out everything about us while we know nothing about them."

"Fourth Sister, since we're going to cooperate, why don't I go again tomorrow?" Niannian's attitude was very positive.

"Where are you going? Go and interrogate all the people investigating us. See if you can find anything out."

Yu Meng glanced at Hua Shulang and said, "You go too, and learn some of their methods. Be gentle this time, don't make them stupid."

The group quickly left, but Jing Ancheng stayed. He waited until they were out of sight before speaking.

"I know a little about this person."

Yu Meng sat down again. "Tell me, what's his relationship with the director of that research institute?"

Jing Ancheng looked at Yu Meng in surprise, "Teacher Yu knows?"

Yu Meng shook her head. "It's just a guess, after all, they have the same surname."

Jing Ancheng organized his thoughts before slowly beginning to speak.

The Chen family is a long-established family of researchers. This generation's main branch consists of only two brothers: one is Director Chen, who works at the research institute; the other is the one currently outside the dense forest.

Yu Meng did not interrupt Jing Ancheng. Unexpectedly, Jing Ancheng sighed.

Twenty years ago, for reasons unknown, the two brothers publicly broke off their relationship, and the Chen family was officially divided into two parts.

Dean Chen's research institute mainly targets personnel involved in Xenomorphism and parasitic Xenomorphism on the front lines.

This person, however, took a different path, supposedly researching medicines that could prolong life, allowing important figures who couldn't live due to time constraints to have their lives extended.

This project surprisingly received support from the majority of people. They provided him with manpower and resources, both openly and covertly.

Yu Meng asked curiously, "Did you really figure it out?"

"That's right. If it weren't effective, his value and status wouldn't be so high."

"So, was someone trying to kill him by having him parasitize the alien? His brother? Or someone else?"

"I suspect it's not his brother, because their research areas are not opposite."

"Who is that? Who would refuse such a life-extending elixir?"

Jing Ancheng shook his head. "I don't know either."

"If I want to cooperate with them, will there be an enemy I don't know watching us from the shadows?"

Jing Ancheng's expression was serious. "Teacher Yu, the reason I'm saying all this is to tell you that we will be in great danger after we cooperate."

Yu Meng pondered, no one would refuse a life-extending elixir, and it was exactly what those wealthy and powerful families welcomed most.

So why did this parasitic dangerous alien happen? They should be protecting something like this. It's all for profit. The medicine is complete, and they no longer need this tool; they want to seize the huge profits behind it.

Another possibility is that those who parasitize immortal pets also want to control the longevity elixir, so they don't have to change hosts frequently and can hide more discreetly.

Yu Meng still couldn't understand the purpose of these parasitic fairy pets. What were they trying to do? Was it just to control everyone and make them work for them?

After pondering for a while without any results, Yu looked at Jing Ancheng again and asked, "Do you have anyone you suspect?"

Jing Ancheng pursed his lips. "There is also a research institute built by the Chen family on the front line. They have many talented bone painters there, and their goal is to cultivate a large number of talents for the front line."

"Also from the Chen family? Are they favored by Heaven? Their talents are all so high?"

Jing Ancheng nodded, "Most of the bone painters that our Jing family initially followed came from that research institute. Their main activity was the front line, which made the Jing family's guard team not only work hard, but also very dangerous."

"I guess your Jing family suffered heavy losses, and that's why your patriarch turned his attention to other research institutes."

"Teacher Yu guessed correctly. In less than ten years, the Jing family's guard team was almost wiped out. In the past, there would always be an elder in the guard team to oversee things, but now the young people have to make their own decisions."

Yu Meng was genuinely curious. "Your Jing family is strange too. You're risking the entire family's resources to do something that seems to offer no benefit whatsoever, and for several generations at that. You trust that extraordinary person so much; what if he's lying to you?"

"No, many of her prophecies have come true, and our family has avoided several annihilation disasters by following her guidance."

"Is she a holy master?" Yu Meng asked softly.

Jing Ancheng shook his head, "I don't know. There's no record of her being a holy teacher; she's only described as an extraordinary person."

"Is it the 'alien' in 'alien'?"

After waiting a moment, Jing Ancheng nodded. "Yes."

"In what form did she issue the prophecy? Through words, images, or sounds?"

Jing Ancheng was lost in his memories. "When I was very young, I went to worship with my grandfather. It seemed like there were images that appeared, and they were moving images. It was a little scary. I remember I cried a lot at the time."

"Isn't it face-to-face?"

"No, it's behind the screen."

Do you know how long she lived?

"For a very long time, I remember my grandfather always called her 'Grandmother'."

Yu Meng suddenly asked, "Isn't this a secret of your Jing family? Why do you answer whatever I ask?"

Jing Ancheng looked at Yu Meng blankly, "Weren't we talking? I know all this, I just said it, is there a problem?"

Yu Meng quietly hid what she was holding in her sleeve. "This is all confidential. Just forget what we just talked about."

Jing Ancheng nodded without refuting.