Chapter 90: Covenantor (XIII)

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Chapter 90: Covenantor (XIII)

Shang Ke officially took control of the Yue Family’s businesses. After the family had suffered one blow after another, no one dared challenge him for control anymore.

Lu Xiufan had originally prepared to shield him from opposition and do everything possible to help clean up the Yue Family’s businesses, but Shang Ke’s first move once again exceeded his expectations. The first thing he did after taking charge was hire a large number of Covenantors.

Shang Ke had already spent considerable time gathering information, particularly about Covenantors. They lacked emotions, but they were highly principled, faithful to their contracts, efficient, and free of selfish motives. Naturally, their abilities varied, as did their specialties. Every Covenantor in Shang Ke’s first group of hires was rated at least two stars, possessed a solid foundation of general knowledge, and could competently handle work that did not require extensive specialization.

The Yue Family was currently in chaos, morale was unstable, and few people were willing to assist Shang Ke. So he simply put Covenantors to work across the board, roughly sorted through the family’s businesses, then began reorganizing them piece by piece according to priority.

He did not care in the slightest about other people’s criticism or their petty attempts to obey him in public while undermining him in private. For anyone who refused to follow orders, he had only one word: “Leave.” He discarded burdensome businesses without hesitation, restructured the family’s holdings, and concentrated resources on matters that actually mattered.

The Covenantors he employed became his most reliable and effective executors. No one was more devoted to their duties, and no one applied rewards and punishments more impartially. This uncompromising style inevitably offended people who wanted to exploit loopholes or take shortcuts, but those who were genuinely capable and hardworking supported it instead. The Covenantors created a straightforward, relatively free working environment: as long as employees completed their tasks on time, they did not interfere over irrelevant details. Exceptional performance was rewarded generously.

This approach caused the Yue Family’s already diminished assets to shrink by another twenty percent in a short period of time, terrifying the other family members. Yet none of them dared openly oppose him, because Shang Ke, as a Covenantor, had absolutely no interest in listening to their complaints.

The way he handled the family’s affairs was like surgically removing tumors: every cut was swift and decisive, without concern for the short-term pain. As far as Shang Ke was concerned, even if the Yue Family ended up with only a single company left, his mission would remain unaffected. That allowed him to do what others did not dare to do—and to do it exceedingly well.

Hiring so many Covenantors at once and placing all of them in important positions caused a sensation throughout the entire Empire. Even Lu Xiufan was taken aback.

Just as everyone waited to see this Covenantor destroy the Yue Family completely, he gradually reversed its decline. Chaos became stability, losses turned into profit, and the family moved step by step back onto the right track. Before long, people began noticing the Covenantors’ exceptional working abilities. They had a strong sense of time, never arrived late or left early, and even when their individual abilities were lacking, they studied diligently and adjusted their learning and professional goals according to their employer’s needs. They did not embezzle funds, accept bribes, show favoritism, complain, or hold grudges. They enforced rules strictly and acted fairly.

People constantly compared Covenantors to robots, yet no one had ever truly recognized the value of those so-called “robots.” Over the past several centuries, no one knew how many exceptionally capable Covenantors had been treated like slaves, their already brief lives wasted away.

“Sir.” The prison guard immediately saluted when Lu Xiufan arrived.

Lu Xiufan ignored him and looked through the glass window at Lady Chang and Yue Xuan inside the isolation chamber.

The two had been confined there for more than half a month without being interrogated or punished. During the first few days, they had shouted constantly; now they merely looked haggard and vacant.

“Begin,” Lu Xiufan ordered the two doctors behind him.

The doctors acknowledged the order and entered the isolation chamber with several assistants.

“What are you trying to do?” When Lady Chang saw the group enter and begin dragging her son away, she immediately rushed forward and clung to Yue Xuan.

“We’re only giving your son a health examination,” one doctor replied expressionlessly.

“My son is perfectly healthy. He doesn’t need an examination.”

“Is that so?” the other doctor said. “According to our observations, your son appears to have contracted some sort of virus and urgently requires treatment.”

Lady Chang seemed to realize what was happening. Her face went deathly pale. “No! There’s nothing wrong with my son! Let him go!”

“Mother, save me!” Yue Xuan panicked as well, struggling desperately.

“Move. Don’t interfere with our work.” Several powerfully built men ignored their cries, pushed Lady Chang aside, and dragged Yue Xuan out.

“I am the matriarch of the Yue Family! Even if I’m guilty, I should be judged according to proper legal procedure. You have no right to punish us privately!” Lady Chang had completely lost her former composure as she pounded on the already closed metal door.

“Mother! Mother—!” Yue Xuan’s cries gradually receded until they disappeared entirely.

Lady Chang slid weakly to the floor and slumped against the metal door, head lowered and hair disheveled, bitter hatred burning in her eyes…

In an operating room, Yue Xuan was strapped to the surgical table beneath a blinding white light. When he saw a familiar piece of equipment nearby, his eyes filled with boundless terror. It was the same kind of equipment that had turned Yue Ze into a Covenantor.

