Free Web NovelChapter 323: Chapter 268: Warning: Insufficient Rank
"Hong Ying, you’re not actually going to..." The middle-aged director looked at Zhang Hongying, a strange worry creeping into his heart. He wasn’t afraid of her getting angry; he was afraid of her *not* getting angry.
Because that meant Zhang Hongying had already made a decision.
"Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. Gao Neng is a genius. A genius like him can do many things in the future. I won’t do anything reckless." Zhang Hongying shook her head.
"Mm, that’s good." The middle-aged director let out a breath of relief.
"But I’m not going to just let it go, either!" After saying this, Zhang Hongying’s face became completely expressionless.
Perfectly calm.
Like the period of tranquility that always precedes a storm.
"..." The middle-aged director said no more. As long as Zhang Hongying didn’t cross the line, teaching Gao Neng a small lesson wasn’t a big deal.
Zhang Hongying also fell silent.
Her gaze was fixed on the new computer screen in front of her.
On it, Gao Neng and Fang Tangtang were once again locked in battle.
The difference was that this time, Fang Tangtang was using the No. 4 Electromagnetic Cannon, unleashing a wild barrage at Gao Neng, yet she hadn’t managed to land a single hit.
She had only succeeded in blasting the arena until it was riddled with holes.
Clearly, she was demonstrating the power of the No. 4 Electromagnetic Cannon to the audience and reporters.
Sect Leader Hua and the two Elders’ faces were grim!
The Huashan Ancient Sect had spent a great deal of time building these three arenas. And now? One was more than half-destroyed by Gao Neng, and the other had been turned into a honeycomb?
Zhang Hongying watched everything happening on the computer screen, her eyes narrowing slightly.
’There are actors.’
’So there should be an audience!’
’So, the show is almost over, and the advertisement has been run. What other fake tricks will Gao Neng and Fang Tangtang pull out next?’
Just as she was thinking this, Fang Tangtang on the computer screen spoke again.
"Gao Neng, you are the most formidable opponent I, Death God Fang Tangtang, have ever met! The No. 4 Electromagnetic Cannon was your invention, so I won’t use this weapon to defeat you. But I still have one ultimate secret weapon I haven’t used!"
’Are they still running ads?’ Zhang Hongying thought, shaking her head slightly. If Gao Neng and Fang Tangtang pulled some other tricks to annoy her, she wouldn’t mind continuing to watch.
But to run another ad like this...
It was getting a little dull.
Meanwhile, Gao Neng on the screen seemed a bit confused himself.
However, after glancing at the surrounding reporters, Gao Neng played along. "Wow, I can’t believe it, Fang Tangtang! You still have an ultimate secret weapon you haven’t brought out? Well then, please show everyone what this ultimate secret weapon is."
"My ultimate secret weapon is me! I’m really powerful! Gao Neng, you’d better be on your guard! You absolutely have to be on your guard!" Seeing Gao Neng play along, Fang Tangtang immediately blinked emphatically at him.
"Of course! I, Gao Neng, am *that* awesome!" Gao Neng nodded.
The members of the Dragon List special task force watched this scene and all shook their heads. If this kept up, who knew how long these two would drag it out.
"Forget it, I’m going to make a cup of tea. Call me when they’re about done fighting."
"Make me a cup too!"
"I want coffee!"
Other team members immediately chimed in.
It was advertisement time again...
They prepared to relax for a bit.
But just then, a voice came from the computer screen.
"Tangtang, are you really sure you want to use it?"
The voice was crystal clear. As it rang out, all the camera lenses swiveled in unison toward a figure below the arena.
Black military uniform, jet-black hair, bright eyes. Shen Ning’Er’s aura needed no words; just by standing there, she could capture everyone’s attention.
Shen Ning’Er, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke when she heard Fang Tangtang mention using her ultimate secret weapon.
"Sister Ning’Er, I want to prove myself!" Fang Tangtang said again.
"But if you do that, Tangtang, the thing on you will be..." Shen Ning’Er sounded worried.
"I’m not afraid! That old hag Zhang Hongying is definitely watching me. I want to show her that I, Fang Tangtang, can really get an S-rank evaluation!" Fang Tangtang said resolutely.
"..." Shen Ning’Er was taken aback for a moment, then glanced at Gao Neng. "Fine. But you must be careful to control it. You can only use one-thousandth of its power at most, understand?"
"Understood, Sister Ning’Er! HAHAHA... Gao Neng, watch me defeat you!" Fang Tangtang laughed gleefully upon hearing Shen Ning’Er’s approval.
"???" Gao Neng.
"..."
"Huh? Something’s not right! Why would Shen Ning’Er suddenly talk like that? Could it be that this Fang Tangtang really does have an ultimate secret weapon?" one team member frowned.
"It’s definitely not right!" The middle-aged director frowned as well.
"Director, don’t let them fool you. From what I know, Shen Ning’Er and Gao Neng’s relationship is supposedly unusual. It’d be normal for her to play along with them, right?"
"No, you don’t understand Shen Ning’Er. She’s not like Gao Neng. Although Vice Commander Shen dotes on her, her upbringing was extremely strict. Besides, Shen Ning’Er holds a position in the Military Department. In front of outsiders, she would never cooperate with Gao Neng and the others to put on a show." The middle-aged director shook his head, then, as if he’d thought of something, said, "Go, bring me my computer!"
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, an internal computer from the Dragon List special task force was placed in front of the middle-aged director.
This was the middle-aged director’s personal computer.
With extremely high clearance!
After getting the computer, the middle-aged director immediately entered his name, went to a certain page, and then entered the name "Fang Tangtang."
He hit enter.
