Chapter Ninety-Seven: Satisfied?

Inside the room, the atmosphere had turned strangely tense. Aside from Du Yue and Liu Shaoyu, no one dared breathe too loudly. Everyone watched the two men at the round table, each harboring his own thoughts.

“Then I wonder whether this counts as something worthwhile,” Liu Shaoyu said, having weighed Du Yue’s words in his mind. It was time to bring out something real.

As soon as he finished speaking, a small blue crystal appeared in his palm, casting a faint glow through the room.

Du Yue took one look and nodded with satisfaction.

“It’s decent enough, but don’t you think it’s a little small, Brother Liu? Something this tiny would fetch, at most, just a little over a hundred million on the black market. I really can’t afford to play with things like this.”

Clearly, Du Yue had seen the world. Though the young man before him could produce an ice crystal so casually, it was still far from enough in Du Yue’s eyes. Even so, he also felt that Liu Shaoyu truly did have some backing.

Though its value was not high, something like this was sometimes beyond measure by money alone.

“If Brother Du knows what this is, then that makes things easier,” Liu Shaoyu said, slipping the fragment back into his coat pocket and waiting for Du Yue’s reaction.

Sure enough, Du Yue caught the implication in Liu Shaoyu’s words.

“Oh? And if I do know it, then what?” he asked in return. At a time like this, taking the initiative mattered.

“If you know what it is, then that means we can talk properly,” Liu Shaoyu said, carefully controlling his pace, trying to keep Du Yue hooked. At the same time, he was also hinting that it was time to discuss serious business. Perhaps he should clear the room.

Du Yue inwardly sighed. As expected, this brat had real substance to him. His casual move had turned up a fish far bigger than he had imagined. The only question was whether it was merely a carp, or a dragon fish.

At that moment, the knot in Neishan Xing’s heart loosened. Judging by the situation, this recommendation of his should not go wrong now.

“Brother, I still have a few matters to handle over there, so I’ll head back first,” Neishan Xing said, understanding his place. He realized the coming conversation was not something he should intrude upon.

Du Yue nodded, signaling that he could go. Inwardly, he praised him; it seemed this Neishan Xing might be useful in the future.

Monkey also sensed that something was off and quickly said, “Brother Nei, I’ll see you out.”

With that, he too tried to slip away.

At that moment, Liu Shaoyu suddenly said, “Monkey, what comes next concerns you. Stay and listen.”

Since Liu Shaoyu had asked Monkey to help him, he had no intention of hiding anything from him. After all, someone would need to keep watch over future matters.

Monkey clearly had not expected Liu Shaoyu to speak up so suddenly. For one reason or another, he wavered a little.

After all, this was not his own turf.

“Oh? Since Brother Monkey is involved as well, then stay and listen,” Du Yue said, taking full command of the room.

Only then did Monkey settle down and wait for the two of them to speak.

“Well then, Brother Liu, shouldn’t the main course be served now?” Du Yue asked with a smile, his small eyes narrowing as he stared at Liu Shaoyu across the table.

Liu Shaoyu understood exactly what that look meant: if I’m not satisfied, you’ll be the one who suffers.

But he had come prepared today. It was still impossible to say who would leave displeased.

“Then pardon me,” Liu Shaoyu said softly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he continued, “Thomas, your turn.”

Du Yue was left utterly baffled by those words. What was going on? Pardon me? Was he about to start fighting before they had even begun talking? He had no fear of being cheated in the dark, but this century seemed a little off.

Monkey was also thrown into a slight panic by Liu Shaoyu’s words. Then he suddenly saw Liu Shaoyu wink at him, and the tension in his chest eased once more.

Because Monkey believed Liu Shaoyu would never do something like this without a plan. All he had to do was watch the show.

That assumption was not wrong. The problem lay with Du Yue, who actually sat there obediently and watched.

What composure. What nerve.

Soon, a message came through Du Yue’s ear.

“Report. Security has detected an unidentified flying object approaching. Orbital identification confirms it is headed for our courtyard.”

As he listened, Du Yue silently wondered whether this unidentified flying object might be the Thomas Liu Shaoyu had mentioned.

“Brother Liu, my men say there seems to be an unidentified flying object approaching,” Du Yue said, looking at him.

“Please let it pass,” Liu Shaoyu replied.

Du Yue had already resolved to see exactly what tricks this young man was playing. He said directly, “It’s one of ours. Let it through.”

But just after he spoke, another voice came through his ear.

“Ah—h-he’s already broken through the perimeter and gone inside.”

Du Yue’s heart tightened. He rapidly ran through the calculations. His security system could monitor a thirty-kilometer radius centered on the launch point. If an enemy approached from above without authorization, the attack systems would trigger at once.

And yet, in the time it took to say two sentences, it had already broken through?

How had that been done?

Before Du Yue could think further, he found the door to the room already open. A black, humanoid mech walked in just like that.

“Brother Liu, what does this mean?” Du Yue felt that something was wrong. He hurriedly stared at Liu Shaoyu and gritted out the words, deliberately stressing every syllable of “Brother Liu.”

At the same time, a crowd of men in black suits surged in from outside. Though they were supposedly his own people, with something like this happening, no one could tell what might occur. Better to follow in and see for themselves.

Liu Shaoyu did not spare the people outside a single glance. His eyes met Du Yue’s narrowed stare without the slightest retreat, and he said, word for word,

“Didn’t Brother Du want to see the main course?”

Du Yue could tell that Liu Shaoyu was not joking. He waved a hand, and the people at the door withdrew.

Taking a breath to steady himself, he brought the smile back to his face.

“The main course Brother Liu speaks of wouldn’t happen to be this piece of scrap iron, would it?”

One had to admit, the portly man really had seen the world. Even now, he had not forgotten business.

“Because once the next thing appears, no one can guarantee what will happen.”

Du Yue looked down on Liu Shaoyu’s words somewhat. What was he, Du Yue? What had he never seen before? If he wanted it, he could even get his hands on the Nuwa-class carrier now in active service with the Federal Fleet.

“Then I really do want to see what Brother Liu has brought out that could be so serious,” he said.

Seeing that the timing was about right, Liu Shaoyu waved a hand.

At once, the entire armor began to disassemble, breaking apart into scattered pieces. As the suit came apart, the contents within it spilled out as well.

On closer inspection, the inside of the armor was stuffed full of ice crystals the size of goose eggs. The whole room was instantly washed in a layer of blue light.

The moment everyone saw this, Du Yue’s mouth was already gaping so wide it could have swallowed the roast suckling pig at the center of the table.

“Well then, Brother Du, are you satisfied with this dish of mine?”