Chapter 344 - 343: The Federation’s Visionary Layout, The Grand Chess Game

Less than two minutes after he left the live broadcast room, Xiao Ai sent a message with an attached file.

"Master, I have completed the compilation of information on Cangwu Industry’s main business, corporate leaders, and regular employees in the spare parts warehouse."

Having received the message, Li Jing took a look at the document and gave some instructions via text editing.

"For the spare parts warehouse, examine the internal surveillance of the West Suburb Industrial Park for potential employee mobility and their daily routines. Moreover, inspect the internal surveillance of the park for the last two hours to see if there are any records of these relevant personnel leaving. If there are, tap into the national surveillance network and attempt to track any possible surveillance records to find out where their destination is likely to be."

"Acknowledged."

Xiao Ai replied.

After giving instructions to Xiao Ai, Li Jing officially began to examine the records of Cangwu Industry’s employees that Xiao Ai had organized.

After a brief scan, he frowned slightly.

Cangwu Industry mainly outsourced business, covering a wide range.

Its profits were decent.

The company was registered more than ten years ago and had made three strategic expansions into various industries in Central City.

The last expansion was three years ago.

It was after this expansion that Cangwu Industries went public.

The spare parts warehouse mainly served to assemble high-tech Spiritual Qi circuit equipment and cooperated with several related enterprises.

The corporate leader of Cangwu Industries was a man named Zhang Long.

He had an impressive career track record.

A classic rags-to-riches story.

His entire journey was highly motivational.

And this was exactly what made it suspicious.

A rags-to-riches story doesn’t exist.

Even if these portrayed as motivational stories about successful entrepreneurs seem inspirational, they fundamentally deviate from the process of moving from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Regardless of whether it was before or after Li Jing’s transmigration,

Those so-called inspirational success stories of entrepreneurs were indeed remarkable on their own.

The so-called "self-made," was purely nonsense.

Taking the example of an internet tycoon before Li Jing’s transmigration.

People often saw his entrepreneurial journey as a legendary story.

However, what most people saw was his success, and very few people understood the terror of having a start-up capital of hundreds of thousands in his entrepreneurial era.

In that era, you were considered a local tycoon if you had ten thousand, and most people had a monthly income of just dozens.

A security job with a monthly salary of over 60 was considered a decent job, tantamount to a successful person’s status.

The so-called "motivational story" was at most a process that entrepreneurs presented themselves after their success and achieved the result of self-promotion.

Maybe they really experienced difficulties during their start-ups.

But was their start-up during an era without any corporate competition not a golden era?

Compared to the nightmare-level difficulty of being successful in modern times when they had already succeeded many years ago.

This couldn’t be equated with Zhang Long’s success in managing Cangwu Industries.

After all, they were two worlds with completely different historical trajectories and economic levels.

But Li Jing did not believe in the concept of being self-made at any cost.

In the personal records sorted out by Xiao Ai,

Zhang Long was born to a farming family, with no background whatsoever.

Not only were his parents trapped in the One Realm, but their educational level was also so low that they hadn’t even completed compulsory education. They were a couple of farmers who had never left the remote mountainous area.

With no background or family wealth, Zhang Long’s success seemed to have a legendary color.

There was definitely a problem here.

As he scrutinized Zhang Long’s career path, Li Jing squinted his eyes,

Although he had never seen Zhang Long in person,

He was willing to swear that Zhang Long was certainly not a human, but a monster and most likely a member of the Demon Beast Union.

The Cangwu Industries, founded by him, was a strategic deployment for the Demon Beast Union to firmly establish their foothold in Central City over the past decade.

After viewing the information related to the spare parts warehouse, Li Jing was further convinced of his conclusion.

The spare parts warehouse located in the West Suburb Industrial Park was directly under Cangwu Industry. It had existed since the founding of the company and had never been outsourced.

From the warehouse manager to the subordinates, all were directly hired.

The management team mainly comprised veteran staff of Cangwu Industries from when it was first established.

After drawing his conclusion, Li Jing lifted his hand to rub his temple.

Various signs indicated that,

The infiltration of the Demon Beast Union into the mortal world was not only limited to the union itself, but also had long-term developments in the legitimate industries and had already firmly rooted in humans’ society in Longyu.

This was a bit of a headache.

