Life Game In Other World
Chapter 773: The Muddier the Water, The More Chaotic the Fish (Super Long - , Request for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 773: Chapter 773: The Muddier the Water, The More Chaotic the Fish (Super Long Chapter, Request for Monthly Tickets)

"The control that Rockville Energy Group held over Wint City was actually mainly in the energy mining sector, with the most intense oppression being energy mining. Thus, Skone didn’t start by developing from energy mining but moved towards another area,"

Old Jeko watched the television screen and explained softly.

"The city government?"

He Ao, too, watched the man standing beside Skone on the television and asked softly.

That man was indeed the Mayor of Wint City.

"Yes,"

Old Jeko shifted his gaze, nodding,

"Mayor Endir initially had no intentions of entering politics. He was the heir to the second-largest shareholder of Stormsea Mining and had once fought with Skone over a mining vessel when he was young.

"Later, he adopted Skone’s philosophy, and the two of them secretly established the Storm Union, and I also became one of the Union’s first members."

The Elder caressed the teacup with his fingers as he listened to the music on the television. Time had left mottled traces on his hands,

"That was indeed a beautiful time."

His voice carried a sort of profound nostalgia,

"Endir was passionate and generous, Skone was restrained and steady, and the members of the Union grew in number. We argued, analyzed, and demonstrated day and night for the same goal.

"Stormsea Mining, belonging to Endir’s family, was a vassal to Rockville Energy Group, and he was also the best orator among us all.

"Eventually, after everyone discussed it, we decided to have Endir run for the election while we supported him from the shadows.

"Of course, this move was very difficult because while the Rockville Energy Group’s control over the city government was not as strict as its control over energy mining, nearly every Wint City Mayor had been handpicked by the Rockville Energy Group.

"Breaking Rockville Energy Group’s blockade and elevating someone from within Rockville Energy Group’s reach was very difficult. We actually all felt it was an almost impossible task."

"Was there actually a chance?"

He Ao held his teacup, looking at Skone and Endir on the television, their hands held high.

According to what Old Jeko had said before, Rockville Energy Group was expanding into Wint City at that time, which might have coincidentally been an ’opportunity period’."

"Yes,"

Old Jeko nodded, glancing at the immature face of the youth beside him, looking into the boy’s profound eyes.

For a moment, he couldn’t tell if the youngster was just retorting with questions after knowing the answer, or if he truly saw through the complicated facade to the underlying truth of the incident.

The former seemed like a question anyone could ask, fitting for the boy’s naive age.

The latter would mean that this young boy had an exceptional visionary insight and sharp discernment, which seemed almost too phenomenal to believe.

In the end, he suppressed the turmoil in his heart and continued,

"At that time, Skone believed that the semi-independent status of Wint City was still a threat to Rockville Energy Group, and Rockville Energy Group had nurtured a large number of ’vassals’ in Wint City. These vassals ’absorbed’ a vast amount of benefits in the process.

"When Rockville Energy Group was not yet able to manage Wint City, these vassals helped manage Wint City for Rockville Energy Group. Now, these vassals have become an obstacle to Rockville Energy Group’s next phase of growth.

"So he felt that Rockville Energy Group would definitely try to ’absorb’ Wint City and bring Wint City, the Federation’s largest traditional energy source, completely under its control,

"And expanding its influence towards Wint City was a sign of this.

"In this process, Rockville Energy Group’s ’policy’ towards Wint City would most likely be ’stability-oriented,’ indulging and numbing the vassals as much as possible to maintain stability during the final stage.

"Running Endir on behalf of vassals such as Stormsea Mining would fit perfectly with Rockville Energy Group’s strategic thinking at the time. It might even leverage some of Rockville Energy Group’s power to achieve a case of ’killing two birds with one stone.’

Old Jeko once again glanced at Skone and Endir smiling at the camera on the television,

"The facts proved that Skone’s judgment of the situation was correct. Although we encountered numerous obstacles along the way, Endir ultimately won the election with a narrow margin and became the Mayor of Wint City.

"Of course, at the beginning, we did not directly confront Rockville Energy Group but used the shelter of the city government to continuously develop our own strength.

""

"At the end of Endir’s term, Rockville Energy Group’s ’absorption’ finally arrived,"

"They began to aggressively absorb the mining companies in Wint City, causing the entire mining industry there, including those enterprises that were once vassals to Rockville Energy Group, to fall into great panic."

"The ’opportunity’ that Skone had been waiting for arrived."

The Elderly retracted his gaze and tightened his grip on the teacup slightly,

"The formidable external threat created for the first time a chance for union within Wint City, and by then, members of the Storm Union had already covered a large number of mining companies. We quickly formed a massive ’Wint City Energy and Mining Alliance’ and started to absorb the smaller mining companies."

"Rockville Energy Group, arrogant in its perceived strength, was caught off guard by us. Soon, we gathered more than half of the mining enterprises, forming the embryo of the alliance,"

"At the same time, Endir’s city government also turned against Rockville Energy Group, beginning to inspect and restrict the import and export of goods from Rockville Energy Group and its allies."

