Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

"No." Zhang Renfeng gave him a relieved look. "You came at just the right time."

……

Old Jack, who had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, suddenly raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhang Renfeng.

"Sir?" Aaron's tone was somewhat displeased. "This is a meeting organized by the government, not your tea party. If you don't have a sufficiently good reason, please..."

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Henry Hysen." Henry took out a business card, strode forward, and spoke with confidence.

"The legal representative of Sanyuan Heavy Industry".

Chapter 707: The man wielding the sword beside him is the true hero.

"Is that all?" Lu Aniu yawned, holding a stack of newspapers in his hand, and asked casually.

In the secluded old house, Lu Aniu leaned back in his chair, adjusted his reading glasses, and listened to Jack's report while flipping through the newspaper in his hand, muttering, "Gao Shu, Gao Shu, and Gao Shu again... Can't these guys write anything without Gao Shu's stuff?"

As Lu Aniu had predicted, Gao Shu lost the war, and lost badly, almost being completely annihilated by the enemy.

This news was a sensation across the country. The public initially refused to believe it, but as the military remained silent for a long time and various reports from the front lines became clear, they realized it was indeed true.

For a time, regardless of whether it was in the north or south, every state and county was vying to report on the Hightree War. This mysterious land, the ancient voodoo curses of the Native American tribes... the rumors spread with increasing detail and exaggeration. Because the full picture of the war was unclear, the authorities didn't even know how to refute the rumors.

Because of what happened that day, Lu Aniu harbored absolutely no goodwill towards this army. Upon learning of their complete annihilation, he simply uttered an "oh" and offered no further comment. He merely instructed Jack to represent the Illuminati at the negotiations three weeks later.

Ostensibly, it was to protect these government officials. In reality, the Illuminati also needed to understand how they should position their pieces after the war ended.

The original purpose of war is always the redistribution of interests.

Ryan Childer was not satisfied with his current share of the wealth, even though it was more than he could squander in several lifetimes.

He orchestrated this war to seize control of Gao Shu, further expand his oil empire, and gain a larger share of the profits, thereby altering the existing power structure. This high-stakes gamble ultimately resulted in his utter defeat, costing him everything he had.

Judging from the situation at the negotiation site, even his son, the last bloodline of the Chaidel family, has now become a mouthpiece in the hands of the Gaoshu tribe. His life is in their hands; he has to say whatever they tell him to say, and he can't even dance if they ask him to sing.

"Because he thought the official hat was too small, he ended up carrying a yoke and chains."

Yesterday I pitied the tattered coat in the cold, today I dislike the long purple python robe.

Lu Aniu suddenly recited two lines of poetry in a language Jack couldn't understand, then shook his head with emotion, "This once arrogant family will now disappear from history."

"What is the higher-ups' opinion on this matter?"

“I have no opinion. They started the war on their own initiative, lost it on their own initiative, and died at the hands of the enemy on their own initiative. Now there’s no way to settle accounts.” Lu Aniu shook his head. “The timing is wrong. He no longer has the energy to care about the gains and losses of a single city or place.”

“Some things are quietly reshaping the landscape he has set.”

Lu Aniu used the key to open the drawer and took out a piece of open letter paper from the top shelf.

Jack's expression changed slightly.

He was well aware that the penmanship on the letter, this unremarkable writing style, was precisely to prevent anyone from associating the words with him personally.

"Did the Awakened One... personally write to you?"

“This order is urgent. It seems that quite a few people are already planning to challenge his authority.” Lu Aniu picked up a pen and marked up the list. “Even so, if so many people in the business and political circles suddenly died, the impact would be too bad. We should prioritize these targets.”

"Edwin Lockhart, President of Gold Coast Bank, the second largest bank in the country after Eastbow Bank."

“Karl von Eisenberg, Chairman of the Pittsburgh United Steel Works, one of the Army’s chief suppliers…”

“James Lightning Holt, director of the Transcontinental Railroad, what a clever fellow. He built his own hydroelectric generator and worked diligently as a telegraph operator until he was forty-five… Haha, life is truly amazing.” Lu Aniu’s pen paused on his name, and he sighed, “What a pity.”

"A... generator?" Jack repeated the name. "What's that used for?"

