Unexpected Lobbyist

On the afternoon of the third day, someone came knocking about a day and a half earlier than Mo Yuan had expected.

This time, the knock was completely different from Gu Yuan's.

The rhythm was steady, neither fast nor slow, and the force was even. Clearly, it came from an expert.

Mo Yuan set down his pen and went to open the door.

A middle-aged man he didn't know stood outside.

He looked to be around forty. Tall and straight, he was like a stabilizing pillar. He wore a dark gray overcoat of an extremely ordinary style, but the fabric and tailoring clearly didn't come from the same production line as the mass-market clothes sold on the streets.

His hair was silver-white, combed neatly backward.

The most striking thing about him was his eyes—a pair of extraordinarily calm eyes. His pupils had a bluish tint and rested in deep-set sockets. Under the corridor lights, they looked like the sea.

He stood there without any imposing air, but the moment Mo Yuan saw him, he realized that this man had held a high position for a long time.

Yet looking at that familiar face, one he had seen many times in the database, Mo Yuan was quite shocked.

"Mr. Mo Yuan?" The visitor's voice was steady, carrying the rich quality unique to an older man. "Sorry for the intrusion. My name is Chen Xinjie. I imagine you know me as well. Someone asked me to come here and have a few words with you."

Mo Yuan's movement paused almost imperceptibly.

Chen Xinjie, Crown Hanhai, the military's number-one figure, a Four-Character Battle Armor master, and a Limit Douluo. He had presided over the Federation Military Department for several decades.

That name alone was enough to make anyone hold their breath anywhere on Douluo Continent.

Mo Yuan's shock lasted only for an instant. He quickly regained his composure and stepped aside from the doorway. "Please come in."

Chen Xinjie stepped inside and rapidly swept his gaze across the room.

His eyes paused for a moment on the pile of draft blueprints at the workbench before he withdrew his gaze without asking anything.

Mo Yuan gathered up the blueprints on the table, clearing a small section of its surface.

"Sorry, the place is small and a little messy," Mo Yuan said.

"It's enough." Chen Xinjie sat down in the chair opposite Mo Yuan. His back was ramrod straight, and he casually smoothed the hem of his overcoat. Even after sitting down, his unhurried manner remained perfectly natural.

He had no intention of making small talk and said directly, "I'm here on behalf of the Xu family."

Mo Yuan sat down in his chair and nodded. "I know."

Chen Xinjie glanced at him. "You're not afraid at all. You know what you've done, so aren't you afraid I came here to cause you trouble?"

"Heh heh, I don't think the Xu family could get you to come at their beck and call. Besides, I'm not exactly a pushover."

Mo Yuan smiled.

In fact, the moment the knock had sounded, the Key of Binding hidden inside his collar had already begun charging up.

If anything went wrong, he would immediately deploy the Divine Grace Barrier. Even a Quasi-God like Chen Xinjie wouldn't be able to use any attack inside the Divine Grace Barrier.

"All right. Young people these days are really becoming more and more..." Chen Xinjie thought for a while but still couldn't come up with a suitable description, so he finally changed the subject. "If Xu Sheng's father hadn't had a past friendship with me, I wouldn't have agreed to his request."

"Neither of us has time to beat around the bush," Mo Yuan said. "Since the Xu family asked you to come forward, that means they want to stop. You're here to confirm that I won't target them again."

Chen Xinjie narrowed his eyes slightly, a nearly imperceptible curve appearing at the corners of his mouth.

He leaned against the back of the chair, both hands resting naturally on the armrests. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes never left Mo Yuan.

"Xu Sheng—oh, that is, Xu Rongzhi's father—told me two things when he came to me. First, he hadn't known the whole story about what happened between his son and you. By the time he learned the truth, his son was already dead. Second, Xu Rongzhi brought his fate upon himself. To show their remorse, they're willing to give you all the companies and other assets Xu Rongzhi originally managed, without conditions."

Mo Yuan listened quietly, then said, "I can accept those terms."

"You don't want to add anything else?"

