Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

Having a certain ability to summarize and generalize indicates that one has received a good education.

This search method was also given to her by Professor Igor: first, draw a general picture based on the characteristics of the person, then narrow down the search scope. Then, further collect clues, continuously narrowing down the scope, and so on, until you pinpoint the individual.

Xiaomei was meticulous and quick-witted. After thinking through the clues, she immediately located her target.

Is 'Eva' a pseudonym?

"Eh?"

Zhang Renfeng belatedly realized, "Is it Eva?"

"When she introduced herself, she said she was a clerk at the New Elizabeth branch of Eastbow Bank and was still in her internship."

“I felt something was off at the time. These days, no bank would hire a female clerk, especially such a young one. But she performed exceptionally well throughout, and apart from her position, I had no reason to doubt her.”

"Now it seems she is your daughter, isn't she?"

……

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

Pixar raised an eyebrow, clapped and nodded, a hint of admiration, whether genuine or feigned, appearing on his face. "Just as you said, her real name is Eleanor Del Uranus, but her position as a clerk is indeed real. The girl has been interested in economics and numbers since she was little, and she has a little bit of talent for it."

"..."

Zhang Renfeng frowned.

For some reason, he had a very familiar feeling, because when he was a child, his father would praise him to others by saying, "I've only learned one or two farming skills."

Parents throughout history and across the world probably use the same approach when praising their children.

He had a premonition that Eleanor's so-called "little bit of talent" might exceed his expectations.

"In fact, she's a proponent of the 'combination of numbers and reality' approach. The figures on the books must correspond one-to-one with the actual situation. Therefore, she always likes to use her position as a clerk to go to the site to check the inventory... Haha, actually she just likes to find excuses to go out and have fun."

In Zhang Renfeng's memory, there weren't many scenes of him interacting with "Eva".

They didn't stay in Mingdeng City for long. After learning that Ryan Childer had been kidnapped, Zhang Renfeng and Xiao Mei moved on to Gaoshu, separating from Eva. In such limited flashback scenes, even after racking their brains, they couldn't find anything suspicious.

Judging from Eleanor's age, she shouldn't be that much younger than May, yet she possesses such a profound mind; it's truly terrifying.

"Wait a minute..." Zhang Renfeng suddenly realized something, glanced at Xiaomei standing to the side, and thought to himself, "Come to think of it, this girl... is actually quite deep, isn't she?"

Outsiders, seeing a fifteen-year-old girl so calm and expressionless, accomplishing so many important things, must look at her like she's a monster.

She only appears more innocent in front of me.

"So, her coming to Mingdeng City was also..."

"Your Sanyuan Electric Manufacturing Company also has Donghao Bird's investment, right?" Pixar explained unhurriedly. "Before the company was founded, it provided us with a business plan through trader Louis Osborne and Mesvid Bank."

"Through analysis of the plan, the senior management of Donghao Bird Bank unanimously concluded that the era of kerosene lamps was about to end."

"The bank has also invested some money in William Heisenberg's kerosene lamp empire. The dates for the Sanyuan Electric Manufacturing Company's investment exhibition have been set, and we need to recoup as much of our investment in the Heisenberg family as possible before then."

"To avoid arousing their suspicion, Eleanor went alone as a clerk. After arriving in Brightlight City, she met you... and you all know what happened next."

……

“Quite visionary, Mr. Zhang.” Zeta’s tone remained relaxed, which seemed to be his habit when socializing with people. “In the blink of an eye, the electrical empire created by the Sanyuan Group has swept across the southern states of America. A huge untapped market has been created by you.”

“I often think, if I had come a few days earlier, or even a few hours earlier, I could have recruited Tao to my team…”

What will the world be like now?

----

“What’s done is done, there’s nothing to discuss.” Pixar turned his gaze to Zhang Renfeng again, then subtly steered the conversation back on track, “But we can still create an even more wonderful future.”

“Us?” Zhang Renfeng raised an eyebrow.

“Of course, ‘we’,” Pixar spread his hands and smiled. “This operation would have been almost impossible to succeed without your help. Considering everything that has happened in the past, ‘we’ and ‘you’ still have a great deal of room for cooperation.”

we.

you.

These two personal pronouns are very broad, yet they sent a chill down Zhang Renfeng's spine.

When will it be just us and you left?

