Kang Jiayi entered the room. The first thing he did was scan the room. He heard a loud noise and also a scream from Yi Qiao. Soon he saw the big crack on the wall, aside from the eye-catching crack the room was fine.
He then moved his eyes toward Yi Qiao. The young man was laying down on the ground, holding his pained belly. Blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth.
The old man walked toward his son and pushed the gun away, "Go help Yi Qiao, I will handle the rest!" He ordered his son to help Yi Qiao first.
Mu Liqiu entered the room too, she was shocked when she saw the inside. The big crack on the wall, the injured Yi Qiao, and an unfamiliar man her daughter hugged. She still failed to comprehend what happened.
The old man then approached Tang Shaoyang. He faced the man her daughter hugged with a stern look, "Can I talk with my daughter first? We will talk after!"
"Sure!" Tang Shaoyang smiled at the old man, "But I hope you will not send your man to kill me again just like that dude over there," he pointed at Yi Qiao who was standing with the help of Kang Zian.
"Don't worry, I can promise you that no one will come to bother you," the old man bowed his head slightly. He was apologizing for what his son did to Tang Shaoyang.
Before leaving the room with her father, Kang Xue whispered something to Tang Shaoyang. It was a long whisper, Yi Qiao and Kang Zian also managed to see this before they left the room. Tang Shaoyang's response was a nod before finally the daughter and the father left the room.
Thirty minutes later
Tang Shaoyang was sitting in front of his father-in-law, alone. In the different guest rooms, they faced each other with a cup of water on the table.
"I am here to express my gratitude for saving my daughter," the old man politely bowed his head to show his gratitude.
Tang Shaoyang immediately waved his hand at Kang Jiayi, "You don't need to, she's my woman, after all," he was so casual in front of his father-in-law, this was him.
Kang Jiayi furrowed his brows at how Tang Shaoyang behaved. He thought the man would act seriously if he showed a polite stance. But then he remembered what his daughter told him about the man.
"So, do you have a base outside there?" The old man decided to not dwell on Tang Shaoyang's attitude.
"Yes, I managed a base, your daughter is the head of the Medical Division. Didn't she tell you?" Tang Shaoyang nodded his head.
The frown on Kang Jiayi's forehead deepened. Her daughter told her about the smart base that Tang Shaoyang had. He did not speak for a while. After a moment of silence, the old man opened his mouth, "Are you willing to give the base to the military?" He spoke out his mind without hiding.
Kang Jiayi had heard a lot about the smart base from her daughter. There were so many things the smart base could give, especially to raise the rate of survivability. As someone from the military, the old man felt that such a facility should be given to the military.
Hearing the old man's request, Tang Shaoyang's expression stiffened. It was for a moment before his expression returned normal. He did not snap out in anger but calmly looked at his father-in-law, "Old man, do you know how I can get the smart base?"
Kang Jiayi responded with a shake of his head and Tang Shaoyang smiled at this, "I put my neck on the line to get the smart base, I risked my life! Do you think I will hand over the base because you ask me in the name of the military?"
"But such a thing should not be managed by a civilian, this is for our country!" The old man expressed his opinion about the smart base.
Tang Shaoyang's grin turned wider at this statement, "Old man, do you think our country has not… No, do you think all countries have not fallen yet?" Until now, he did not know the old man's name, so he kept calling him an old man.
Bang!
Kang Jiayi knew the meaning behind Tang Shaoyang's words, and he was furious.
Tang Shaoyang merely shrugged his shoulder. He respected the elder, but of course, if the old man did not cross the line he would never cross the line as well.
"If you try to convince me to hand over the base to the military, then you should stop right now! You can never convince me, but if you want to join my empire, I will gladly accept all of you into my base!"
"What if I force you to hand over the base!" Kang Jiayi's face was dead-serious, it was as if he was ready to wage war against Tang Shaoyang.
"You can't! Even if you are Kang Xue's father, I won't be merciful if you try to touch my things!" Tang Shaoyang did not lose his grin while sending his threat to the old man.
'Mnn, having the ex-military to join would be hard,' he thought to himself as he realized that the military won't accept his words if he said the country had fallen. He needed another way to convince them to join as the force would not work against the military.
"Then you can never meet my daughter again," suddenly Kang Jiayi smiled at him, he used his daughter as a pawn for the base. "I won't let my daughter's man be a traitor of my motherland!"
