After leaving Chu Baxing's room, Qin Siyang did not return to his own. Instead, he went to Zhao Longfei's office again.
When he pushed the door open and walked in, Zhao Longfei was resting with his eyes closed.
Seeing Qin Siyang arrive, Zhao Longfei once again showed an irritated expression.
"How many times have I told you? Knock before you come in."
"Next time for sure."
Zhao Longfei shook his head, pulled out a cigar and lit it, "What do you want this time?"
Qin Siyang swaggered over and sat down on the sofa, "Principal Zhao, what I'm here to talk about today is pretty big. You might need to take it seriously."
"Oh, spare me. Every time you come to me, it's never something small. If you've got something to say, say it. If not, get lost."
"Principal Zhao, is the Zhao family secretly training its own sequence-ability troops? Is the Zhao family really planning to become the so-called Seventh Legion in name and in fact?"
Zhao Longfei squinted at Qin Siyang and blew out a smoke ring, "Who did you hear that from?"
"Is it true or not?"
"Forming a Seventh Legion?", Zhao Longfei's expression turned scornful, "You really just open your mouth and spout nonsense."
"To establish a legion, let alone the massive resource requirements and the difficulty of hiding the sequence structure, just look at the current situation in the safe zone. The power of the six major legions has already completely stabilized, and the interests have basically been divided up. If a Seventh Legion really popped out, they'd all gang up and crush it."
"My Zhao family doesn't have that ability, that confidence, or that intention to provoke all the military forces in the safe zone at once."
Qin Siyang poured himself a glass of water, "Principal Zhao has his concerns and isn't willing to reveal this matter, doesn't want to tell me. I can understand that."
Zhao Longfei looked impatient, "So all that explanation I just gave was for nothing. Talking to you really is like playing the lute to a cow."
Qin Siyang continued, "I just met with Zheng Mubian today. He told me about a method that can increase the probability of ordinary people awakening sequence abilities."
Zhao Longfei nodded, "There should be quite a few methods to raise the probability of awakening sequences, but not many people know them. The Chu Legion being willing to sell you a favor isn't a bad thing. It shows they think you're worth investing in."
Qin Siyang glanced at Zhao Longfei, "What, the Zhao family doesn't have this kind of method?"
"The Zhao family does underground business. We've always focused on quality over quantity, so we never really researched things like that."
Qin Siyang smiled faintly and kept going, "When Zheng Mubian said he wanted to tell me this method, I said I didn't really want to know, because I felt Principal Zhao should have similar methods in hand as well. People from the Chu Legion are too overbearing. I didn't want to owe them a favor."
"After that, Zheng Mubian repeatedly stated twice that the Zhao family absolutely did not have any method to let ordinary people awaken sequences, and between his words there was an obvious hint of disdain toward the Zhao family."
Zhao Longfei looked at Qin Siyang, his expression calm, "Little Qin, what are you trying to say?"
Qin Siyang continued, "Zheng Mubian, as Chu Xiao'ang's ironclad right-hand man and strategist, said such arrogant, belittling things about the Zhao family twice in a row. That's slightly out of step with his usual seasoned and cautious manner, and it made me feel a bit strange."
"At the time, there wasn't enough time, so I just noted it mentally. After I finished talking with Zheng Mubian and thought it over carefully, I realized what was really going on. Zheng Mubian might have been trying to use me to keep you steady, to keep the Zhao family steady, to make both of us believe that in the eyes of the Chu Legion, the Zhao family poses no threat at all."
"Things Zheng Mubian deliberately wants us to believe are very likely traps he's set. So—"
"They may already have grasped the news that the Zhao family is forming a sequence force, and are preparing countermeasures for it."
Qin Siyang smiled again, "Of course, if Principal Zhao firmly believes that the Zhao family has not formed a sequence force, then all of my speculation just now is nothing more than paranoia, completely meaningless."
After saying that, Qin Siyang stood up from the sofa, "Principal Zhao, that's all I wanted to say. You can decide what to do yourself."
"Little Qin."
Zhao Longfei called out to Qin Siyang, who was about to leave.
Qin Siyang turned back, "Does Principal Zhao have something else?"
Zhao Longfei's gaze was hazy amid the smoke rings, like cold starlight faintly visible in the darkness.
"Thank you."
The corner of Qin Siyang's mouth lifted. He waved casually, "Bye!"
Left alone in the office, Zhao Longfei quietly finished the cigar, then dialed a number.
"Hello, big brother, it leaked."
"Little Qin came to see me just now after talking with Zheng Mubian. From his deductions, the Chu Legion knows about our affair. If it's something the Chu family knows, I don't think it can be kept from the Qi family, the Qin family, or the United Government either."
"The two of us right now are like two wild dogs mixed into a pack of wolves. We think we're hiding well, but in reality we've already been targeted by other hungry wolves."
As Zhao Longfei spoke, his expression was gloomy.
On the other end of the line, Zhao Longteng fell silent for several dozen seconds, then asked, ["Who do you think leaked it?"]
Zhao Longfei let out a cold laugh, "Big brother, don't you already have a rough idea in your heart? Besides the two of us, only a few people know about this."
Zhao Longteng sighed softly, ["Second brother, when Dad passed away, he told the two of us to take good care of Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, and those relatives."]
Zhao Longfei's brows sank, "Big brother, you're not thinking of dragging me into a fire pit for the sake of those relatives, are you?"
["No. What I mean is, it seems we've taken care of those relatives a little too well. Whether it's those unambitious uncles or those worthless brothers, we gave them money and power, and ended up raising them into people who eat from the inside and stab us in the back. You don't need to worry about this matter anymore. I'll investigate it thoroughly and take care of everything."]
["But little sister hates it most when you and I act ruthlessly. If we kill off those trash relatives, she'll definitely lose her temper. So I'll handle the killing. You handle explaining it to little sister."]
"Big brother, wait!", Zhao Longfei hurriedly stopped him, "Big brother, I can do the thing where you put righteousness above family. You should be the one to explain it to little sister."
Zhao Longteng's tone left no room for discussion, ["Last time, to protect the black market's rules, it was me who killed her husband, and it was also me who went to explain it to her. You hid behind me and didn't say a damn thing. This time, it's your turn."]
"Big brother…"
["Shut up."]
Zhao Longfei wanted to cry but had no tears. He could only continue asking, "Fine, I'll talk to little sister. But what about the remaining troubles? The two of us can't possibly handle everything ourselves. We still need to arrange some manpower. And I feel like the peaceful days of the safe zone are about to end. If we can't even trust our own relatives, who can we still rely on to help us?"
["What do you think about Zhao Longju?"]
"I mentioned him before. Didn't you think that although he's capable, he's only a clan cousin to us, too distant in kinship to be heavily relied on?"
["At first, I did think that way. After all, aside from you, little sister, and Sifang, I don't trust anyone. But now, seeing how close you are with Qin Siyang, like you're wearing the same pair of pants, and how this kid thinks of you whenever something happens, it makes me feel that trusting outsiders isn't necessarily a problem. Besides, Zhao Longju isn't like that bunch of uncles and cousins of ours."]
["At the very least, he knows that all he can ever be is a Zhao."]
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