Pianpian was very direct, offering a carrot in one hand and a stick in the other, leaving no room for refusal.
But Xijiesi was ultimately a Supreme. He had his own judgment and could not be easily dragged along.
After thinking for a moment, he decisively shook his head. "Sorry, the Tai Ping Merchant Group doesn't belong to me alone!"
In truth, he harbored some doubts about the friendship offered by the important figure across from him.
But the key issue was this. "I need to know why you're taking action, and exactly how you plan to do it..."
Seeing her shake her head, he waved a hand and continued, "Don't rush to refuse."
"Otherwise, I can use this information to earn Ping An's friendship. I'm serious."
Pianpian was taken aback, her expression turning complicated before she asked in a chilling tone.
"My lord, are you sure... you really want to choose this?"
Xijiesi shook his head and replied flatly, "Don't threaten me. That won't work on me. I'm a Supreme—if I can't win, I can always run."
"Tai Ping is a merchant group. We value profit and logic above all else. We can even accept taking a loss, but we need to know exactly what we're losing!"
His forceful stance troubled Pianpian instead. No matter how powerful her backer was, there was nothing she could do when that person was absent.
She raised a hand and rubbed her forehead, answering gloomily, "The motive... you should know. It's the same as why the Cleaners acted."
Xijiesi did know Collins's motive for acting. Supposedly, an important military figure had put pressure on him.
But he did not quite believe that. You're just throwing out some widely known reason to fool me, aren't you?
He slowly shook his head. "A mere Water