"Ah... okay," After hearing Qin Siyang's casual reply, Zhao Sifang was full of questions, but he knew better than to keep pressing. He scratched his head, then turned and left.
Qin Siyang gave Wen Shu an embarrassed smile, quickly shut the door, and couldn't help cursing, "Is something wrong with Zhao Sifang's brain?"
But the Doom Octopus corpse smelled so bad that he couldn't keep eating it.
He picked up his phone and called the front desk. When the call connected, he lowered his voice and forced himself through the smell, "Hello, someone just ate durian, pig intestines, and stinky tofu stew. The hallway smells terrible. Could you send someone to spray some air freshener?"
The young woman at the front desk clearly hadn't expected anyone to eat something like that. She paused, then politely asked, ["May I ask... was the durian, pig intestines, and stinky tofu stew brought in by the guest? Our kitchen doesn't serve that dish... Sorry, would you like us to clean your room?"]
"No! My room is fine! Nobody needs to come in! It's just the hallway that smells," Qin Siyang cut her off at once. He didn't want anyone smelling what was inside his room, "Please deal with it as soon as you can. Thanks."
["Certainly. We'll send someone over right away."]
After hanging up, he rubbed his temples and slumped onto the sofa, muttering to himself, "I need to ask Professor Hao for some deodorizing medicine. Otherwise, before I even finish one Doom Octopus, the whole South Rong campus will probably hear that I'm cooking shit and eating it."
He had been busy all day, used Double Origin Violence several times, then spent three hours in Zhao Longfei's office in an intense strategy meeting. He was already completely worn out. At that moment, he felt drained and didn't even have the energy to think.
After washing up, he dropped onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
He didn't wake up until nine the next morning, when Zhao Longfei's call rang. He had slept so deeply that he hadn't even heard his alarm.
The reason for Zhao Longfei's call was simple. He wanted to update Qin Siyang on the Richard family.
Qin Siyang answered, and Zhao Longfei's low, direct voice came through the phone.
["Little Qin, there are some developments after our operation against the Richard family that I need to discuss with you."]
Qin Siyang yawned, "Principal Zhao, come on. It's only been one night. What could have changed? I wanted to sleep a little longer."
["It's been longer than that. More than twelve hours have passed since our discussion ended. We acted very quickly, and the Richard family responded just as fast. After one night, the overall situation has already become clear."]
"Huh? You're not joking? What's happened to the Richard family?"
["They've basically fallen apart."]
Zhao Longfei spoke calmly, as if he were describing something ordinary.
["Although the Richard family has continued insisting they didn't kill Yan Budong, they couldn't produce any evidence. Yesterday afternoon, after the six major legions once again applied joint pressure, the United Government announced it would not interfere with the Yan Legion's revenge. After that, the Zhao family and the Chu Legion publicly joined the righteous campaign against the Richard family."]
Qin Siyang curled his lips, "'The righteous campaign'... That's quite a phrase."
["The Yan Legion and the Chu Legion are responsible for using force to wipe out the Richard family's network in the surrounding areas. We're concentrating on cutting off communication between their chamber of commerce branches. With all three forces involved, clearing out the half-baked Richard family wasn't difficult. By this morning, over seventy percent of their chamber of commerce branches inside the safe zone had been completely erased."]
Qin Siyang nodded, "That's faster than I expected."
["We can't take all the credit. Once the Richard family realized they couldn't stand against the three-way assault, they gave up their chamber of commerce and pulled back their forces. That's the main reason we advanced so quickly."]
"So just like Uncle Zhao predicted, they're putting everything into protecting the Trinity Church?"
["Yes. Hu Chan's side is going to be under pressure, but we can't do much about it. The conflict between the Trinity Church and the Zephyr Church doesn't involve either side clearly doing evil, so for now it's simply a dispute between religions. If we interfere, we'd be overstepping."]
"So everyone from the Richard family has gone to the Trinity Church now?"
["Aside from a few unlucky ones who died last night, most are still alive. According to... ahem... reliable intelligence, the remaining Richard family members have split into two groups. The reason is exactly what you analyzed yesterday. The family had become too large, the benefits weren't divided evenly, and under enough pressure, it split apart."]
Zhao Longfei paused before continuing.
["One group chose to switch sides. They surrendered to us and asked for protection. We've already accepted a number of former Richard family members willing to join us. Most of them are skilled at running chambers of commerce. Several well-known figures surrendered along with their resources and business connections."]
Hearing the satisfaction in Zhao Longfei's voice, Qin Siyang asked, "The Richard family surrendered... Does that mean the Yan Legion didn't gain anything, while you and the Chu Legion got all the benefits?"
["You really are sharp! You figured that out too?"]
Qin Siyang nodded to himself, "The Yan Legion is attacking the Richard family under the banner of avenging their commander. Even if people wanted to surrender, they wouldn't surrender to a legion that's still furious, would they?"
["That's exactly it. But another large group chose to join the Haori Chamber of Commerce and was taken in by the Jiang family."]
Qin Siyang thought it over, "The Lotus Cloud Chamber of Commerce abandoned them. The Zhao Chamber of Commerce is hunting them down. The Warren Chamber of Commerce is working with the Zhao Chamber of Commerce. If they don't want to surrender to you and all they know is how to run businesses, then the Haori Chamber of Commerce is their only choice."
["That's right. The people who went to support the Trinity Church were only the ones left after that."]
"So if you count it that way, not many members of the Richard family actually went to the Trinity Church?"
["That's correct."]
Qin Siyang quietly let out a breath for Hu Chan, "That's good."
["But every one of them is a strong sequence ability user."]
"Hm?"
["The Richard family members who managed the chambers of commerce have lost all their influence. Those holding government positions couldn't help this time either. The Richard family made a hard decision. They abandoned everyone with weaker sequence abilities and only brought their elites and a huge amount of resources to join the Trinity Church leader, Ulit Richard. That's why so many people had no choice but to surrender."]
Qin Siyang clicked his tongue repeatedly, "They just abandoned that many family members? The people making decisions in the Richard family are really ruthless."
Zhao Longfei thought back to what had happened to the Zhao family not long ago, but said nothing.
Qin Siyang joked, "So now, other than Hu Chan, everyone came out ahead?"
["Not yet."]
"What happened?"
["District 7 Governor Kaf hasn't surrendered, and he didn't go to the Trinity Church either."]
"What's he doing? Waiting to see which side offers the best deal?"
["I don't know. He just called me and invited us to another dinner at the South Glory University restaurant. It's tonight."]
"Us?"
["Yes. He specifically said you must attend tonight."]
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