Chapter 258: Chapter 198: Lin Qi: I Must Do What I Promised
This was the very thing that made Liu Xuan truly despair.
It was too fast. The upper echelons of the Alliance had reached a consensus far too quickly.
It left the Liu Clan no time to react, no room to maneuver or negotiate.
It was as if the Liu Clan had walked into a trap set by the heavens—an unsolvable, fatal checkmate.
From Liu Xuan’s account, Lin Qi could sense her utter despair.
Before arriving in Alliance City, Liu Xuan had still possessed a measure of composure, asking him to do his best to secure benefits for United Pharmaceutical at the summit.
But after just one day, Lin Qi could no longer see a trace of hope on her face.
"The Liu Clan has been targeted, and by an unknown force. The Si Clan was just the catalyst."
Lin Qi summarized. It seemed that from the very beginning, Liu Xuan had focused on the wrong opponent in this game.
She had paid too much attention to the Si Clan while ignoring the powers above them.
Liu Xuan nodded. "Looking at it now, Ninghang Technology played a significant role too. Given its current scale, it’s actually possible for it to sway the attitudes of multiple Permanent Council members."
"To the Permanent Council of the Big Business Alliance, Intercontinental Giant Corporations are their main focus. They also need to make moves to secure their own positions on the council."
"The only thing I don’t understand is, why was it so fast?"
"Even if Ninghang Technology has the ability to change the council members’ minds, it shouldn’t have happened this quickly."
"And another thing, why would Ninghang Technology secretly target the Liu Clan while also starting a new joint project with us? What are they after?"
Liu Xuan was far from unintelligent. When Liu Xingyuan had raised her, he had trained her almost as he would an heir.
To Liu’s Heavy Industries, Liu Xuan’s significance was no less than Liu Li’s.
The reason she couldn’t figure it out came down to a lack of intelligence.
Perhaps the Liu Clan knew almost everything within Red Fruit City, but once they stepped outside it, they would find that Liu’s Heavy Industries was just another big business—not even top-tier, but merely upper-middle level.
Coincidentally, Lin Qi happened to have a great deal of intelligence on Ninghang Technology.
It was all thanks to the new mission from the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps. Without that mission, Lin Qi wouldn’t have been able to analyze any valuable information either.
After organizing his thoughts, Lin Qi said, "The crisis the Liu Clan faced back in Greenfield City was actually a joint effort between the Si Clan and the European Political Zone Big Business Alliance."
"And now, the Liu Clan is in crisis again. The ones fanning the flames are the Si Clan and Ninghang Technology. And unfortunately for you, the European Political Zone Big Business Alliance is also behind Ninghang Technology."
Lin Qi didn’t need to reveal too much information. He only needed to tell Liu Xuan one thing.
Ninghang Technology wasn’t clean.
The one backing Ninghang Technology wasn’t the Asian Political Zone Big Business Alliance, but Europe.
This was a blind spot in Liu Xuan’s intelligence.
"Europe?"
Hearing this, the pupil of Liu Xuan’s right eye contracted violently.
Clearly, this piece of information allowed Liu Xuan to connect many of the dots.
Liu Xuan didn’t ask where Lin Qi got his information. She had known for a long time that he wasn’t a settled person, not just a loyal corporate drone.
"No, you can’t go to the European Administrative Region anymore!"
This was the first thing she said, which took Lin Qi by surprise.
Liu Xuan didn’t explain her reasoning, instead continuing her analysis of the situation. "In other words, from start to finish, the one targeting Liu’s Heavy Industries has actually been the European Administrative Region. The Greenfield City incident was just a prelude."
"This pharmaceutical summit in Alliance City is the real killing blow. But how could the European Political Zone Big Business Alliance possibly influence the Permanent Council of the Asian Political Zone Big Business Alliance?"
"Ninghang Technology? A company that shows enormous potential and has an influential backer will naturally gain support it otherwise wouldn’t deserve."
"Did Ninghang Technology facilitate cooperation between the two political zones’ big business alliances? No, that’s not right. It should be that Ninghang Technology used this to influence the Permanent Council members who were partial to the Liu Clan. One small move affected the entire board, leading to this rapid consensus."
Liu Xuan’s full attention was on her analysis, seemingly taking the accuracy of Lin Qi’s information for granted.
Lin Qi kept his eyes on Liu Xuan and said, "Actually, Liu’s Heavy Industries isn’t out of options."
