Chapter 574 - 374: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

Chapter 574: Chapter 374: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind

But besides Timothy Mellon, who else knew about the Free Port?

The [arsonist] quest hadn’t updated, so Timothy genuinely must not have known.

"It’s nothing." Li Wei shook his head, picked up his glass, and took a sip. "I imagine the New York Times isn’t stupid enough to offend the Mellon Family by reporting this, right?"

As he spoke, he took the [Chattering Court Jester’s Skull] out of his inventory, wanting to see if the [Jester’s Skull]’s detection skill could give him a hint.

Timothy Mellon frowned in thought. "They shouldn’t be. My father’s relationship with Sulzberger isn’t exactly close, but it’s not particularly distant either.

"Besides, the Free Port doesn’t really have much to do with the general public," he continued. "Rather than offending the Mellon Family for little gain, they’d be better off reporting on some diverse, Black transgender issues."

Timothy wore a look of utmost sarcasm as he said this.

Li Wei didn’t comment on the latter half of his sentence. Diverse narratives were, frankly, just another business. At least in Li Wei’s social circle, he noticed that whether it was Mellon Family members or John Mara, their tastes leaned conservative.

At the very least, there wasn’t a single ugly or weird-looking person in the Mellon Family, and Elizabeth’s looks were definitely the face of the family.

Seeing Li Wei stay silent, Timothy Mellon looked at him and suddenly spoke.

"Actually, Charlie isn’t a bad kid at heart," he said. "You, Liz, and he are all peers. It’s not like you have some irreconcilable blood feud. It wouldn’t hurt to make friends with him."

Hearing Timothy praise his son like this, Li Wei scoffed inwardly.

Right then, the upper and lower jaws of the [Jester’s Skull] suddenly began to chatter, as if it were laughing out loud.

[KEKEKE, the old Prince is still being kept in the dark by his own child.]

[He genuinely believes his son will become a qualified monarch in the future.]

[He doesn’t even know there’s a traitor in the house.]

[His child committed arson right under his nose, and he remains completely oblivious. What a touching scene of fatherly love and filial piety!]

Wait, arson?

Li Wei wondered, "Are you saying Charles Mellon is the second arsonist?"

[Of course, my master. Through him, I have seen the true face of the arsonist.]

The system popped up at this moment.

[You have confirmed the identities of 2 arsonists.]

[You have gained 0.2 free attribute points.]

Li Wei marveled, "The [Jester’s Skull] is really useful. As expected of a Gold-tier item." Not only could it give quests, but it could also help him complete them.

However, since the arsonist’s identity had been clarified, things would be easy from here on out.

Li Wei casually chatted for a bit more before making an excuse to leave Timothy’s house.

As long as he dealt with Charles Mellon, the problem would be solved—

Or would it?

Li Wei pondered this as he drove back. He happened to arrive at a long intersection, where the red light felt like it lasted for a century.

Li Wei’s gaze swept aimlessly, catching sight of a cafe on the opposite corner of the street. Someone sitting by the window was holding a camera aimed in his direction.

Another paparazzo. Li Wei frowned. However, seeing that the camera’s lens didn’t seem focused on him, he paid it no mind. In a place like Los Angeles, there were simply too many celebrities, and consequently, too many paparazzi.

He followed the direction of the lens.

It was a good thing he looked, because he was treated to quite a show.

An UberEats delivery driver crossed the street on a moped, ending up in a minor scrape with a passing Bentley.

"Are you blind?!" A woman wearing sunglasses stormed out of the Bentley, yelling at the delivery driver. "Couldn’t you see I was turning?"

Not to be outdone, the delivery driver played the identity card. He claimed the woman was discriminating against him as a Black transgender person, accusing her remarks of being racist and insinuating she thought Black people’s eyes were inferior to white people’s, and so on.

At that moment, Li Wei noticed the paparazzo in the cafe raise his camera, snapping wildly at the ongoing altercation.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind," Li Wei muttered to himself, stepping on the gas to leave the intersection.

This paparazzo had clearly received advance information about this woman—perhaps some celebrity—and deliberately sent someone to orchestrate this accident at the intersection. He had planted the delivery driver; capturing the celebrity getting out of the car in a rage was the true goal. The paparazzo was the real beneficiary in this chain.

Charles Mellon!

Li Wei suddenly understood why he had always felt something was off.

Exactly. Hamilton had mentioned that someone leaked the information to Arthur Sulzberger, prompting Sulzberger to directly order the New York Times to break the news. Alister Mellon didn’t have the brains for it, and Charles Mellon certainly didn’t have the capability. Even Alexander Mellon lacked that kind of influence.

So who else knew about the Free Port, wasn’t afraid of Alexander Mellon, and wanted the news to break so that Alexander Mellon would suffer?

"Ronan Mellon," Li Wei muttered. "Ronan Mellon did it."