"You're a living fossil," Lu Aniu rolled his eyes at him. "Don't you ever watch the news? The era of kerosene lamps is over. In New Austin, they've all switched to electric lights. They're much better than kerosene lamps."

"This new technology will quickly spread throughout the country."

“Ah…ah…” Jack scratched his head.

Many elderly people are like this: they are unwilling to accept new changes, or rather, deep down, they hope that the world can remain unchanged between the ages of 45 and 50.

Lu Aniu is an exception among exceptions.

“Eleanor Whitney, president of the New England Textile Federation, a 53-year-old strong woman, wow… truly young and accomplished,” Lu Aniu laughed. “I heard she was the first industrialist to install an electric lighting system in a factory.”

"The others, such as this one, that one, and this one... can all be put on hold for now. These people, along with the newly appointed finance minister, are all on the first batch of the list. If we break it down further, the finance minister is the first one, because he has almost found out some things."

"look."

Lu Aniu tossed his pen aside, grinned, and said, "With so many worries, how could he possibly have the mind to worry about every little gain or loss?"

"Are we about to lose?" Jack asked.

"It depends on how you define 'losing'," Lu Aniu said leisurely. "How do you define losing?"

"Being defeated by political enemies and trampled on, never to rise again?"

"Being confined at home means you'll be stuck as a hidden millionaire for life?"

"Be stripped of all property and reduced to an ordinary person?"

"You've lost even your last shred of dignity, reduced to a beggar?"

"die?"

……

"I don't care." He chuckled at the end, "Even if the sky falls, I'll hold it up. With me here, no matter how this farce ends, you'll all be fine."

Jack's expression was somewhat complicated, but after a moment of silence, he nodded.

----

"Oh, by the way," Lu Aniu asked seemingly casually, "Regarding that negotiation, is there anything else I should be aware of? Like that Native American tribal chief, I heard... he seems quite young?"

“He’s not the King of the Tall Trees, he’s the King of the Tall Trees’ eldest son, Eagle,” Jack said truthfully. “He is indeed young and promising, but I think he’s been out of touch with the civilized world for too long and lacks experience in interacting and fighting with people. These are things that can’t be made up for in a short time, so there’s no need to worry.”

"The other one is called Hummingbird. He's in his forties or fifties. He's too old. Although he's shrewd, he doesn't have much say. He's not worth worrying about."

"However... that accompanying guard... is not to be underestimated; he's a formidable character."

Jack said in a deep voice, "You might find it absurd, but I feel... it's as if he's the one pulling the strings behind the scenes."

……

"Ah."

Lu Aniu's expression changed slightly. "I understand now. Thank you for your honesty, old Jack."

He picked up his pen and drew another circle on the densely packed letter filled with names.

Tao A. Rees.

Volume 1: Phoenix Dances in the Sky

Chapter 708: A Rising Scientist

late at night.

In the dark, narrow alley, a figure darted back and forth swiftly, moving with remarkable agility, avoiding puddles, pebbles, leaves, and anything else that might make a sound. Each step, the soles of her shoes landing firmly on the ground, was incredibly solid, as if she had rehearsed it countless times beforehand.

Several beggars leaning against the wall at the end of the alley only caught a glimpse of something darting past out of the corner of their eyes. By the time they opened their eyes, the figure had vanished with the wind. But as she rushed past, she combined the movements of "swinging her arm" and "raising her hand," creating something that clattered into the corner of the wall.

Upon closer inspection, it was a sharp, cone-shaped short thorn, deeply embedded in the wood, demonstrating the girl's remarkably steady wrist as she swung it. Her control over its landing point was also incredibly precise.

Sometime during this time, target-shaped graffiti appeared on the walls, but these were none of the beggars' concern. They weren't foolish enough to target those short metal spikes; life, though not particularly valuable, wasn't cheap enough to be discarded at will. They didn't want to get involved with people or things that clearly looked like trouble.

He turned over and went back to sleep.

……

Sofia felt very tired.

This fatigue doesn't stem from her physical condition; her training schedule is quite rigorous. However, since most of her training currently takes place at night, she's switched to sleeping during the day. Eight hours of sleep a day is essential to ensure she's in peak condition for training.

The mental exhaustion is almost impossible to fill.

She felt that she wasn't in this body, but rather in a higher third-person perspective, and that the body was moving on its own.

