Chapter 1617: More and More Clues
“Secondly, Shen Yuanbiao is mainly responsible for a series of projects related to crystal mining and smelting in Universe Corporation, which is the company’s core business. The person in charge of all crystal mines must first report to him and be under his management. Then, he will report to me, especially whenever I’m seriously injured and hiding in seclusion in the depths of Raging Waves Mountain Range.”
Shen Yuanbao said, “My youngest brother has always been low-key to hide his true colors, but I know that he’s a very meticulous person. Aside from possessing terrifying martial arts that have reached the peak of perfection, he has also used his spare time to obtain many high-level professional certificates. He’s a certified accountant, a certified auditor, and so on. Recently, he has been studying law on his own, mainly economic law, in order to obtain a certificate to be a practicing lawyer.
“You mentioned that there was a mole in the Red Creek Project for a long time. Shen Yulin, the person in charge of the project, was corrupted by the Blood Alliance. In the end, his own people pretended to be natives from the Other World and blew up the crystal warehouse. The commotion was so big, and it involved so much that I didn’t believe Shen Yuanbiao had no idea about anything.
“But after the incident, he ran to me and wept bitterly. He said that he had been kept in the dark the whole time. So, he didn’t know what to do at all. He could only beg me, the big brother, to come out and take charge of the overall situation and turn the tide.
“At that time, I had a vague feeling that something was wrong.
“However, I had been seriously injured in the final battle with the monster mastermind. Even today, there’s still blood in my head that has yet to be washed away by spirit energy. My computational ability has been greatly reduced. Many things did not add up at that time, and I had to react after the event.
“Now that I think about it, the way Shen Yuanbiao acted really wasn’t right!”
Meng Chao nodded thoughtfully.
He could not help but ask, “Senior Shen, are you sure that the Red Creek Project’s explosion was not a self-directed trick on Universe Corporation’s part?”
“It was not a self-directed trick of mine at least,” Shen Yuanbao said coldly.
“That is not my style.”
“Oh?”
Meng Chao curiously asked, “Then, if you were to direct it, what kind of style would you use for the trick, Senior Shen?”
“If I ever have a reason to get the Deity Realm fighters and the mega corporation’s armed forces to throw the Supernatural Tower and Survival Committee off, as well as launch a military operation outside Monster Mountain Range alone, I would find a team of people to masquerade as natives from the Other World.”
Shen Yuanbao paused for a moment before he continued. “Then, I would have them attack Sky Pillar Corporation’s crystal mine.”
Meng Chao nodded. “Alright. That is indeed your style, Senior Shen. I also feel that if the Shen family really is the mastermind behind the scenes, attacking Universe Corporation’s crystal mine is the safer choice.”
“Whether it’s a fire pit or a pot of sh*t, we have to stay as far away from our family as possible. Why should we take the initiative to blame ourselves?”
“Unless the mastermind’s loyalty doesn’t belong to the Shen family anymore but to the Blood Alliance.”
Shen Yuanbao added, “Thirdly, as an existence with a superior status within the family and the company, Shen Yuanbiao’s relationship with the ‘foster children faction’ and the ‘blood descendants faction’ has been great. It’s also because he doesn’t have any children himself. It’s said that he made a mistake in his cultivation when he was young and suffered from spirit energy deviation. His spirit energy overflowed and broke through his dantian1, hurting his spirit cords.
“Without an heir, there’s no threat. Everyone doesn’t feel that they have any conflict of interest with Shen Yuanbiao. They all want to rope him over to their side so that he’ll be able to take everything from both sides.
“For example, Shen Yuhe has been branded as a blood descendant since birth. The foster children are wary of him. It’s impossible for them to let him come into contact with the core project in their hands.
“It’s absolutely impossible for Shen Yuhe to get close to the Blood Flower virus laboratory that is firmly controlled by the foster children. Therefore, it’s impossible for him to rope in the laboratory’s host and obtain the biochemical weapons in there.
“By the same logic, it’s not that easy for the foster children to discover top-secret information related to me.
“For example, information related to my treatment, the day I leave the hospital, and the route I take to return to The Grand View of the Universe—there are many details that they don’t need to know.
“Only Shen Yuanbiao can collect and integrate information from many sources and formulate a ‘perfect a.s.sa.s.sination plan’ that is specifically targeted at me.”
Meng Chao nodded.
Shen Yuanbiao was appearing more and more suspicious.
“Most importantly, Shen Yuanbiao claims to be at the peak of the Heaven Realm, but I’ve always sensed that it’s not that simple,” Shen Yuanbao said.
“When he first awakened his extraordinary strength, his cultivation improved by leaps and bounds. He broke through the Heaven Realm easily and became a first-cla.s.s fighter who could take charge of his own affairs.
“However, he has been stuck at the peak of the Heaven Realm for almost ten years.
“The structure near the water is always first to receive moonlight. I don’t know how many cultivation resources I’ve thrown at him over the last ten years, but he consumes the crystals that have piled up like mountains at a crazy rate. Like mud cows entering the sea, they disappear without a trace.”
Meng Chao frowned and said, “It’s not possible to break through to the Deity Realm just by relying on astronomical resources.”
“Of course, I understand that,” Shen Yuanbao said.
“However, Shen Yuanbiao is different from my disappointing children. He is neither a flower in a greenhouse nor an armchair strategist. Instead, he is a valiant general who has fought side by side with me countless times amongst mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and the b.l.o.o.d.y mouths of monsters. His body is covered with crisscrossing scars that are no less than mine.
“I have a feeling that something is off with his realm. He should have broken through to the Deity Realm when he was on the brink of death countless times in the past.”
“In other words…”
Meng Chao thought for a moment and said, “Senior Shen, you suspect that your brother is hiding his strength?”
“That’s right.”
Shen Yuanbao nodded and said, “Although there is no evidence, I just have a strong feeling that he’s hiding his true strength.”
“Of course, it’s hard to find evidence for such a thing,” Meng Chao said.
“Nevertheless, the intuition of a Deity Realm fighter is amazing. If you feel that there’s something wrong with his realm, there’s an 80% to 90% chance that there’s something wrong with it.
“There’s a motive, the conditions for committing the crime, and the ability to clean up the mess to commit the perfect crime. From the looks of it, Shen Yuanbiao does seem suspicious.
“Oh, right!”
Meng Chao suddenly stopped talking and fell into deep thought.
Shen Yuanbao asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking about what you said just now. You mentioned that Shen Yuanbiao had been obsessed with training when he was young, and he ended up hurting his spermatic cord. Hence, he doesn’t have any offspring.”
Meng Chao said, “Now you’re saying that you feel that his strength is not as low as the peak of the Heaven Realm. It’s likely that he has already stepped into the Deity Realm.
“But I feel that these two things are contradictory.
“If spirit energy deviation is really that serious, it’s impossible for him to step into the Deity Realm.
“On the other hand, if Shen Yuanbiao has actually achieved Deity Realm, that means he solved his spirit energy deviation problem long ago. The broken spirit cords have likely been reconnected. He has long had the ability to… leave behind an heir.”