"The true core armed force of the Illuminati, Black Hand Land, has disappeared from the world. But that doesn't mean the organization will immediately disintegrate. As scientists say, the heavier something is, the more inertia it retains when it moves... let alone a behemoth like the Illuminati."

"At the same time, the Gilded Party, and the Atlantic Federation Industrial Group behind it, still exist."

"Of course, you've already done so much, we have no right to ask you to continue."

"The current political situation is about to become complex and unpredictable. As the saying goes, a cornered beast will fight to the death. Knowing that they are about to perish, they will definitely launch their most intense counterattack. We need to be prepared to deal with the impact in all aspects."

"At this critical moment, your stance is of utmost importance."

……

"He made it too complicated. To put it simply, it's a very simple question."

Zeta put down her teacup, a smile playing on her lips.

"are we still friends?"

Zhang Renfeng squinted, "...Friends?"

"The 'friends' I'm referring to are those who temporarily join forces for greater benefits or longer-term goals, where you use me and I use you. You might betray me, and I might betray you, but as long as there's a suitable price, everything can be discussed openly and honestly."

"This kind of relationship is more like a lover's relationship than a lovers' relationship, isn't it?"

"How is it, Mr. Zhang?"

"Has this temporary alliance swayed you even a little bit?"

He opened his arms, and although he was smiling, there was no emotion in his emerald eyes.

It shines without glittering, and still waters run deep.

Chapter 874: I know you're a substitute, enjoying the good times for him and doing the evil for him!

"talk later."

After careful consideration, Zhang Renfeng casually ended the topic.

Behind this invitation lies a far too many things: interests, politics, organizations, economics... involving countless individuals and families. It might even staking everything that Zhang Renfeng and his team have built up so far.

Humans are not naturally good at thinking about complex things. The more factors that need to be calculated and the longer it takes, the more the brain will instinctively resist them.

It's common to see people who are incredibly shrewd in the minutiae of life, haggling and scrimping, trying to squeeze every penny out of themselves. However, when faced with the rare, major turning points in their lives, they often act on gut feeling, gamble, or rely on "God's blessing," going all in with everything they have.

The more involved one is in a decision-making process, the more difficult it becomes to fully calculate the various consequences of that decision.

The "God of War of Tumu Fortress," who astonished later generations, made the hasty decision to launch a military campaign based solely on intuition and the instigation of treacherous individuals. Ultimately, one wrong step led to another, resulting in a defeat that shocked posterity. He himself was captured and spent several years as a student in the Oirat Mongols.

It's often said that history should be a mirror for learning, but Zhang Renfeng was quite modest in this regard. He knew he couldn't possibly calculate the implications on his own, so he simply rejected the idea outright.

If, after you refuse, the other party continues to pressure you with words... then it's not an olive branch, but rather they're trying to use the situation to force you to accept the debt.

If things really come to that, Zhang Renfeng won't give them any pleasantries.

……

“But…” Pixar hesitated for a moment.

“In that case, the topic of ‘future’ seems a bit far off.” Zeta interrupted Pixar with a somewhat forceful tone, and chuckled softly, “That’s fine, we have plenty of time anyway, we can talk about the future in the future.”

Let's talk about 'now'.

"So, what are your plans now?" Zhang Renfeng raised his wooden cane and pointed outside the door. "We've tackled the toughest part for you. The brothers shed blood and sweat; we can't let it all go to waste, can we?"

Outside the wooden door, Meteora didn't participate in the conversation, but he was surrounded by heavily armed soldiers, completely encircling the house. The fighting prowess of the Lamon raiders had been thoroughly tested in this encounter. Now, victorious in their initial battle, they appeared even more menacing. Even without doing anything, simply surrounding this negotiation location was enough to send chills down one's spine.

This formidable and skilled fighting force was one of Zhang Renfeng's bargaining chips. Moreover, the destructive power he could personally cause was in no way inferior to that of an army.

"Of course, how could we let you work for nothing?"

After a moment's thought, Pixar revealed the true purpose of their visit.

What truly frightened them about the Illuminati was not their military, political, or economic advantages, but rather the super assassination group centered around "Black Hand Lu," which was capable of killing anyone.

At any time and in any place, if things really come to a point of no return, Samuel still has one last trump card to play.

