Chapter 580 - 380: Ronan Mellon

Chapter 580: Chapter 380: Ronan Mellon

"What happened..." William Stone paused. "Mr. Li Wei, I just received orders from above."

"From above you?" Li Wei froze for a moment.

"...Anyway, I’ve already submitted your application," William Stone said vaguely. "There should be progress within two weeks. You’ll get a call later notifying you to submit your materials to the Logistics Bureau’s Supply Department in Philadelphia."

Seeing that William Stone was unwilling to say more, Li Wei didn’t press the matter. He expressed his thanks and hung up.

"Alright, thank you for the notification, General Stone." After hanging up, he looked at Don Quixote.

"Strange," Don Quixote said.

"He said he received orders from above to let us pass," Li Wei said, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Who could pull that off?"

"John Mara? Woody Johnson? Alexander Mellon?" Don Quixote suggested several names in a row.

"Mr. Mala shouldn’t have that kind of influence," Li Wei pondered. "As for Woody Johnson, the Johnson Group might have the connections, but he has no reason to help me. As for Alexander Mellon..."

He shook his head. "Alexander is already a stubborn old man. His entire focus right now is secretly developing his Free Port. I’m just an outsider, so why would he help me and create trouble for himself?"

"But as it stands, only these three people have the opportunity and ability to help us get this done," Don Quixote analyzed. "It’s best to ask around."

Li Wei thought about it and agreed. After all, they were just speculating right now. He still needed to make some calls to find out the specifics.

However, just as Li Wei expected, John Mara’s personal assistant said that Mr. Mala was still focusing on recovering from his illness.

Woody Johnson didn’t mention the Pentagon once during their phone call.

Li Wei didn’t have Alexander’s contact information, but after calling Elizabeth, she also stated that she hadn’t contacted Alexander about this matter.

"And I feel that even if it were my grandfather, he probably wouldn’t be able to resolve this with just one phone call," she said. "Although the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has ties to the Pentagon and the White House, it doesn’t have much connection with the military and logistics... Instead—"

She stopped mid-sentence.

"Instead what?" Li Wei asked.

"Instead... Ronan Mellon’s side is more deeply tied to the military and finance," Elizabeth said slowly. "The main branch of the family is deeply embedded in the USD banking and payment systems. Arms, finance, and energy are bound together in the United States of America. If I had to think of who could do this—"

"I’m afraid it could only be Ronan Mellon over in Pittsburgh." Li Wei stared at the incoming call on his phone screen.

Area code 412, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh.

"What’s wrong?" Elizabeth noticed the pause in Li Wei’s tone and hurriedly asked.

"I won’t talk to you for now, Liz," Li Wei said. "I just got a call coming in from Pittsburgh."

"Oh," Elizabeth hesitated. "Then, go ahead and answer it."

Li Wei hung up on the preoccupied Elizabeth and called the number back.

"Hello, this is Li Wei."

The other end of the line was quiet for a moment before a gentle, middle-aged man’s voice came through.

"Hello, Mr. Li Wei. I am Ronan Mellon’s private secretary."

Li Wei nodded at Don Quixote.

"Mr. Mellon wishes to meet with you," the secretary’s tone was very polite. "If it is convenient for you, please come to Pittsburgh tomorrow morning."

"It’s convenient," Li Wei said. "How do I contact you after I land?"

"There is no need for you to contact me," the secretary smiled. "See you then."

Li Wei hung up and turned to Don Quixote. "It’s Ronan Mellon."

"Fack," Don Quixote said.

The next day, a private jet landed at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Getting off the plane, Li Wei initially thought a car would be there to pick him up.

Unexpectedly, there was no car below the terminal. Instead, a dark blue Sikorsky S-76 helicopter sat on the tarmac not far away.

"Welcome to Pittsburgh, Mr. Li Wei," a security guard in a crisp suit stepped forward with a scanner. "Apologies, it’s a routine check."

"Is security this strict?" Li Wei asked.

"Apologies," the security guard quickly scanned him. "It’s my duty... Alright, please board the helicopter. Mr. Mellon’s manor is still quite a distance from here."

Li Wei boarded and noticed that the armrests and seatbacks inside all bore the Mellon family crest. It seemed this helicopter was custom-made for the family.

The helicopter slowly lifted into the air, and the city skyline of Pittsburgh rapidly shrank beneath them.

This former steel capital of the world turned into a miniature chessboard below him. Three rivers converged here, and Li Wei could see clusters of bridges as well as the baseball stadium at PNC Park.

Then, everything was swallowed by the rolling Pennsylvania Hills.

After flying for about twenty-five minutes, Li Wei caught a glimpse of a corner of Mellon Manor.

If Alexander’s manor in Long Island, New York, was a palace disguised as a manor, then what appeared before Li Wei now was a Kingdom disguised as a manor.

Endless pastures, stables, a boundless lake, and over a dozen clusters of buildings in various styles stretched out before him.

A private road wound its way in from the manor’s main gates, disappearing behind the distant hills.

Even though Li Wei was now well-traveled and experienced, he was still stunned by the sight.

