1004 Brothers

Once he left the courtyard, the mysterious man looked at the doors and sighed. He recalled what happened yesterday in the afternoon.

As usual, he was in his office going through the documents submitted. Soon, he heard a knock at the door.

\"Come in.\" The mysterious man did not even lift his head.

Once he found out that Hong Dali had murdered a High Noble and three Top Operatives, the mysterious man knew that they were about to get really busy. Hence, he had to hurry and gather all the things that Hong Dali might have a use for.

\"Boss.\" The Bureau Chief walked in slowly.

His actions today looked slower than normal. He appeared calm. However, his trembling hands betrayed him.

\"Is it Wu Di?\" The mysterious man did not spot the Bureau Chief's abnormal behavior. He still talked in his normal tone. \"Are there any updates? What's happening on Dali's side?\"

Normally, Wu Di would respond as soon as he finished his questions. However, there were no replies today. Only the sound of the movement of clothes.

\"Hm?\" The mysterious man was a little surprised. When he lifted his head, he was completely stunned.

There was a gun in Wu Di's hand. The black muzzle was pointing right at the mysterious man's head.

\"Wu Di. You want to kill me?\" The mysterious man put down the documents in his hands. His expression was very calm. He was not flustered when faced with this sudden turn of events. Instead, he organized the documents in his hands first. These documents were all very important. They contained information about the resources Hong Dali might require once he reached. The New Earth was on the verge of destruction. They had to make use of whatever power they could find.

\"Boss, I…\" Wu Di looked at the mysterious man. His hands were shaking.

However, the gun was not lowered.

Silence. Extreme silence.

In the office, only the second-hand on the clock continued to make sounds. \"Tick, tock, tick tock.\"

\"Give me a reason.\" The mysterious man was cool-headed. His instincts told him that there was no way Wu Di wanted to kill him. Unless… Wu Di was being hypnotized by someone? That was not impossible either.

However, what Wu Di said next completely exceeded the mysterious man's expectations.

\"Boss, I…\" Wu Di inhaled deeply. \"I want to ask you to step down from your position.\" As he finished his sentence, his hand began trembling even harder.

\"You're asking me to retire from my position?\" The mysterious man frowned. \"I need a reason. I feel that I am doing a decent job. At the very least, I can proudly say that I have never done anything unethical or dangerous. I didn't even make a single mistake. Why do I have to retire? Furthermore, if I step down, who will be my successor?\"

\"Boss. I know about everything you've done.\" Wu Di's voice was low and hoarse. \"Actually, I'm even more aware of everything than yourself. I know how much you have contributed to our Heavenly State and us humans. However, there's no other way. I, have to make you step down.\"

\"Have to? Are you being forced? Or is there some other reason?\" His instincts told him that Wu Di's actions today were very strange. He had to figure out the reason behind it.

\"That, I, I can't say.\" Wu Di insisted on the mysterious man stepping down. \"Your successor… is Hong Weiguo!\"

\"What kind of joke are you trying to crack in these times?!\" The mysterious man was stunned. Hong Weiguo? Did he want to be the boss of the Heavenly State? Or rather, did he want to become the boss of the Earth Federation?

He was just a businessman. It did not make sense for him to have such wild ambitions! The Hong Family was also prohibited from being involved in politics. That was their own iron house rule! Furthermore, with Hong Dali's relationship, even if he really wanted to become the boss of the Earth Federation, he did not have to find Wu Di to be the mouthpiece!

He just had to let him know. With Hong Dali's relationship and powerful reputation, if Earth successfully survived this crisis, what problems would there be for him to step down and transfer the position as President of the Earth Federation to Hong Weiguo? Who would dare to oppose that? In that case, why did Wu Di have to choose this moment to threaten him?

\"Boss. I'm seriously not kidding!\" As the mysterious man did not agree to his request, Wu Di instantly panicked. \"It's too big of a deal this time. I have to do this!\"

\"But you must give me a reason!\" The mysterious man was anxious too. \"It's such an important time right now, but you suddenly come over and ask me to step down. Yet, you won't even tell me the reason. How can I possibly agree?!\"

The mysterious man was completely dumbfounded. He could not figure out why Wu Di would behave the way he did now.

That was his closest brother. How else could he have brought a gun in?

Wu Di, on the other hand, was sweating from panic. This thing was too eerie. He wanted to say it, but the problem was that he could not and dared not talk about it! He had a nagging feeling that the reason was too unreal.

However, an impending crisis was imminent. If he followed the words passed down from his family's ancestors, everything matched up.

All the evidence was telling him that it was better to believe in such things than believe they didn't exist.

As a result, the two of them came to a standstill.