Running, jumping, throwing spikes, traversing obstacles, finding routes... everything was done subconsciously and silently. This period of training also made her realize that she did indeed have a talent in this area.

This made her hate herself even more.

----

With a swift and clean forward roll, the girl avoided the last obstacle on the road, and casually flicked a short spike, which struck the bullseye on the wall.

"call……"

She breathed a sigh of relief, took out her pocket watch, and checked the time by the faint moonlight.

"Two minutes and forty seconds."

After muttering the number to herself, Sophia quickly put away her pocket watch and took out two lock picks.

These were more sophisticated than the weapons the girl used. She inserted two lock-picking tools into the lock simultaneously, hooked them into the keyhole, and used the strength of her wrist to turn them little by little. Lock picking wasn't her forte, but it was impossible to find a window to climb through every time she infiltrated. To continue in this line of work, she couldn't afford to have any blind spots.

"Click!"

After turning around countless times, the lock was finally pried open. Sofia breathed a sigh of relief, but she remained in a crouching position, quietly slipping inside and closing the door behind her.

The room was very dark.

But for the girl who could still see in the murky water, it was no problem. She moved forward along the wall and soon found the target that matched the mission description—the drawer in front of the desk.

Just as she was about to gently pull open the drawer, applause suddenly rang out in the room, which should have been empty.

"?!"

Without hesitation, Sofia instantly hurled a spike toward the source of the sound, simultaneously rolling and using the side of the table for cover. However, the projectile didn't feel like it had hit its target, which immediately put her on alert.

There was another person in the room, and he hadn't even noticed?

However, the next second, the lights came on, and the confrontational atmosphere was immediately dispelled.

“It’s even better than I imagined.” Lu Aniu turned on a newly bought electric light and casually placed the short spike on the table as well. “Movement, speed, precision… You’ve only been training for about two months and you’ve already reached this level… You have a lot of potential in the future.”

Sofia looked somewhat surprised upon seeing this face, which was clearly very old but showed no signs of aging.

Since her father's death, for some reason, the power structure within the Wagner family seemed to have changed. But those were "adult matters," and Sophia had no way of knowing the specifics. At her level, the most noticeable change was that her training schedule was no longer managed by the family; instead, a group of exceptionally skilled instructors were brought in from somewhere.

The old man with a star-shaped burn scar on the side of his neck was the leader of that group of instructors.

His yellow skin did not subject him to any discriminatory words; on the contrary, the highly skilled instructors all respectfully called him "Old Man".

So... according to seniority, since these people who are a generation older than her call him "Dad," how should she address him?

Grandpa?

Sofia felt a little awkward calling someone she didn't even know by his name "Grandpa," but she wasn't sure how to address him in this situation, and she froze for a moment.

----

"I don't think it's necessary to put so much effort into 'killing'. A little practice is enough to be useful in a critical moment."

Lu Aniu reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of sharp spikes, and dumped them all on the table with a clanging sound, complaining, "Such distinctive hidden weapons, once they're used, it's like telling everyone that these people's lives are your responsibility."

"Even if you're made of iron, how many nails can you hammer? If too many people come looking for revenge, one day they'll drag you down with them."

“These are…” Sophia’s pupils dilated slightly, in disbelief, “Did I just throw them out along the way? But these are…”

She simply couldn't understand how her father had managed to retrieve all the spikes that were nailed to the wall and wooden poles just three or four minutes ago. Could it be that he had pulled them off the wall the moment she threw them out?

The fact that it was so close yet she hadn't noticed it at all sent chills down her spine.

……

“After training for so long, it’s time to put your learning to the test in real combat.” Lu Aniu’s smile seemed even more unfathomable in her eyes. “Considering this is your first time on this kind of mission, I will send someone with you to cover for you. Don’t be too nervous.”

"..." Sophia's eyes dimmed slightly.

Before this, she had only received training sporadically and had never actually taken on a mission. She vaguely understood that her father had acted as a firewall between her and the Illuminati. With her father's death, the Wagner family's status had regressed to its original position—one of the many black gloves in the Illuminati organization.

What happens today was bound to happen sooner or later.

She took a deep breath and tried to make her voice as cold and ruthless as possible.

"So, what is the goal?"

“You’ll definitely like it,” Lu Aniu said with a smile. “It’s about an emerging scientist.”