Chapter 1694 - 870: Peace Under Heaven

"Heard you're in a bit of trouble again?"

Chen Longtou asked jokingly on the other end of the line.

"Yeah." Ji Jue nodded, "Lately it feels like a lot of people suddenly want me dead, do you have any clues?"

"Don't underestimate your popularity, 'Mr. Ji,' haven't there always been a lot of people wanting you dead?"

Chen Xingzhou laughed maliciously, like someone in a mud pit watching another unfortunate soul just fall in:

"Sometimes, once you climb up, even doing nothing and just breathing can be an original sin... let alone someone like you, who likes 'to make a difference'?"

Ji Jue rolled his eyes, why don't you just say that I like to stir things up?

After this unusual greeting ended, Chen Xingzhou asked, "Got any suspects?"

"Hmm, let me see..."

Ji Jue pondered for a moment, then declared emphatically, "Evil Cult!"

"..."

On the other end of the line, Chen Xingzhou fell silent, seemingly speechless: is this guy pretending to think or holding back a laugh while pausing for so long!

Is it really okay to just firmly pin the blame like that?

Bro, your fixed path and approach are somewhat questionable.

Of course, Ji Jue didn't expect Chen Xingzhou to have a common language with him on this point, and straightforwardly asked, "Besides that, I'm a bit curious about some recent events in the Desert Market... is everyone getting ready for a festival with all that buzz?

How come I don't know about such a good thing?"

"..."

Chen Xingzhou remained silent, even longer than before.

After a long pause, a soft sigh came from his heart as he said, "Not teaming up with the White Deer is really a loss for the Desert Market."

Clearly having nothing much to do with the Desert Market before, yet in just a few days he already glimpsed the clues and even seized a crucial direction.

This instinct, seemingly selected by the White Deer itself, is indeed too uncanny.

And he hadn't even spoken out yet.

"Before answering this question, let's address the first issue."

Chen Xingzhou rubbed his temples and slowly said, "If my intelligence channels are correct, those secretly pushing to figure out how to kill you are also from the Desert Market."

Suddenly, Ji Jue realized.

After ruleing out a large number of other options directly from the list, he reached the final answer:

"East City?"

Once again, Chen Xingzhou remained silent.

He really couldn't tell if Ji Jue had randomly picked an opponent by chance or if he arrived at the conclusion through meticulous reasoning, or simply picked somebody to blame on a whim.

But the key point is, he actually got it right!

"East City Wilderness Market has had secret communications with Gray Port in the past few days, and one of Ling Liu's confidants has been using the excuse of recuperating and hasn't been seen for several days.

The Dead Guard's contract was bought using identities from the Empire, but as far as I know, it's a secret line from Ling Liu.

That old thing is indeed slick, not leaving any evidence at this time.

Satria has a large sum of funds flowing into a private account at Yongji Bank, and my informant tells me Caruso was spotted at the Xing Jiao Series' Ascetic Monastery..."

Chen Xingzhou said, "If I were you, I'd be careful about whether tomorrow's showdown is after your appraisal certificate or your life."

"Why do I feel like I should be more cautious of you, though?"

Ji Jue was amused, "Your reach is really something, Chairman Chen, why not also tell me the color of their underwear?"

"I wouldn't mind."

On the other end of the phone, Chen Xingzhou's tone grew playful, "But do you really want to know?"

This topic ended here.

Being curious about what kind of underwear men wear while doing nothing is somewhat unnerving.

After confirming there was indeed a problem behind it all, Ji Jue instead felt a bit more at ease and couldn't help but scratch his head as he looked back at the intelligence sent by Chen Xingzhou.

East City Wilderness Market...

Damn it, East City again!

"First, it was Echo, then the Xu Family, and now another Wilderness Market?" Ji Jue couldn't understand, "Why does East City keep picking on me?"

Chen Xingzhou didn't want to speak, rolling his eyes.

What do you mean by East City picking on you?

Bro, is it possible that you're blocking East City's path?

If you carefully analyze Ji Jue's rise, you'll find that ever since he officially debuted, he's always been stepping on East City as his stepping stone, rising higher at every step!

In terms of contribution, East City is at least an MVP.

There was no other way, as Ji Jue, representing the Hai Province series of the charge, and the conflicts with East City could not be circumvented no matter what.

Ultimately, Hai Province and East City's positioning were redundant.

Or rather, Hai Province's reach was too extended... running into other people's tracks to snatch positions.

Both being coastal areas, both primarily focused on shipping, both relying on maritime resources, it was inevitable they'd compete for food...

Especially since the Seven Cities are now in Ji Jue's hands, they are entirely bound to Hai Province both openly and covertly.

As the central hub closest to the Federation among the Thousand Islands, countless funds and goods flow in and out secretly and openly every day, making it too pivotal.

Previously, under the mutual balance and involvement, a fragmented Seven Cities could meet everyone's needs and purposes, but now, an integrated Seven Cities aiming to make a difference would become extremely obtrusive.

Ji Jue taking an extra bite here means they get one bite less elsewhere, and moreover, Ji Jue has directly monopolized the channels, incidentally cutting into the main arteries of businesses, causing many to be unable to conduct business.