Chapter 354: Dead End

"Damn it!"

Tianji roared, smashing his desk to splinters. His sharp claws left massive gouges all around him.

He simply couldn't fathom why Zhou Mo would step forward now.

From his perspective, Zhou Mo had absolutely no reason to show his face!

It was a glaring paradox.

If Zhou Mo truly was backing the Intellect Brain leader, he had no reason to make the man take the fall from the start, because Zhou Mo wasn't the real mastermind.

And if Zhou Mo wasn't backing the Intellect Brain leader, then just as Yaoguang said, the leader must have been coerced by the Law Enforcement Agency. But Zhou Mo was clearly being coerced by that black cat.

Therefore...

That cat and the Law Enforcement Agency were working together.

Yet he had read the cat's file—he belonged to the underground forces.

Soon, Tianji realized a deeper layer to all this.

Meaning... that cat had been pushed forward by the Law Enforcement Agency to be a scapegoat?

Exactly! That was the only possibility.

The Law Enforcement Agency wouldn't dare move against Zhou Mo so blatantly. Doing so would invite immense pressure and tangle them in a web of complex relationships, so they needed someone to take the fall.

Mao Si was that person.

"Damn it! How could a bunch of useless hacks have that much nerve?!"

Now that he had figured everything out, his anger surged straight to his head.

But he quickly forced himself to calm down.

"There's no need to do anything. Their move was a terrible one."

Yes. Using Happy Water to manipulate class conflict, inciting hatred between the bionic species and the animal species, and even endangering the higher-ups.

These weren't just petty offenses like Chen Xiaojing's.

Zhou Mo couldn't shoulder the blame for this. In the end, it would inevitably be shoved onto Zhou Technology.

And the Zhou Technology backing him would absolutely never accept that blame.

Otherwise, once the situation escalated, Zhou Technology would hemorrhage money and perhaps even be driven into a corner by their longtime competitors.

Therefore... Zhou Technology would quickly find a way to clear its name. And if no one was left to take the blame, the bitter conflict he had worked so hard to orchestrate would rage on!

Although things had taken a turn and the results weren't as perfect as he'd initially hoped, the seeds of hatred were already planted. His mission wasn't a failure.

At that thought, a low chuckle escaped his lips.

Despite all the twists and turns, he was still the ultimate winner!

"Heh... hehehe..."

His half-wolf body trembled uncontrollably as his low chuckles erupted into uproarious laughter.

Staring at Zhou Mo on the screen before him, he could almost see crimson flames spreading like wildfire across the entire country.

"The fires of war are here! The revolution has come!!"

He threw his hands into the air and roared, "Yuheng, are you seeing this?! I am the savior of this Heavenly Kingdom!!!"

"..."

"Keep expanding our influence. More blood will be spilled."

"Bloodshed is inevitable!!!"

"When has change ever come without blood?!"

"But they were forced into it!"

"They weren't prepared! Most of them don't even understand what's happening!! They're sacrifices!!!"

"Bang!"

"..."

What the hell.

Tianji's expression froze.

Where was that voice coming from?

Trembling, he turned his head, staring in disbelief at the holographic projection in front of him.

On the screen, his conversation with Yaoguang on the rooftop was being broadcast with crystal clarity for all to see.

And...

It wasn't over yet.

"Heh, what a pity. You were still too slow."

"Begin."

"We need war!!!"

...

Those were... the exact words he'd spoken just minutes ago?!!

How was that possible?!

How could this be possible!!

He whipped his head around in panic, weird energy surging around his body as a crushing sense of dread forced him into motion. Like a madman, he began frantically tearing through the room in search of a hidden camera.

"Impossible... this is impossible..."

His massive claws tore through the space, sending items and debris flying into the air.

This was a private office he had purchased a long time ago. He had set up over a hundred hideouts just like it. How could anyone have possibly planted a camera here in advance?

Suddenly, he froze. His blank stare fixed onto a corner of the room where a mobile phone sat resting quietly.

An utterly ordinary phone. He had no idea when it had been placed there, nor how long it had been recording.

He extended a claw and snatched up the device, which was barely the size of a human palm.

Clunky devices like this had long been rendered obsolete in the Peace Heavenly Kingdom thanks to the Information Component.

But as he shakily turned the phone over, he saw a relentless flood of live comments flying across the screen.

"Holy shit! A live stream! This is insane, there's no way this is scripted!!!"

"So Tianji orchestrated all of this?! I... my brain is spinning... what does this even mean..."

"The leader of Intellect Brain stepped up to clear his name, Zhou Mo stepped up to clear his name, and now you're telling me it was the Seven Stars all along!"

"Finally squeezed in, make some room..."

"Damn the Seven Stars! My mother died because of this!!!"

"Fuck, he's lost his mind!! He's completely insane!!!"

"Damn it, Tianji is a bionic species himself! It's nothing like what they reported on TV!!"

"..."

Tianji's hand trembled violently, and the phone slipped from his grasp, clattering to the floor.

Horrified, he clutched his snow-white, wolf-like head with both hands.

How was this possible...

How could there be a phone here!!!

The Information Component on his wrist vibrated frantically, but he couldn't muster a shred of courage to answer it.

His mind was already flashing through all the horrific consequences.

Every breath he took felt like needles piercing his nerves.

The Seven Stars were finished. No, to be precise, he was finished.

What would the others think of him? Would the Seven Stars expel him? ...Everything was exposed now!!! Exposed to the entire world!!! Now, the absolute best outcome for everyone else would be to dump all the blame squarely onto his shoulders.

"Tianji, Tianshu ordered you to stay exactly where you are—"

Before Yuheng could even finish speaking through the earpiece, Tianji viciously crushed it into dust.

Panic flashed in his eyes. Without a second thought, he bolted toward the door and burst out of the room.

He sprinted madly down the stairs.

He had to run!

He had to escape the Peace Heavenly Kingdom!

Once he was caught, absolutely no one would be able to protect him!

The Seven Stars would kill him to prove their impartiality. The Law Enforcement Agency would arrest him to prove their competence. The financial conglomerates would hunt him down to clear their own names...

It was safe to say that right now, he was a massive prize!

Whoever found him first would absolutely guarantee his death!!

But just as he was halfway down the stairwell, he suddenly heard a sound drifting up from below:

It sounded like someone whistling. They whistled for a bit, then hummed a tune.

"Looking, looking, looking for a friend..."

"Found a good friend."

His eyes widened, and his body locked up in place.

A few seconds later, a human silhouette appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Tianji."

Yan Jing smiled faintly. Plumes of black smoke billowed around him and his eyes glowed a menacing scarlet as winged tentacles sprouted from his flesh:

"I need to finish this quickly. You're quite the prize right now."