Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 346 - 265: Invitation

Chapter 346: Chapter 265: Invitation

Joyful times are always brief.

Just as Jiuyue was planning her schedule for the days following a great insight, she received an unexpected invitation. The content of the invitation was irresistibly appealing.

The sender of the invitation was Fu Ling, who wanted her to visit the Eco-Ship of the Universe Company’s Department of Life Sciences.

Since parting from Blue Star, their interactions with Fu Ling had become increasingly rare. After all, the director of the Department of Life Sciences was a very busy person, with an endless pile of matters to address every day. It was said that her schedule for academic summits had been booked until the following year due to the constant flow of invitations.

The academic community held Fu Ling in high esteem, believing she had surpassed her own mentor, the previous director who died unexpectedly in a flying vehicle crash on Blue Star. Scholars thought that the former director, Bai Kou, had become overly obsessed with power after taking up the directorship and had long forgotten her scholarly identity.

Speaking of the unfortunate director Bai Kou, Duan Mingyuan felt rather embarrassed.

Although he had shouldered a lot of blame due to the public relations strategies of the Shanqi Commerce Association, the other party had also tainted him with the dark renown of assassinating a company director—once the hostility between the company and the chamber was disclosed, everyone suddenly understood.

It was all the work of the Chamber of Commerce.

The missing former member of the Silver Branch, Western Wind, was also turned by the Chamber. Otherwise, why has nobody been able to locate Western Wind up till now?

This was just the kind of hazardous record they had.

Despite the Chamber’s denials to the media on various occasions, they even felt that anyone who could concoct such conspiracy theories ought to have their brain checked.

Thinking about it now, it was clear that the strongest internal support for the merger had been from the Mandala Consortium.

The Mandala Consortium was manipulated behind the scenes by the Shan Clan People, and the Department of Life Sciences was an institution under the consortium, with directorship appointments approved by the family.

They had been very optimistic about Bai Kou; although not a Shan Clan person, her actions were highly compatible with the Shan Clan’s style. She wasn’t a mere old academic; instead, she conducted all sorts of commercial operations from the perspective of life science researchers, with Blue Star being just one of them.

If Bai Kou hadn’t died, the family had planned to keep him in this position for a few more years before moving him to a higher executive level.

How could the Chamber possibly kill off someone they had nurtured as a valuable asset?

Of course, that was the rationale, but they were facing a free press.

People didn’t need reasons and usually didn’t bother with logical thinking. Once they believed you were responsible, no explanation would suffice.

This "free" press environment was originally crafted by them, yet they never anticipated becoming victims one day themselves.

Upon learning all this, Duan Mingyuan remained silent, feeling that he was on an even moral footing with the Chamber.

In the press, he had become the spiritual leader of the United Front and the most notorious terrorist in the universe.

The Shanqi Commerce Association was even more significant, already seen by many as historical criminals attempting to ignite the first cosmic war.

Whether it was Universe Company playing tricks behind the scenes or not, recently, there had been an increase in people cursing the Shan Clan People, even claiming that these people should have all been killed during the destruction of Flash Star, thus sparing everyone from their trouble.

Enraged, the Shan Clan People were rumored to be preparing to introduce new laws.

Freedom of speech would no longer be a get-out-of-jail-free card, and those who slandered them would have to pay a price.

Duan Mingyuan didn’t support such hateful speech and disliked judging others with biased perceptions—ample proof of which was that one of his good friends, He Ya from Flash Star, had a very pleasant relationship with him, never promoting any race-hate speech.

After setting his own armor straight and proving his impartial stance, Duan Mingyuan could point out issues from a neutral and objective perspective.

Wherever there was trouble, there Shan Clan People were involved.

Even He Ya, born from Flash Star, thought so, and her actions were even more extreme.

Unreliable intelligence indicated that He Ya had once been a serial killer on Flash Star, having killed many Shan Clan People.

Just like now.

He and Jiuyue sat at the table, discussing the invitation.

The timing on the invitation was tight, almost outright demanding that they leave the Prison Planet immediately to head to the Eco-Ship of the Department of Life Sciences.

Such a timeline and urgency inevitably raised suspicions.

