The Great Worm Lich

In the face of the sorrowful and helpless voice of his supervisor who always felt cold and aloof, Zhang Lisheng, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, had nothing to say. He sighed quietly and said in a hurried voice, pretending he did not hear anything, “New York Medical Research Association Affiliated Hospital? Alright, I’ll go over now. See you later!”

Then, he hung up his phone.

Starting his car, he slowly drove on the spacious road of the factory and when he passed by the gate of the slaughterhouse, a guard blocked Zhang Lisheng’s car.

“Is there anything?” The young man rolled down the window and asked with a frown.

“Mr. Zhang, there seems to be an accident among the protesters in the wilderness. They’re showing signs of commotion right now so it’s better for you to stop for a while before going out.” The young guard handed him a binocular and said.

Seeing that the guard under his command suddenly blocked the big boss’ car, the chief security guard who was on duty became stunned and secretly cursed in his heart. Just as he was about to pull this crazy troublemaker away, he saw that Zhang Lisheng actually took the binocular and placed it in front of his eyes.

“It’s not like they’re blocking the road, I can directly turn…” Zhang Lisheng quietly stared at the distance carefully and saw 30 to 40 people gathering together enthusiastically at the end of the road so he said without any concern.

The young guard quickly explained, “Mr. Zhang, the reason why these people braved the low temperature of minus ten degrees to stay outside of the factory to protest is because the expansion of LS has snatched their jobs away. In such a situation, I’m afraid that they’ll have an overly emotional reaction when they see a luxury car driving out of the factory.”

When the chief security heard this, he was shocked and so he hurriedly squeezed in front of Zhang Lisheng’s car window and added, “That’s right. Mr. Zhang! If they want to rush into the factory, we can still use weapons to stop them but if you drive up to the highway, as the factory’s security, there’s nothing that we can do already no matter what they do.”

The warning from his two employees made Zhang Lisheng’s eyes turn wide in confusion. “They’re not protesting the government’s opening of Shrimp World No. 2 but LS’ expansion?! Oh, come on! No wonder why ‘against cold-blooded capitalists and monopolizing something’ is written on their slogans! I didn’t know that such a good job of slaughtering animals would even be worthy for people to stay in the car under the heavy snow and raising slogans for protest instead of staying by the fireplace eating turkey on the Christmas holidays. Are these guys crazy?”

Looking at the confusion on the big boss’ face, the chief security was rendered speechless. He had once experienced the hardships of unemployment after he was discharged from military service, so he knew the taste of being thrown out on the street by the bank for being unable to afford to pay the mortgage. Not only that, he also knew how it felt like having to bring his wife and children to line up early just to get a clean bed and a good night’s sleep.

He knew that what he needed to do most was to tell this ignorant young entrepreneur in front of him from his own experience that the LS expansion had indeed brought great harm to the people. However, the salary of 70,000 USD per year, which was almost twice the salary of other employees having an equivalent position and job in other companies, made him unable to open his mouth.

Right at this moment, the young security next to the chief security had already nodded with conscience. “Mr. Zhang. The LS expansion in the eight US metropolitan areas will affect the jobs of several tens of thousands of people. And since the base number is so huge, there’ll be some madmen among them inevitably. You must be more careful in these current times.”

“I hate these madmen who can’t give any contribution the most. However, even a normal person will take a detour from them too if one comes across them.” Zhang Lisheng nodded with a calmness that did not commensurate with his age before smiling at the security. “Thank you for your kindness, young man. Oh! You’re familiar, I seem to have seen you a few times before.”

“I have answered you several questions at the entrance and helped you a few times before,” The young security fisted his palm unbeknownst to him and answered.

“Oh, I see. What is your name then? Did you come to work by car or by bus?”

“I’m Fanster Mick, Mr. Zhang. I usually come by bus but I just so happened to drive today.” The security was stunned for a moment before replying.

“That’s good! Mr. Fanster, I’m sure your car should not be luxurious enough to attract the attention of the protesting crowds, right? Can you do me a favor today by sending me back to the city?”

“It’d be my pleasure but I am still at work…” Fanster resisted the excitement of his heart and said pretentiously.

“I’ll let you off work early today. Go drive your car and come pick me up at the office building in a while. As for you, Mr. Chief Security, you’ve let me understand the tremendous pressure currently born by your security job so you’ll get a 2000 USD bonus, including all of your colleagues,” Zhang Lisheng said before reversing his car slowly back to the office building.

Not long after he got down from the car and waited, he saw an old and yellow Ford car park in front of him.

Entering into the backseat of the car, Zhang Lisheng said with a smile, “This car is not bad, Fanster. Do you know the New York Medical Research Association Affiliated Hospital? Let us head there.”

“Yes, I do, Mr. Zhang. Please enjoy your seat.” Fanster, who had secretly practiced what kind of tone he should use when he was facing with Zhang Lisheng a few times, said with a voice that still contained a little guilty conscience. Starting the car, he began to drive out of the factory.

