Negotiations (2)

The Second Cub Eldest Cub were disgusted by their gazes and glared back fiercely.

Tao Qiu's expression was icy cold. To conceal his strange self-healing ability, he had bandaged his face and body, but this did not affect his extraordinary and arrogant aura.

"That person?" Tao Qiu scoffed before she could finish speaking, saying disdainfully, "Property? Distribution? Who do you think you are, daring to define and manipulate me and my child?"

Tao Qiu had been quiet from last night until just now, appearing weak and easily bullied. Three families? He never expected him to be so bluntly confrontational! He was so angry his face turned red.

The Bai Family representative retorted, "Just because you can transform into human form, you think you're human? You're nothing but a lowly beast! Do you even have the right to speak here?!"

Chapter 116 Negotiation (Part Two)

Lou Qing is the true head of the Lou Family, Lou Yu is his son, who will likely succeed him. Therefore, the Bai Family has long intended to form a marriage alliance with the Lou Family.

Unfortunately, Lou Yu was focused on his career at the time and was clueless about romance. In addition, he was somewhat resistant to the idea of arranged marriage, so he refused.

The Bai Family therefore harbored resentment towards Lou Yu, and later, when the Shen Family plotted against Lou Yu, they secretly contributed to the conflict.

Previously, when the Bai Family learned that Lou Yu had married a man, they secretly mocked him. Now, upon learning that Tao Qiu was a mutated monster, they felt even more strongly that Lou Yu had lost the Bai Family and gained Tao Qiu for nothing.

No matter how powerful the mutated monster is, in their eyes it's nothing more than a beast.

But when the Bai Family that Lou Yu would rather be with a beast than marry into the Bai Family, they felt that Lou Yu was deliberately humiliating them.

Therefore, when Tao Qiu, whom they looked down upon, challenged them, the Bai Family immediately reacted and was the first to rush out and attack.

The Bai Family representative's words were truly impolite. Not to mention those close to Tao Qiu, even the usually indifferent Lou Qing couldn't help but frown.

Lou Yu was the first to make a move. When the purple light in his hand rushed out, the Bai Family representative hadn't even closed his mouth after uttering the last word, and he hadn't even realized he was being attacked.

Fortunately, the Bai Family superhuman standing behind him pulled him aside in time. The purple light grazed his sleeve and slammed into the wall with a loud bang, instantly creating a large hole that exposed the concrete inside.

If this happened to a person, needless to say, they'd be meeting their maker in a second.

The Bai Family representative was so frightened that his face turned pale. If he hadn't been supported by someone, he would have collapsed to the ground with his legs giving way.

The representatives from the Shen Family and Zheng Family were also shocked, their eyes widening in disbelief. After regaining their composure slightly, they pointed at Lou Yu, their voices trembling, and said, "What do you mean? You don't want to negotiate and want to start a fight right away? Is that it?"

Upon hearing this, both sides' superpowered individuals immediately assumed attack stances, with those carrying guns raising them without hesitation and aiming at each other's vital points.

The Shen Family representative's face turned pale, then red. "Does your Yong'an Base want to compound your crimes?!"

On Lou Quan's side, the people in their seats, including the two children, remained seated steadily without moving.

Lou Qing placed his hands on the table in front of him, his tone calm but authoritative, and said, "I think you may have misunderstood something. You can judge whatever crimes my children have committed, but whether or not they should be punished, and how they should be punished, is not up to you."

The three representatives' expressions changed. "Lou Qing, what do you mean? You don't want us to be punished, so why did you invite us to this negotiation meeting today? Are we children playing house?"

The Shen Family representative glanced at the two children seated on the table and said sarcastically, "Two immature brats can sit at the negotiating table? What else could it be but playing house?"

Lou Qing ignored their sarcasm and calmly continued, "The reason you rushed to Yong'an Base in such a hurry, eager to punish my children and control the entire Yong'an Base, is ultimately because you want Tao Qiu and his special abilities, isn't it? Tao Qiu is our Lou Family's son-in-law. You should be the ones groveling and begging us for handouts, not behaving so aggressively."

The Bai Family representative sneered, "The Lou Family is truly remarkable. They can even accept a mutated monster as their son-in-law. Aren't they afraid of disgracing all of humanity?"

This time, Lou Qing didn't speak; instead, it was Tao Qiu, the monster himself, who responded.

"Judging from your words, you seem to despise mutated monsters. So high and mighty. I saw you eating breakfast this morning with an appetite better than the pigs raised at our base. Why didn't you remember then that the food in your bowls was made from crops grown by this lowly beast?"

"Although I haven't been at the Yong'an Base for long, I have some understanding of human culture. How would you describe your behavior in human terms? Right, 'wanting both ways,' pretending to be so righteous and principled, your skin is so thick that even a knife couldn't cut it."

