"Are you certain?"
Ji Jue fixed Bustamante with a cold stare.
The Sukarno family had ties to the Federation?
*I’m from the Federation myself, so why the hell didn't I know about this?!*
"It is merely a deduction, but my principle has always been to assume the worst. A little caution never hurts."
Bustamante quickly bowed his head and answered, "The Sukarno family handled this with utmost secrecy, shielded by the Tyrant's cover. There are countless layers concealing the truth. Others might be in the dark, but as you know, I possess rather... extensive intelligence channels—"
Extensive was an understatement; it was vast.
After all, an ordinary person could hardly boast of having in-laws and fathers-in-law spread across the entire world.
How else had the Chopra family managed to preserve their relative independence until now, escaping being chained down and commandeered as someone else's vehicle? It was entirely thanks to Bustamante’s relentless maneuvering and deft social gymnastics.
An unorthodox method might not be a proper path, but it was certainly wildly effective.
Every shifting wind and stray rumor filtered through his various channels. Once pieced together by someone with an eye for detail, things invisible on paper inevitably came to light.
To be fair, Luodao had kept its operational secrecy tight. Whoever did the dirty work could hardly walk around with their employer’s name stamped on their forehead, after all.
Yet even if Sukarno took every measure to conceal it, once the chicken’s feet grew out, they were bound to leave tracks.
"Speaking of which, this is partly thanks to you, Mr. Ji."
Bustamante changed the subject and looked toward Ji Jue. Ji Jue was left utterly baffled. *Why does every damnable mess in this world somehow end up tied back to me?*
Ji Jue frowned. "Cut the suspense and spit it out!"
"Ahem... It’s about the Longdao Chamber of Commerce."
*Sounds familiar...* Ji Jue racked his brain, then slapped his forehead as realization struck. *Damn it, that was the Blood Cleansing Fleet again!*
When the representative of the Blood Cleansing Fleet had approached him to buy safe passage, hadn't they been operating under that exact name?
"So that chamber of commerce actually exists?"
"It does. Pirates need a way to fence their plunder, after all. The Sukarno family even holds shares in several enterprises within Strumpet Town," Bustamante explained. "After Mr. Ji crushed the Blood Cleansing Fleet and wiped out Strumpet Town, I noticed Luodao's reaction was abnormal. The losses at Strumpet Town must have been so catastrophic that they couldn't fulfill their deliveries. The Venom Fleet scrambled for quite some time, and in their haste, they showed a few slipped seams. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found any clues or evidence either. And then—"
"So stop dancing around it! Where exactly does it point?!"
Ji Jue cut him off, his patience already worn thin.
Bustamante froze in embarrassment, coughing as he lowered his head.
"...I don't know."
Seeing Ji Jue’s eyes turn progressively colder, he hastily tried to salvage the situation. "After all, the Sukarno family would never speak openly of such matters. I had to avoid startling the snake while looking into it, so I could only observe from afar. However, I do have an unconfirmed suspicion."
He hesitated for a second before plucking up the courage to say, "It is very likely tied to Dongcheng in the Federation."
"Motherfucker, I knew it!"
A furious roar shook the room.
Ji Jue jumped in surprise. The sound came from a carved spirit crystal beast resting on the table.
It was Lou Feng, who had been listening in, erupting into curses!
In less than thirty seconds, Lou Feng kicked the door open and barged in straight from the workshop. After demanding details again and again, his expression turned increasingly grim.
He delivered a flat verdict: "No need to guess. It’s the Xu family!"
The Xu family of Dongcheng.
One of the two great powerhouses standing alongside the Lou family in the Federation's spiritus industry—the spirit-commanding Xu family of Dongcheng!
Commercial competition was already a dog-eat-dog affair, and a struggle over ecological niches between Celestial Chosen was even more cutthroat.
Over the four centuries since the Federation’s founding, the two clans had repeatedly beaten each other half to death. Their ledger of mutual blood debts was stacked two or three men high.
However, while the Lou family focused on the yield and transmutation of spiritus, the Xu family dedicated themselves to the modification, control, and catalysis of spirit bodies. As a result, the Lou family enjoyed a relatively decent reputation, while the Xu family's stench carried ten leagues against the wind.
