Deciphering Jomoya's diary took Chen Qi the entire night. Fortunately, he was no longer a nine-to-fiver, so he didn't have to worry about being late for work.
Chen Qi slept straight through till noon. After enjoying a gourmet meal prepared by his smart chef, he was about to begin his new study regimen when his secretary, Sam, called.
"Chairman, there's trouble at Fadir Mining!"
"This is the third time there's been an incident in the last week."
There was an anxious edge to Sam's voice. Clearly, Fadir Mining was in serious trouble.
"Fadir Mining?"
"But haven't they already ceased operations and sealed the site?"
An ominous feeling washed over Chen Qi at the mention of Fadir Mining.
Fadir Mining was no major corporation, just a mid-sized iron ore company.
Jomoya had acquired it specifically for its ore vein.
He had placed the Source Ore, its Spirituality greatly diminished, deep within that iron ore vein.
In fact, to allow the Source Ore to recuperate, Jomoya had shut down the profitable company—a move that had left many ore merchants dumbfounded.
'Fadir Mining is just a godforsaken wasteland now. What kind of trouble could it possibly get into?'
「...」
"It's the tunnels! One of the three main tunnels has collapsed!"
"And a few days prior, several of the smaller tunnels caved in as well."
"The crew on site initially thought it was a safety accident, but they found traces of explosives in the main tunnel that collapsed."
As a competent secretary, Sam was well aware of how much the Chairman valued Fadir Mining.
Fadir Mining hadn't been closed because its resources were depleted, but because the Chairman had insisted on it.
The Chairman even made personal visits there from time to time.
That was why he had filed an urgent report the moment he learned something was wrong at Fadir Mining.
"Explosives?"
"So it was deliberate."
"You've done well, Sam. You can stop looking into this matter; I'll have someone else take care of it."
Chen Qi was very satisfied with Sam's performance. 'This is probably why Ireland kept a man on as his secretary.'
However, this business with Fadir Mining felt like it was aimed directly at him.
Chen Qi had his suspicions, but to be cautious, he called Taruno and asked him to investigate the recent activities of the Firefox Gang and other underworld factions.
'What if they were behind it?'
「...」
"Boss, I've looked into it. The Firefox Gang is busy fighting turf wars with other gangs."
"They absolutely wouldn't dare to offend you. Even the companies you compete with wouldn't go after a defunct mining operation!"
"I pulled all the surveillance records from around the company property for the last month and discovered that a mercenary squad has been active in the vicinity."
"This is highly unusual!"
Taruno hadn't been exaggerating his talent for intelligence. In just half a month, he had already built an information network covering all of Talin City.
While he couldn't claim that every little thing fell under his surveillance, a force from the Dark Web World like a mercenary squad wouldn't escape his notice.
Soon, Chen Qi received a full dossier on the mercenary squad.
"Heh, interesting."
'Are they trying to lure me to the mine?'
The mercenary squad's objective certainly wasn't to destroy the mine.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have started with the smaller tunnels.
Their goal must have been to draw Chen Qi out.
Seeing that Chen Qi wasn't reacting, they decided to make a bigger scene.
'Hmph. It seems the person behind this knows Jomoya Chris quite well, even knowing the location of the Source Ore.'
These mercenaries were obviously just pawns pushed to the front lines, but he had to admit, the mastermind had achieved their goal.
Even though Chen Qi wasn't Jomoya, he couldn't just stand by and let the mine be completely destroyed.
The Source Ore was too important to be lost.
Fortunately, Jomoya Chris had fused the Source Ore into the vein in a very special way. Without an awakened Spirituality and the "unlocking code," it was impossible to retrieve the Source Ore.
"Taruno, you're coming with me to Fadir Mining!"
"After this, you're to assemble a team specifically to guard the mine!"
Of course, Chen Qi didn't take a single mercenary squad seriously, even if the dossier described their "captain" as extraordinarily powerful.
But this incident served as a wake-up call for Chen Qi. Security at Fadir Mining needed to be upgraded.
At the very least, he needed to be notified immediately if anyone else came sniffing around the Source Ore.
And that would require Taruno's intelligence support.
Taruno was thrilled at the prospect of going on a mission with the boss.
'I'm finally becoming part of his inner circle!'
「...」
To keep a low profile—or rather, to avoid tipping their hand...
Chen Qi didn't take his own car, instead riding in Taruno's to the mine.
The mine was in a hilly region about twenty kilometers from Talin City, and it came into view after half an hour of driving.
However, what Chen Qi didn't know was that not long after he left the city, the mercenary squad had already received a tip.
「...」
"Damn it, that playboy finally came out."
"There aren't even any women in this shithole. I'm bored to death."
The mercenary squad consisted of five men. A burly, broad-shouldered man carrying a heavy weapon was complaining nonstop.
"Alright, enough complaining."
"As long as we take that punk out, we'll get our five million."
The machine gunner looked ecstatic, already fantasizing about how to spend the money.
Soon, four of the squad members were chattering excitedly. Only their captain, Flette, remained quiet.
Flette, who was well aware of their target's identity, glanced at his four teammates, who were already lost in their daydreams. He didn't shatter their fantasy.
'If things don't go smoothly, dying like this would be a blessing in its own way.'
「...」
WHOOSH!
A car bumped along a narrow, winding road.
Even with Taruno's expert driving, the ride was far from comfortable.
Fortunately, the boss was considerate and didn't seem to mind.
According to the GPS, they would reach their destination in five minutes at most.
Just then, however, Chen Qi spoke from the back seat.
"How crude. Resorting to an ambush."
Before Taruno's brain could even process it, he felt himself being hoisted into the air by one hand.
The next instant, a single palm strike sent the car door flying. Wind howled past Taruno's ears, and before he could come to his senses, he was out of the vehicle, having been thrown dozens of meters away.
BOOM!
The now-battered car was hit by something and erupted into a brilliant fireball.