Cangwu Industry was a large scale enterprise with nearly three hundred thousand employees.

Not all its employees could possibly be monsters.

Maintaining the operation of a large company solely with monsters is inherently unscientific.

It was related to the livelihood of nearly three hundred thousand people. Even if Li Jing had made a judgment, he didn’t dare to hastily make a move on the top management of Cangwu Industry.

This issue had to be reported to the Patrol Bureau.

It was up to the bureau staff to discuss a detailed plan and solve the root of the problem in the least impactful way.

Now that it had come to this, Li Jing realized something.

The existence and composition of the Demon Beast Union was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

Apart from the union itself, various elements were supporting its existence.

This was to be expected.

An organization like the Demon Beast Union, which was notorious throughout Longyu, couldn’t possibly stand firm relying solely on human shareholders and a large number of monsters.

A reality check,

Even those deceived by the union also had to get paid to live.

Without money,

They couldn’t choose to absorb human-shaped demons strategically, let alone support the massive number of monsters within the organization.

With his phone put away, he took a deep breath, Li Jing moved his feet and flew into the sky like a thunderbolt under his feet.

...

Shortly after, Li Jing was hovering over a high-end villa area in the center of Central City.

This was the residence listed in Zhang Long’s personal information.

Looking down, Li Jing quickly found the mansion owned by Zhang Long in the park, with a slight frown on his face.

At this moment, his Heavenly Eye remained active in the center of his brows.

Under the observation of the Sky Eye Technique.

He could clearly capture that there was an entity of extremely high concentrations of Demonic Qi within the mansion.

This wasn’t surprising.

Zhang Long was a monster belonging to the Demon Beast Union, as Li Jing had concluded.

He had come to make a special trip, just to confirm this.

What was of interest was.

Inside the villa.

There was another entity of Spiritual Qi, which appeared to be of the First or Second Realm.

Its position coincided with the powerful entity of Demonic Qi in the bedroom, both lying horizontally as if sleeping on the bed.

Aside from this, in another bedroom of the villa, there was an entity possessing both Spiritual Qi and Demonic Qi.

It too was lying horizontally, probably resting.

According to the information collated by Xiao Ai.

Zhang Long was a married man.

His wife was named Lin Yu.

The two of them had been partners since their entrepreneurial days, and they had a daughter.

Li Jing had initially thought that this family of three were all monsters from the Demon Beast Union.

However, the reality in front of his eyes was different from that.

This genuinely surprised Li Jing.

What surprised him even more was that.

Zhang Long didn’t just merge with a human, but he also raised a daughter who was a human-monster hybrid.

Human-monster hybrids were not unheard of in the world.

The concept of reproductive isolation existed in this world.

In fact, upon transforming into human forms, the physiological structure of monsters became equivalent to humans, their genetic makeup underwent certain changes, and their chromosomes underwent transformations.

The original beast forms hidden behind the human-shaped demon were almost like the husk of a beast class form in terms of physiology and didn’t have much connection with their original species.

On some level.

Upon achieving transformation, monsters that evolved from the Beast Class were no longer pure beasts, they belonged to humanoid species.

Such a transformation enabled monsters to merge with other monsters from different species, as well as with humans.

However, the possibility of a human-monster hybrid being conceived is very slim.

When humans and monsters merge, the outcome mostly depends on the mother’s genes.

If the mother is a human, the offspring will be a human.

If the mother is a monster, a native monster will be born.

Native monsters are those who have achieved transformation right at birth.

Only when a human and a monster merge, does such an entity emerge.

The offspring from a monster-monster merger will achieve transformation faster, but they are usually born with beast-like features in a humanoid form and need to mature before acquiring a complete human form.

After those two possibilities, there is another outcome where hybrids are born through the merging of humans and monsters.

This possibility, however, is next to none.

Approximately only one in ten thousand human-monster pairs can give birth to a hybrid.

Among the three possibilities.

The human offspring born to them are stronger than ordinary humans, even though they don’t inherit any monster characteristics, their physical qualities are generally superior.

Native monsters, however, start off at a higher level.

Ordinary monsters need to evolve from beasts, and they can transform into human forms only after reaching the Third Realm.

Native monsters, on the other hand, not only are they not born as beasts, but they also have completely human forms the moment they are born.

