127: I'm buying Ma Liang (5.7K, please support!).

Big bosses, an extra update today. ( • ̀ ω • ́ ) y One 5.7K chapter in the morning, one 5.2K chapter in the evening, I won't split them up further. ( ● ' ◡ ' ● )

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On the moon, beneath the Tycho Dome.

A gentle breeze blew. In the roadside park, floral designs by human artists were intertwined side-by-side with those by Gaia artists.

In the low gravity, the saplings were very thin; it was mostly a world of vines.

The fat, fleshy leaves were almost ready to be squeezed for oil.

"Hide. Deceive."

Jiang Feng leaned back against the bench and gave the order indifferently.

Today, the moon happened to be at its apogee; at a distance of 400,000 kilometers, the signal had to pass through layers of relays and gateways.

The latency could reach up to 5 seconds.

After 5.3 seconds, Jiang Feng saw the intermittent footage.

In the shaky, distorted image, a guy wearing an Anti-Terrorism Mobile Unit exoskeleton roughly pulled Xiao Qiang out from the titans hand, twisted his arms behind his back, and shoved him violently into an armored vehicle.

Xiao Qiang's eyes rolled back, and there was foam at the corners of his mouth.

The exoskeleton lay on the ground, and just then, he saw Su Wen. She was being held down on the ground, her trench coat torn, but surprisingly, there was no panic on her face—only a sense of calm.

A calm born of resignation, long since accustomed to such things.

She was dragged along the ground by her hair and tossed next to Xiao Qiang like garbage.

Immediately after, the vehicle door slammed shut with a loud "bang." Even through the signal, Jiang Feng could feel a dull, heavy impact striking his chest.

The guy from the Anti-Terrorism Mobile Unit walked toward the robot, raised his foot, and kicked the electronic eye of a Peregrine without hesitation.

Once, twice, three times...

The sound of steel colliding with steel rang out, a clanging noise that felt like a churning sea in his brain.

Jiang Feng narrowed his eyes slightly. He could feel that deep within the processors of those machines, there was a flicker of firm, unwavering determination—they could fight, and they could endure.

Their mission was for the greater good; if that meant destruction, they would not have a single complaint.

The sensors shattered, and the flickering electronic eyes went completely dark.

Without exception, the other robots, the Robot Dog, and the titans hand all met the same disaster.

The image on Jiang Feng's wristband suddenly cut out, static dancing wildly, but a few seconds later, it stubbornly reconnected.

This time, the screen was black, but clear voices came through.

"They are terrorists."

"Damn it, why not just shoot them and be done with it?"

"The bureau chief wants them alive. What can I do?"

"Take them away... A pile of trash. I didn't even fire my gun, and they just f***ing collapsed."

"Consider these tin cans lucky."

The roar of the engine and the sounds of metal being dragged, lifted, and thrown into a narrow space echoed repeatedly.

Jiang Feng took a sharp breath: "F***!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed it hard. For the past half hour, he had been sitting here like a ghost, monitoring the entire situation through the footage transmitted remotely by the "titans hand."

Originally, he had been happy, but as soon as those two rockets were fired, he couldn't smile anymore.

'I hope the person Xiao Qiang found really has some ability.'

'Otherwise, when I get back, I'll find a way myself.'

He forced himself to unclench his tightly gripped fists, his fingernails leaving deep crescent-shaped marks in his palms.

"Mainframe," he said.

"Present."

"Keep an eye on the channels on Earth, especially the Public Security Bureau's internal network."

"If there is any movement, even just an interrogation registration, notify me immediately."

"Understood."

Jiang Feng stood up and straightened his collar amidst the gently swaying scent of flowers.

He rubbed his face, looked up, and gazed at a building in the distance.

...

Earth, City District 03.

Acid rain tapped endlessly against the heavy car roof, producing a dense, dull "patter" sound, like countless small stones falling, leaving no one in peace.

Outside the car window was the main road leading to the upper districts. When it rained, there were no pedestrians on the road.

Noli sat in the driver's seat, having put on that set of light, the silver exoskeleton again.

In the back seat, Jasmine leaned back, her fingertips sliding across a light screen as she operated something on her wristband.

She had specially worn a dark blue business suit today; the expensive fabric had a subtle sheen, making her skin appear even fairer.

The hovercar moved forward silently, as if passing through layer after layer of invisible barriers.

The streetscape of the slums, the corrosion of the acid rain, and the steaming heat waves were all quickly left behind.

The view suddenly opened up, the raindrops became sparse, until they disappeared completely.

