After hearing the scream of the Black Goat, Leon was taken aback.
He had just heard about the "Demon Suit" before setting out, and now, less than three hours later, he had actually found the whereabouts of one of the "sheep offals"? *Was his luck really that good?*
Under the anxious urging of the Black Goat, Leon squinted and thought for a moment. Instead of barging directly into that room, he first glanced back at the nameplate on the door and then stopped the security manager to ask,
"When I was passing by the meeting room at the back earlier, I seemed to hear someone talking about the public water pipe. Who's inside there?"
"That's meeting room number two, as for who's inside...let me check first."
Having had his psychological defenses breached, the security manager was selling out the company without any burden, directly pulling out a visitor itinerary from his chest pocket and flipping through it quickly.
"Found it...It's representatives from the Department of Road Administration's Waterway Bureau, the Ministry of Agriculture's Water Conservancy Bureau, Charl Department Store, and the old noble families like Lionheart Lyon, Tower Shield York, and Rose Marseille.
According to the itinerary given to me, they have occupied that meeting room for almost three days now. They must be…must be discussing compensation…"
Huh? Was it really related to the water pipe?
Leon originally just wanted to find a reason to gather some information about the sheep offals. The thing about hearing discussions related to water pipes was naturally made up.
Unexpectedly, by a twist of fate, it turned out that the people in that meeting room were genuinely related to the public water pipe incident.
After marveling at his own luck, Leon pointed to the meeting room behind him, then slightly curled his lips, showing the security manager a knowing smile.
"This...this I really can't do..."
Seeing Leon's expression, the security manager couldn't help but shiver, then with a bitter face, pleaded,
"I'm just a small manager in the Security Department! Taking you to the archive to look over records is my limit, I truly can't blend in there.
The people in that meeting, they're not people I can get in touch with at all. Someone like me doesn't even have the qualification to look at the meeting records, you…"
"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to help me blend in, just wanting to alert you to some security issues."
After patting the security manager on the shoulder, Leon gently reminded,
"Your company has had quite a few issues recently, those wild protesters outside just came to cause trouble again today, you should be vigilant.
Like right now, the Department of Road Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Charl Company, old noble families...With so many important guests involved in the meeting, how can there be no security personnel on duty at the door?"
Seeing the security manager's thoughtful expression, Leon requested,
"In your security department's duty room, there should be spare uniforms, right? Get me a set that fits...hmm...having one guard might seem odd, better call another guard with a straightforward character who doesn't talk much to come over and stand watch with me at the meeting room, how about that?"
After hearing Leon's request, the security manager couldn't help but pause his breathing, instinctively hoping this demon would have less contact with people who might expose his identity, biting his teeth and proactively suggesting,
"How about I stay with you here..."
"No, no, no, you are a manager in the Security Department, how can you stand guard personally? Besides, you have more important tasks to do."
Having outright rejected the security manager's suggestion, Leon calmly instructed,
"While I'm standing guard here, please go to the archive room and find a way to bring out the relevant files. For the documents you can't bring out, transcribe the key parts and place them in your office. I'll come to get them after my guard duty ends.
Hmm…To avoid taking the wrong thing, place them under that family photo on your desk. Oh, by the way, looking at the badge on the uniform in the photo, it seems your wife is a teacher at Victor Parish Elementary School? If I'm not mistaken, your daughter should also be studying there?"
Under the security manager's suddenly terrified gaze, Leon withdrew his hand from his shoulder, smiled gently, and encouraged with his eyes,
"How wonderful, a daughter so lively and cute, a wife who's both gentle and beautiful and is a distinguished teacher herself, and you being a middle-tier employee in a major corporation; your life is more well-off than ninety percent of people in the Capital City.
So, promise me, be a good husband, but even more, be a good father. Never let them down, okay?"
"Sorry, I can't agree to this."
Having reviewed the seventh revised compensation proposal in his hands, the middle-aged man with long blonde hair shook his head, calmly refusing,
"Since the start of raising funds for the renovation and expansion of the municipal water pipes, our Ryan family has invested a lot of money in each round, and the dividends in the past two years have barely broken even.
If we proceed with this compensation proposal, not only would this year's dividends be entirely deducted, but we would also have to return last year's dividends. Our Ryan family will not accept this."
"The York family also disagreed."
"The Marseille family opposed."
"With three out of six directors rejecting, it seems there's no necessity to continue with this round of voting."
After seeing the expressions of everyone in the meeting room, the host shook his head and turned to the middle-aged woman with an unpleasant look, saying,
"Mrs. Charl, although you invested the most in the water company during its formation, I still suggest you revise the proposal. The naive solution you hope for will never pass."
"Revise...how should this proposal be revised?"
It wasn't clear whether she was worn out by days of wrangling or angered by the irony implicit in the host's words.
The middle-aged woman, still beautiful despite the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, suddenly stood up and, faced with everyone else's cold gaze, raised her beautifully arched brows and angrily questioned,
"We only take three-tenths during dividends and have to bear five-tenths during compensation! How else do you want to modify it? Do you want Charl Department Store to shoulder it all?"
"Mrs. Charl, please calm down a bit."
After the middle-aged woman vented her anger, the middle-aged man from the Ryan family, with a neutral demeanor, lightly tapped the table with curled knuckles and said,
"We are not asking Charl Department Store to bear it all, only disputing the way the compensation is carried out. Instead of finding those so-called victims one by one for compensation, we prefer it to be handled with more 'flexibility.'
For instance, separating out the other five businesses excluding water supply—energy, irrigation, sewage, etc.—then establishing a new company, having Charl Power Company compensate all the money, and then letting it directly close down."
Watching the woman's furious eyes across from him, the middle-aged man leaned back into the sofa, calmly adding,
"Since it's the water supply business having the issue this time, the compensation should be limited to the profits obtained from the water supply business. There's no need to involve other parts of the water company. Personally, I find this a very reasonable outcome. What do you think?"