Book 3, Chapter 163: Family Meeting

Everyone reacted differently to Meng Huang’s words.

Meng Zhenghuai shuddered a bit, then dipped his head further. He had actually fallen asleep.

Meng Lai didn’t defend himself. He just smiled. Meanwhile, Aunt Yu stayed as composed as ever, as if she had already known about this.

Meng Shu said nothing. She exuded an aura of extreme calmness.

She hadn’t known about this, but she had never had any expectations toward her grandfather, so she wasn’t disappointed. Besides, knowing this fact didn’t change anything for her.

As for Chen Chuan, he checked what consciousness regulators and bioreplacements were based on the information he already had in his Realm Pass. They were Proto-Being’s technology.

Bioreplacements were bodies with no consciousness. Through consciousness regulators, the bioreplacements could conduct tasks their owners needed to do, either independently or while being controlled remotely.

Chen Chuan couldn’t find any further information. They were in domain lockdown, so his connection to the outside world was cut off. Aside from a brief description, he got nothing else.

Still, he didn’t react much to the revelation. To him, it was not unexpected that senior executives may use such technology. They weren’t as strong as martial artists, so in order to protect their lives, it was normal for them to use replacements.

Besides, Meng Lai had to meet Meng Huang, who might be in cahoots with the other world. If he knew about this, it would be strange for him to show up in his real body. Meng Lai being a bioreplacement made perfect sense.

Meng Huang saw that Meng Shu’s calmness wasn’t fake, and he was quite surprised. “You’re just as they said, both rational and calm. Not bad. If it had been any other time, you would have been a suitable successor. But now, things are different.”

Refusing to back down, Meng Shu turned to him and met his gaze straight on. “What’s different?”

Meng Huang toyed with his nails. “You should know that the changes are about to reach a tipping point, and the real revolution is right before our eyes. A fierce tidal wave will drown us all.”

He spread his arms to indicate the people around him, as if he wanted to include all the people in the room in what he was saying. “Everyone and everything will be consumed. Can you lead the company forward before the wave comes? Or are you going to listen to the orders from some

thing

you can’t even identify?”

He stared at Meng Shu. “If that’s all you can do, I suggest you back off. I promise you that if you do, you’ll get all that you have right now. Your life won’t change much compared to when this

thing

was in power.”

He pointed at Meng Lai. Then, he leaned forward and put his hands together. “Well? Think about it. Why not be like the other Meng family members and live your life peacefully? If you stop causing me trouble, I will tolerate your presence.”

Meng Lai didn’t stop their conversation. He just cast a profound and meaningful glance at Meng Shu, as if waiting for her answer.

Meng Shu watched him for a moment before she said, “Are you Meng Huang?”

Meng Huang raised an eyebrow at that.

As Meng Shu continued staring at him, she said confidently, “You’re not.”

Meeting Meng Huang’s audacious gaze, she said, “You’re not even part of the Meng family, so you have no right to say such things to me.”

Meng Zhenghuai, who had been sleeping, looked up.

Just then, they heard slow clapping. It was Meng Lai. “Well said, Xiao Shu. I didn’t misjudge you,” he said, pleased.

Meng Huang leaned back, as if he found Meng Shu’s rejection a pity. As for Meng Lai’s words, he just scoffed in derision.

“The company’s successor needs to be outstanding and able to assess various situations. During critical moments, they must be able to calmly and rationally make a decision,” Meng Lai said before turning to Meng Huang. “I’m disappointed in your reaction.”

“So?” Meng Huang was completely unbothered.

In a voice filled with regret, Meng Lai said, “If you had been the same as before, I wouldn’t have considered Meng Shu, but your goal isn’t just the company. You want something else, and you’re far too eager for it. That thing is affecting you too deeply.

“I decided to give you a choice today and hoped that you would give us a satisfactory answer. That way, we could continue making concessions for you, but now, you don’t even bother to pretend anymore.”

A dark, murky layer in Meng Huang’s eyes squirmed, though Chen Chuan wondered whether he was just seeing things. Meng Huang then snapped, “What would you know, you old fart? You’re still considering things with your stubborn, decaying brain and doing things based on the old rules and systems. You refuse to do so many things. If you insist on acting according to the rules other people set, you won’t ever be able to escape from the circle they drew for you.

“You have a large business empire and company, but it’s all an illusion. The moment the government stops doing business with you, the company will collapse, never to raise again. You’re too insignificant.

“All your hard work is built on a bed of loose sand. It will all crumble with a light shove.

“But me?” He pointed at himself. “I’ve been working hard to expand our business channels and find new markets. I’ve set up new R&D labs and have been toiling my ass off to keep the company going. And what did I get?