That’s right. Once the situation was clear, it was obvious this wasn’t a completely hopeless scenario.
The crisis the Liu Clan faced this time wasn’t some insurmountable, heaven-sent disaster. It was simply that a faction that once supported them had defected, creating the illusion of a swift consensus within the Permanent Council.
"The Liu Clan needs the support of the Neutral Directors, but we don’t have enough leverage. We don’t even have proof that Ninghang Technology and a few Permanent Council members are collaborating with the European Big Business Alliance."
"More importantly, Permanent Council members defecting to another political zone for personal gain is a council scandal. It’s a scandal that can’t be exposed to the other big businesses within the region."
Although she had identified a potential way to break the deadlock, the key to doing so was nowhere in sight.
The Si Clan had traded more than half their assets for support. Ninghang Technology had leveraged its potential as an Intercontinental Giant Corporation to secure the trust of the Permanent Council in advance.
Not to mention the true behemoth, the European Political Zone Big Business Alliance, pulling strings from behind the scenes.
What could the Liu Clan possibly offer to open the doors of the Neutral Directors? Why would they even agree to a meeting?
Cut their losses and follow the Si Clan’s example?
It was too late!
The fish on the chopping block couldn’t be used as a bargaining chip. It was already marked to be carved up and divided.
The light in Liu Xuan’s left Prosthetic Body eye flickered continuously, growing brighter and brighter.
This proved that even after figuring everything out, Liu Xuan was still frantic, unable to find a way to break the stalemate.
At this point, it seemed the Liu Clan had exhausted all their options.
Never mind Liu Xuan; even if Liu Xingyuan himself came to Alliance City, he might not be able to find a solution.
The Liu Clan couldn’t find a way out, but that didn’t mean Lin Qi couldn’t.
Just as Lin Qi had told Liu Xuan, "I have to do what I promised."
Lin Qi’s promise had nothing to do with personal gain. Such firm support was not something that could be bought with benefits.
Lin Qi spoke up. "Right now, there’s more than one way to save our United Pharmaceutical."
The words had barely left his mouth, and before Liu Xuan could hear the rest, the phrase "our United Pharmaceutical" caused the power output of her left Prosthetic Body’s Suppressor to suddenly spike.
She took a deep breath, suppressed her emotions, and continued to listen to Lin Qi.
"First method: get the support of other Permanent Council members. I can try to make contact, but I can’t guarantee it will work. Still, it should at least get you an opportunity to visit them."
Lin Qi had one and only one connection in Alliance City: Capitalist, member number three of the Highest-Level Mercenary Corps.
According to Guang Ling’s hint, this connection was a very powerful one. Lin Qi even suspected that Capitalist might be one of the members of the Permanent Council...
Asking Capitalist for help was Lin Qi’s means of implementing this first method.
As for how effective it would be, he wouldn’t know until he made contact tonight.
When Liu Xuan heard Lin Qi’s words, she was momentarily stunned.
’What did Lin Qi just say?’
’He can try to make contact?’
’Contact who?’
’A Permanent Council member?’
Liu Xuan knew Lin Qi was hiding many things. For instance, how he would occasionally bypass Red Fruit City’s surveillance to leave the city, how he would frequently slip away from his bodyguards to act alone in Greenfield City, and that on that final night, the... Extraordinary Side power he had displayed.
But based on Liu Xuan’s understanding, Lin Qi’s Extraordinary Side level was Tier Two Top Level at most, not even reaching Tier Three.
’Lin Qi actually has connections that reach the pinnacle of power in the Asian Big Business Alliance?’
Liu Xuan was silent for a long time, simply lost in shock.
Lin Qi hadn’t finished. In a crisis, there was no point in hiding one’s strengths. They had to survive this first before they could talk about anything else.
"Second method: ask the Eastern Alliance for help. Permanent Council members of the Asian Political Zone Big Business Alliance colluding with the European Administrative Region—this is an act that will certainly provoke the Eastern Alliance. If we can get this matter to their top leadership, a new opportunity might appear."
’The Eastern Alliance?’
That was something Liu Xuan had overlooked.
This entity, lurking in the eastern part of the Asian Administrative Region and completely independent of the Big Business Alliance, was usually so low-key that its existence hadn’t even crossed Liu Xuan’s mind.
But...
"The Liu Clan has no relationship with the Eastern Alliance, let alone any way to contact its high-level leadership."
Liu Xuan stated.
Lin Qi shook his head. "I can try to contact them as well."
