Chapter 194: Chapter 147: The Corporation Sides With Whomever Is Ning Xiu’s Contractor
"It’s fine. It’s enough."
The message was very low-key. Jiang Yunnuan’s gaze flickered as she suddenly recalled some plot points from the novel.
’That’s right. Setting aside his status as a Governor, he’s still the heir to the Star Navigation Group. How could he possibly be broke?’
The Star Navigation Group was the Empire’s largest manufacturer of Flying Devices and mechs, and it controlled several interstellar routes. Across the entire Human Alliance, it ranked in the top three.
Its daily profits were beyond imagination, and its market value was too high to measure.
Everyone knew about the group. A mere thirty million was nothing to him.
In Jiang Wanwan’s past life, this group was largely responsible for the original owner of her body successfully becoming the Empress. And in this life, it was destined to play an equally massive role in Jiang Wanwan’s own path to becoming Empress.
In the storylines of both lives, the group sided with whomever Ning Xiu was contracted to.
’Oh, how did I forget about that? Hmm, I must have been too excited seeing those two massive transfers.’
THUD!
Suddenly, the sound of a heavy impact rang out as a figure crashed to the ground at Jiang Yunnuan’s feet. She reflexively took a step back.
Taking a closer look, she saw it was Bai Luo.
He was once again a wretched sight. His handsome, delicate face was swollen like a pig’s head, making him look utterly pathetic.
Shen Yi lay not far from him, his face just as bruised and swollen—a pitiful sight.
[Host, I’ve detected it. That Feathered Beastman is now a Half-step Ultimate Venerable.]
Jiang Wanwan hadn’t even had time to react when the system’s voice sounded in her mind. Her eyes instantly widened, her heart pounding with utter shock.
’What?’
’A Half-step Ultimate Venerable?’
’How is this possible?’
’That guy was only at the First Rank of the Returning Origin Stage just over a month ago! How could he have broken through to Half-step Ultimate Venerable so fast?’
’What kind of heaven-defying opportunity did he have to encounter to advance this quickly?’
"Are you... sure you didn’t make a mistake in your detection?"
[I’m sure.]
The system explained in her mind, "That Feathered Beastman was just testing Bai Luo and Shen Yi at first, only defending and never attacking. He only revealed a sliver of his Cultivation when he defeated them in a single move after completely gauging their strength. That’s when I detected it."
Jiang Wanwan was speechless.
She knew the system’s detection was never wrong, but she still couldn’t believe it. Just then, a gentle, amused voice reached her ears.
"Now, you should fulfill the terms of our bet and apologize to my Nuannuan."
The gentle, handsome man walked over to Jiang Yunnuan’s side. He looked down at the bruised and swollen youth on the ground, the corners of his lips curling into a faint arc.
He had fought two against one, toying with them like a cat with mice for over ten minutes. The two of them were a miserable mess, yet he remained impeccably dressed, his breathing perfectly even.
"You... how are you so strong?"
Bai Luo tilted his head up, looking at him in disbelief.
The last time he’d fought Si Xie, this Feathered Beastman’s Cultivation had clearly been weaker than his. But now, he radiated an unfathomable aura that had completely suppressed him, leaving him powerless to resist.
Hearing this, Fu Yuan raised an eyebrow. His voice was gentle and calm, but his words were a blatant boast.
"Strong? This is just our family’s average. Otherwise, why do you think I said your Cultivation was too low and that you didn’t qualify?"
’Hmm, if you averaged out Yan Chen’s Cultivation with Si Xie’s, then Half-step Ultimate Venerable really is about average. So I’m not really exaggerating.’
’The Cultivation of someone in the Ultimate Venerable Early Stage is equivalent to at least several hundred, maybe even a thousand, Half-step Ultimate Venerables. And if it were the late stage... that would be even more terrifyingly immeasurable.’
’Besides, maybe we don’t even need to factor in Yan Chen. Once Si Xie finishes his seclusion, he might break through to Half-step Ultimate Venerable too. I can sense an incredibly powerful force hidden inside him.’
’If he can refine and absorb that power, reaching the Half-step Ultimate Venerable stage should be no problem at all.’
After his boast, Fu Yuan coughed. He ignored Bai Luo’s dark expression and pressed him forcefully.
"Apologize!"
Bai Luo pressed his lips together, looking at him and Jiang Yunnuan with utter humiliation, not saying a word for a long time.
Jiang Yunnuan stepped forward, looking at Jiang Wanwan with irritation.
"Seriously, Jiang Wanwan? Is your Contractor such a sore loser? He was the one who challenged Fu Yuan, and he was the one who agreed to the terms, you know."
"Now that he’s lost, he refuses to honor the deal. Instead, he’s putting on this humiliated act, as if we’re the ones who bullied him. What’s that supposed to mean? Go on, explain yourself."
Hearing this, Jiang Wanwan snapped out of her profound shock over the "Half-step Ultimate Venerable" revelation and spoke with a frown.
"Bai Luo’s words earlier were indeed excessive, but Sister, you didn’t suffer any real loss. He, on the other hand, is so badly injured now. Can’t you be a bit more magnanimous and not hold it against him?"
This made Jiang Yunnuan laugh in anger.
Birds of a feather, really. Bai Luo’s refusal to honor his promise was a perfect match for Jiang Wanwan’s own attitude.
"He’s badly hurt because he was overconfident and foolishly challenged Fu Yuan. What does that have to do with me? He’s the one not honoring our deal, and I’m asking you for an explanation. How do you twist that into me being the one who won’t let it go?"
"Fine. If you’re all going to be this unreasonable, then I have nothing more to say. Fu Yuan, do it. Knock all four of them out. I’m going to strip them naked, throw them onto the street, and then post today’s video on the Star Network."
"I’d love to see if your ’Empress’ persona can survive after netizens see that ugly look on your face and your naked body."
Ning Xiu was speechless.
’I haven’t done anything! I haven’t said a word! How did I get dragged into this again?’
’And after I just transferred thirty million to her! How could she turn around and treat me like this?’
"No! What you’re doing is illegal! Ning Xiu is the Chief Governor of the Third Star Zone. If you do this to him, you’ll rot in jail for the rest of your life!"
Jiang Wanwan was thoroughly frightened. Her eyes went wide as she clutched her clothes and stumbled back a few steps in terror.
Seeing this, Jiang Yunnuan laughed and continued her threats without a care.
"Oh, then we’ll exclude Ning Xiu. I’ll just strip the three of you. Since you’re all so shameless, you probably wouldn’t care about lying naked on the street for everyone to stare at, right?"
Hearing he would be excluded, Ning Xiu slowly breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good thing he was a person of status; otherwise, he truly feared she would have gone through with it.
After a pause, Jiang Yunnuan continued, "Even if you call the authorities, we’d only be locked up for a few years at most. What’s a few years in prison compared to your utter humiliation?"
’This kind of mutually destructive tactic—injuring the enemy by eight hundred at a cost of one thousand to myself—was, of course, just a bluff to scare Jiang Wanwan. I would never actually go to prison for a few years just to humiliate her.’
Unfortunately for her, Jiang Wanwan was easily frightened.
She said coldly, "It’s just an apology, isn’t it? I’ll make him apologize to you right now. But you’d better not do anything rash. If you really dare do that to me, I guarantee your Contractor’s Cultivation will be crippled, and you... you’ll be sent to the military legions as a camp prostitute."