Finally realizing what was about to happen to him, Yue Xuan let out a desperate scream…

Although Shang Ke had been busy handling Yue Family affairs, he still returned to Lu Xiufan’s mansion every day to report on his progress—and conveniently fulfill his three contractual companionship duties.

Lu Xiufan was equally busy, but he returned on time every day to hear Shang Ke’s report—and conveniently exercise his corresponding three companionship privileges.

The two worked together in perfect harmony, and in certain respects, their compatibility had reached an exceptionally intimate level.

Life had become so harmonious that Shang Ke nearly forgot his mission still required him to die heroically. Just as he began worrying about how he was supposed to spectacularly court death, danger arrived without warning.

Shang Ke left the office building with two newly hired Covenantors and headed toward the parking area.

These two Covenantors were among the few technically skilled people he had discovered recently. He planned to assign them to the Yue Family’s technology development team.

Shang Ke drove them toward the Technology Park, while two security vehicles followed behind. These were bodyguards Lu Xiufan had assigned to protect him every day.

Halfway there, Shang Ke suddenly heard an electronic alert. The car switched from automatic to manual control and immediately began accelerating.

Alarmed, Shang Ke immediately took control of the steering to keep the vehicle from leaving its lane or striking an obstacle. But apart from steering, every other control had become unresponsive, and the car continued gaining speed.

Someone had clearly tampered with his car!

Watching the scenery streak past outside, Shang Ke’s pupils contracted. Relying on his exceptional driving skills, he calmly kept the vehicle under control at extreme speed.

“Young Master Ze, what happened?” one of the guards asked through the communicator. They had noticed Shang Ke’s sudden acceleration and immediately realized something was wrong.

“The car is out of control,” Shang Ke replied simply.

The moment he finished speaking, static burst through the communicator before it went completely dead.

Communications had been cut off, and the escort vehicles behind him soon disappeared from sight.

The car had already reached its maximum speed. Like a flickering shadow, it hurtled through the buildings at a deadly pace.

If he were alone, Shang Ke would not have been particularly afraid. But two Covenantors were still sitting in the back. They clutched their seat belts, staring straight ahead without a trace of panic as their bodies rocked from side to side with the violently shaking vehicle. They looked almost like two dolls.

No matter what happened, he had to keep them alive.

Shang Ke checked the vehicle’s energy reserves and discovered that only three percent had been consumed. The car had just undergone maintenance that day and had been fully recharged. Most likely, that was when it had been tampered with.

At the current rate of energy consumption, the vehicle could continue like this for another thirty-six hours! Even if he did not make a single mistake, there was no way he could survive driving at this speed for the entire duration.

Shang Ke steered toward the sparsely populated outskirts, where the terrain was more open, while rapidly searching for a solution.

At this speed, simply jumping from the car was impossible.

Then was there some way to increase the rate of energy consumption?

Shang Ke switched on every energy-consuming system in the vehicle—lights, music, air-conditioning… but the additional drain was negligible.

Shang Ke remained intensely focused, cold sweat continually beading across his forehead. After driving at this speed for forty straight minutes, his body was already beginning to fail and dizziness was setting in. At this rate, forget thirty-six hours—he might not even last three.

Only professional racers with full protective equipment would dare push a hovercar to its maximum speed, and even they could not sustain it for more than five hours without suffering physical harm.

The hovercar shot out of the city and into the relatively open countryside.

Shang Ke’s eyelashes trembled faintly as sweat ran into his eyes, but he did not dare allow himself to lose focus.

Everything around them was silent except for the piercing shriek of air tearing across the vehicle. The two Covenantors in the back now had pale lips, were drenched in cold sweat, and had begun developing involuntary facial spasms. One of them was even bleeding from the nose.

Shang Ke’s blood pressure was also climbing relentlessly. It felt as though his blood vessels were about to burst, while waves of pain spread throughout his body.

He checked the energy level again.

Ninety percent remained.

Shang Ke wailed inwardly. Never had he imagined that having too much energy could be this infuriating!

The car moved unbelievably fast, while time seemed to pass unbearably slowly.

After an unknown amount of time, blood began leaking from Shang Ke’s ears and nose as well. Sweat stung his eyes, sharp pain pulsed through them, and his vision gradually blurred.

No! I have to find a way to save us!

At that moment, the landscape suddenly opened up and a vast lake appeared ahead.

A lake!

Shang Ke’s eyes brightened as an idea occurred to him.

He drove the hovercar repeatedly around the lake, calculating the necessary height and position before calling to the two Covenantors behind him, “Jill, Yun Ling, listen for my command. When I tell you to jump, jump.”

As he spoke, Shang Ke unlocked the right-side door and tilted the vehicle. Using his extraordinary driving skill, he gradually lowered their altitude without reducing speed.

“Now! Jill, jump!” Shang Ke shouted.

The Covenantor named Jill did not hesitate. Jill shoved the door open and leapt, carving a white trail across the surface before plunging into the lake with a loud splash.

A moment later, Jill resurfaced. Shang Ke breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to repeat the maneuver to get Yun Ling out as well.

But when Shang Ke looked through the rearview mirror, he discovered that Yun Ling had already fallen into a semiconscious state and was no longer responding to his calls…

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