"Welcome to Pittsburgh, Mr. Li Wei," the pilot said, noticing Li Wei’s gaze. "We will be landing shortly."

"How big is this manor?" Li Wei asked.

"I don’t know, sir," the pilot said with immense pride. "But what I do know is that it takes a helicopter over half an hour just to fly out of it.

"Everything as far as your eyes can see belongs to Mellon Manor." His tone made it seem as though merely introducing the place to Li Wei brought him a tremendous sense of pride.

"How long have you been a pilot here?" Li Wei couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity. "The selection criteria here must be very strict, right?"

"Uh, to be honest, I don’t know," the pilot said loudly over the noise. "But my family has been flying helicopters for Mr. Mellon’s family since my grandfather’s generation."

Li Wei froze. "You mean the Mellon family has had helicopters since decades ago?"

The pilot smiled and said nothing.

The helicopter slowly descended onto the helipad of a massive mansion, where a middle-aged man in a gray suit was already waiting.

"Welcome to Pittsburgh, Mr. Li Wei," he said. Li Wei instantly recognized the voice as Ronan Mellon’s private secretary. "Mr. Ronan Mellon is currently fishing. I’ll take you to him."

"I thought I had arrived at the Mellon family’s home, not Pittsburgh," Li Wei looked around. "It’s so massive, after all."

"Pittsburgh, the Mellon family," Ronan’s private secretary chuckled. "There is no difference. Please get in the car; it’s still a bit of a drive to the lake."

Li Wei got into an older-looking golf cart. The secretary sat in the passenger seat, and the driver drove at a steady pace along the manor’s internal private road.

On either side of the road, one could occasionally spot a few horses grazing on distant slopes, with more clusters of buildings further away.

Li Wei suddenly felt as if he was being watched. He glanced in a certain direction, where a building sat atop a hill.

Following Li Wei’s gaze, a flash of surprise crossed the secretary’s eyes, but he said nothing.

"How much longer?" Li Wei turned his head and asked.

"About ten minutes," the secretary replied. "The lake Mr. Mellon favors is quite secluded, located in the northwest corner of the manor."

Li Wei nodded and suddenly asked, "What kind of person is Ronan Mellon?"

The secretary smiled. Holding the golf cart’s door with one hand, he adjusted his glasses with the other. "Mr. Ronan Mellon is a very gentle old gentleman," he said. "Many people have misconceptions about him, but I feel you have absolutely no need to be nervous."

That statement was as good as saying nothing at all.

"I’ve never had any interactions with him before," Li Wei probed. "What does he want with me? Why did he help me clear the way for military procurement?"

"I am personally entirely unaware of the military procurement matter," the secretary stated. "If your LW has been included in the military’s procurement list, that truly is a wonderful thing. I am happy for you."

"As for the reason Mr. Ronan Mellon is looking for you, I am equally in the dark," the secretary smiled. "Perhaps Mr. Mellon appreciates your talents. After all, achieving such success at your age truly proves you are a promising young man with limitless potential."

"As if I believe that," Li Wei thought.

This guy was probably just like the pilot—a retainer of Ronan Mellon whose family had served as secretaries for the Mellon family for three generations. His mouth was tighter than a safe.

He guessed that Ronan Mellon sought him out because of the Free Port, but he couldn’t figure out why the man would help him.

Li Wei stopped pressing for answers. He could have activated [Adaptability (Bronze)] to gather intelligence, but he decided to save it for when he met Ronan.

After the cart rounded a low hill, a lake appeared at the end of his line of sight.

On the northern shore of the lake sat a row of scattered wooden buildings, looking like ancient tool sheds. Li Wei noticed dozens of neatly arranged white boxes nearby; they appeared to be beehives.

It seemed Ronan Mellon also had a hobby of beekeeping.

The golf cart stopped about fifty meters from the lakeshore.

"I will drop you off here," the secretary opened the door for Li Wei and pointed toward the lake. "Just walk along this small path."

Li Wei walked a few steps down the path and saw Ronan Mellon.

There was a wooden pier on the edge of the lake. An old man sat in a wicker chair at the end of the pier, his back to Li Wei as he faced the water, gripping a fishing rod in his hands.

The fishing rod looked incredibly ordinary. Li Wei felt it was the kind of thing worth a few dozen USD from a standard tackle shop, completely out of place with the surrounding manor that was worth God knows how many hundreds of millions.

Li Wei stepped onto the wooden pier, and the planks beneath his feet let out a faint CREAK.

The old man did not look back, but the fishing rod in his hand twitched slightly.

He slowly turned sideways and looked at Li Wei.

Ronan Mellon appeared slightly younger than Alexander. His silvery-white hair was neatly combed back. He had a thin face but was in excellent Spirits. His eyes had fine wrinkles at the corners, but his eye sockets were not deeply set.

His gaze was indeed just as the secretary had described—looking extremely gentle and calm, forming a stark contrast with the lion-like Alexander.

It was so calm that looking at Li Wei was no different from looking at a passerby, as if none of Li Wei’s titles or identities mattered to him at all.