As for the third possibility, the human-monster hybrid, they are the strongest among the three results.

Because from the moment they are born, they can control both Spiritual Qi and Demonic Qi.

However, this is not the main point.

The point is.

Hybrids can not only follow the Orthodox Immortality Path, but they can also use the power within their bodies for Body Refining. Thus, they can easily pursue both paths.

All three of them are rather taboo entities.

In this modern era, where a large number of monsters exist within human society, it is common for humans and monsters to develop mutual feelings or betray each other. Apart from the ordinary people who fear monsters, there are many who enjoy being "Demon Knights".

But irrespective of whether it is a human or a monster, even if they merge, they try to avoid creating "Life" as much as possible.

Every possibility among these three is a rare entity within even the Alien Species.

Even if the offspring have a full human lineage, there exist certain differences from common people.

For instance, when they are angry, they can’t help but roar like wild beasts to intimidate others.

Newborn entities do not possess the self-control that mentally sound adult humans or monsters have. They don’t know what they should avoid.

They need to grow and learn step by step.

During this process, it’s hard to avoid them exposing themselves.

Once they are exposed, it could lead to the collapse of that family.

After all, the widespread fear of monsters is still prevalent.

The merging of humans and monsters, once exposed, will face more than just criticism.

While levitating above the villa, Li Jing rubbed his brows.

This matter was turning more and more complicated.

Not to mention Zhang Long’s connection with the Demon Beast Union.

The union of monsters and humans, raising children together, isn’t a just a game or a fleeting impulse.

From a human standpoint, the same is true.

Zhang Long and his wife had legitimately formed a family.

What should be done now?

Taking into consideration the influence of Cangwu Industry, Li Jing didn’t plan on killing Zhang Long. Instead, he intended to inform the Inspection Bureau for handling the matter after confirming the facts.

Then, arose the question.

After the Inspection Bureau resolves the issue with Cangwu Industry, what would happen to Zhang Long?

If he had no ties with the Demon Beast Union, it would still be manageable.

But, given that he does, the most probable outcome would be his elimination.

Once he dies.

It will cause a woman to lose her husband and a girl to lose her father.

Li Jing wasn’t a great Samaritan.

However, when faced with right and wrong, he had his own principles.

Gazing at the villa below for a long time, Li Jing waved his hand, pulled out an appearance changing Talisman to alter his appearance, then loosened the Silent Shadow that had locked onto the Demonic Qi collective in the villa, revealing a trace of his own Qi.

He would treat each matter in its own way.

Although due to personal principles, he was rather unwilling to destroy a home in this manner.

But the fact that the Demon Beast Union harms both humans and monsters cannot be ignored.

He could not simply condone it.

As for how to deal with this matter, he needed to see firsthand what the real situation was before making a decision.

Li Jing locked onto the Demonic Qi collective in the villa and revealed his own Qi, which quickly alerted the latter.

Being locked onto, the Demonic Qi collective showed no intention of striking back nor showed immediate signs of fleeing.

Under Li Jing’s Heavenly Eye observation.

It sat up from its position lying on the bed and remained still for a long time.

After a while, the Demonic Qi collective finally slowly got up, went downstairs, and opened the door of the villa.

Subsequently, a pale-faced beautiful woman came into Li Jing’s view.

Li Jing had been paying attention to the Demonic Qi collective all along.

Seeing it did not show any signs of anomaly but obediently went downstairs to open the door, he concluded that this demonic beast values this home very much.

However, the fact that a woman opened the door was truly beyond his expectation.

Zhang Long is male.

But the one who appeared was a woman...

That is to say...

The one still lying on the bed with a cultivation level of probably the Second Realm, was actually Zhang Long - the very person he was seeking?

This turn of events, indeed, left Li Jing a bit bewildered.

He did not think that he was wrong in his deduction.

Cangwu Industry and the Demon Beast Union were definitely connected somehow.

However, he genuinely did not expect that the person controlling the whole Cangwu Industry was not Zhang Long, but his wife.

According to the information that Xia Ai sorted out,

Zhang Long’s wife had never intervened in the operation of Cangwu Industry and had always been a homemaker.

Gazing at Lin Yu, Li Jing frowned deeply.

The Health Bar above her head reached 7894.

Almost in the mid-term of the Six Realm.