In the end, the mysterious man looked at the increasingly-panicky Wu Di and sat down slowly. He said quietly, \"Wu Di. My brother. I know that you must have some reason larger than yourself behind all this. However, I have reasons too for not giving up. If you truly feel that what you're doing is right, then… shoot me.\"

Silence. The office was in complete silence.

The security guard's voice was suddenly heard from outside the door. It was filled with panic. \"Sir. Did something happen?!\"

\"No.\" The mysterious man calmed down quickly. He looked at Wu Di. \"I'm just arguing about some stuff with Wu Di. You can go back first. There's no need to worry.\"

\"Oh, it's the Bureau Chief.\" The security guard's voice soon faded. \"We won't disturb you, then.\"

Silence.

The mysterious man and Wu Di stared at each other. After three full minutes, Wu Di's entire body was covered in sweat. In the end, he shook his head and smiled wryly. He put the gun down and tears streamed down his face. \"Boss, I… I can't do it…\"

\"My brother.\" The mysterious man slowly stood up and walked around his office table. He hugged Wu Di tightly. \"I knew it. My brother will never kill me. I'll pretend like this thing today never happened. However, you should find a place to calm down first too. If you feel like you can tell me the reason behind all this, we'll face whatever it is together.\"

\"Okay… okay!\" Wu Di nodded firmly. \"Boss. Then, then I'll stay here for the next few days. When I figure it out, I'll go and find you! Please trust me. Please trust me!\"

\"Haha, dumb brother. If I didn't trust you, I would've fought you to the death just now already.\" The mysterious man slapped Wu Di on the shoulders. \"Go. Trust me. No matter what happens, we'll always be brothers!\"

Forty years ago, Wu Di's father brought Wu Di along to visit the mysterious man's family.

Before they entered, Wu Di's father said, \"Little Di, this family saved your father's life a long time ago. When you meet them, you have to call their son your Big Bro. Understood?\"

\"Understood.\" Little Wu Di responded.

The second day when the two families met.

The mysterious man held onto Wu Di. As part of the rituals, they burned yellow papers and each held a bowl of liquor. It was a 110-proof hard liquor.

\"From today onwards, we are brothers!\" \"Alright!\"

Once they downed that bowl, they laid drunk in the same bed for a whole day and a whole night.

They had been brothers ever since.

\"Yes! Brothers!\" Wu Di was over fifty years old. However, he was crying like a child now.

The scenes from the past flashed in his mind. The mysterious man mumbled to himself. \"Wu Di, you have always been calm and composed. What could've happened to make you do something like that? At the very least, you shouldn't be so emotional! What was the reason behind it all? Won't it be better if you share it so that we can face it together?\"

…

Inside the courtyard.

On Hong Dali's side.

Looking at the processed jade gemstones, Hong Dali was so happy that he could not even close his mouth.

Huge yield! This time, he got a huge yield!

Even Hong Dali himself did not imagine that the yield would be so plentiful! It exceeded all his expectations!

Over 100 kilograms of Health gems, super-rare gems that granted +10 Health attribute points, were produced! They all shined brightly in different colors. They were surrounded by a mysterious mist. The entire place looked heavenly.

That was not all. There were even better things!

All the Energy increase gems could increase energy by over 60%! The rarest ones could increase energy by 80%!

There were +10 Strength gems all over the place. The better ones could even grant +18 in Strength! Agility gems were more terrifying. +20 points! Reflexes, +19 points! The most crucial thing was that there were huge quantities of all these super-rare gems!

By Hong Dali's estimation, there were enough +15 and above attribute points gems here to equip his entire team and then some! Furthermore, that was under the assumption that the gems were to be fused to become double attribute gems.

As for the gems with +15 points and below, those were considered garbage-tier found all over the place. They could never run out of that!

\"Sigh. Earth is no longer the same planet as it was before. Grandpa Mysterious is indeed Grandpa Mysterious.\" Hong Dali exclaimed.

What did it mean to have heaven-defying luck? This was it!

After all, how much did Hong Dali spend on buying this planet back then? Twenty million Galaxy Dollars. Now? Just the worth of these gems alone far exceeded that value. One could not even give an estimate of their value! No estimation!

\"Hehe, hehehe…\" Hong Dali laughed till he drooled. \"Seems like we can arm the whole team today. Wahahahaha!\"

As he said that, he prepared to fuse the gemstones together. However, as the first fusion was about to be completed, the System's voice sounded—

\"Fusion failure. Galaxy Dollars currently available for the Host to use: 0. Explanation: Due to the Host's murder of a High Noble and Top Operatives, the Host's account has been frozen. The funds are inaccessible.\"