74: Chapter 74 The Grandfather Emerges from Seclusion! You've Offended the King of Hell!

The entire Lu family core manor was instantly illuminated.

The core executives, whether in seclusion, out on business, or currently executing missions, were all forcibly summoned.

Inside the grand council hall, holographic projections lit up one after another.

Some were bleary-eyed, others had faces ashen with rage.

"What is going on? Who sounded the Dragon's Roar alarm?"

"Are you crazy! Do you have any idea what this means!"

The projection of the Fifth Elder, Lu Chengde, slammed the table and roared.

He saw Senior Researcher Lu Zhenbang, whose face was pale in the main seat, and demanded sternly: "Zhenbang, was it you? What on earth happened!"

Senior Researcher Lu Zhenbang's lips trembled, but he couldn't say a single word.

The hall immediately descended into chaos.

Several hawkish elders, assuming there was an external enemy attack, even clamored to mobilize the Lu family's private mecha brigade.

Just then, an aura enveloped the entire hall. Ancient and majestic.

All the clamor came to an abrupt halt.

At the very head of the hall, on the grand armchair that symbolized the highest power of the Lu family, a phantom figure slowly coalesced.

The old man, with white hair and beard, wore a simple, ancient linen robe, his eyes tightly closed. He seemed to have merged with the heavens and the earth.

"Great... Great-Grandfather!"

"Ancestor! Why have you come out of seclusion!"

All the high-ranking members of the Lu family, including Senior Researcher Lu Zhenbang, stood up in shock and bowed respectfully.

Lu Zhiyuan. The previous head of the Lu family, in seclusion for twenty years, the true stabilizer of the Lu family!

Lu Zhiyuan ignored everyone and slowly opened his tightly closed eyes. There was no cloudiness in those eyes, only deathly silence.

His gaze swept past Lu Beiyuan and finally landed on Senior Researcher Lu Zhenbang.

"Zhenbang."

Senior Researcher Lu Zhenbang stood up and bowed slightly. "Grandfather."

"Tell me exactly what happened from start to finish."

Under immense pressure, Senior Researcher Lu Zhenbang repeated the content of Lu Beiyuan's report word for word.

When he mentioned that Lu Beichen had been detained by a Scrap Yard, a few stifled sneers echoed in the hall.

When he said "SSS-level highest warning," those sneers vanished instantly, replaced by the sound of gasping breaths.

When he said "Federation Extremely Dangerous Target," some elders began to tremble.

When the name "Shen Hongyuan" was spoken, several elders stood up from their chairs with a start.

Lu Zhiyuan opened his eyes. Lu Zhiyuan's eyes, which had been closed the whole time, opened.

There was no anger in those old eyes, only pure coldness.

"Very good," he nodded. "I have been in seclusion for twenty years, and this is the kind of thing the Lu family has raised."

"Hacking into someone's security system while on their turf."

"Do you have any idea what kind of place that is?"

No one dared to answer.

Lu Zhiyuan slowly stood up from the grand armchair. He scanned the entire room, his voice not loud.

"And you lot, a bunch of fools!"

"Deploying the military? Are you trying to see how fast you can get the Lu family killed?"

Those elders whose faces had changed drastically trembled even more violently.

"It seems there are still some who remember."

Lu Zhiyuan's voice echoed eerily, recounting a bloody history that deserved to be recorded in the Federation's annals.

"Thirty years ago, four Seventh-Order Beast Kings joined forces. They led a tide of billions of beasts, sweeping from south to north, leveling everything in their path until they reached the Imperial Capital."

"The entire four major military districts were crippled, and Platinum and Diamond-ranked powerhouses fell like rain."

"Those three beasts rampaged for a full seven months; wherever they passed, military fortresses and top-tier sects were all reduced to scorched earth."

"But... there was only one place they never stepped foot in from beginning to end."

He paused, his gaze becoming incredibly profound. "Jiangcheng. Xinghuo Scrap Processing Plant."

The entire hall was deathly silent. Everyone's breathing stopped.

Three Seventh-Order Beast Kings! Those were existences capable of destroying an entire region! They... actually dared not step into a Scrap Yard?

A young family member couldn't help but speak up, his voice trembling: "Great-Grandfather... Seventh-Order Beast Kings, they are existences comparable to human Eighth-Order or even quasi-Ninth-Order powerhouses... a place that collects junk..."

"Shut up!"

Lu Zhiyuan raised his cane and pointed it into the air toward the holographic projection.

In a secret chamber a thousand miles away, the member's chest bone instantly collapsed, and he passed out without even letting out a scream.

A few seconds later, his holographic projection flickered twice and went out completely. Everyone was shocked! The ancestor's strength was terrifying!

"Ignorant!" Lu Zhiyuan let out a cold laugh, filled with sorrow for his descendants.

"Who he really is, you are not yet qualified to know."

"I will only remind you of one thing: back then, the person in the Imperial Capital personally ordered his file to be classified as the highest taboo."

"You are not just digging in the head of Tai Sui. You are personally handing a knife to the King of Hell, begging him to wipe out your entire Lu family!"

"Thump!" A high-ranking member's legs went weak, and he collapsed directly to the floor.

Everyone present, every single one of them, turned ashen, their clothes soaked in cold sweat.

They finally understood what kind of terrifying existence lay behind those seven words: SSS-level [Federation Extremely Dangerous Target]!

"Beichen, from today on, your status as heir is revoked."

"Grandfather!" Senior Researcher Lu Zhenbang stood up abruptly.

"Does an heir have the brain to commit theft at the doorstep of the King of Hell?"

"Keep him? Keep him to drag the entire Lu family into the coffin?"

Senior Researcher Lu Zhenbang opened his mouth but didn't dare to make another sound.

Lu Zhiyuan stopped looking at them and turned his gaze toward Lu Beiyuan.

"Beiyuan."

"Great-Grandfather, I am here." Lu Beiyuan's voice was extremely dry.

"Go immediately to the Heaven-Class Vault No. 1 and retrieve the [Starry Sky Meteorite Iron], along with three sets of [Seventh-Generation Source Energy Matrix Cores]."

As soon as these words were spoken, even Senior Researcher Lu Zhenbang looked up in shock. Starry Sky Meteorite Iron! That was a priceless treasure used for forging the main keel of S-level or higher mechas!

The entire Lu family only had two pieces in stock! Plus the Source Energy Matrix Cores! The total value exceeded eight billion Federation credits!

"Grandfather! You cannot!" "Ancestor, please think twice!"

Lu Beiyuan felt like his heart was bleeding. "Great-Grandfather, that is for the Sky Dome Project..."

"If the project is gone, it can be restarted." Lu Zhiyuan's voice had no warmth.

"If the Lu family is gone, it is truly gone."

"The things in the vault are meant to prolong the Lu family's life; now is the time to use them here."

Lu Beiyuan fell silent.

"You go personally, switch to an unarmed, small civilian aircraft, and fly to Jiangcheng overnight."

"Do not bring any guards."

"After you arrive, present the entire list of supplies with both hands."

"If Mr. Shen accepts them, the Lu family still has a way to survive."

"If... Mr. Shen is not satisfied..." Lu Zhiyuan closed his eyes.

"You will break the limbs of that beast Beichen on the spot."

"From then on, whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with my Lu family."

In the holographic conference room, you could hear a pin drop. Lu Beiyuan's body froze in place, his mind a blank.

For a long time, he bowed deeply, very deeply. "...Great-grandson, I obey."