"I may not be human, but you are truly beasts."

When insults were met with backlash, the expressions on the faces of the three representatives were not pleasant. Those who like to put on an act are most afraid of others tearing away their facade.

Finally recovering, the Zheng Family representative angrily exclaimed, "Tao Qiu, how dare you speak to us like that!"

Tao Qiu's expression was cold. "What's wrong with talking to you like this? You don't think I'm still sitting here because I'm afraid of you, do you? Let me be frank, if I want to leave, you can't stop me. You can kill me too, but given your greed, you probably wouldn't want to part with my special ability. After all, the crops I grow with my ability are of great use to you, aren't they?"

Tao Qiu had hit the nail on the head regarding the three families' true intentions. They had just rattled off so many accusations against the Yong'an Base and made so many insults against Tao Qiu, all in an attempt to intimidate them so they could do whatever they wanted.

But they never expected that they had miscalculated from the very beginning.

Looking at the varied expressions on the faces of the three representatives, Tao Qiu continued, "You may want to threaten me with the lives of the entire population of Yong'an Base, but you also said that I am a mutated monster, what do I care about the lives of humans? On the contrary, you are willing to kill innocent compatriots for your own selfish interests. If this news gets out, I wonder how others will view you."

The three parties initially thought they had the negotiation in the bag, but after Lou Qing and Tao Qiu finished speaking, they discovered that they had no usable bargaining chips left.

With the Lou Family Lou Qing brothers, because the Lou Family has the power to spread their actions.

They had to be extremely cautious in dealing with Tao Qiu.

Just as Tao Qiu said, they desperately needed the crops that Tao Qiu could grow using his special abilities. Not only did they not want to kill Tao Qiu, they actually had to protect him from harm.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the fact that the Lou Family also came.

If the reality is as the informants say—that they came alone without informing the Lou Family —then they believe they can control Tao Qiu if they capture someone close to him.

The three representatives' hatred for Lou Qing intensified.

The Bai Family representative said in a vicious tone, "So what exactly do you want to achieve by holding this negotiation meeting?"

Finally, they reached the crucial point, and a deep anger and murderous intent surfaced in Tao Qiu's pale green eyes.

The three representatives were startled by his gaze.

"My third daughter was taken away by a mutated monster. That mutated monster told me to go to the Central Base to find it. We've already captured several traitors who tipped you off and interrogated them. They said it was that mutated monster who sent them to contact you. I'd like to ask, which of your three families raised it, or is it related to all three of you?"

One night and one morning was enough to catch those traitors and interrogate them again. They were all cowardly and useless fools. Before anything serious even started, they cried and told the whole story of how they were commanded by that mutated monster.

The three representatives hadn't expected that this was the real topic of discussion at today's meeting. They were unaware that Tao Qiu's daughter had been arrested, and had just been wondering why one of the promised three children was missing.

There's no denying that they arrived at the Yong'an Base because someone tipped them off, but the three families are unwilling to admit to raising mutated monsters.

The Zheng Family representative said unhappily, "Who would associate with a lowly mutated monster? Putting aside whether what you're saying is true or not, even if it is, how can you be so sure that mutated monster was raised by our three families? Perhaps it's lying to you, or perhaps it's just hiding in the Central Base and no one is raising it at all?"

Tao Qiu immediately retorted, "That's really strange. A 'wild' mutated monster can actually contact the heads of your three families directly. Oh, so the contact information of the heads of your three families is so cheap that it can be found everywhere?"

That's impossible, of course. These powerful families have high self-esteem; how could just anyone have the contact information of the person in charge?

They couldn't refute Tao Qiu's reasoning, because the three representatives weren't the ones who actually received the call; they were just following orders and didn't know the real situation.

Even the representative from the Shen Family was kept in the dark. He wasn't part of the Shen Family's inner circle and had no idea about the existence of the Banyan Tree.

The Shen Family sent him, someone who was unaware of the situation, because they were afraid of something going wrong.

Therefore, his expression of shock was no different from that of the other two representatives, and he didn't seem to be lying.

Lou Quan and Lou Yu, carefully observing their micro-expressions, exchanged a glance and both gently shook their heads.

The Bai Family representative gritted his teeth and said, "We're here today to try Lou Quan, the commander-in-chief of the Yong'an Base, and to reclaim the assets of the Central Base. As for any mutated monsters, we don't know anything about them. Go find them yourselves if you're so capable."

"That's exactly what we've been waiting for," Tao Qiu said. "Of course we'll go look for it. I'm sitting here today to tell you that whatever you want, don't even think about targeting me and my child, and don't delay our trip to the Central Base to find that mutated monster. Otherwise, don't blame us for turning our backs on you."

The three families came to the Yong'an Base specifically for Tao Qiu; how could they possibly let him go unchecked?