In an instant, the outcome of a battle can be reversed, no matter where you are in the world.

Playing cards with this kind of person is really boring. Everyone knows he cheats, and if you really push him, he can even flip the table and replace all the players. But even knowing this, there's nothing you can do. To gain the right to stay at the table, you have to cooperate with him and keep playing the game.

Right now, Black Hand Lu is dead.

The power structure that was originally built collapsed in the blink of an eye, inevitably leaving a lot of gaps.

Similarly, according to the basic principles of power operation, a certain group or force will inevitably emerge to fill these gaps. Taking over the market left behind by the Illuminati will not be an easy task; it will require extremely strong organizational and productive capabilities, a sufficiently powerful deterrent, as well as abundant funding and a sufficient number of personnel.

It's so hard to guess which group it could be.

"New Austin, New Elizabeth, Granite... to put it bluntly, these three states are already your territory, right?"

Pixar smiled calmly and stated, "The Triple Corporation's influence is expanding like weeds in southern America. Bluegrass State, Mississippi, Dixie Heart, Golden State, and even the Southern Empire State (Georgia), your corporation has a presence in all of them."

"Is there a problem?" Zhang Renfeng asked.

“Of course not,” Pixar said with a smile. “Not only that, we’re also willing to open up these states’ ‘nomination windows’ to you.”

"The administration, police department, offices, local finance, government system. Even up to the mayor, the governor, any position, you have the power to recommend and remove. As long as you send a signal to the federal government through this window, and as long as it is reviewed and confirmed to be correct, then it will be done according to your ideas."

"Besides this, there's another big gift I'd like to present..."

Pix glanced in Zeta's direction again, which confirmed Zhang Renfeng's suspicions: the Finance Minister, who held a high-ranking position in the government, was merely providing cover for Zeta during the conversation.

This "gift" is so significant that it cannot be spoken of by him. It requires Zeta, the person in charge, to personally announce and endorse it. This way, if anything goes wrong in the future, Pixar won't be held responsible.

Zhang Renfeng raised his eyebrows slightly.

His curiosity was piqued.

"..." Zeta's expression remained calm, with a slight smile, as if she were talking about a trivial, everyday matter.

"How about I give you [Ukraine]?"

……

"What?" Zhang Renfeng asked, somewhat confused.

"What?!" Xiaomei's composure wasn't quite up to par, and she immediately broke down, exclaiming in surprise, "You...you mean...Uxus? That Uxus?!"

“As far as I know, there shouldn’t be another Uxus in our country,” Zeta said slowly, a fleeting glint of cunning in her emerald eyes. “So, yes, it’s just as you think, Miss Marston.”

Zhang Renfeng had virtually no understanding of America's geopolitics, but he knew Xiaomei very well. Judging from her reaction, this must be a very valuable bargaining chip.

It was so heavy that it could make someone lose their mind.

"What do you want?"

“It’s very simple, cooperation,” Pixar said with a smile. “Cooperation across all areas, in all aspects, at multiple levels, deep into the bone…”

"Donghao Bird Bank will become the first cooperative bank of Sanyuan Group. In the upcoming expansion, it will provide you with financial, technical and networking support, just as it does now. Together, we can create a newer and better world, a world brighter than the one under the rule of the Illuminati."

“However, before that…” Zeta intervened at just the right moment, putting a brake on this energetic conversation.

"There's one more thing I'd like to ask you for... one last small favor."

----

"I'm not him, I'm really not him!"

As soon as the door opened, Samuel's double rushed up like a dog, snot and tears streaming down his face, accusing him, "God is my witness...you've already found out, haven't you? I'm a fake, Henderson! Mr. Henderson, you can testify for me!"

"Shut up."

Zhang Renfeng felt disgusted and shoved him away. He was still injured and didn't use much force, but he was already sent flying several meters away, almost touching the corner of the wall.

When Oak City was besieged again, Mei had a premonition that this Stand might play a different role in the future, so she took him and the team with her.

After wandering around in the wilderness, when they recaptured Oakwood, they tied him up again and brought him back. After all that, he was exhausted, terrified, and disheveled, his spirit gone, looking like an ordinary old man.

Zhang Renfeng drew his Volcano Pistol, pressed the firing pin with his thumb, and pressed it against the man's head.

The stand-in was immediately terrified, and his chapped lips began to tremble.