Him revealing his Qi had alerted her, compelling her to come downstairs. This indicated that she clearly understood why someone had come.

However, not only did she not wake up her sleeping husband and daughter, but she also showed no intention of resisting or fleeing.

It was quite obvious.

She had foreseen this day coming and was mentally prepared for it.

All signs indicated that she had a direct connection with the Demon Beast Union, not Zhang Long.

Rubbing his forehead, Li Jing chose to land in the courtyard of the villa.

The development of the situation was unforeseen.

But Lin Yu’s non-resistant attitude at least indicated that there was room for negotiation. He didn’t need to play the villain straightaway, and he could approach and understand the situation first.

Lin Yu, standing at the villa’s entrance,

looked at Li Jing landing with her pale face, glanced back at the house, then turned her eyes back to him.

"May I ask who you are...?"

Seeing that Lin Yu was still holding out a glimmer of hope, Li Jing shook his head.

"It doesn’t matter who I am. All you need to know is, I am a patroller."

"..."

Lin Yu was silent.

Seeing this, Li Jing sighed.

"You should know why I have come here?"

Upon hearing his words, Lin Yu bit her lip, nodded slowly, then began to speak.

"I can go with you, but I hope you will leave my family alone."

"No rush, answer a few questions for me first."

Li Jing waved his hand, saying,

"Cangwu Industry, founded single-handedly by Zhang Long. Was it secretly supported by the Demon Beast Union over a decade ago to gain a foothold in Central City?"

"That’s right."

Lin Yu responded, saying,

"However, everything should be blamed on me. It had nothing to do with my husband. His only mistake was choosing to be with me..."

Before she could finish her words, Li Jing interrupted,

"Just answer my questions. No need for unnecessary words."

"..."

Lin Yu was taken aback then nodded hesitantly.

"You and Zhang Long have been married for many years, and your daughter is now of a mature age. By accepting you and a mixed-blood daughter, your relationship should be good."

Li Jing began speaking and continued lightly,

"Personally, I don’t mean to break up a happy family, but the law is the law and cannot be swayed by personal feelings. Regarding how to deal with you, there are a few things I need to confirm."

Hearing his words, a different color flickered in Lin Yu’s eyes.

Li Jing looked straight at her, then started asking his questions.

"Firstly, have you ever harmed anyone?"

"I’ve thought about it, but never did."

Lin Yu replied without any hesitation.

Li Jing nodded.

This answer wasn’t a surprise to him.

A Sixth Realm Great Demon formed a family and even had a child with a human being who was only at the First or Second Realm of his cultivation level.

This itself was almost inconceivable.

More than just a racial issue, Lin Yu’s attraction to Zhang Long must involve more than just their story.

If she had harmed anyone before, the two of them wouldn’t have been able to get together at all.

After all, to Lin Yu, who was a Sixth Realm Great Demon, Zhang Long was just an ant, not even capable of withstanding her single finger.

Would a monster that has killed humans consider merging with an ant that it could easily exterminate?

Absolutely, it wouldn’t even be considered.

But the probability is not high.

The response of Lin Yu, facing me, can be said to be absolutely pure.

Contemplated, but never executed.

If it were any other monster, they wouldn’t dare respond like this to an inspection, and it’s rare for monsters to even be able to face inspections head-on.

"The second matter, how much contact do you still have with the Demon Beast Union now?"

Li Jing asked again.

"It can be said to be much, or not much."

Lin Yu whispered.

"I came to the Central City to lay the foundations for the Demon Beast Union. After the task was completed, to ensure the security of the foundations, I maintained a certain distance from the Union itself and only respond to their demands when they have a need. Any taboo affairs would not fall to me."

Li Jing raised an eyebrow on hearing this.

Even though he roughly guessed it, he still respects the Demon Beast Union a bit upon confirmation.

Cangwu Industry is the foundation they laid while infiltrating Central City, which definitely can’t be said to have casually failed.

Considering that the existence of the union might be exposed and would be targeted for a crackdown by the Inspection Bureau, cutting ties with the foundation as much as possible is undoubtedly a good move.

Even if they were completely expelled from Central City, they could return at any time or maybe even make a hidden counterattack as long as the foundation is still there.

Li Jing has to admit that the senior executives of the Demon Beast Union are far-sighted.