"However, Skone wasn’t blinded by this brief victory, and right when the embryo of the alliance was formed, he immediately set off for Vitland and Dawn City."

"Rockville Energy Group’s counterattack came quickly, as they reduced their purchase of energy ores, collaborated with allies to decrease commodity supply, paid media to promote scandals of Endir, instigated the city council to impeach Endir, and supported the major mining enterprises in opposing the alliance."

"Within a day or two, the situation had undergone a dramatic reversal, and the alliance went from thriving to wavering. Endir quickly pacified the public and dealt with the city council while constantly contacting various mining enterprises to clarify the pros and cons, barely stabilizing the situation,"

"But by that time, we all knew that the mining alliance was not secure. We could even see how the major mining enterprises were starting to splinter due to a lack of orders, and the market was becoming unstable due to insufficient supply of goods."

Old Jeko paused for a moment,

"But just when the mining alliance seemed on the verge of collapse, Skone returned with orders from Dawn City and Vitland,"

"He reached out to Feste Energy Company and Avis Energy Group, who did not get along with Rockville Energy Group, and successfully signed short-term orders with them."

"At the same time, he managed to sow discord between Rockville Energy Group and its industrial consortium allies to some extent, restoring the supply of goods,"

"These consortia were actually in contact with us much earlier, but progress was very slow. They were reluctant to help us, seeing that we lacked strength. That’s why Skone personally went to negotiate as soon as the alliance was taking shape."

"And with goods and orders in hand, Skone swiftly cleared out some of the mining enterprises causing trouble during the period of instability, strengthening the alliance internally."

"But at that point, the real battle had just begun. We were ensnared in a tug of war with Rockville Energy Group thereafter,"

"Back then, we traveled to every city in the Federation, found every energy group, and signed orders with them. Skone visited each one, convincing most of the mining enterprise bosses who had not joined the alliance."

"That time was the most difficult and exciting period of my life; almost every day, new problems erupted within the alliance."

"It seemed as though if we weren’t careful, the mining alliance would collapse the next morning."

"At that time, every morning, Skone would say to us, ’We are one step closer to victory.’

"Ultimately, after months of tug of war, we won."

"With the mediation of Feste Energy Company and the Nord Financial Consortium, due to the prolonged stock price decline from this tug of war, Rockville Energy Group ’negotiated peace’ with us."

"We ultimately seized back the pricing power of the energy ores, keeping the benefits within Wint City."

"After a vote by all enterprises in the alliance, the alliance merged into a ’gigantic enterprise,’ with the shares of each mining company converted proportionally into shares of this united enterprise."

"We originally thought of the name ’United Mining,’ but in the end, on Skone’s insistence, the name of this united enterprise was decided to be ’United Industries.’

"It sounds like you succeeded."

He Ao, watching television, said softly.

"Yeah, it sounds like,"

The Elderly watched the words ’United Industries Founding Conference’ appear on the television, "we succeeded."

"It should be ready inside."

Old Jeko glanced at the time on his wristband and turned to He Ao, "Wait a moment."

Then he slowly stood up and pushed open a small door deep in the hall.

"Thank you for your trouble."

He Ao nodded, watching Old Jeko leave, then turned back to look at the scene on the television once more.

At that moment, the young and handsome Mayor Endir, dressed in a crisp suit, stood in the center of the podium, looking at everyone in the hall. He placed his hands on the podium, his face aglow, his voice passionate and resonant,

"The fate of the world is a cycle; each generation has its own mission. Some generations enjoy God’s favor, while others are destined to forge their path through hardship.

"And our generation has done the best we could possibly do!"

The applause below was thunderous, as Skone stood beside Endir, smiling and clapping continuously.

The camera slowly zoomed out, moving from the elegantly dressed, meticulously attired crowd at the center, to the simply clothed people on the outside.

They looked at the stage center with longing, and it seemed a shimmer of hope flickered in their eyes, covered by the shadows of the night. They too were clapping, just not as vigorously.

He Ao put down his milk tea cup and slowly rose, heading towards the glass door.

Outside, next to an off-road vehicle, a thick layer of snow had accumulated on the road.

The Aka District didn’t have any snowplows, and the locals had to clear the snow themselves.

The sky remained a dull gray under the cover of night, with a silent blackness enveloping everything.

This area was a residential neighborhood and didn’t have much lighting. To save on electricity costs, people in the Aka District typically went to bed early, even if they had extra things to do, they would only keep a small lamp on for light.

In the deepest night, a faint noise seemed to carry through, the factories in the Novite District still rumbling, while the nightlife in the Cloud District had just begun.

To this day, Endir still sat as the Mayor of Wint City, although most believed he could no longer do anything. Yet, people still hoped he would keep sitting in that position,

He had been sitting there for almost forty years now.

