Chapter 549: He Deceived You

Mingri's final words were shouted hoarsely, as if to pour out all the resentment accumulated over these days.

After the shout, he collapsed onto the chair, panting heavily, his eyes hollow as he stared at the ceiling.

The room was so quiet one could hear dust settling on the floor.

Adams's face flushed red then turned pale, his fists clenched with a crackling sound.

He held back again and again, but finally couldn't restrain himself; in the instant anger flared, he no longer cared about Cheng Shuili's attitude toward him, stepped forward and landed a hard punch on Mingri's face.

Mingri's head had been lowered; after the blow, it snapped back sharply, then drooped even lower than before.

"Thud."

A drop of blood fell onto the floor, making Cheng Shuili frown: "Adams, hitting people is one thing, but dirtying my floor isn't very nice, is it?"

Though phrased as a question, it left Adams no face at all.

Adams's fist hung in the air; hearing Cheng Shuili's words, he seemed to have been hit with a pause button.

He glanced down at the drop of blood, then looked up at Cheng Shuili's expression, muttered in his throat, and reluctantly withdrew his hand.

"Um... sorry, sorry, I got carried away and lost control." He stepped back, then added, "I'll pay for the floor; later I'll have someone send a box of cleaner over."

Cheng Shuili gave no reply, merely glanced at him.

Her gaze was cool, as if saying: you'd better keep your word.

Adams forced a dry laugh twice, his gaze shifting to the collapsed Mingri, the smile on his face gradually fading.

Mingri kept his head down, blood still dripping from the corner of his mouth, but he could no longer bother to wipe it.

After uttering those words, he seemed completely drained, lacking even the strength to lift his head.

Cheng Shuili stood up, walked around the table, and approached Mingri.

She crouched down, meeting Mingri eye to eye.

"Jack Floyd," she said softly, "what else did he say?"

Mingri moved his lips, trying to stay silent, but his mouth wouldn't obey.

"He... he said..." his voice was halting, as if something stuck in his throat, "He said Guanghui and Ailin are your... Black Feather's senior officials; killing them... Black Feather would fall into chaos, and I would have made a great contribution. Even if I served as a deputy in the New Federation, I could openly join the Wings of Freedom."

"He deceived you."

Cheng Shuili said it calmly.

So calmly that the others present didn't even realize what the Black Feather leader was saying.

Mingri furrowed his brows, his eyes swollen, forced to squint; any movement of his facial expression tugged pain across his whole face.

He stopped altering his expression, squinting as he looked up at Cheng Shuili.

"What are you saying?"

He asked with difficulty, after all Adams's earlier punch had left him with barely any strength.

Mingri even felt the bones in his face were out of alignment.

He must look terribly ugly now, right?

But they're all about to die; who cares about that?

"I'm the one who's going to die."

Mingri repeated the sentence in his mind over and over; he should have cared about nothing.

But...

What did Wu Ya say? Who deceived him about what? Adams? Or Jack Floyd?

"Jack Floyd deceived me?" Mingri's hoarse voice rasped, like the faint sound of two rusty gears grinding together: "How do you know? You don't even know him."

Cheng Shuili gave no answer, just stared at him.

That gaze made Mingri's heart crawl.

He suddenly recalled the gun earlier, the words he had uttered uncontrollably, and this woman's tactics.

"You..." his voice began to tremble, "what exactly are you trying to say?"

Cheng Shuili stood, stepped back two paces, and looked down at him: "I say, Jack Floyd deceived you."

"On what grounds do you say that!"

Even though any movement hurt, Mingri still struggled, leaning forward, his swollen face full of struggle and doubt: "On what grounds do you say that?! You don't even know him! You don't understand him! How do you know he wouldn't want me?!"

Cheng Shuili lowered her eyes, her face still bearing that expression.

The more resolute she was, the more guilty Mingri felt.

He was no longer even afraid of death, yet his only soft spot lay in Cheng Shuili's grasp.

Mingri was willing to work for Jack, first because he couldn't stand Adams; though they shared a history, people do change.

Long Guo has an old saying: one should not worry about scarcity but about inequality.

The other deputies of the New Federation each have their own subordinates; he alone is solitary, with no one willing to follow him.

If Adams hadn't done something behind the scenes, who would believe?

Second, it was because of Jack's promise.

Not just abundant resources, but also stable days.

Jack's promise was weighty; he even offered to sign a trade contract with him. As long as he does that, he can join the Wings of Freedom!

Mingri had read that contract carefully several times; it stated that once he does that, he can.

Jack didn't even care about the outcome!

With such sincere terms, how could Mingri not agree?

He always thought Jack was an extraordinarily decisive leader; following such a person would make his future better, so he resolved to gamble on this.

If it works, his life will be carefree. If it fails, it's just a life.

May the gamble be accepted.

Mingri is willing to admit.

But now… someone told him that Jack is lying to him.

How does Mingri take this?

Cheng Shuili said nothing.

She just stood there, looking down at him from above, as if watching a dying, struggling trapped beast.

This kind of silence is more painful than any words.

Mingri's breathing grew increasingly labored, the hint of madness on his swollen face slowly faded, replaced by an indescribable unease.

"You… you speak!" his voice already carried a tremor, "On what grounds do you say that?!"

Cheng Shuili finally spoke.

"You obviously don't understand, because you simply have no right to know."

Feigning mystery.

That was Mingri's only thought; he naively believed Cheng Shuili could not provide real evidence, so she uttered that ambiguous sentence.

But Cheng Shuili had already spoken, so how could she say only that one sentence?

"Jack knew from the start that I could locate the people you hired who speak on the World Channel."

"What?"

When those words were spoken, not only Mingri but also Adams and the few people he brought were stunned.

Mingri's pupils suddenly contracted.

"No… impossible…" his voice shook badly, "How could he treat me like this? He was so sincere, so serious when he spoke…"

Mingri muttered a few words, then suddenly looked up, glaring at Cheng Shuili: "You're lying to me, you must be lying! Those people were hand‑picked by me, they aren't from the same faction and don't know each other; how could you possibly find them?"