"Eh, it really is. But thatâs still not a reason for you to fool me!"
...
On the 54th day, at 5:40 in the early morning, after nearly two hours of busyness, Ren Zhong, Zheng Tian, and others were on their way back to Starfire Town.
Ou Youning looked down at the chip storage box filled at his feet with some heartache and sighed, "Ren, weâre being too extravagant. So many chips left here to mold. If my dad jumped out of the pit, heâd definitely kick my butt and call me a wastrel."
Wen Lei: "You sure have a lot of issues. Iâm warning you, youâre absolutely forbidden to sell them yourself, or if you mess up Mr. Renâs big plans, you wonât get away with it!"
Ou Youning asked, "Eh, Wen Lei, do you know what Mr. Renâs big plans are?"
Wen Lei shook his head, "I donât know."
"Then why do you sound so convincing, acting high and mighty?"
Wen Lei shouted, "Does it matter? Anyway, Renâs decisions surely make sense! Why should we, the brainless, inquire so much? Just do our own jobs, right?"
Ou Youning retorted, "Youâre the one whoâs brainless, not me!"
The two almost started fighting.
Just then, Ren Zhong, who had been deep in thought with closed eyes, opened them, "From tomorrow onwards, morning hunts are to be stopped. Hanyu, you stay at Manager Juâs villa at night."
Zheng Tian was slightly surprised, "Why?"
Ren Zhong smiled, "From my understanding of Lin Wang, his patience is reaching its limit. There will be a small incident in town today. We canât enter the abandoned mining pit for the next few days; itâs risky. But I still need Hanyuâs help to adjust my appearance, so letâs just have her come over. In Lin Wangâs eyes, Iâm very lecherous, and both of you belong to me."
Zheng Tian thoughtfully considered, "Can I join too?"
Ren Zhong decisively refused, "Manager Ju is a citizen after all. Having only Hanyu there is already excessive; bringing you too would be out of line."
Zheng Tian sighed, "Well, alright then."
Behind them, Ou Youning couldnât help but inquire again, "Ren, what do you think will happen this afternoon?"
"Youâll find out in the afternoon."
At noon on the same day, three professional teams from Starfire Town simultaneously ended their hunts early and returned to town around 1 PM, heading straight for Starfire Resources to seek justice from Yang Bingzhong.
Lin Wang and Bei Lihui both had some injuries, as did most combat members of the other two professional teams. Especially three people, two mechanical warriors and one gunsmith from Tang Shuyingâs team, were seriously injured.
As Ren Zhong expected, Lin Wang, who had been frustrated in the abandoned pit for several days, couldnât take it anymore and blocked two professional teams in the pit for interrogation.
Although the captains of these two teams werenât as strong as Lin Wang, they had complete formations with strong soldiers and werenât easy to handle. Seeing the opportunity as rare, they had harboring thoughts of replacing Lin Wang, and after exchanging a few words, they began to fight.
However, Lin Wang and Bei Lihuiâs individual strength was slightly superior, forcibly suppressing Tang Shuying and another professional team with fewer numbers against more.
Then Lin Wang began his routine "Sherlock Holmes-level" detailed analysis.
Footprints matched.
Exoskeleton armor marks matched.
Dents on the giant shield matched.
The combat style exposed in the battle scene traces, matched.
Qingfeng Heavy Truckâs ground impressions, also matched.
"Tang Shuying! You still deny it! Throughout Starfire Town, besides your team, which other five-man team has two mechanical warriors, one balanced and one heavy-duty, and both a Qingfeng Heavy Truck with wedge chassis armor?"
Tang Shuying: "Your subordinate Ren Zhong and Zheng Tianâs team."
Lin Wang: "Including Ren Zhong, thatâs six people! Their Qingfeng Heavy Truck doesnât have wedge armor! Besides, Ren Zhong is severely injured, on the verge of death, unable to get out of bed. Can he still come to the abandoned pit to hunt, bringing along those Second Level Professionals? Do you really take me, Lin Wang, for a fool? Am I that easy to mess around with?"
"Moreover, Iâve analyzed the site thoroughly, itâs a perfect match with your team. Even if Ren Zhong is faking injury and trying to sow discord, heâs never interacted with you guys, doesnât know what equipment you have, how could he fake the scene to this extent?"
Tang Shuying was left speechless.
Whatâs true is true, whatâs not is not.
Her team indeed had no interactions with Ren Zhong.
Of course, she would never know that Ren Zhong had once fully observed her teamâs hunt and even taught her the clever use of a flash bomb.
Undoubtedly, the negotiations completely broke down, leading to a fierce fight between the sides.
If not for Yang Bingzhongâs timely phone call to stop them, Tang Shuying might indeed have suffered heavy losses today.
During the fight, there were also lone scavengers passing by from afar, witnessing the entire process.
Before the three teams returned to town, the news had already spread far and wide.
When Lin Wang, with Bei Lihui and Si Mawan, walked out of the submarine building of Starfire Resources with somber faces, the scavengers began to gossip intensely.
Undoubtedly, the negotiations must have failed.
Even though Ren Zhong wasnât present throughout the whole process, he had already deduced the developments with great accuracy.
In Yang Bingzhongâs office, Lin Wang, armed with numerous solid proofs, would certainly demand compensation, but the completely innocent Tang Shuying felt utterly bullied.
With Yang Bingzhongâs balancing skills, surely heâd discipline both sides equally and offer some appeasements to each.
On the surface, it seemed like a solution that could satisfy everyone, but as long as the chip haul didnât add up, the real result was dissatisfaction by all parties, including Yang Bingzhong himself.
Ren Zhong also understood Yang Bingzhongâs nature.
He never trusted Lin Wang fully, otherwise, he wouldnât have considered raising Ren Zhong to counterbalance Lin Wang in the first place.
With Lin Wangâs team now seriously weakened, instead of learning restraint, theyâve repeatedly made blunders in hunting yields over consecutive days and blamed others.
Yang Bingzhong naturally has new grounds for suspicion.
Could it be that Lin Wang has made other connections in the Chenhui Mine and is intentionally probing his limits with another agenda in mind?
The possibility isnât high, but itâs not nonexistent.
A subtle rift quietly started spreading uncontrollably.
In such a delicate atmosphere, on the 56th day at 2 AM, Ren Zhongâs Brain Reaction Index finally reached 1000.
Fourth level.
Breakthrough!
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