Since parting from Blue Star, Fu Ling had been continually trying to secure access to the Eco-Ship for them. As expected, all applications had sunk without a trace. Normally, as the department director, she would not have needed to go to such lengths. However, Duan Mingyuan’s status was extremely special, and more importantly, his relationships with both the company and the chamber were quite poor.

The Department of Life Sciences was an institution funded by the Shan Clan People, and the director had to follow the big boss’s orders.

After a thorough investigation, Duan Mingyuan finally understood the reason behind it.

The casinos were also assets under the Mandala Consortium, serving as one of their crucial revenue channels.

The situation on Prison Planet had made it difficult for the casinos; compared to asset losses, a casino that lost its credibility would no longer attract customers.

However, the events of the past few months had made them realize that as long as these detestable Blue Star People remained on Prison Planet, any of their plans would inevitably fail.

They had learned the internal situation of the prison through moles, thus the Shan Clan People formulated a new strategy.

Divert the Blue Star People, then stir up a big shuffle in the prison.

The Specters, this core strength, remained inside the prison. If Norton truly proved intractable, they could replace him with a new, compliant Prison Governor who would bring stable profits to the company.

Thus, even Duan Mingyuan received an invitation, albeit for a different reason than Jiuyue.

His was for a scholarly summit on life research topics, where top experts in the domain of life sciences from across the entire universe would gather. They were excited when they heard that Duan Mingyuan had cured "Dehydration Syndrome" on Mechanical Star and believed that the Life Energy he controlled could bring about a new transformation in the life sciences field which had been stagnant for decades.

Fu Ling made it clear in the invitation that these researchers were very simple and pure individuals. Their stance was independent of the company, though the summit had always been held on the flagship of the Department of Life Sciences.

Everyone was easy to get along with and interested in Duan Mingyuan.

"Mr. Mingyuan, should I go apologize to Wanwan?"

Jiuyue asked softly.

In fact, she had made up her mind when she received the invitation.

Fu Ling said her parents were on the ship, and they even had an area designated for them. She had been waiting for this day for a very long time.

But leaving without fulfilling a commitment to others seemed somewhat unfair to her friends. She specifically came to discuss with Duan Mingyuan whether apologizing would be more decent.

"Wanwan is reasonable, I believe it will definitely understand me."

"No need,"

Duan Mingyuan shook his head as he meticulously reviewed the date on the invitation.

The timing was tight, given the distance between the shore and the Life Sciences Department flagship on Prison Planet, they had to leave tonight, not even making it in time for tomorrow’s activities.

But all this was based on an important premise.

Universe Company assumed Prison Planet was still in its original location, its sudden disappearance merely a trick of some sort.

But in fact, the digitalized world had completely shattered the concept of space. They no longer existed in any corner of the universe, not even the owner of the Conscious Space, the Judge, knew their specific coordinates.

Combined with Morgo VII’s use of the digitalized world, they were, theoretically, in any corner of the universe.

"Just focus on being a good director, I’ll figure out a solution,"

Duan Mingyuan thought that it was imperative to convene a scholarly conference. Fortunately, all the needed experts were currently within the Conscious Space.

Thus, a quarter of an hour later, several renowned figures in the academic world gathered in a makeshift meeting room.

There were nameplates in front of each person.

Judge.

Duan Mingyuan.

Eisenberg-Adler.

Specters number: 37

Owl.

The Owl’s nameplate was quite rudimentary and did not fit in with the other four. Before the Owl, looking at the camera, had time to enter the door, the Judge kicked it out along with the person, machine, and nameplate.

"I never thought I would attend such an important meeting,"

Norton exclaimed.

He had always been unrelated to academics, never dreaming of becoming a scientist.

Although he was completely an outsider, he could grasp the significance of the meeting.

If they were successful, the technologies of the digitalized world would change the entire universe and everyone’s way of life.

This place would no longer be a prison, but a sanctuary offering shelter to humanity.

The usually carefree Norton took a deep breath, exhibiting an unprecedented seriousness.

This was the moment—the moment in life when one must give their all!

This meeting would go down in history, and centuries later, when people talked about this meeting, the name Norton Wilson...

"Thank you, Norton."

The Mechanical Maid interrupted Norton politely, saying, "Your job is done. Please close the door on your way out."