"Add something?" Mo Yuan's eyes widened. He had never expected that Chen Xinjie, the lobbyist invited by the Xu family, would turn around and help him squeeze the Xu family for more.

But after thinking about it, he continued, "The Xu family must withdraw all the people they planted in the Academic Affairs Council of the Academy of Sciences."

Chen Xinjie nodded. "I can pass that along. Given their attitude, there shouldn't be any problem."

"Then I'm sorry for making you come all this way, Crown Hanhai."

"Heh heh, now that the Xu family matter is settled, let's talk about something personal." Chen Xinjie chuckled.

"I'm all ears."

"I heard long ago that the Mecha Engineer Association had produced a genius. At only nine years old, you were already a Level-9 Soul Engineer. I thought it was merely an exaggeration or that there was some inside story. But after seeing you in person, I'm quite surprised."

As he spoke, Chen Xinjie gave Mo Yuan a deep look.

Since Mo Yuan had been able to kill a Titled Douluo, there was no need to question his strength. After all, one of the core definitions of a Level-9 Soul Engineer was the ability to contend with a Titled Douluo.

As for the method, no one would worry about that too much.

"Thank you for the praise. But in my view, any normal human should reach a fairly advanced level in a secondary profession before the age of nine. No matter how stupid someone is, how could they fail to learn mecha design? Besides, Soul Tool technology is inherently a field that Federation citizens excel at..."

"Let's talk about something else." The corners of Chen Xinjie's mouth twitched involuntarily. He felt as though he had somehow lost both his Federation citizenship and even his status as a human, so he quickly changed the subject. "What do you think of the Federation as it is now?"

"What do I think?"

Mo Yuan was taken aback, then suddenly recalled this man's stance in the original story.

This was the most unexpected part, and something ordinary people were least likely to know: the military's number-one figure was secretly a double agent.

He lived in the Federation but had his heart set on Shrek. Not only that, he was a super double agent who served in the military while supporting the Dove Faction.

In the original story, he had secretly protected Mo Lan of the Dove Faction. He had even blamed himself for failing to pay attention to Mo Lan sooner, resulting in her family dying in a terrorist attack by the Holy Spirit Cult.

Thus, Mo Yuan answered casually, "In my view, the Federation is far too backward."

"Backward?" Chen Xinjie raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. He considered the Federation's current development quite good.

"Yes, backward. Of course, I don't mean backward in terms of living standards, but in terms of vision."

"Vision?"

"Isn't it? The Federation possesses Soul Tool technology, a field with incredibly vast prospects, yet it limits its gaze to this tiny corner known as Douluo Star. In my view, to truly resolve the many conflicts on Douluo Star, whether those involving resources and the environment or those between humans and Soul Beasts, we must advance into the universe..."

The two of them talked until late at night. By the end, Chen Xinjie had practically seized Mo Yuan's hand, his face full of earnestness.

"If only I'd met you sooner!"

He looked as though he had found a kindred spirit. His fervent gaze even made Mo Yuan's backside grow cold.

"Um, it's already very late."

"Oh, all right. Since that's the case, I'll leave first. Don't worry, no one in the Xu family will dare touch you. If anyone dares lay a hand on you or your family, I'll personally twist off the heads of his entire family."

After giving that assurance, Chen Xinjie said nothing more. He opened the door and left.

His footsteps gradually faded down the corridor, steady and even, like a gust of wind that left no excess trace after passing through.

After the door closed, Mo Yuan leaned back in his chair for a while.

He hadn't thought too much about Chen Xinjie's assurance. He himself had nothing to worry about, and he had also left Soul Tools with his parents.

Even a Limit Douluo absolutely couldn't touch them in a short period of time.

Still, having another layer of security was always a good thing.

He lowered his head and glanced at the blueprints on the table, picked up his pen, and drew a new auxiliary line in the blank space on the final page.

The sound of the pen tip touching the paper was extremely faint, as though nothing had happened.

Little did he know that their conversation that night would have such a profound impact on the Federation.