Sunlight broke through the waves, clearing away all the gloom and bringing a clear blue sky and a gentle breeze.

A few traffic lights marked the boundary between people and... people.

The only difference was that on the side covered by black clouds, there were no aliens.

The car stopped steadily at the Tianfeng Industrial Park, under the mirror-like entrance canopy of the Yan Industrial Control Technology Building.

The glass and metal were spotless, and on the surrounding roads, the figures of aliens could still be seen everywhere.

It was as if, from some unknown point in time, they had become a part of the Earth's ecosystem.

The car door opened, and the same beautiful secretary, without a single flaw, came to greet her.

"Miss Jasmine, Mr. Yan is already waiting for you."

Jasmine had no expression on her face. The elevator rose steadily to the top floor.

Yan Xu's office remained so spacious it was almost empty. From the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, one could clearly see the boundary line between light and dark in the distance, at the end of the line of sight, stretching from left to right as precisely as if measured with a ruler.

Yan Xu stood up from behind his large desk, a warm smile on his face, and walked around the desk to greet her.

"Jasmine! I heard the rain in the slums was quite heavy today. You've had a tough journey."

"You're too kind, Uncle Yan. Business comes first."

Jasmine's smile was impeccable—elegant and with just the right amount of distance.

After she sat down, Yan Xu did not immediately get to the point. Instead, he ran to the water bar, grabbed a tea bag, and personally brewed a cup of black tea for Jasmine. Only then did he sit casually on the sofa, his tone friendly.

"A few days ago, I took some time to go to the medical center to visit Sister Alice."

He paused, his gaze landing on Jasmine's face, capturing her subtle changes: "The medical facilities there are truly impeccable; they've even used the top-tier 'Neural Regeneration Pod.' That's Gaia technology, isn't it..."

Jasmine nodded calmly, but her heart sank: 'What does this mean?'

Seeing Jasmine's flat reaction, Yan Xu smiled slightly: "Jasmine, looking at Sister Alice's condition, it seems to be more complicated than the outside world knows? The cost to maintain her current state must be quite high, right?"

These words were like a fine needle, precisely piercing Jasmine's tensest nerves.

'Yan Xu is implying that he not only knows the severity of my mother's condition but also the enormous cost required to maintain this state.'

Jasmine understood, but the standard upward curve of her lips did not change in the slightest.

'He might even... have guessed that this massive money-making machine, the club, is slowly falling into a quagmire of having no leader, with ambitious branch managers eager to make a move.'

Jasmine looked at the cup. The tea bag was releasing a brownish-red color, like ink, slowly staining the clear, boiling water.

Once it became like this, the water was no longer water; it was tea.

Human hearts were the same; in the dyeing vat of power and desire, once one was steeped well enough, they were no longer the person they used to be.

She looked up at Yan Xu; his change was even greater than she had imagined.

'Avoiding this is not a solution; it would only further expose my weakness.'

Jasmine thought to herself, choosing to face it head-on. She picked up the water cup, her fingertips feeling the heat of the glass.

She lowered her eyelids, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow in her eyes, perfectly concealing a momentary sharpness.

"Thank you for your concern, Uncle Yan." Her voice was steady but seemed to reveal a hint of exhaustion.

"My mother's condition... does indeed require the top-tier maintenance plan, and the club..."

Jasmine shook her head slightly: "The club is not an iron monolith. There are strong winds and heavy rains outside, and many people are eyeing this position. I always have to be on high alert to hold it together, seeking innovation and change..."

"I do whatever it takes to survive!"

The sigh that escaped Jasmine was a clever display of weakness, naturally steering the topic toward the "power struggles" within the club.

That was a predicament Yan Xu was happy to hear about.

Outside the door, Noli slowly tightened her fingers.

The heavy wooden door could not block the pickup of her exoskeleton's tactical system.

Her gaze grew colder, so much so that the secretary beside her hurriedly found an excuse and rushed back to her own desk, her little heart pounding.

A flash of realization crossed Yan Xu's eyes, and the expression of concern on his face deepened, but he was not calm inside.

'How is this possible? Isn't it rumored that she's about to lose control? Why is she so calm?'

'Could it be that the rumors are false, and she hasn't lost control?'

'Or is it that, like me, she is a natural-born actor?'

Yan Xu leaned forward, fingertips touching, appearing candid and sincere, his tone dropping a few decibels.

"Yes, such a big operation is not easy. A girl like you... sigh, it's hard on you."

He changed the subject, probing: "However, Jasmine, the nine million for buying the 'Industrial Design AI' is not a small amount, especially the locally deployed server hardware... With such a high premium, are you sure the club needs it?"