"Hahaha…." To the old man's surprise, Tang Shaoyang laughed very hard. It was as if his words were a joke of the year, the young man laughed very hard until he saw tears around his eyes. Such a reaction causes the old man to be confused.
"First of all, your daughter is now my woman! She has to follow her man, not her parents! Second, she has become the subject of the Tang Empire! If you regard me as a traitor then your daughter is a traitor as well. Third, no one can take what is mine, even you!" Tang Shaoyang boldly declared to the old man.
Kang Jiayi was stiffened for a moment at the young man's momentum. Of course, he had heard from her daughter that the country had fallen, at least, it was what these people believed. However, to the old man, his motherland never fell, it was always in his heart.
"Let me be clear with you, old man. My purpose in coming here not only to save you but to recruit the survivors here. Since you refused to join, I assume the people under you will not join me either, so let's stop with the useless talk about the smart base!" The atmosphere between them became intense, so he tried to change the topic, "Since you are my father-in-law, I will give you a piece of advice on how to get a smart base with one condition!"
Kang Jiayi's eyes brightened up, but he managed to hold the excitement inside. He was trying to not show his excitement since there was a condition for the information, "let me hear the condition first!"
"Simple! You and your people have to move out from the SH City. You can't have a smart base in the same city as mine, that's it!" He was basically asking the old man to not be in the same city as him since he was going to conquer the city. This was for Kang Xue's sake if they found a smart base in the SH city, he had to destroy them so he could conquer the city.
"You can think that slowly, you have 49 days to consider that. For now, let's discuss what's close to us, the Survival Game, you get the notification for this one, right?" Tang Shaoyang did not urge the old man to answer now. He changed the topic to the Survival Game that was about to start in less than eleven hours.
Tang Shaoyang was the one who led the conversation, Kang Jiayi just listened to whatever he said. He wanted to ask the reason why they had to move out, but his focus immediately changed when the Survival Game was mentioned.
The old man nodded at the question. "Do you want us working together to finish the game or we go separate ways?" He offered the old man to work together.
Tang Shaoyang did not know what he would face later, so having more people were better rather than facing the portal alone. As for the Flame Castle, he regarded them as a rival, working together with them was impossible.
"What about the condition of working together? Just a reminder, we will not borrow our guns to you and your people!" The old man stated this clearly. He was afraid Tang Shaoyang was eyeing their guns which were limited in number.
"No condition, we have our weapons so we don't need your guns! We work together to face the portal, we don't attack each other!"
*** ***
In the other room
Kang Xue was standing next to the bed where Yi Qiao laid down. She had checked Yi Qiao's body with the available tools. He suffered a slight sprain on his left shoulder, aside from that, he seemed to be fine.
Just as she was about a step away from the bed, Yi Qiao's hand reached her hand, "Is it true?" He asked in a low voice.
Kang Xue was oblivious to the question but soon she realized what he asked was. It must be about Tang Shaoyang. With a light sigh, Kang Xue nodded, "Yes! I am sorry that I can't keep my promise to you. It's impossible to continue our relationship, I am sorry!" She bowed her head to Yi Qiao.
Then she felt the grip on her wrist tightened, but soon the grip loosened again. Yi Qiao released her hand and turned his body to the other side.
Kang Xue was aware that she was being unfair to Yi Qiao, but she could not do anything about this. Even the time repeated once again, she was sure that she would make the same decision. So aside from sorry, she did not know what to do. She was at fault, 'No, that man was also at the fault! If he did not seduce me, I could still part with him properly!' She blamed Tang Shaoyang for seducing her.
"I am sorry, Yi Qiao!" Before Kang Xue left the room, she bowed her head once again.
After giving the first aid to Yi Qiao, he left the room. Outside, Kang Zian was standing there, "How is it?" He asked his sister.
"He's fine," Kang Xue answered in a small voice. Then she walked to the left corridor, heading out of the building. Kang Zian was about to call her out but stopped when he heard a sigh from his sister.
Kang Xue went out of the third sports hall, this hall used as a medical center. When she got outside, she saw Tang Shaoyang with his people in front of the first sports hall. She ran there but when she reached there, she was put in a tough spot.
Zhang Mengyao and her group were confronting the survivors from her father's side. She noticed the hostility between the two groups. Still clueless about what actually happened between the two sides, her man turned toward her.
"Do you want to follow me or follow your parents?" Tang Shaoyang gave her two choices.
"Huh!?" She just came but she was faced with difficult choices.