Ronan Mellon must have already known about this. He had the New York Times expose the Free Port situation to have a justified reason to purge the family internally. After all, the Mellon Family had many branches, each managing different businesses. If Ronan Mellon suddenly took down Alexander’s branch without sufficient justification and evidence, it would cause turmoil within the family.

The more Li Wei thought about it, the more the logic came full circle.

Since Ronan Mellon already knew Alexander was running the Free Port, everything Li Wei was currently doing had to change. His core objective shifted from helping cover up the Free Port to helping Elizabeth secure greater benefits.

First, however, he needed to confirm the accuracy of this information. He had to look into what Ronan Mellon was doing right now.

John Mara had a good relationship with the Sulzberger Family and likely wouldn’t refuse Li Wei. However, John Mara’s influence was mostly concentrated in the NFL and New York’s local political and business circles. He might not know any more about Ronan Mellon’s movements than Li Wei did.

Someone capable of gathering intel for him at this level had to possess a sufficiently deep network within Old Qian circles and have no significant conflicts of interest with the Mellon Family.

After much thought, it seemed only Woody Johnson fit the bill. The Johnson Group was involved in pharmaceuticals, so they had no conflict of interest with the finance-oriented Mellon Family. The Johnson Family also had a presence all over the United States of America, boasting an even deeper network.

Li Wei pulled over by the side of the road and dialed Woody Johnson’s private number.

The call connected after a few rings.

"Li Wei." Woody Johnson’s tone was no different from last time. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Mr. Johnson, there is something I’d like to ask of you," Li Wei said, getting straight to the point. "Could you help me find out what Ronan Mellon has been up to lately? Has he made any major moves?"

Woody Johnson paused. "You want to know what Ronan is doing? Hmm..."

He remained silent for a few seconds, likely wondering why Li Wei was asking about Ronan’s movements.

"I’m not exactly close with him," he said. "But we are in the same club. Asking someone to look into it for you shouldn’t be too hard."

"Thank you, Mr. Johnson," Li Wei said.

"Don’t thank me just yet." Woody Johnson shifted the topic. "I had dinner with the Pepsi folks a couple of days ago, and they complained to me that Gatorade is currently being squeezed hard by your LW. They said you’ve secured nearly half of all police departments?"

"We’re nowhere near half," Li Wei chuckled. "You could say we’ve captured about half of the mid-to-large-sized cities."

"Don’t be so modest. I’ve seen the reports," Woody Johnson said curiously. "Where did you get your beverage formula? The effects are incredible."

Li Wei thought, "From a researcher your lab didn’t want, of course."

However, he certainly wasn’t going to say that out loud, so he laughed it off and sidestepped the topic.

"It’s alright," Li Wei replied. "We’re still a long way from the Johnson Group."

"Stop being modest." Woody Johnson laughed a couple of times, then paused for a second. "Speaking of which, Li Wei, I have an idea. Have you ever considered licensing LW’s core formula to the Johnson Group?

"We have ready-made global channels in the functional beverage and sports nutrition sectors," he explained. "If the licensing terms are favorable, the Johnson Group can help LW break into the Europe and Asia-Pacific markets within half a year."

Li Wei paused for a few seconds before saying, "Mr. Johnson, you’re forcing me to make a decision here."

"Not at all," Woody Johnson hurriedly clarified. "You’re friends with John Mara, which makes you my friend. This has nothing to do with the formula."

"Then forgive me for declining," Li Wei said with a smile. "LW’s formula is the company’s core secret. I currently have no intention of licensing it to any third parties."

"I understand," Woody Johnson said. "I’ll go ask around about Ronan for you."

"However, LW is indeed only operating in North America right now," Li Wei pivoted. "While we can’t license the formula externally, the master franchise rights for Asia and Europe aren’t completely off the table."

Woody Johnson was momentarily stunned before he sighed and laughed. "You... Alright, I’ll have Johnson’s director go talk to you guys."

"Thank you," Li Wei smiled as well. "Next time I’m back in New York, I’ll treat you to tea."

After hanging up, Li Wei casually tossed his phone aside and restarted the car.

Woody Johnson’s attitude toward him had shifted slightly this time.

Back when he was just a star athlete, Woody Johnson had said he was welcome to visit the Johnson Group’s headquarters. When the Sect Leader of an Old Qian Family worth billions of USD spoke to a nineteen-year-old rookie player, no matter how friendly the tone was, it was still inherently condescending.

But during just now’s conversation, Li Wei felt that Woody Johnson had finally placed him on the same level as John Mara.

The distinction was subtle, but Li Wei felt great about it.

Thinking about Ronan Mellon again, Li Wei picked up his phone and called Elizabeth.

"Hello~" Elizabeth’s voice came through. "Did you miss me? Why are you calling me now?"

"Something came up," Li Wei said. "Something very urgent."

Elizabeth let out a somewhat disappointed "Oh." "What is it?"

"It’s about Ronan Mellon."

"???"