Song Jia leaned toward Lin Liqiang and whispered, "I know you're brilliant at developing bio-beasts, but it seems you still lack the capacity to independently develop something that only exists in theory, right?"

"This... haha..." Lin Liqiang chuckled evasively, "Because I'm a genius~~"

"Theft." Inzaghi's faint voice cut in, and Lin Liqiang's expression instantly shifted slightly.

Song Jia's eyes brightened; she immediately understood the sequence of events. Lin Liqiang, as the second son of the head of the Earth Bio-Beast Group, possessing the title of a bio-beast development genius, and also being first-rate in computer technology, it wasn't impossible for him to use his status to steal research data from within the corporation.

No matter how much of a genius Lin Liqiang was, he still needed a certain foundation to be able to develop such an item.

Currently, Lin Liqiang was simply too young; his accumulation in many areas was insufficient. He needed time to truly develop such an entity solely on his own.

However, the time for Qin Fen to enlist was too close, leaving Lin Liqiang insufficient time to handle everything independently, hence the need to take a desperate gamble.

Yes! A desperate gamble! The more powerful the magnate family, the more troublesome the stakes involved. Lin Liqiang was not the sole candidate for inheriting the Super-Beast Group; such an action could completely alter the trajectory of his life.

"Why?" Song Jia couldn't quite grasp it. She had taken risks because of uncontrollable love; what was Lin Liqiang risking it for?

"Sometimes..." Lin Liqiang lightly scratched his temple with his index finger, "This thing called male friendship, it’s really hard to explain. Otherwise, Old Yin wouldn't be doing the same thing I am."

"You mean...!" Song Jia was astonished again.

"What do you think?" Lin Liqiang smiled, "No matter how much of a genius Old Yin is, he's about the same age as me, right? Like me, what he lacks is the accumulation of time. What do you do when you lack time? Steal it..."

"Borrowing..." Inzaghi's cold jest caused even the two composed individuals to burst out laughing. This classmate Inzaghi truly had a touch of Kong Yiji about him. That man's 'stealing' wasn't called stealing, it was 'appropriation'! This one was even better, directly calling it 'borrowing.'

"What's wrong?" Qin Fen emerged from the washroom, looking quite puzzled at the two who were laughing so hard.

"Nothing, nothing," Lin Liqiang raised his glass high, "Old Qin is going into the army! To friendship! Cheers!"

The four glass cups collided intensely, and a unified sound echoed in the room: "To friendship!"

————16k novel wap.16k.CN compiled

The noisy port was filled with streams of youths in new uniforms saying their temporary goodbyes to family members seeing them off.

The Federal East Asia Recruit Training Camp wasn't on Treasure Island, but in Australia. In this era of Federal integration, national borders held little meaning; it was not surprising for new recruits to be assigned to Europe, the Americas, or even Mars after completing their training.

High above the port, a sleek flying saucer-shaped magnetic levitation Ferrari sped by, leaving a visible trace of disturbed air that caught the attention of many in the crowd seeing people off.

The upper half of the sports car, made of translucent composite material, slowly opened its convertible top. Song Jia, dressed in crisp sportswear, her long black hair simply tied back resting on her pert rear, gazed intensely at the person inside the car with her bright, spirited eyes.

The emergence of the beauty instantly made everyone’s eyes light up.

Qin Fen stepped out of the car with a slight flush on his face; being the focus of so many stares made him somewhat uncomfortable.

"Another young master joining the ranks."

"Probably living off a woman, huh?"

Hearing the hushed murmurs in the crowd, Qin Fen forced a wry, helpless smile. He had intended to sneak away with his gear, but Song Jia had ambushed him at his doorstep early that morning and insisted on driving him for the farewell.

He walked over to the narrow, circular metal pillar and inserted the card sent by the military affairs department into the magnetic slot.

"Qin Fen, eighteen years old, high school education, Army service branch." The synthesized electronic voice announced, "Please report to Platoon Two, Squad Two, Third Company, Second Battalion, Pier Number Three New Recruit Camp."

"Pier Number Three is to the left!" Song Jia boldly looped her arm through Qin Fen's, excitedly pulling him towards Pier Number Three of the camp's military harbor.

Qin Fen walked beside her, quite bewildered—who exactly was joining the army? Song Jia seemed far more enthusiastic.

The Seventy-Fifth Regiment was easy to find. Qin Fen arrived at the location for Platoon Two, Squad Two, Third Company, Second Battalion.

With the progression of the times, digitalization was now extensively prevalent. The one greeting Qin Fen was a machine.

Presenting his military card again, after the electronic identity scan confirmed his status, the synthesized voice from the machine sounded once more: "Welcome to the military. Boarding time is in thirty minutes and forty-one seconds. You may use this time for a brief final chat with your family seeing you off."

Putting away his military card, Qin Fen turned back slightly awkwardly to look at Song Jia, momentarily unsure of what to say.

Compared to the taciturn, cool guy Inzaghi, Qin Fen was relatively more talkative, but next to the smooth-talking Lin Liqiang, Qin Fen fell short by more than just a small margin.

In the brief silence, Qin Fen suddenly wished he could be soul-possessed by Lin Liqiang at that moment; at least he wouldn't have to endure this awkwardness.

The surrounding farewells were filled with endless chatter. Song Jia pouted, "Are you just going to stare? Don't you have anything to say to me? I'm very unsatisfied..."

Qin Fen raised a hand and scratched his head, feeling a bit troubled. What Song Jia wanted to hear certainly wasn't something like, "I will be a qualified soldier."

Should he say: I will miss you?

Qin Fen felt that although the relationship between them was somewhat ambiguous, it hadn't quite reached the level of lovers. The sting from Tian Tian's previous rejection had made him a little fearful when it came to expressing romantic feelings, terrified of getting hurt again.

Qin Fen imagined Lin Liqiang again—what would he say in a situation like this?

"Oh~ darling~ I'm about to depart, let's have a kiss first! Since we still have some time, why don't we slip off to that nearby inn and leave a little something of ourselves on each other first..."

This... Qin Fen's heart tightened. Lin Liqiang's approach was something only Lin Liqiang could pull off!

After a few seconds of silence, Qin Fen finally spoke, "I'll send you gifts."

"Send gifts?" Song Jia was momentarily stunned. This wasn't a vacation; why would he be sending gifts?

After a brief blank moment, a happy smile reappeared on Song Jia’s face. Sending gifts meant he would be thinking of me!

"Although I’m unsatisfied, I can accept it for now," Song Jia looked at Qin Fen, "Anything else?"

Anything else? Qin Fen suddenly recalled what Lin Liqiang often told them: "For girls, you must say things like I will miss you, and I will keep in frequent contact with you."

P.S: This is the third update for today~~ Brothers and sisters~~ Send those recommendation votes, flooding in~~~ For the sake of the recommendation votes, this humble writer feels like stripping naked and running down the street...