Three days later, in Tianfu City, at the top floor banquet hall of Jinxiu Grand Hotel.

A secretive celebratory banquet was underway.

As Yang Qi put it, the emotions of the affected citizens from the Dragon Rock Fortress incident needed to be appeased, so technically, a celebratory banquet shouldn't be held now; but to maintain morale, rewards must be given to those who participated in the operation. Thus, the banquet ended up being like a covert mission.

Even the hotel's chefs responsible for the feast had to sign confidentiality agreements in advance, and the hotel's security personnel were entirely replaced by elite troops from the federal regular army—this made Sun Hang wonder, does holding such an extravagant banquet really make sense?

"Of course, it makes sense," Yang Qi said from the side, "Don't forget, you're one of the protagonists of this banquet."

To be honest, Yang Qi herself didn't like such banquets, but given her position and stance, she absolutely couldn't show this dislike on her face.

Sitting beside her was Sun Hang, who completely ignored the speeches of the leaders on stage, and instead, focused on devouring the food on the table—according to etiquette, the banquet was not supposed to be enjoyed until after the leaders' speeches and award ceremonies were over.

Apart from their table, the other tables remained untouched, with no oblivious person daring to start eating at that moment… except for Sun Hang.

The only thing that somewhat relieved Yang Qi was that everyone's attention was focused on the stage, and Sun Hang's actions were so quick and quiet that only those at the same table noticed.

As for those at the same table, the three siblings from the Ye Family didn't care about Sun Hang's actions at all; Ye Jiu even thought about picking up his chopsticks but was stopped by a stern look from his older brother.

"Sun Hang, are you really… that hungry?" Yang Qi asked in a hushed voice.

She was puzzled… Could it be that Taotie's meme affects the appetite of the infected? If that's the case, should this discovery be recorded in her research paper...

"Get ready." Yang Qi tugged on Sun Hang's sleeve, "It's almost your turn to go on stage."

"Me?" Sun Hang, with a piece of rib in his mouth, pointed at himself with sauce-stained fingers, mumbling.

"As the top contributor to repelling Dragon Rock Fortress, there will be a brief medal ceremony later. You just need to say a few formal words, uh..." Yang Qi suddenly hesitated, looking at Sun Hang worriedly, "You… can manage that, right? Do you need me to draft something for you?"

"Pop!" Sun Hang spat the bone into the plate and said, "Alright, I'm done eating. I'm out of here."

"Hey? Wait—"

Yang Qi grabbed Sun Hang, only to realize that the figure sitting at the table was just a decoy made of mycelium, while Sun Hang's real body was already nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it, that jerk." Even the good-natured Yang Qi couldn't help but curse at this moment.

"Good call." Ye Jiu, who sat across the table, chuckled and gave a thumbs up, "He is indeed a jerk."

...

...

Outside the banquet hall, in a temporarily restricted area.

Aside from a few soldiers on duty, the brightly lit, lavishly decorated corridor was deserted. Sun Hang looked around and approached one of the soldiers, asking, "Where's the bathroom?"

The soldier was startled for a moment, then replied, "Sir, I don't know either!"

Sun Hang suddenly realized the problem. These soldiers had just been transferred here, and they were as unfamiliar with the hotel's layout as he was… As for the original hotel staff familiar with the environment, they were probably still at home waiting for a recall notice.

"Never mind, I'll find it myself." Sun Hang waved his hand.

"Um…" The soldier immediately called out to Sun Hang, "According to regulations, you can't leave this floor until the banquet is over! Please understand!"

"I'm just looking for a bathroom," Sun Hang said with some helplessness, "There can't possibly be no bathroom on this whole floor, can there?"

To tell the truth, while the hotel's decorations were luxurious, the guidance and signage were terribly done—even if they wanted to give grand names to various halls and rooms, even the name of a vegetable pantry was "Zouzhu Pavilion." Who knows what fancy title the restroom was given.

Fancy? More like dampness… Sun Hang mused as he walked down the corridor.

In Sun Hang's pragmatist view, the words romantic and wasteful are interchangeable—high-end marble floors that cost tens of thousands per square meter, delicate 18K gold lamps, thick handwoven carpets—all of these will ultimately become a mess of ruins.

Shrouded in eternal night, this building is not even as useful as emergency shelters built purely with reinforced concrete.

The only thing that satisfied Sun Hang about this so-called top hotel in Tianfu City was probably the food.

"The oil-fried shrimp was not bad, but the sweet and sour pork was a bit too sweet. They should've used less sugar and more vinegar… huh, why are you here?"

Sun Hang asked, puzzled, as he saw Yang Lian standing by the window.

No wonder I didn't see her at the banquet, Sun Hang thought. She somehow managed to sneak out before he did.

But Sun Hang still thought she missed out, as she should've tasted those dishes before slipping away.

"Thanks to you, I got promoted," Yang Lian said, "I'm now in charge of the security management on this floor."

"Huh? Weren't you transferred to the research institute?"

"I realized I'm not suited for research… I'm different from my sister. I've been following her path for over twenty years. Looking back, maybe I should have gone my own way from the start."

"What suddenly made you realize that?" Sun Hang looked at her with a bewildered expression, "Did you hit your head somewhere and suddenly see the light?"

"…" Yang Lian stared at Sun Hang for a few seconds but ultimately kept quiet and went back to looking at her phone.

"What are you looking at? Let me see too." Sun Hang leaned over, seeing a lectern that looked similar to the one in the banquet hall on the screen, where a sharp-faced middle-aged woman was speaking righteously.

Yang Lian had Bluetooth earphones on, and there were no subtitles in the video. Sun Hang also hadn't learned lip-reading, so he had no idea what the woman was talking about.

"Dubhe Tower's quarterly public report." Yang Lian answered, "The woman on stage is Mr. Deng, one of the most renowned 'reformists' in academia."

"Reformists?" Sun Hang was slightly taken aback, "What are they?"

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