After all, the Federation had been at peace for centuries. Through standard means, where on earth could one obtain so many living people to supply souls and spirit bodies?
Back when Ji Jue sought partners for his Lord of the Flies project, the first clan he had blacklisted was the Xu family. He would rather do it entirely alone than consider them.
Their reputation was atrocious, and their habit of hogging the entire pie was nothing short of psychotic. Had Ji Jue tried negotiating with them, they probably would have wiped him from the census altogether.
Lou Feng’s support for the project had also stemmed partly from a desire to cut into the Xu family's turf.
"I knew it! I fucking knew it! Who else besides those sons of bitches in the Xu family could have such a bottomless appetite for spirit bodies? Who else would have such a massive deficit?
"I was wondering how Fourth Brother got into trouble during that overseas project last year! Turns out it was you bastards all along!
"No wonder the family investigated for so long and found nothing—you were playing blind spots right under our noses! I swear I'm going to—"
Casting all decorum to the wind, Lou Feng rattled off Federation obscenities for a full half-hour without drawing breath. He paid his respects to every generation of the Xu family from top to bottom, inside and out, annihilating all nine branches of their lineage dozens of times in the abstract.
"We're doing this, Ji Jue!"
Lou Feng paced in circles with his hands behind his back. After dozens of laps, his eyes burned bloodshot. "I'm messaging my family right now! You want men, I'll give you men; you want supplies, I'll give you supplies! Spiritus consumption is all on my tab!
"Once we raze that fucking Sukarno family to the ground, the Lou family will be the first to back you taking command of the Seven Cities!"
"Hold on, don't rush. Keep your cool."
Ji Jue reached out to restrain the impatient Lou Feng, a broad grin spreading across his face. "If it really is the Xu family, that calls for an even longer game..."
Lou Feng gave him a suspicious sidelong glance.
He wasn't worried that Ji Jue had suddenly grown timid. Rather, knowing this rogue as well as he did, he had already caught on. "You're planning to go angling again?!"
"How can you call it angling?" Ji Jue objected loudly and virtuously. "This is a righteous defensive counterattack!"
Lou Feng wanted to target the Xu family, and Minkler wanted to target Sukarno on Luodao.
Ji Jue wanted to target both.
How could he allow a second pair of hands stirring a bowl in his own pot?
Besides, he could take the opportunity to trip up Dongcheng while he was at it.
The site selection for the Leviathan Base was still mired in fierce debate, with Haizhou and Dongcheng practically tearing each other's hair out in the House of Representatives.
At a time like this, whether as the backing force behind Chopra or as a shareholder in Haichao, since they had walked right into his crosshairs, Ji Jue was more than happy to help put them on the scales!
If they could get their hands on ironclad proof that the Xu family was in cahoots with Luodao and toss it right onto the floor of the House of Representatives, the spectacle would be magnificent!
That was why he had to show restraint at this critical juncture.
They had only just found their footing, and the Chopra family had just undergone a succession; their foundation remained precarious.
Furthermore, the enemy was in the dark while they were in the open. Assembling an army and brazenly posturing for a decisive battle now would be the textbook definition of startling the snake.
Since they hadn't known before, they might as well continue playing dumb.
Whether they acted clueless or not, the Sukarno family was bound to attack anyway.
As for the Xu family...
When in doubt, chum the waters first!
Deep in thought, he looked at Lou Feng and broke into a sudden grin.
"Go call your Third Uncle first."
Lou Feng frowned. "And say what?"
"Say that you spotted a sleek new moped on the street and want to go get a trendy haircut to match...
"A child away from home faces endless hardships; life isn't easy, you know."
At the thought of his good friend Lou Feng suffering and enduring hardships out in the world—wretched, underfed, and underclothed—Ji Jue sighed with theatrical grief. "Get him to cough up some gold, pronto!"
***
The following morning, executive managers from the Lou family's Guangji Enterprises disembarked at Xiangzhou in broad daylight. Accompanied by relevant officials, they commenced a comprehensive survey across the Seven Cities, diving enthusiastically into talks regarding industrial investments and factory construction.
At the same time, an internal document began circulating among the upper management of Guangji Enterprises detailing the company's next strategic direction: a plan to pour tens of billions into Xiangzhou and the broader Seven Cities over the next five years. Spanning energy, water resources, cargo shipping, and numerous other sectors, they intended to establish a footprint across the Seven Cities and spearhead an advance into the Thousand Islands!