Fang Tangtang’s photo and file quickly appeared.
The only granddaughter of Celestial King Group Chairman Fang Yuan, the designated future heir of the Celestial King Group.
This was common knowledge.
Displayed on the first line.
Below that was Fang Tangtang’s military rank.
Lieutenant.
When the middle-aged director saw this, his expression shifted slightly. ’A sixteen-year-old girl already holds the rank of Lieutenant?’
Under normal circumstances, it would be very difficult, but considering Fang Tangtang’s status... it wasn’t out of the question.
He continued reading down.
Some of Fang Tangtang’s life experiences from childhood to the present appeared on the screen, including the status of her parents.
After her birth, her mother died in an accident, and her biological father left soon after.
’Both parents gone? The biological father would be Fang Yuan’s only son, right? Speaking of Fang Yuan’s son...’ An image quickly surfaced in the middle-aged director’s mind.
A figure known as the Alliance’s number one manufacturing genius!
The only person ever to be granted the highest manufacturing title by the Alliance: ’Craft God’...
In his life, he had created many legends.
And broken many records.
From a young age, he had won every manufacturing award in the entire Alliance.
It was the rise of this super-genius that allowed the Celestial King Group to expand rapidly in just a few short years, successfully defeating all its competitors to become the most powerful weapons manufacturing base in the entire Alliance, even supplying weapons directly to the Alliance Military Department.
Furthermore, legend had it that the collaboration between the Celestial King Group and the military was a strategic contract initiated by the Alliance Military Department itself, which had come knocking on their door.
As for the specific contents of that strategic contract, the middle-aged director had no idea.
He continued reading.
The middle-aged director saw the first suspicious point: the death of Fang Yuan’s son, that is, Fang Tangtang’s father.
Such a super-genius, who could have led the Celestial King Group to even greater heights, had died together with his wife one night sixteen years ago.
Leaving behind only the baby girl born to him and his wife...
And that baby girl was, of course, Fang Tangtang.
This matter made the middle-aged director’s brow furrow slightly. Then, another recorded incident that followed made his eyes go wide.
As the Alliance’s number one weapons manufacturing base, the Celestial King Group’s board of directors naturally consisted of more than just Chairman Fang Yuan.
In fact, the Celestial King Group had a total of 27 directors.
However, after the deaths of Fang Yuan’s son and daughter-in-law, the twenty-seven directors of the Celestial King Group unanimously voted to designate Fang Tangtang as the future heir of the Celestial King Group.
The suspicious part about this was that Fang Tangtang’s right of inheritance was not proposed by Fang Yuan.
It was proposed jointly by all 27 directors...
Most importantly, after it was proposed, not a single person objected.
’These two incidents both seem a bit strange, no matter how you look at them, don’t they?’ The middle-aged director looked at the information in the file, somewhat surprised. He hadn’t paid much attention to Fang Tangtang before, only knowing that this princess would one day inherit the Celestial King Group.
As for anything else, he knew very little.
But now it seemed...
...there was something unspeakable hidden within.
The middle-aged director gently tapped the screen with his finger. He wanted to turn to the next page to view Fang Tangtang’s various stats, hidden talents, and so on.
But just as he clicked on "hidden talents"...
...four large words popped up on the screen.
"Warning: Clearance level insufficient!"
’Clearance level insufficient?!’ The middle-aged director’s hand trembled. He possessed level-seven clearance, which was an extremely high level within the Federation Government.
And yet, he couldn’t even look up information on Fang Tangtang?
The middle-aged director didn’t understand. It was just a hidden talent, what was there to keep secret? And to keep it secret from him, a director of a special department in the Federation Government?
’That’s impossible!’
’I can even view the file of Shaximo of the Esoteric Sect, who’s number one on the Dragon List.’
’There’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to look up Fang Tangtang, is there?’
Unwilling to give up, the middle-aged director once again clicked on the merit records for Fang Tangtang’s Lieutenant rank. After all, to be commissioned, there had to be a record of military achievements.
That couldn’t be faked!
"Warning: Clearance level insufficient!" The same four words popped up again.
"What?! I can’t even check the military service record for how she earned the rank of Lieutenant? What... what kind of battle did she participate in?!" The middle-aged director was stunned.
"Director, is there something special about this little princess from the Celestial King Group?" A team member leaned over, but his gaze deliberately avoided the computer screen in front of the director.
"I’m not sure." The middle-aged director closed the computer, but his mind was in turmoil.
With his level-seven clearance, he could view the life experiences and parental deaths of a princess from a commercial conglomerate, but he couldn’t access her personal data?
That was completely backward.
Because personal data was, in many cases, public information.
For example, there were data scans during the college entrance exams.
Everyone’s hidden talent was in a semi-public state. After all, a hidden talent represented a person’s potential and whether they were worth cultivating.
The point the middle-aged director couldn’t figure out was that if Fang Tangtang truly had some mysterious identity, then her background and experiences should be what’s classified.
Why was it her *data* that was classified?
In addition, her military service record was also classified, and at such a high level that even level-seven clearance couldn’t access it. This was just too incredible.
"Director, look! Fang Tangtang is about to make a move!" Just then, a team member called out a reminder.
The middle-aged director shuddered, his gaze involuntarily turning to the lit computer screen in front of Zhang Hongying. On it, Fang Tangtang was striking an exaggerated pose.
Um...
A very exaggerated one.
Her arms were spread wide, her legs were spread wide, and her whole body formed a large "X" shape as she stood dramatically on the ground.
As for her Scythe of Death and the No. 4 Electromagnetic Cannon...
They were both tossed on the ground.
Of course, that wasn’t important. What was important was...
...was this a proper fighting stance?
