273: Captain, didn't you understand?

The team retreated in silence.

The lights of the Industrial Park were left far behind, like a bizarre and fantastical dream.

The Fangs members followed behind Qin Zhan and Zhong Huai, not daring to breathe loudly.

No one was an idiot.

Zhong Huai's distraught appearance just now, coupled with the Captain's final, meaningful words, all indicated that the events of the evening had surpassed their scope of understanding.

There was silence throughout the journey.

It wasn't until they sat in the Military Hovercar returning to base, cut off from all outside scrutiny, that Zhong Huai's extremely taut nerves finally showed signs of relaxing.

He let out a long, deep breath, slumping into the seat, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

After a long time.

He finally found his voice, turning his head to look at Qin Zhan, who was resting with his eyes closed beside him, his face filled with the relief of surviving a disaster and genuine admiration.

“Boss.”

Qin Zhan did not open his eyes.

“I only knew you were fierce before, but today really opened my eyes.” Zhong Huai's voice trembled slightly, a mix of lingering fear and reverence. “As expected of the Captain, remaining calm even when Mount Tai collapses before you... I nearly pissed myself just now.”

He was truly convinced.

Facing a terrifying reality capable of overturning civilization, the Captain could still remain composed and give the conclusion, “Permission granted to pass.”

This courage, this sense of responsibility—the entire military couldn't find a second person like him.

However.

Qin Zhan's response stunned him.

“What is there to be afraid of.”

Qin Zhan finally opened his eyes, but his placid gaze held a hint of pure confusion.

“Aren't they just a pile of storage rings?”

“Although the quantity is a bit high, they aren't contraband.”

“What's there to investigate?”

The air inside the compartment instantly froze.

The admiration on Zhong Huai's face froze, then shattered piece by piece, turning into confusion, and finally utter disbelief.

What?

Aren't they just... a pile of storage rings?

Zhong Huai's mouth slightly dropped open, his brain crashing for a full three seconds.

He suspected he was hallucinating.

“Boss... what... what did you say?”

Qin Zhan glanced at him, seemingly finding him overly dramatic.

“I asked, is there a problem with that pile of rings?”

“I scanned them. They are all standard issue storage rings, and there are no dangerous items hidden inside. They are clean.”

Zhong Huai was utterly dumbfounded.

He looked at Qin Zhan's matter-of-fact expression, and a feeling of utter absurdity surged in his heart.

He finally understood why the Captain was so calm.

It turned out... he hadn't understood at all!

The stacking method, which seemed somewhat rudimentary to him, the Captain... he hadn't noticed it at all!

Damn it... he thought those fifty million rings were just a simple pile stacked there!

“Pfft—”

Zhong Huai choked on his breath and nearly suffocated.

He gesticulated wildly, his face flushed red.

“No, Boss! That wasn't a pile! That was one ring! A Mother Ring!”

“All fifty million rings were stuffed inside that Mother Ring!”

Qin Zhan's movement paused.

“Hm?”

“What do you mean?”

Zhong— “What I mean is!” Zhong Huai was so anxious he nearly jumped up. “You didn't see everything! You only saw the first layer! Those rings nested inside rings! Fifty million of them! And every single ring was packed with Top-tier Potions!”

He took a deep breath, using all his strength to roar out the number that made his soul tremble.

“Five trillion three hundred billion vials! All of them Top-tier Potions!”

Inside the compartment, a deathly silence descended.

A crack finally appeared on Qin Zhan's perpetually stoic, iceberg face.

He fell silent.

After more than ten seconds, he spoke again, his voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor.

“Five trillion three hundred billion...”

“That number is indeed a bit large.”

A bit large?

Just... a bit large?

Zhong Huai felt like he was going insane.

He looked at Qin Zhan, practically on the verge of collapse.

“Boss! This isn't about whether it's large or not! Do you know what this means?”

“If these potions were released, the entire Alliance's potion system would instantly collapse! Every single potion company would go bankrupt within a day! This is a force capable of destroying an industry and even shaking the economic foundation of the Alliance!”

“And productivity! What kind of factory, what kind of technology, what kind of raw material supply is needed to produce this many Top-tier Potions? This is simply not something the current level of civilization on Blue Star can achieve!”

The more Zhong Huai spoke, the more agitated he became, and his voice grew louder.

He had to make the Captain understand the horror of this matter.

This was no longer simple smuggling or trade.

Something massive must be hidden behind this!

However, after listening, Qin Zhan merely nodded slowly.

“Yes, so they are very strong.”

“That conclusion was already confirmed the moment we decided I would act as the examiner.”

His reaction was still beyond Zhong Huai's expectations.

Strong?

That word couldn't possibly describe that level of terror!

Zhong Huai felt a wave of powerlessness.

He realized that his and the Captain's thought processes were not on the same frequency.

What he saw was the economy, the market, and productivity.

What the Captain saw was only “strong” or “not strong.”

No.

That's wrong.

There must be something even more crucial that the Captain hadn't realized.

Zhong Huai's brain raced, connecting all the clues.

Lin Yu's identity.

The Abyss Domain's attitude.

Old Shi's collapse.

And that ring... a most terrifying thought split through his confused mind like lightning.

He shuddered, a chill shooting straight from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

“Boss...”

Zhong Huai's voice was shaking uncontrollably.

“What... what I'm most worried about isn't this...”

Qin Zhan finally looked directly at him.

“Speak.”

Zhong Huai swallowed with difficulty, every word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

“Behind such a massive transaction... there must be a huge plan hidden, a game... that we cannot possibly imagine.”

“And this game...”

“Our Zhong Family doesn't know about it.”

“Or rather, I don't know if they know... if they did, they probably wouldn't spare me when executing or cooperating.”

“And if our Zhong Family doesn't know, then the entire Four Great Families definitely don't know.”

“If... if even the Zhong Family, even the Four Great Families, aren't qualified to know about this...”

Zhong Huai didn't continue speaking.

But the meaning implied by his unfinished words made the temperature in the entire compartment seem to drop to freezing point.

On Blue Star.

If even the Four Great Families can't get a seat at the table.

What does that mean?

It means that perhaps no one on the entire Blue Star is at the table.

And this might mean.

The entirety of Blue Star might merely exist as a bargaining chip.