The slideshow presentations were dazzling, painting a radiant future that made uninformed outsiders believe the Thousand Islands held an inexhaustible mountain of gold and silver.
*Sure, the world outside might look chaotic right now, but don't flinch—the broader outlook is overwhelmingly favorable!*
*Be fearful when others are greedy, and buy the dip when others are fearful!*
*Just dive right in!*
As for why a document that should have been strictly confidential had leaked... one only needed to look at Guangji Enterprises' stock price surging several points before market close.
Venerable retail investors couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.
*Pulling this bait-and-switch routine again!*
Documents like that—half-true, half-false—amounted to nothing more than lip service. For all anyone knew, it was pure theater. When it quietly vanished without a trace in a few months, their answer would simply be that it had never existed.
Yet fabricated or not, when observant figures connected this with Lou Feng's recent high-profile maneuvers in Xiangzhou and the succession within the Chopra family, certain suspicions inevitably took root in their minds.
Believing it or not was one thing.
Whether one was breaking a sweat over it... only they themselves knew.
As it turned out, someone was indeed sweating.
That very evening, Fernan—the representative from Pucheng and the acting speaker of the Seven Cities Council—came knocking on the door.
Ever since the former Alliance Leader, Aquilino, had died of an old wound flaring up, this trusted deputy, who had worked in seamless coordination with him for decades, had temporarily assumed the role of speaker at the nominal summit of authority in the Seven Cities.
In title, he was now the highest-ranking official in the Seven Cities before a new Alliance Leader was chosen. In reality, things were far less rosy.
He was purely ornamental.
Without Aquilino, no one gave him any face. What was more, even when Aquilino was alive, the so-called council had only served as a forum for the seven families to talk among themselves.
Unfortunately, the Tianyuan system carried zero binding authority among the Seven Cities. Bereft of the backing of the seven families, the council's existence had degenerated into a chatroom—and one that routinely failed to meet quorum.
If they couldn't elect a new Alliance Leader soon, the council would likely fall apart entirely. Yet if a new Alliance Leader *were* chosen... Fernan, as a relic of the old regime, would simply be unceremoniously cast aside.
If he knew what was good for him, he would prepare his resignation early in hopes of making a peaceful landing. Otherwise, a fleet of dump trucks would be eager to pay him a visit.
This seat was even more of a fire pit than Minkler's candidacy for family head had been!
Over all those years, Fernan had forced through modernizing reforms among the Seven Cities, offending a vast number of people in the process. Many of his forward-looking measures were unprecedented in the region's history.
Regrettably, no matter how sound a policy or bill might be, lack of enforcement rendered it hollow.
Whether in education, healthcare, or financial oversight, the parasitic meddling of countless vermin turned even the best reforms into a tangled mess. Even when successful, the returns were negligible.
Yet stubborn as ever, this acting speaker persevered with indomitable grit.
The orphanages, nursing homes, and affordable clinics in Xiangzhou were largely his doing. Sadly, the end results remained less than pretty.
Calling him a total failure would be unfair, but rampant disorder had become the norm.
For over forty years, he had strained and toiled, exhausting his wits to patch and plaster the Seven Cities into a modern facade capable of integrating with the international stage. Now that the time had come to slaughter the donkey after it had turned the grindstone, his state was naturally far from dignified.
His emaciated frame seemed reduced to little more than a broad skeleton, his complexion sallow as though he hadn't slept in days, his eyes faintly shot with blood.
Yet those eyes were astonishingly large, showing very little white.
Even knowing full well what a bleak fate awaited him, he had just finalized the Seven Cities' minimum wage standard in recent days, tossing another shovel of fuel into the fire pit beneath his own feet.
He didn't seem to care in the slightest.
"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ji."
He looked toward Ji Jue as the young man entered the reception room, his demeanor calm. "Should I say I am not at all surprised?"
"A simple 'hello' will do."
Ji Jue took a seat opposite him with composed ease, wearing a gentle smile. Locking eyes with his guest, he casually launched with a classic Federation opener:
"Have you eaten yet?"
Chapter 718