"This time, there shouldn't be any evidence left behind, right?"
In a private room at an upscale restaurant in District 2, a crystal chandelier cast a soft glow over the fine tableware, while a gramophone quietly played elegant symphonic music.
Minister of Economic Affairs Jiang Yuanrui gently swirled the red wine in his glass, smiling as he looked at Guo Jiuxiao across the table.
"Of course not."
Guo Jiuxiao gracefully moved his knife and cut off a piece of tender, juicy steak.
"Yang Dan's Sequence level isn't high, and both her body and mind have long been on the verge of collapse. When I manipulated her and altered her consciousness, I only left the faintest traces. They've completely disappeared by now."
He put the sauce-covered piece of steak into his mouth and chewed slowly.
"The only people who know about this are me and a few members of the Jiang family."
Jiang Yuanrui lightly tapped the table and took a sip of wine, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.
"Are you sure? God-hunting equipment is becoming more and more advanced, and Sequence ability users are getting stronger. Can you really guarantee that tampering with someone's mind is foolproof?"
"'Foolproof'? Minister Jiang, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Is there really anything in this world that's absolutely foolproof?"
"Maybe not, but you know what I mean."
"The last time, I controlled Hu Yu and emptied the Zhao family's accounts, successfully delaying the Zhao brothers' plans for you. After that, Zhao Longfei had already realized I might have been involved, but I never asked you to raise my fee. This time, too, I proposed the plan according to your request, and only carried it out after President Jiang approved it. I didn't act on my own in the slightest," Guo Jiuxiao spoke calmly.
"Even if something goes wrong, it won't be my responsibility."
Jiang Yuanrui nodded slightly.
"Professor Guo is right. I was worrying too much. Before tonight's dinner, my elder brother also asked me to convey his gratitude to you."
Guo Jiuxiao nodded, "I've always admired President Jiang."
"Then, on behalf of my brother, I'd like to thank Professor Guo."
"Cheers!"
After setting down his wine glass, Guo Jiuxiao said, "This time, I don't really understand President Jiang's thinking. For the sake of twenty Tier 3 god-hunting equipment, you've made an enemy of Lu Daoxing."
Jiang Yuanrui said, "Lu Daoxing has always firmly stood with Li Tianming, and Li Tianming is in league with Qin Siyang and Zhao Longfei. Whether you provoke Lu Daoxing or not, he was never going to treat either of us well. We're only swindling him out of twenty Tier 3 god-hunting equipment. It's not a big deal. He's not going to risk his life over twenty Tier 3 god-hunting equipment, is he?"
"Your objective isn't those twenty Tier 3 god-hunting equipment," Guo Jiuxiao put down his knife and fork and wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin, "I took a look at the equipment Lu Daoxing submitted. The materials were fairly rare, but they didn't reveal much of his real technical expertise."
"That's right. How could a few Tier 3 tools possibly expose Lu Daoxing's core technology? The important thing is to keep Lu Daoxing occupied so he won't have time to help the Zhao family."
Guo Jiuxiao swallowed another piece of steak, "Are you really confident you can bring down the Zhao family? I've heard people say the Zhao family is the Safe Zone's 'Seventh Legion.'"
Jiang Yuanrui shook his head, "What qualifications does Zhao Longteng have to be compared with the commanders of the six officially established legions? Don't worry. There won't be any problems with this."
"Oh, right. Why did you target Lu Daoxing instead of Li Tianming?"
Jiang Yuanrui smiled.
"Because only his family has a foolish wife. As for Li Tianming's foolish wife, hadn't you already made use of her?"
———
Night had fallen, and Lu Daoxing's home was completely silent.
Only the old wall clock ticked steadily.
The second hand kept moving, but it couldn't carry away the heavy atmosphere in the room.
In the dining room, Xiao Xu, the nanny with the Sleepless Sequence, was sound asleep with her head resting on the dining table.
Her chest rose and fell steadily as she breathed evenly. A tipped-over glass sat in front of her, with water soaking into the tablecloth.
In the living room, a dim floor lamp cast mottled shadows, projecting Yang Dan's figure onto the wall.
Her outline was thin, her shoulders trembling slightly. She looked like a petrified statue.
The woman who had laughed over dinner with Lu Daoxing and Qin Siyang the previous night was gone, replaced by someone even more despairing than before.
The contract trembled slightly between her fingers as she stared fixedly at a clause marked with red ink.
[If the debtor dies, both the debt and any dividends will be voided and will not be transferred to the debtor's relatives.]
Lu Daoxing had said that handing over twenty Tier 3 god-hunting equipment wasn't difficult for him.
But he had worked day and night without rest for three months, leaving himself utterly exhausted.
Yang Dan had watched it all, feeling nothing but heartache and guilt.
She was only Sequence Level 3.
The reason she had raised her Sequence level was because Lu Daoxing believed that becoming stronger would also improve her health.
But her injuries had been sustained before she awakened her Sequence ability. Even after awakening and increasing her Sequence level, her condition had not improved.
Ever since entering the safe zone, she had stayed home recovering while Lu Daoxing worked tirelessly outside on his own.
Lu Daoxing never wanted to bring work home and burden his wife with his troubles, so Yang Dan knew very little about god-hunting equipment.
After the futures market collapse, Lu Daoxing had told her that repaying the debt wouldn't be difficult.
But no matter how lightly he spoke of it, she believed she had brought unbearable pressure and disaster upon the husband she loved.
She even suspected that the reason the family suddenly had plenty of money was because Lu Daoxing had borrowed from loan sharks just to reassure her.
But what had she done?
She had clearly entered the Department of Economic Affairs with her husband and personally handed over the storage case containing all twenty god-hunting equipment to the same official who had recommended the futures investment to her and signed the contract with her.
The official had inspected everything on the spot, confirmed it was all in order, destroyed the contract in front of her, and entered the information into the system before she left with a smile.
Then she received another debt collection message from the Department of Economic Affairs.
She couldn't understand what had happened.
But she wasn't stupid. She knew she had been deceived by someone in the Department of Economic Affairs.
Lu Daoxing had hurried back to South Glory University. He was surely looking for his friends to discuss a solution.
But how could Lu Daoxing and his friends possibly fight against the people of the United Government?
Yang Dan walked into the bedroom, pushed aside the clothes in the wardrobe, and took out an unlabeled pill bottle from the corner.
"I thought I wouldn't need this after all... Who knew..."
She sat down at the desk and picked up a pen and paper, wanting to write something.
But before she could write a single word, tears began falling onto the page.
In the end, only one sentence remained on the paper, blurred by her tears: [Marry a smart woman.]