"Otherwise, wouldn't it be more cost-effective to rent? Your cash flow pressure is so high; it could relieve some of that, couldn't it?"

His gaze was sharp, shining on Jasmine's face like a searchlight.

"So that's how it is, the dagger is revealed. First, by assuming my capital chain is tight, he probes whether it's actually tight. Second, he can incidentally probe my money-making plan to see if I have confidence."

Molly's thoughts raced, a cold sneer in her heart, but her face displayed the helplessness of being slighted, along with a hint of unyielding sharpness.

"Uncle Yan, you underestimate me too much, and you underestimate the potential of the club too much!"

She spoke slowly, every word clear: "The money we spend on external procurement every year, is it just nine million?"

"From boxing match souvenirs, logo designs, trophy designs, co-branded electronic devices, to the hovercars that pick up VIPs..."

Molly counted them off nonchalantly: "Every single item is a huge expense."

"Why? Because when people outside make things, the markup is harsher, and the blades are sharper!"

"Ahem..." Yan Xu looked a bit embarrassed.

"And most importantly," Molly said indifferently, "the styles and functions cannot fully meet the club's needs."

She put down her cup, her eyes revealing the shrewdness and ambition of a merchant: "If we have an Industrial Design AI like 'Industrial Design AI', paired with a local server to ensure core data security, we can design and produce it ourselves!"

"From one-of-a-kind boxing match merchandise to custom hovercars co-branded with the boxing matches... the cost can be kept to a minimum, while the profit margin can be maximized. Compared to what can be saved in the future, what is this markup?"

The office was silent for a moment, and the smile on Yan Xu's face froze for a second.

"It seems what she said is true; there's no other meaning behind buying the Industrial Design AI."

He pondered, his smile like thawing ice, ripples spreading quickly, and he even clapped his hands.

"Good! Good!" He exclaimed repeatedly, his eyes flashing with the light of someone seeing a gold mine.

"Great courage! Great vision!"

"Molly, I really underestimated you before. This line of thinking is brilliant!"

Molly watched quietly as he excitedly rubbed his hands, stood up, and paced back and forth in front of the sofa.

Suddenly, he stopped and slapped his forehead: "Oh, look at me, such a good opportunity... Molly, I am a loyal fan of your club. How about this, for the first batch of products, could you do me a favor?"

"I just want a watch, the kind co-branded with your club's top ace boxer!"

"A limited edition one, I'll help you promote it!"

He looked at Molly eagerly, like a child asking for a beloved toy.

In his heart, Yan Xu was almost praying: "Hesitate, let me see you hesitate, and I'll know you aren't just trying to make merchandise!"

Molly spoke immediately, without a hint of hesitation: "Since Uncle Yan asked, of course, no problem!"

The hidden annoyance in her heart was instantly ignited: "What a crafty old fox! He says he's optimistic on the surface, but turns around to probe me? And he wants to use a co-branding with the ace boxer to test my control and bottom line?"

"If I could mobilize the ace boxer at any time, would I need to rack my brains and risk offending Galaxy Heavy Industry to get into mining?"

"Hosting a large boxing match and selling merchandise is worth over a billion earth federation coins. Although it's not as much as other sports competitions, and certainly not as much as deep space mining, it's enough to maintain the entire club."

Molly calmed her thoughts, the smile on her face becoming even more bright and moving, as graceful and luxurious as a queen promising her subjects.

"For the club's first batch of limited products, I will definitely reserve the most prestigious serial number for you."

Her voice was very sweet, enough to ooze a ton of honey, but she was grumbling incessantly in her heart.

"Straightforward!" The smile on Yan Xu's face stiffened, then he laughed loudly, as if the probe just now had never happened.

"Why can't these people be as sincere as Jiang Feng and Sister Xiao Yu? If you can cooperate, cooperate fully; if you can't, just say so. With mutual trust, wouldn't everything be more efficient?"

Molly sighed slightly in her heart, mocking her own naivety. The world just doesn't work that way; it's best not to pin those beautiful hopes on the wrong people.

Yan Xu strode back behind his desk and pressed a button, his voice reaching the secretary outside.

"Xiao Wang, immediately transfer a set of 'Industrial Design AI' back to the laboratory, along with the supporting local server cluster, label it as an 'experimental prototype', and process it as experimental loss and scrap."

"Once done, pack it up immediately and ship it to the location specified by Ms. Molly."

"Right, on the virtual account side, synchronize the operation."

