Chapter 197

—— (just a separator line, likely no content; but we still need to output translation. It's just "——". Should we translate? It's just em dash. Probably keep as "——". We'll output same.

What the hell is wrong with trying to pick up girls in a dungeon?

This, this is too...

Inside the tavern, Bell unconsciously took half a step back, his cheeks slightly flushed. Seeing Si Ke Te's utterly embarrassed appearance on the light screen, just imagining it a little made his toes start to curl in embarrassment.

Serves him right! This is exactly what such a person deserves!

Hestia waved her small fists, watching Si Ke Te imitate a dog's bark felt so satisfying! When she first saw him forcing Su Shang to apologize, she had hoped this moment would come soon; she never expected that upon actually hearing Si Ke Te bark like a dog… her mind went blank for a moment.

Bell, for someone who only does petty tricks, this punishment is quite light.

Lililuca held her teacup, her eyes gleaming with shrewdness, 'If it were me, I'd probably try to get him fired from the company, after all this guy not only embarrasses himself but also drags the company's reputation through the mud—if we could get the company to fire him, I think the punishment would match his actions.'

This is too harsh...

Heh heh, Bell, although Si Ke Te looks miserable now, this person can bend and stretch; in my opinion, he must not be spared. If he later holds a grudge and makes a comeback, that would be trouble.

—— (separator)

The dock's debt crisis is temporarily over, but the revival of Jinren Xiang has just begun.

Everyone's plan was to continue upgrading the dock, but the chairman directly halted it. Nobody understood the chairman's decision, so they all went to the chamber of commerce headquarters.

Fortunately, Yu Kong is also here, in front of the Heavenly Vessel Ministry's director, Secretary Lian Yan, representing the chairman, affirmed everyone's efforts, but he thought that continuing to upgrade the dock would be no different from the company's approach and would only ruin Jinren Xiang's character.

The chairman's meaning is to focus on cultural relics and specialty snacks, opposing further logistics development; according to historical data, the more logistics development, the fewer tourists, which is completely unacceptable.

The chairman's words seemed somewhat reasonable, but while everyone was pondering, Yu Kong was the first to challenge the chairman.

The Heavenly Vessel Ministry received many shops' joint request: 【Reorganize the Chamber of Commerce】. In other words, the merchants hope you will resign from your position as chamber of commerce chairman.

A stern, weathered voice suddenly rang out in the room: 'The merchants of Jinren Xiang… will one day betray me?'

I will not abandon the vision I have built for Jinren Xiang, let alone relinquish my duties.

Yu Kong was not surprised by his answer, and simply said lightly, 'I have no intention of interfering in the chamber of commerce's decisions, but as an old friend I must remind you, Jinren Xiang is of the present, not the past.'

... Lord Yu Kong, isn't the present always shaped by the past?

Yu Kong's meaning was to let Ming Xi act as interim chairman, and at this stage earn enough 'bid guarantee'. To achieve this goal, Yu Kong's suggestion was for them to visit nearby shops more often to gain more support.

Yu Kong's meaning was to let Ming Xi act as interim chairman, and at this stage earn enough 'bid guarantee'. To achieve this goal, Yu Kong's suggestion was for them to visit nearby shops more often to gain more support.

——

jojo。 This is likely just "jojo." as an interjection or maybe a name? It's lowercase. Could be a reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It's a named entity (fan-fiction name?). It's a reference to a work. Should we include? It's a fan-fiction name? The instruction includes fan-fiction names. So "jojo" is a reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. We'll treat as a named entity: raw_term: "JoJo", original_term: "jojo". But need to keep exact case? The source is lowercase "jojo". We'll output raw_term as "JoJo"? The instruction: reuse exact English from glossary for terms already listed. For new terms, we need to decide. Probably we should keep as "jojo" as it's a name. But typical translation would keep as "JoJo". However the instruction says: For fan-fiction names, we should keep them as they appear? It says "fan-fiction names" are to be included. It doesn't specify translation. Usually we keep them as is, but we need to output English form. Since it's already English letters, we can keep "jojo". But to be safe, we'll output raw_term: "jojo", original_term: "jojo". However the original term is ChineseChars? It's not Chinese characters; it's Latin letters. The instruction says original_term: ChineseChars. For non-Chinese terms, maybe we still put the original as it appears. We'll do that.

The afternoon sun of Naples heated the villa's brick walls, Mista lazily leaned against the wall and let out a dissatisfied 'tsk'.

'That chairman…' Looking at the faint lights in the room, the chairman's voice always reminded Mista of those gang members who clung to their old turf, experienced but stubborn and obstinate.

Trish rested her chin on one hand, idly spinning her silver fork and knife: 'Compared to the chairman, I still find the company's people more unpleasant. Their meaning completely disregards Jinren Xiang's history and characteristics… it's like looking at a pile of goods awaiting processing, cold and indifferent, really annoying.'

Fortunately, Yu Kong bought some time for Star and Ming Xi; speaking of which… Star and Ming Xi's choices reminded me of Giorno. Fugo suddenly shifted the topic, causing the blond boy diagonally opposite, caught off guard, to lift his head in bewilderment.

Huh?

Neither wanting to linger in the past like the chairman, nor bow to stronger forces. Fugo said lightly, 'Attempting to carve out a third path in the cracks… although foolish, yet brave.'

——Fugo.

Mista said with a slightly mocking tone, 'These days we haven't seen each other, but your flattery skills have improved.'

Hehe, it's not thanks to you, I will never say it.

Fugo's face turned pale as he lowered his head, softly adding, '——This is what I wanted to say to you all when I left.'

——

Following Yu Kong's suggestion, Star and company immediately visited Tong Gong Fang, where the boss revealed that the chairman's aim was to recreate the former bustling scene of Jinren Xiang.

Although his idea was also to revive Jinren Xiang, the times have changed; that former prosperity is now utterly impractical, not only can't beat the company, but many major shops also don't support him.

Star went to great lengths to persuade the boss of Tong Gong Fang. With his support, Star and company's influence in Jinren Xiang deepened further, ultimately leading to the chairman-arranged public meeting of the chamber of commerce.

This time, they not only get to see this 'elusive' chairman, but also personally refute him—just thinking about it is exciting.

After confirming the materials, Star came to the venue, but looking around, she still didn't see the chairman's figure. Su Shang looked at Yu Kong in confusion: 'We're all here, but where is the chairman?'

'I am right here.'

Only then did they see that on the opposite chair, a golden person's head suddenly spoke.

'Are you the chairman?' Su Shang and Star stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what they saw.

'That's right.' The chairman said helplessly, 'I, old as I am, also don't want to appear publicly, but today concerns the future of Jinren Xiang, so I must attend.'

——

Akame ga Kill!

In the forest outside the Night Raid headquarters, seeing the golden-person chairman's bald head, Tatsumi almost fell from the tree from shock.

Jinren Xiang…… even the chairman is a golden person?!

'No wonder his way of speaking feels so off to me.' This sense of dissonance instantly made Tatsumi think of Schwaro in Beloberg.

This golden person seems stronger than Schwaro in terms of thought and action.

Najenda carefully examined the chairman's remaining head: 'Schwaro was programmed with a goal, and all his actions were conditions to achieve it, making him an almost perfect executor, closer to a weapon or tool.'

But this golden person chairman...... although it definitely does not now possess combat power like that of Shi Wa Luo, but it has a more intelligent idea, not only will it spontaneously generate various revitalization plans, and can also produce something similar to a "vision"...... truly wonderful.