Chapter 294: Chapter 216: Si Ranran: Someone Is Setting Me Up
Lin Qi never would have imagined that King Arthur’s breakthrough would be triggered by the desire to surpass a Tier Two rookie like himself, and he wondered what King Arthur would think the moment he learned the truth.
In any case, Lin Qi was currently calm, maintaining his Meditation and keeping a close watch on Si Ranran’s movements.
He maintained a fairly steady pace, but his Meditation efficiency was at a snail’s pace compared to the Doomsday World. Before long, morning arrived.
Lin Qi was dining with Brother Green Hair in the Alliance Mansion, having chosen a square table that could seat up to six.
The extra space improved his mood.
Just as Lin Qi was using a damp towel to wipe the corners of his mouth, a familiar voice spoke up.
"Brother Lin Qi, you guys at United Pharmaceutical are incredible!"
The voice was familiar, too. Lin Qi took a closer look and saw it was Xiao Gu, an A-level Researcher from Rotor Pharmaceutical, part of the Medical Small Business Alliance.
Hearing this, Lin Qi was a little confused and asked, "What’s going on?"
Lin Qi still didn’t know what had happened.
Compared to Xiao Gu, Lin Qi’s information channels, while very deep, were limited in number. No one had contacted him yet.
Hearing Lin Qi’s question, Xiao Gu thought Lin Qi was just playing dumb...
Xiao Gu quickly corrected himself. "My mistake, I misspoke!"
"This morning, news of a scandal involving the council of the Asian Political Zone Big Business Alliance suddenly started circulating on the cyber network. There’s evidence showing that Councilor Jin Yuanxi accepted a massive bribe from Si Pharmaceutical and was giving them the green light on the council."
"A rumor is going around that the originally agreed-upon agenda for the ’Asia Political Zone Advanced Pharmaceutical Enterprise Summit’ might be restructured."
"Also, several big businesses that had been jointly protesting the ’Big Business Alliance Successor Bill’ with Si Pharmaceutical have withdrawn their support. The situation has changed drastically overnight."
"The final outcome of this summit might change from resource redistribution to...carving up Si Pharmaceutical. According to Yuan Hong, if Si Pharmaceutical falls, the pharmaceutical sector in the Asian Administrative Region might be able to accommodate more than one new big pharmaceutical company."
Xiao Gu’s gaze was fervent as he looked at Lin Qi.
There was another, more obscure, rumor that he didn’t mention.
The source of the news that had spread across the cyber network was suspected to be the council itself.
Because this incident was exposed so suddenly and without any build-up, the manipulator behind it couldn’t cover their tracks completely.
A large amount of evidence pointed to Permanent Councilor Aishwarya as the likely mastermind.
This was something worth pondering.
Just yesterday, United Pharmaceutical had put out the word that they were looking into Permanent Councilor Aishwarya, and today, such major news broke.
It was hard not to connect the two events.
Perhaps yesterday’s inquiry was just a smokescreen from United Pharmaceutical—an unconventional way of announcing their responsibility for today’s bombshell.
Within the Medical Small Business Alliance, many were even speculating that after losing Permanent Councilor Jin Yuanxi’s support, United Pharmaceutical—or rather, Liu’s Heavy Industries—had managed to win over two other permanent councilors in one fell swoop.
The neutral Permanent Councilor, Qiao Xi.
And Permanent Councilor Aishwarya, who was backed by one of the most powerful Prosthetic Body mega-corporations in the world.
This implied that the power behind United Pharmaceutical might exceed everyone’s imagination.
Hearing the news from Xiao Gu, Lin Qi deliberately put on a pleased expression.
"This is a good thing for us small businesses."
’Lin Qi had no desire to get directly involved. It was enough to fly another’s banner; there was no need for him to enter the game openly.’
Xiao Gu, ever the opportunist, said, "That’s right. We small pharmaceutical businesses really ought to properly thank the big shot who made this move."
Xiao Gu had completely changed his tune. On the surface, he was celebrating, but his words were laced with gratitude for Lin Qi.
Lin Qi didn’t say much more. After a few perfunctory words with Xiao Gu, he and Brother Green Hair finished their meal and left the dining area of the Alliance Mansion.
Back in his room, Lin Qi mulled over the current situation.
’Aishwarya using the Si Clan as an entry point to attack Jin Yuanxi was within my expectations. I just didn’t think she’d be so efficient and act so decisively, with almost no regard for exposing herself.’
’Or rather, she’s exposing herself on purpose. For one, she’s telling the ’mysterious entity’ she’s been conversing with—me—that she’s doing her best. At the same time, she’s cutting ties, to some extent, with the European Big Business Alliance.’
’She’s a ruthless one, all right. Not afraid of the European Big Business Alliance having a complete falling-out with her.’
’She must have something to fall back on. And based on my actions last night, she was able to determine that the Holy Light buried inside the Wizard isn’t actually fatal. The European Big Business Alliance doesn’t have a complete hold over her.’
’She’s a veteran permanent councilor, after all. Her backup plans are solid. A world away from the Si Clan, who look like stray dogs now that their plan has failed.’
Considering even Aishwarya had backup plans, Jin Yuanxi—who had dealings with the Si Clan and had also engaged in deep negotiations with Ninghang Technology and the European Big Business Alliance—wouldn’t fall so easily.
Any veteran permanent councilor was bound to have a trump card.
Not long after Lin Qi began to ponder this, an email arrived in his inbox.
This was also expected. It was an invitation from Liu Xuan, presumably about the day’s various developments.
The Liu Clan was a veteran big business. Initially, they had been rendered helpless by the Si Clan’s coordinated assault, but now that the tables had turned, it was time for the Liu Clan to make its move.
