Chapter 626

Fang Yue paused, bewildered—what's going on here?

Since returning to Chunuan City, the young mistress had kept her temper well under control; why had she suddenly snapped today, smashing things around the room like a madwoman?

Amid the clatter and crash of falling and breaking objects, Fang Yue opened the door and stepped inside.

Whoosh—whoosh—

Two large porcelain vases flew toward him.

"Get out! Didn't I say no one—Lord Ye?"

Fang Yue caught the vases effortlessly, placed them on the floor, and stared at the young mistress, who was gasping heavily from emotional turmoil.

"Young mistress, what happened?"

"Just now, after inheriting Father's position as Regimental Commander, I reviewed some classified Documents—and discovered something."

The young mistress glared at Fang Yue with a dark expression. "I found out our Great Sun Merchant Group has been exchanging correspondence with the Phoenix Organization."

Correspondence?

Fang Yue froze for a moment, then immediately realized—his eyes widened.

"So… does that mean your Great Sun Merchant Group is connected to the Phoenix Organization? Are you a subordinate branch??"

"I don't know. Father never told me about this. No wonder he reacted so strongly when we mentioned investigating the Phoenix Organization—he must have known some of their secrets all along, and just refused to tell us."

Fang Yue was excited—this was perfect.

If the Great Sun Merchant Group had ties to the Phoenix Organization, his investigation would become far easier.

After all, the young mistress was on his side, right?

Only after carefully examining the situation did Fang Yue realize it wasn't that simple.

As the Black Crow Merchant Group had mentioned, the Phoenix Organization was an extremely cautious group.

All their subordinate links were arranged one-on-one.

That meant the Great Sun Merchant Group could only contact a single superior—and even that connection might be unreliable now, since the heir had changed.

"If you kill or betray the Great Sun Merchant Group's contact, the Phoenix Organization will immediately mark us as traitors—and target us for elimination."

The young mistress spoke with a grim face.

She had thought she'd be teaming up with Fang Yue to investigate the Phoenix Organization, to topple the tyrant dominating Chunuan City.

But… the fool was herself?

As a subordinate of the Phoenix Organization, if she dared resist, they'd detect it instantly and crush her.

The Great Sun Merchant Group couldn't survive such a blow.

Originally, the Great Sun Merchant Group was supposed to secretly investigate the Phoenix Organization and hand over the findings to Fang Yue to handle—while they stayed hidden behind the scenes.

Though this was somewhat dishonorable, Fang Yue was the one who had to confront the Phoenix Organization; in exchange, the Phoenix Organization providing intelligence had already fulfilled its obligation.

But now, if they continued digging deeper, the Great Sun Merchant Group would be exposed—putting them directly in the light, and raising the danger exponentially.

"Give me the Documents—I'll hide my identity so they won't realize who I am."

"If the one-on-one contact dies, it won't matter who you are—the Great Sun Merchant Group will still be destroyed. This group was built by Father—I can't let it fall because of me…"

The young mistress spoke in anguish. Through the Documents, she learned just how bloody the Great Sun Merchant Group's rise had been—and without the Phoenix Organization's backing, another merchant group would have taken root in Chunuan City instead.

In other words, without the Phoenix Organization, there would be no Great Sun Merchant Group.

The gruesome transaction records—the filthy dealings involving the transport of 【Human Medicine】 and even 【Medicine People】 materials—made her tremble with horror.

She had never imagined that her father, a man so honest and gentle, would ever agree to such heinous acts.

Although after the initial capital accumulation, the Great Sun Merchant Group gradually distanced itself from the Phoenix Organization, completing the superior's assigned tasks only roughly once a year.

This was one reason why, despite being an old-established merchant group rooted in Chunuan City for so long, they remained so impoverished.

Even so, seeing how her father's hands had once been stained with blood, how he had become a demon for the sake of this group, the young mistress felt her hero's image shatter.

The man she had idolized since childhood—the one who built the Great Sun Merchant Group, whose outdated business philosophy had still shielded her and her siblings—his image had collapsed.

Overwhelmed by this psychological breakdown, she had erupted in rage, becoming the way she was now.

"The world is cold and cruel—I'm sure the Regimental Commander didn't want to do those evil things; he was just forced to bow his head under pressure. After all, it's the Phoenix Organization!" Hai Guanjia finally found his chance to speak, offering comfort.

Not necessarily. Later on, he may have been forced to fulfill the superior's orders out of fear of the Phoenix Organization.

But initially, Yang Tuanzhang must have actively partnered with the Phoenix Organization to expand his business.

"Young mistress, give me the Documents. After I read them, I promise I won't trouble your group's superior. In fact, I've already found other sources of intelligence on the Phoenix Organization—for example… the three merchant groups you told me to visit today? All of them are tied to the Phoenix Organization! Maybe, like your Great Sun Merchant Group, they're all subordinate branches!"

What?!

The young mistress and Hai Guanjia were stunned.

They were still reeling from the shock that their own Great Sun Merchant Group was a Phoenix Organization subordinate—when they learned their rival competitors were too.

So everyone's a mole?

"Then I don't understand—if they're also Phoenix Organization agents, why do they constantly target us? From past competition, they clearly wanted to wipe us out." The young mistress blurted out in confusion.

"Either… they don't know we're also Phoenix Organization subordinates, or even if they do, their superiors don't interfere in lower-level competition. Given the Phoenix Organization's scale, they couldn't care less about the fate of small merchant groups like ours," Hai Guanjia analyzed.

It's just like raising poison insects?

The young mistress understood immediately.

The Phoenix Organization sat far above, indifferent to the fate of its subordinates or their infighting.

They only cared whether the tasks they assigned were completed; everything else, no one bothered with.

If the Great Sun Merchant Group collapsed, they'd simply prop up another merchant group.

Thinking of this, the young mistress's face darkened.

"Then the Phoenix Organization is nothing but a burden to us!"

They offer no protection, only demand profits—what else is that but a burden?

The young mistress quickly handed Fang Yue a thick stack of Documents.

(End of this chapter)