He ended the call and made a 'please' gesture to Molly. When his wristband went "ding-dong", he was all smiles.

"The formalities are done, money and goods are cleared. I look forward to your flagship product."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Uncle Yan."

Molly rose elegantly, nodded slightly, and pushed the door open to leave.

The teacup on the table was still steaming.

The hovercar drove away from the Tianfeng Park and merged into the sparse and orderly traffic of the upper district.

Noli glanced at Molly through the rearview mirror. The impeccable business mask on her face had been removed, and her body was relaxed.

"He was probing you." Noli's voice was low.

"Mm."

"Did he believe it?" Noli asked again.

"No, but he wants to let me know that he believes it."

Molly gazed at the light and shadows flashing past outside the car window, a cold sneer tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"He believes that 'the club can make money by developing merchandise itself', and he also believes that I really need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure right now, but he doesn't believe that I bought the Industrial Design AI at a premium just for this."

"When he asked for that watch at the end, he was testing to see if I could easily mobilize the club's resources, to see if I was like my mother, truly leading this project."

"Troublesome." Noli evaluated concisely.

"It is troublesome." Molly gently stroked the back of her hand and suddenly smiled: "But it's also not troublesome."

"You mean..."

"Jiang Feng, he will handle it."

Noli said indifferently: "Then, you are pinning all your hopes on him?"

"You don't understand, Noli." Molly smiled slightly: "What Jiang Feng wants, no single person can achieve alone."

"He needs a team, and I am just getting on board early, locking in a core seat."

"I understand, Miss."

Molly smiled slightly, looking at Noli through the rearview mirror.

Noli hurriedly withdrew her gaze, her heart unsettled: "Miss wouldn't have discovered that I'm playing dumb while actually knowing everything, would she?"

In front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, Yan Xu's figure appeared exceptionally thin and long.

Between his fingers, he held a freshly lit cigarette, the scarlet ember flickering on and off.

Downstairs, Molly's hovercar, like a cunning fish, drove out of his sight.

"Gone?" Yan Xu didn't turn his head, his voice low.

"Yes, Director Yan." The female secretary stood a few steps behind him, her posture respectful.

The light screen on her wristband was still on, displaying the just-completed "experimental prototype scrapping and transport processing" workflow.

Yan Xu took a deep drag, the acrid smoke swirling around before he slowly exhaled it, turning into a tumbling mass of blue-gray.

"Molly, she's not simple..."

He seemed to be talking to himself, and also to the female secretary: "Nine million, such a high premium, and she didn't even blink."

"She says it's for the club to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, developing things herself..."

He sneered and shook his head: "The ghost believes she's only doing this to make a few crappy watches and custom cars."

"She must be holding other cards in her hand, cards much bigger than 'club merchandise'."

"Perhaps it's some kind of profitable black market business."

He turned around, the smoke blurring the expression on his face, and he paced slowly back to sit behind the desk.

"Xiao Wang, before the transport team leaves, you go to the warehouse yourself."

The female secretary immediately understood: "Understood. I will arrange for the technical team to add a few 'little gifts'. Let's use that long-cycle passive monitoring device; it's hidden enough and can tell us the transport location."

Yan Xu nodded with satisfaction: "When dividing the cake, you have to be early."

The female secretary paused, wanting to say something but stopping. Yan Xu saw her concern and asked: "How is the old thing doing over there...?"

The female secretary pulled up a data report: "The representative of the third shareholder completed another negotiation yesterday, secretly buying up 0.7% of the circulating shares. The action was very covert. Combined with his previous share, he is now only 0.3% away from triggering the 'four-legged tripod' critical line."

"0.3%..." Yan Xu murmured, repeating the number.

At this moment, he felt like Molly, who had just driven away—isolated, helpless, with everyone staring at his flesh and blood.

He roughly stubbed out the cigarette in the crystal ashtray, making a "hiss" sound.

The rising blue smoke twisted, just like his precarious control at this moment.

"There's not much time left. Once the 'four-legged tripod' is triggered, as long as the three of them unite, I'll have to obediently concede, or even step down!"

He pondered in his heart, suddenly raising his head to stare at the direction where Molly had disappeared outside the window: "I must get money faster! No matter where it comes from, no matter the means, I must buy more shares and crush that old thing!"

"Molly, oh Molly..."

He silently recited in his heart, like a desperate prayer, or perhaps a curse.

"You had better... really be able to make a lot of money!"

The female secretary looked at the silent Yan Xu and stood quietly.

On the horizon, the boundary between sunlight and dark clouds fluctuated slowly.

The thick acid rain fell even harder.