At the same time, he also realized something.

Since there’s Cangwu Industry in Central City, in other cities where the Demon Beast Union has a presence, there must also be other similar resources to secure an alternative retreat.

The Demon Beast Union, which seems to have a small layout, has a large chessboard indeed.

After silently exclaiming for a bit, he asked another question.

"The third matter, what has Zhang Long done for the Demon Beast Union in these ten-plus years of operation in Central City?"

Meeting such an inquiry, Lin Yu’s expression changed slightly, and said.

"I think I’ve made it very clear, this has nothing to do with my husband."

"If you don’t want to lose this family, I suggest you don’t make pointless excuses, my patience is limited."

Li Jing responded coldly.

Upon facing Li Jing’s words, which were devoid of human touch, Lin Yu’s expression froze, and she didn’t know how to respond.

After a while, she spoke out softly.

"My husband just handles the business matters, and other monsters are in charge of the operations below. However, because he is virtually my spokesman, most things would be decided by him. He knows about my contacts with the union, and due to the fact that everything we have is given by the union and we can’t resist the union, all we can do is to comply."

After explaining this to him, she looked up and said,

"He has indeed done a lot of wrong things, but fundamentally they were all me....."

She stopped speaking in the middle of her sentence.

It’s not that she didn’t want to continue.

But facing Li Jing’s impassive face, she didn’t dare to continue.

It was not a warning from Li Jing that made her hesitate, but the fact that just standing in front of Li Jing made it difficult for her to breathe.

The aura that Li Jing exhibited before her was that of a being of the Six Realm.

But her instincts told her that the person in front of her was an extremely dangerous figure.

If there was a conflict, she might not even have a chance to struggle.

Listening to Lin Yu’s attempted explanation, Li Jing naturally wouldn’t care.

After hearing her statement, he pondered for a moment, and said,

"I’ll give you a chance, come with me to the Inspection Bureau and confess. Admit everything truthfully, and I can guarantee your life."

Hearing this, Lin Yu was stunned and questioned.

"I am from the Demon Beast Union, can you really protect me?"

"You have no choice."

Li Jing didn’t give a direct response.

"..."

Lin Yu was silent, then she looked inside her house again, and deeply inhaled.

"For the surrender, what do I need to do?"

"Very simple, just truthfully tell everything you know about the Demon Beast Union. Cooperate with the Inspection Bureau in banning Cangwu Industry, and then your whole family will cut off all contact with the Demon Beast Union."

Li Jing said simply.

"As a monster, you should understand that the Inspection Bureau itself turns a blind eye to the existence of monsters. Many times, the killing or disposals are either forced or the offending monsters are certainly arrested causing chaos and city losses. As long as you cooperate, you might be able to sign a peace treaty, and live under the protection of the Inspection Bureau with your husband and daughter."

After saying this, he continued.

"Of course, it depends on what you and your husband have done for the Demon Beast Union while managing Cangwu Industry. You need to bear the sins that are due, going to prison and paying fines if necessary, everything as per proceedings. Zhang Long needs to bear the main responsibility as you are not in charge of anything. But what punishment he will eventually get depends on how much information and assistance you can provide to the Inspection Bureau."

Hearing Li Jing’s words, Lin Yu was silent for a while, then looked up again.

"Can the Inspection Bureau ensure the safety of my family?"

"There are no absolutes in everything, I can’t guarantee."

Li Jing shrugged.

"But at least under the protection of the Inspection Commission, the Demon Beast Union wouldn’t dare easily target you and your family."

Lin Yu frowned upon hearing this.

Obviously, she was not satisfied with this.

At the same time, she also understood that she couldn’t ask for more.

Being able to meet Li Jing now was already very fortunate.

If it were any other inspector coming instead, even if her family could escape the fate of destruction, the outcome wouldn’t be much better.

"Can you give me some time?"

Lin Yu spoke softly, in a compromising tone.

"I want to inform my husband about this. Although he will inevitably have to go to the Inspection Bureau later, only I need to go for the time being. My daughter is not yet of age, I don’t want her....."

Before she could finish speaking, Li Jing interrupted.

"Take your time, but I’m only giving you fifteen minutes."

Lin Yu nodded at his words, then turned around without saying anything more and hurried back into the house.

...