"This..."
Shen Yulin looked hesitant, as though he had some unspeakable difficulty.
"Wait. You just said that to maintain the Nine Corporations' valuations and fulfill their promises to investors, Dragon City urgently needed a war."
Meng Chao's nose was exceptionally sharp. He drove straight to the heart of the matter. "In other words, development of the Red Creek Project and the surrounding mining areas alone could not fulfill your promises to the investors?
"That is to say, your development of this mining area was nowhere near as smooth as you advertised to the investors, and the crystals you mined fell far short of expectations?
"With crystal output severely insufficient, you had to secretly withhold a portion, concealing it from the other shareholders and the Superhuman Tower, and send it back to the Shen family.
"On top of that, you had to withhold another portion and send it to the Blood Alliance.
"Wasn't that hole a little too big? Could you really smooth it over in the books?"
Shen Yulin's face filled with shock.
He had never expected Meng Chao to peel back the cocoon and draw out the silk from those few words, piercing the bullseye with a single arrow.
His expression was the answer.
"Then I understand."
Meng Chao nodded. "The Blood Alliance originally wanted a long-term investment, treating the Red Creek Project as a gold mine that would yield a steady stream of wealth.
"Who would have thought that the Red Creek Project itself was a massive pit? The crystal veins beneath our feet were not nearly as vast or rich as the Cosmos Group had boasted to its investors.
"Once the true reserves of these crystal veins were exposed, it would certainly cause a tremendous uproar.
"Before you realized that, the first phase had already gone into