Chapter 398: and translation of title, then ===GLOSSARY=== with list of named entities appearing in these lines, using exact English

You really dare to imagine the device malfunctioning!

Even without grasping these guys' chat logs, how do they think this reason could slander us?!

Is this discrimination against us, or against otherworlders?! I've never been so looked down upon before!!

Calm down, calm down, getting angry at those people isn't worth it!

I really didn't expect the other side to be this stupid! Is this your so-called partner for this collaboration—our partner this time?! Ah! I really have to tell that big emperor guy about this; it's basically stepping on his face, right?

At seven in the evening, in front of the seventh-floor office of the reforged Canaan City Clock Tower branch.

As soon as Aomo arrived, he could hear a volume loud enough to make him doubt the soundproofing of the Clock Tower building.

But given that he was very familiar with this voice—said to belong to Miss Shi Huaiya, who could supposedly drown out countless drone broadcasts with a loudspeaker—he didn't rush to open the door, merely standing by the doorway like a silent guard, motionless, and asked the mourner:

How long has she been like this?

Four minutes and six seconds.

That expressionless silent guard gave a very precise count.

'Not that long, huh,' Aomo thought, considering the time the unread message arrived and the current mismatch, then asked, 'Haven't the Moon-chase Logistics folks come back yet?'

'No, they're expected to arrive tomorrow morning at 8:25.'

'Then there's no need……'

Aomo sighed: 'Who's inside?'

Angel, Mostima, Ling, Texas.

'Lappland and Miss Xi, how about them?'

'Lappland is over there,' he raised his hand pointing to the balcony, then withdrew his hand pointing to the room, 'Xi is inside.'

When he first asked who was inside, he didn't mention her, yet then he said she was inside.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Aomo called out to the mourner: 'Call Lappland over to join us.' Then he stepped forward, pushed the door open, and greeted everyone's gaze.

Of course, while being observed, Aomo also observed everyone in the room.

Staring at the person who suddenly entered the room, Captain Shi Huaiya's eyes still showed undiminished anger;

Meanwhile, the Angel, still holding a persuading posture, turned his head to look over;

Seemingly nostalgic, Texas held a paper newspaper.

Mostima, who was counting the big and small bags in his hands, looked up as the sound suddenly stopped;

And Ling, holding a wine gourd suspended in midair, stared at himself for a few seconds, then calmly glug-glug-glugged.

It was a rather subtle scene, but also quite ordinary for this team.

As for Miss Xi……

His gaze lingered on the floor and ceiling, then the wall behind him, where he saw a landscape ink painting, with a hint of blue, sinking into deep contemplation.

'Miss Xi, can you come out to sit in?' he asked, while tapping the scroll with his knuckle.

This action also surprised everyone in the room, especially Ling, who usually adopted an unbothered, carefree attitude; she was slightly taken aback, seeming surprised by his move.

Everyone's surprise went in different directions; for example, the Angel was directly shocked: 'Ah? Is the painter Xi here?'

Perhaps he wasn't clear about Miss Xi's usual state residing in the painting, or perhaps he truly regarded that ink painting as the furnishings of this temporary office; the Angel's reaction also left Aomo somewhat speechless.

'Sit in? Finally have a conclusion?'

'The conclusion should have been there from the start,' Aomo said, turning his head to look at Shi Huaiya.

Her unread message had already spelled everything out, and its content was directly related to her earlier angry words.

In short, the Moon-chase Logistics folks were indeed secretly scheming to make Penguin Logistics take the blame, but given that we already had the relevant intel—even having the Ba'er Beast X intercept their entire plan—this plot was doomed to fail.

That would have been fine.

But the other side seemed to be half-hearted in their actual actions, not even bothering to come up with a proper charge.

They apparently thought slinging mud was already easy pickings, yet framing Penguin Logistics with its delicate reputation wasn't simple.

But the first to receive the news was Shi Huaiya.