And Skone, he died in the assassination by the Eternal Secret Teachings fourteen years ago.

The whistling wind blew through the gaps in the city, as if playing some ancient rhythm.

He Ao retracted his gaze and raised his bracelet, looking at the ’new mail’ notification that popped up on the interface.

Yiluo didn’t have a personal mailbox; these few ’emails’ were sent to the public mailbox of ’Novis Security Company.’

He Ao didn’t originally have the password for this public mailbox, but he used Eve’s program to take control of Yiluo’s father’s computer, easily cracking the local password vault and logging into the mailbox through that computer.

This mailbox wasn’t logged into He Ao’s bracelet, but into Eve’s cloud server, and the content was ’projected’ onto He Ao’s bracelet through Eve’s local software.

He Ao opened the mailbox and looked at the emails inside.

There were five emails in total, three of which were adverts. Of the remaining two, one was from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, asking the person in charge of Novis Security Company to come to the Cloud District FBI building to assist with an investigation.

The last email was from an anonymous sender.

"Are you ready to leave?"

A gentle footstep sounded from behind as Old Jeko approached, holding a briefcase, and handed it to He Ao.

"Hmm, there might be some issues."

He Ao nodded lightly, received the briefcase, opened it, and looked at the refined cremation urn inside, "How much does this all cost?"

"No need for money,"

The elderly man shook his head, the recorded news broadcast on the television having long since stopped, the spacious hall quiet as death, "It’s been a long time since anyone was willing to listen to an old man like me for so long, you’ve already paid enough."

He Ao looked into the man’s eyes, gazed at his frail figure, and after a moment of silence, he slowly closed the briefcase and nodded gently.

The old man then looked at He Ao’s somewhat pale cheeks, pondered for a moment, "Wait for me one more time."

He then quickly ran back into the inner room.

He Ao, with his head lifted, watched his retreating figure blankly.

After a while, the old man returned, pinching a neatly packaged box, from which he unpacked a brand new red knitted scarf.

"What is this?"

He Ao looked at the scarf with some confusion.

"A gift for our meeting."

Old Jeko smiled as he glanced at the briefcase in He Ao’s hand, then stretched out his hand to unfurl the scarf and wrapped it around He Ao’s neck.

He Ao hesitated for a moment, but did not resist, allowing the elderly man to wrap the scarf around his neck, adjusting it so that it completely covered his nape.

"There you go, handsome young man,"

After everything was properly arranged, Old Jeko gently patted He Ao’s shoulder, "Go do your thing, now, the world belongs to your generation."

Then he turned and walked slowly towards the old bamboo chair.

He Ao watched the elderly man sit down in the chair, then slowly pushed open the glass door and walked out of the hall.

The cold wind outside brushed against his cheeks and stirred his hair.

He got into the SUV, glanced at the briefcase in his hand, and placed it on the passenger seat.

Then he raised his wrist again and opened the anonymous email.

The content of the anonymous email was simple:

[We can provide the whereabouts of the Novis couple.]

[Before sunrise, Withered Tree Bar, Room 305.]

The signature read [Enemy of the Eternal Secret Teachings]

He Ao put down his wrist device and started the vehicle.

The fish had taken the bait.

This was another reason he had decided to retain the name ’Novis Security Company,’ to understand.

Whether or not the person who saw this name believed this act to be the work of ’Novis Security Company,’ the name served as a card to those hiding in the shadows, ’You can contact me through this.’

At the same time, he was actually trying to verify another matter—if the token with ’Secret Watcher’ that Novis had obtained was not by chance.

Then, did this mean that beneath the calm surface of Wint City, another Transcendent force was hidden?

Since this force had ’made contact’ with Novis, it would surely be more sensitive to the name ’Novis Security Company’ than others.

So He Ao tried to see if he could flush out this fish.

Of course, it was also possible that this anonymous email came from another force opposing the Eternal Secret Teachings, attempting to recruit ’Novis Security Company’ into their hidden faction, or it could even be a trap laid by the Eternal Secret Teachings themselves.

Regardless, the emergence of this email implied, indirectly, that He Ao’s objective had likely been achieved.

The various powers in this city had always been in a stable ’balance.’

An ’security company’ that was almost completely annihilated re-emerged, cleansed the stronghold of the Eternal Secret Teachings, steered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to snipe the support troops of the Eternal Secret Teachings, and at the same time, pushed the Security Union to the opposing side of the Eternal Secret Teachings.

This series of changes had actually completely disrupted the original balance, stirring the superficially calm waters.

And the murkier the water, the more chaotic the fish.

Some things hidden in the shadows would slowly begin to surface.

He Ao set the destination for the autonomous driving to a street near Withered Tree Bar.

Whether the other party was a true hidden force, or a trap from the Eternal Secret Teachings, either would provide him with more information.

He Ao did not have the luxury of time to lift the veils covering this city one by one, so he chose the simplest and most brute-force method.

To whip up a storm and sweep all the veils up together.