“Not even a promise that I’ll get to inherit the company.

“But I’ve come around now. It’s all for nothing. No matter how good of a job I do, you won’t treat me as someone on your side because of the path I chose. Besides, even if I take over as the president, it won’t mean anything. In the end, I’ll be like you and keep giving orders while hiding in a sack of skin and bones.

“Thank goodness the world is about to change completely, and the things you have been defending have become meaningless.”

At this point, his facial muscles started twitching unnaturally. “We should be embracing those great existences and face the world’s impending revolution instead.”

Chen Chuan kept his eyes trained on Meng Huang. From the moment he came in, he had been observing his biofield. In the beginning, it was obscure and blurry, just like the biofields of the Meng family members wearing the special items.

But now, it was going through an abnormal change; it had become fierce and frenzied. Chen Chuan’s mental perception was telling him that something else had appeared in Meng Huang.

Meng Lai said slowly, “Are you referring to the fact that you’ve been communicating with some existence from the other world? You’re wrong. I don’t care about whether you’ve actually spoken to an existence from the other world. In the current day and age, what you did isn’t considered crossing the line.

“If you could maintain your rationality and make full use of that existence so that it would become my business partner, I would have admired you. Then, I would have felt at ease to let you take over the company, but since you’ve submitted to it, then you aren’t a suitable candidate.”

“Looks like you want to settle matters with me today, huh?” Meng Huang said, unbothered.

Meng Lai said nothing and just stared at him.

Meng Huang continued. “You’ve been wanting to do that for a while, but you only tolerated me until today because you were worried that you’d make me desperate enough to betray the company and do damage to it, right? That’s why you’ve been trying to find out how destructive I am and what my real motives are.

“That’s good. I’ve been tolerating you long enough myself.

“Since you

love

obeying the rules so much, I’ll play your game this once. Let’s settle things with the rules you love.

“You picked Meng Shu as your successor just now, didn’t you? You need the rest of the Meng family to vote on this. Right now, as a member of the Meng family, I’m going to call for a family meeting. If you don’t think I have the right to do that, I can get someone suitable to do it for me.”

Meng Lai gave a nod. “We’d need to do that, sooner or later. Xiao Yu, while we’re all here, notify the rest of the family members to connect to us.”

Aunt Yu bowed to him and immediately sent a notification to the rest of the Meng family members that they were summoned for a family meeting. Soon, a screen showed up in front of them, and the other Meng family members appeared. There were around thirty of them, and most of them were part of the Border Fusion’s board of directors.

“You should have heard about what’s going on. I’ve picked Xiao Shu as the company’s successor. Tell me what you think about this,” Meng Lai said.

“Why don’t you think about this a little more, Second Uncle? Xiao Shu is too young. Shouldn’t we wait a few more years?” someone immediately said.

“That’s right. She has never managed the company’s business before. Why don’t we let her manage something? If she does a good job, we’ll let her continue. If she doesn’t, that’s fine too. We have plenty of other outstanding junior members in the family. We can definitely find a suitable successor.”

“Xiao Huang is pretty good. He’s been working hard over the past few years, and he respects us. He’s also very concerned about the junior members. Shouldn’t you be satisfied with him?”

Meng Lai grunted at that and said, “I want everyone’s opinions.”

He then turned to one person. “Meng Jing, what do you think?”

Meng Jing was caught in a tough spot. “You... should call the shots. I don’t have any opinion, no matter who you choose. Xiao Shu is good, and Xiao Huang is pretty decent too.”

Meng Lai asked another person, whose answer was more or less the same as Meng Jing’s. After everyone stated their opinions, aside from a handful who supported Meng Shu, the rest supported Meng Huang.

Meng Huang spread his arms and said in a teasing tone, “See that? They’re not accepting your suggestion. What are you going to do now? Are you still going to act according to the rules?”

Meng Lai didn’t seem troubled by what was happening before him. In a calm but firm voice, he said, “Naturally, we must follow the rules. A person who does as he pleases isn’t suited to lead the company, and that goes for me too. I respect your decision.”

Then, he turned to Meng Huang, and his gaze turned sharp. “But Xiao Shu asked quite a poignant question earlier. Are you still Meng Huang?”

Chen Chuan sensed something, and his gaze turned sharp. He cast a discreet glance at his second self and found that he had turned a little blurry.

Meng Huang scowled. He seemed to have sensed something, because his eyelids twitched, and his facial muscles and skin bulged, as if something wanted to crawl out from within him.

“You...”

He immediately tried to stand up, but this movement caused the sofa to topple over. He covered his face as his body started trembling. His shadow began twisting into grotesque shapes and gradually spread outward.