Just like Zhang Lisheng had expected, the protestants did not have any interest in this Ford that seemed to have a value of not more than 3000 USD so for this reason, they allowed it to drive up to the highway safe and sound.

“Oh Fanster, looks like we’re safe.” As the car sped along the highway to New York City, Zhang Lisheng smiled and dialed Tina’s phone as he watched the snow outside the window.

The phone rang for several dozens of seconds and when it was about to hang up automatically, the girl’s lazy and slightly hoarse voice finally resonated. “Oh baby, good morning. Oh? Looks like it’s already noon now. Trish, Sheila and I have partied the entire night yesterday and how nice it would have been if you have joined us.”

“I wanted to go too but I have to go back before twelve o’clock during the Christmas period. Who asked my mom to be a teacher.”

“I understand, baby. Where are you now? I’m going to find you.”

“I’m now rushing to the ‘New York Medical Research Association Affiliated Hospital’…”

“Oh my god! Did something bad happen?” Tina seemed to turn alert right away as she exclaimed.

“Yeah, something unexpected happened. My supervisor’s sister, Professor Effiny, has been attacked by somebody in the lab on Shrimp B1 Island. It’s said that some intelligence agent of an opposing country has taken away a lot of materials and information from the lab. Not only that, they almost smashed her head open as well. I remember you saying before that your grandfather has the authoritativeness in brain surgery so can you…’

“I’ll contact the best neurosurgeon for you as soon as possible, baby! And then, I’ll wait for you at the hospital.”

“Thank you, Tina. But you only have to contact the doctor. The hospital is very boring so it’s better for you to go look for Trish and Sheila…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring them to the hospital with me. They must be very happy to participate in this intriguing case of the lab on Shrimp B1 Island being robbed. Oh, that’s right! Don’t tell me that the mysterious Gold Core has also been robbed?” Tina, who had been interested in this mysterious spiritual monster’s Gold Core ever since she unintentionally heard Zhang Lisheng mentioning it, asked in astonishment.

“Unfortunately, you’ve guessed correctly. Professor Steven has specially mentioned that the Gold Core is gone now, causing our man-made demon’s experiment to have no choice but to be suspended.”

“How unfortunate, baby! I have a hunch that the thief’s goal was most likely that Gold Core. Not only that, he might also be a spy sent by the Chinese government.” Tina was silent for a while before suddenly blurting out.

After finished saying so, as though she suddenly remembered that Zhang Lisheng would always claim to be a Chinese, she quickly apologized. “Er, I didn’t mean anything. I just feel that only the Chinese people know about the value of the Gold Core…”

“It’s alright, Tina. I’m not those crude, shallow patriots anyway. I won’t get angry over a guess. Moreover, the word ‘spy’ has always been a symbol of strategy and tactics in our Chinese culture since ancient times. The so-called ‘spy’ is not a derogatory term anyway. Instead, you actually gave me some idea by saying so. Perhaps…” Zhang Lisheng unconcernedly stopped the girl from apologizing and looked at Fanster who was driving, not continuing to voice out his opinions. “Alright, go and contact the doctor now. Let us discuss later when we meet.”

“Alright, baby! I’ll see you later!” The girl said and hung up the phone.

After keeping his phone away, Zhang Lisheng stared at the continuously changing scene outside the car and did not say any word at all.

Time passed by the second. Amidst the silence, the Ford car turned into the ring-shaped highway in New York City.

Seeing that they were going to arrive at the destination soon, Fanster, who did not want to waste this rare opportunity, secretly gulped and took the initiative to talk. “Mr. Zhang, the employees in LS knows that you’re a genius biologist, but it has never crossed our minds that you’ve already gone to the supernatural realm…”

“Fanster, you look like you’re a meticulous person. The LS Group’s factory in Los Angeles is almost finished so if you can leave New York, are you interested in becoming the chief manager there?” Zhang Lisheng waved his hand and gestured for the security guard to stop talking before asking.

Fanster, who personally experienced the famous saying “Opportunity will always favor the courageous”, was suddenly dumbstruck. “I’m honored to accept this position, Mr. Zhang! I’m very honored.”

“Very good, since there are so many mad demonstrators outside the New York factory, I believe there’ll only be more protestors once the slaughterhouse in Los Angeles has started operating. Remember to use your meticulous character properly but at the same time, you must also maintain the company’s interest.”

“Yes, Mr. Zhang. I’ll remember your words!” Fanster carefully savored Zhang Lisheng’s words and nodded solemnly.

Zhang Lisheng silently smiled and turned his head to look out of the window. This time, the guard who had just been promoted was sensible enough to not bother the boss’s contemplation. Instead, he maintained his silence and drove the car into an elegant hospital in the city.