Everyone in the room knew that Shi Huaiya, though a manager of the Lungmen Guard Bureau and an overly young and capable chief of the Public Security Bureau, was also a business operator.

Being originally a young lady of a business conglomerate, she wasn't raised as a mere ornament; instead, she studied business management from a young age.

Although she later chose to apply to the Guard Academy to chase her dreams, and her family gave her that opportunity, if she truly couldn't make it in the Lungmen Guard Bureau, she'd likely have to return home to inherit the family business.

Obviously, Miss Shi Huaiya didn't make it to the point of returning home to inherit billions in family wealth.

She managed to rise to the position of bureau chief in the Lungmen Guard Bureau at an age where it's nearly impossible, which is already a result of favorable timing, location, and people—without a major event to give her experience, even if she performed well daily and had a strong background, she wouldn't have gotten there so quickly.

Even so, she hasn't thereby abandoned what she learned before.

Even after transmigrating to a new world, she can continue developing her industry.

On the way to Canaan City, Aomo occasionally saw her, during breaks, holding a phone and muttering something like 'It's time to sell!'

If you switched to a dimmer-lit room, you could see the red glow of the screen on her face.

While doing business, she also dabbled in stock trading; from the tone of her excitement, she seemed to be making money, which Aomo found admirable.

Although Aomo thought stock trading was like horse racing—both could improve success rates by gathering information from multiple sources—he still wouldn't dare touch the stock market even if he could handle horse racing.

The variables of that thing are truly ever-changing; compared to that, occasional sudden issues with horse girls aren't anything.

Of course, this steadfast refusal to trade stocks also has the credit of 'Morrison once tried dipping in, then ended up draining three months of the family's living expenses.'

And this foster father of his, unaware that his adopted son's mind was currently turning over his own dark history, had just come back via the network to Aomo's terminal screen, still asking, in some state outside the norm, what Aomo had been up to before, the network having cut off contact.

Aomo naturally had no time to reply, and at this moment Captain Shi Huaiya also responded irritably: 'A conclusion? What's there to conclude?'

'With that evidence, who cares about those Moon-chase Logistics guys? When they come tomorrow, we'll just confront and kick them out, right?'

'Never mind your intel; just looking at this demand letter, I can see several contradictions! Do they think we don't understand federal law?'

'...' This made Aomo's gaze sweep over the Angel, Texas, and Mostima.

And Lappland pushed the door in at just the right moment, drawing everyone's gaze.

? What's wrong? What important talk did you disturb?

This white wolf felt no embarrassment; instead, it gave a slight smile.

At other times, maybe it would have a bit of that carefree handsomeness, but now...

The evening that emerges from the painting in an ink-wash posture is, broadly speaking, the gaze that least disguises looking at the silly dog.

"She's not a member of Penguin Logistics, the boss said." The soft words of Nengtian Shi made Lappland look even more puzzled.

But big brother, don't laugh at the second brother, okay?

Miss Lei Miu Le's legal exam scores are, broadly speaking, the least suited to be compared with Miss Lappland's.

Aomo coughed lightly and just said: "Why not not rush to kick? Cooperating would give a better effect."

?

Upon hearing that, Shi Huaiya stared straight at Aomo, then glanced at the others in the room.

But here, hardly anyone really cared about this topic.

Even a certain red-haired angel from Penguin Logistics headquarters was currently arguing with that white wolf.

Expecting this bunch to care about business matters was her own mistake…… Shi Huaiya reflected on this with painful clarity, then waved to signal Aomo to come closer and ask:

"Is this the Great Emperor's intention?"

"He adopted my suggestion." Aomo answered after consideration.

This also made Shi Huaiya's gaze even more strange.

"Do you have a grudge against him?"

This reaction was exactly like the Great Emperor's initial one, while Aomo fell silent for a moment.

After thinking about Zhu Xun, after thinking about that company's information and atmosphere, finally it was the other party's measures, far more cautious than a businessman's……

"Yeah."

He said softly.

"Strike first."