“Manager Yan, if I want to buy materials from the Academy of Sciences, is there anything I should watch out for?” Su Mo’s expression did not change before he stood up, and he said no more than he had to.

Favors, bribes and back doors were simply part of human nature.

Even if he really meant to follow the idea Yan Jianhua had given him, he would not state his purpose outright and hand the other man a handle to use against him.

“Hehe. Boss Su is truly cautious. No wonder you held back for so long and only pushed Qiankun Grain Store under at the critical moment.”

“But you needn’t worry too much. The territory may manage high-grade materials especially strictly, but this lowest grade of alloy, even buffer alloy, which is worth a bit more than the rest, isn’t really worth much. It’s not worth the higher-ups’ attention at all.”

“If you’re going to look for, ah, buy some, just keep as low a profile as you can and don’t attract the notice of those few lords,” Yan Jianhua said with a smile, several folds squeezing out of his fat face.

“Those few lords?” The faces of Lü Kuan, Ai Jianfeng and the others flashed through his mind, but Su Mo kept up his look of inquiry.

“Aiya, I forgot Boss Su has only just arrived in the territory. You wouldn’t know any of this.”

“A few words really won’t cover it. How about this? I’ll have someone give you a ride, and he can introduce you to the Academy of Sciences on the way.”

“All right. Then I’ll trouble Manager Yan.”

“No trouble, no trouble. Boss Su, just remember Baoyu Heavy Industry when you have more business in the future!”

Having taken a deposit of five thousand points and tied himself to the newly risen Zizai Liang Lane, Yan Jianhua was unusually courteous.

Before long, a covered energy car, clearly a grade above the one Su Mo had arrived in, rolled slowly out of the factory and stopped in front of him.

“Boss Su, my name is Zhou Yue. Manager Yan sent me to take you. Just call me Xiao Zhou.”

A young man with a long scar on his face leaned out from under the canopy, grinning.

“Zhou Yue? That’s a fine name. It has presence.” Smiling, Su Mo climbed in and sat in the back.

The energy car started and began to glide forward.

From the outside it had already looked a cut above, and inside the ride was indeed more comfortable by several degrees.

The buffer alloy at the bottom of the chassis filtered out even the slightest bumps, leaving only the feeling of sitting in a boat, swaying gently from side to side.

“Boss Su, you wanted to know about the situation at the Academy of Sciences, right?” Zhou Yue only spoke after they had left the winding little roads of the factory district and joined the main road.

“Mm. I haven’t been in the territory long. I’ve always heard how famous our Academy of Sciences is, but this will be my first time seeing it.”

He turned his head and looked out the window.

Only then did Su Mo notice that the factories of the western district had a road running straight to the Academy of Sciences in the northern district. Follow that main road downhill and you would arrive before long.

Just as the Academy’s reputation suggested, in the planning too this birthplace of technology enjoyed an exaggerated geographical advantage.

“Many years ago, long before the great earthquake, this place was still a small lake. Only later, when the territory expanded and rebuilt, did they concentrate the factories here and reclaim land from the lake, which gave it the scale you see now.”

“In the whole western district there are twenty-four public factories set up by our Tian Yuan Territory itself, and eight more that other territories built here to learn from us. Before signing the construction agreements, these thirty-two factories also signed another accord.”

“Very few people know its full name, but outsiders call it the ‘blockade line.’ In general, every factory permanently enjoys the same technological support without discrimination, and the price is unconditional secrecy plus the highest level of support for the Academy of Sciences’s research.”

In the rearview mirror, Zhou Yue showed a mild smile. “This time, every scrap of buffer alloy being drawn away falls under a clause of the blockade-line accord.”

“A blockade line? What if a factory already had orders in progress? Wouldn’t pulling materials like that cause conflict?” Su Mo showed a hint of doubt.

“Conflict? What conflict could there be? Boss Su, you have to understand that the Academy of Sciences is no ordinary little shop. Even our mayor and our lord have to be polite to the researchers in there. What order of yours could be more important than the Academy’s research?”

“To be frank, whenever the Academy of Sciences draws large batches of materials, it is on the eve of a major move. We ordinary people only wish they would do it more often,” Zhou Yue said gently.

“A major move?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I wonder if Boss Su knows about the technological explosions our Tian Yuan Territory has had in the past?”

“That I certainly know. The first was the energy stone engine, the second was regenerative medicine, and the third was distanceless energy,” Su Mo answered at once.

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