Shanshui Investment Company

"David, that Long-Range Sniper Cannon firing without warning really had nothing to do with you?" On the way back, Myron switched the car to autopilot, then asked David seriously.

"Myron, you were standing right beside me. Wouldn't you know if I'd done anything?" David spread his hands and asked in return.

"Of course I would. It was just too much of a coincidence!" Myron shook his head and sighed.

"I think it was too much of a coincidence, too!" David said with a smile.

"David, you didn't hack the city defense system and make the Long-Range Sniper Cannon fire, did you?" Myron asked again, his imagination running wild.

He knew David had a solid grounding in electronics. He'd also seen the Medium Server sent over by Lixin Security Company.

A server that professional wasn't something an ordinary person could even operate.

"That's the military's city defense system, not the civilian Security System at my house. You can't just have a few mercenaries crack it!" David said helplessly, looking at Myron.

Just then, an alert appeared on Myron's Identity Bracelet. He opened it, and the information on the screen left him stunned.

"David, this is serious. The Long-Range Sniper Cannon hit Mr. Steer!" As Myron spoke, a sudden thought struck him. He stared at David, mouth agape.

"Myron, how is Mr. Steer?" David asked, pretending to be shocked.

Seeing David's reaction, Myron reconsidered. David's relationship with Mr. Steer was extremely awkward, but to say he would kill Mr. Steer over it—David would have to be seriously deranged.

From the time he'd spent with David recently, Myron knew he was definitely not mentally unstable. On the contrary, he was easy to get along with, and didn't even have the arrogance one might expect from a genius.

At first, Myron had spent time with David because he wanted to get guidance from Gallen. But after getting to know him, he felt David was the kind of friend worth keeping.

Even his father, Mayor Bernard, thought the same. Investing in a genius was something many people did.

If Mayor Bernard hadn't been involved in contacting the Military to arrange a visit to the city wall, how could it have gone so smoothly?

"Mr. Steer is dead!" Myron lost all desire to press David further. He needed to go back and ask his father how things were likely to unfold. After all, both he and David had been at the scene, and that was bound to implicate them to some extent.

Neither of them said anything. Myron drove David home, then hurried off.

Watching Myron's car disappear, David felt a pang of guilt and thought he'd make it up to him once he was able.

When he got home, he went to the server room. This time, he didn't enter the virtual world. Instead, he logged into the Security Optical Computer at Steer Hotel.

Back when he'd overheard Mr. Steer talking with Trainer Jeremy, David had noticed their mention of a company set up under an anonymous identity.

He found the obscure little company in the Security Optical Computer. It was called Shanshui Investment Company, and its legal representative was a code generated by special authentication software.

Anonymous companies like this were unique to the Interstellar Federation. They were used to conceal certain activities.

An anonymous company could only remain anonymous while it wasn't doing business. As soon as it started making a profit, it had to designate a real person as its legal representative.

Mr. Steer had used this anonymous company to acquire Central Hotel and West City Hotel. Those two hotels probably hadn't expected anyone to buy them, so they hadn't been on guard at all.

Hotels in small cities might be quite valuable to ordinary people, but to the truly wealthy or large companies, they were nothing but unprofitable assets.

Only the organization, in order to boost Mr. Steer's influence, would keep pouring Credit Points into supporting him. That was how Mr. Steer had the funds to carry out his plan.

David transferred the hidden authentication software to his own Medium Server, and Shanshui Investment Company became his private property.

At least until the two hotels paid out their dividends in July, Shanshui Investment Company wouldn't be required to designate a real person as its legal representative.

While inspecting Shanshui Investment Company, David found that it still had forty million Credit Points in its account, earmarked for scheduled purchases of shares in Central Hotel and West City Hotel.

David had no intention of spending those Credit Points that way. He didn't need controlling stakes in Central Hotel and West City Hotel.

He was even planning to sell his forty percent stake in each hotel if he weren't worried it would draw too much attention.

He canceled the scheduled purchases and transferred the forty million Credit Points to his anonymous account at Yaka Bank.

That left Shanshui Investment Company as an empty shell, holding only forty percent of the shares in Central Hotel and West City Hotel.

By July, he would have finished his college entrance exams and would be free to leave Peilan City for Na'an City. Then he could either sell the shares or make himself the company's legal representative. Either way, there would be no problem.

Most importantly, as his cultivation progressed, he needed more and more resources.

For the past few days, the Level 1 Fortified Meat he'd been eating had all come from Myron. But Myron's supply would only last until David reached a strength of one thousand kilograms. After that, he'd have no more Level 1 Fortified Meat to consume.

David wanted to buy some himself, but money alone wouldn't solve the problem. Buying a little at a time wasn't an issue, but to make regular purchases he needed a reliable source.

Level 1 Fortified Meat could only be obtained by killing Level 1 Zerg. Armored Warriors in the civilian sector weren't very efficient at hunting them, and most of the meat they acquired went through their own channels to larger cities.

So little Level 1 Fortified Meat remained in Peilan City that even someone of David's standing couldn't get any.

He didn't want to keep asking Myron for help, either. Relying too much on someone could strain their friendship.

David set aside the matter of the Level 1 Fortified Meat. He logged into the Security Optical Computer at Steer Hotel again and erased every trace of himself from it, restoring even the account he'd used to its original state.

Finally, he left a small program in the Security Optical Computer, then logged out.

Once he'd disconnected, the program ran automatically, erasing the record of his departure before deleting itself.

From then on, there was no trace of David ever having accessed the Security Optical Computer at Steer Hotel. Unless someone knew David existed and brought in a seasoned expert, they might be able to uncover a few clues—but that was extremely unlikely.

"Gallen, what did you teach David?" In an office at the Department of Justice, Hans looked at the figure on his Identity Bracelet and asked.

"Hans, your son is a genius—or no, genius isn't quite the right word. He's a monster. You've held him back!" Gallen complained indignantly.

"Gallen, whether David's a genius doesn't matter. Something's happened here, and David's involved. I just want to know if you taught him any other abilities." Hans had heard Gallen praise David before. He didn't put much stock in the genius talk; he knew his own child better than anyone. He only wanted to ask about what concerned him more.

"Has something happened?" Gallen heard the concern in his voice and quickly asked.

"Mr. Steer was killed by a Long-Range Sniper Cannon, and David was on the wall where the cannon was at the time!" Hans said gravely.

"Mr. Steer, Bertha's father? You suspect the guy who went after David?" Gallen asked in surprise.

Of course he knew who Mr. Steer was. In fact, when he'd received the detailed report on David, he too had wondered whether Mr. Steer was involved in the action against David.

The reason was simple: Amos, Steer Hotel's head of security, had appeared outside David's home. And according to the subsequent investigation, Amos's Identity Bracelet had placed him outside David's home for several days.

It was impossible that Amos had been protecting David. Mr. Steer had no reason to protect him. Besides, how could Mr. Steer have known David was in danger?

Sending an Armored Warrior to watch David meant he was after something significant.