"Eh, it really is. But that’s 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, we’re being too extravagant. So many chips left here to mold. If my dad jumped out of the pit, he’d definitely kick my butt and call me a wastrel."
Wen Lei: "You sure have a lot of issues. I’m warning you, you’re absolutely forbidden to sell them yourself, or if you mess up Mr. Ren’s big plans, you won’t get away with it!"
Ou Youning asked, "Eh, Wen Lei, do you know what Mr. Ren’s big plans are?"
Wen Lei shook his head, "I don’t know."
"Then why do you sound so convincing, acting high and mighty?"
Wen Lei shouted, "Does it matter? Anyway, Ren’s decisions surely make sense! Why should we, the brainless, inquire so much? Just do our own jobs, right?"
Ou Youning retorted, "You’re the one who’s 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 Ju’s 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 can’t enter the abandoned mining pit for the next few days; it’s risky. But I still need Hanyu’s help to adjust my appearance, so let’s just have her come over. In Lin Wang’s eyes, I’m 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 couldn’t help but inquire again, "Ren, what do you think will happen this afternoon?"
"You’ll 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 Shuying’s team, were seriously injured.
As Ren Zhong expected, Lin Wang, who had been frustrated in the abandoned pit for several days, couldn’t take it anymore and blocked two professional teams in the pit for interrogation.
Although the captains of these two teams weren’t as strong as Lin Wang, they had complete formations with strong soldiers and weren’t 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 Lihui’s 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.
Exoskeleton armor marks matched.
Dents on the giant shield matched.
The combat style exposed in the battle scene traces, matched.
Qingfeng Heavy Truck’s 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 Tian’s team."
Lin Wang: "Including Ren Zhong, that’s six people! Their Qingfeng Heavy Truck doesn’t 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, I’ve analyzed the site thoroughly, it’s a perfect match with your team. Even if Ren Zhong is faking injury and trying to sow discord, he’s never interacted with you guys, doesn’t know what equipment you have, how could he fake the scene to this extent?"
Tang Shuying was left speechless.
What’s true is true, what’s 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 team’s 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 Bingzhong’s 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 wasn’t present throughout the whole process, he had already deduced the developments with great accuracy.
In Yang Bingzhong’s office, Lin Wang, armed with numerous solid proofs, would certainly demand compensation, but the completely innocent Tang Shuying felt utterly bullied.
With Yang Bingzhong’s balancing skills, surely he’d 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 didn’t add up, the real result was dissatisfaction by all parties, including Yang Bingzhong himself.
Ren Zhong also understood Yang Bingzhong’s nature.
He never trusted Lin Wang fully, otherwise, he wouldn’t have considered raising Ren Zhong to counterbalance Lin Wang in the first place.
With Lin Wang’s team now seriously weakened, instead of learning restraint, they’ve 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 isn’t high, but it’s not nonexistent.
A subtle rift quietly started spreading uncontrollably.
In such a delicate atmosphere, on the 56th day at 2 AM, Ren Zhong’s Brain Reaction Index finally reached 1000.
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