Closing the net
As night fell, Baker Manor was completely silent.
In the pitch black, a figure pushed open the door and walked around the porch.
Milo, standing in the shadows, slightly turned to block the other person's path: "Where are you going so late?"
"You scared me to death." The man gasped, then chuckled briefly. He turned around, and a handsome face slowly emerged from the night, like a night-blooming cereus slowly unfolding.
Aoi took a deep breath and said with a smile, "I thought it was a ghost."
Milo smiled. "You believe in ghosts?"
"Hmm... I don't really believe it, but I'm still a little scared." Aoi lowered his eyes and looked at Milo's hand. "Is your hand injury serious?"
The corridor lights flickered, and Aoi's round brown eyes suddenly reminded Milo of Yuuma's face. Actually, they didn't resemble each other; Yuuma was more shy and reserved. But this fleeting moment of déjà vu made Milo forget about the comparisons. For a moment, he couldn't even resist the emotions welling up from the depths of his heart; this feeling gripped his heart, preventing him from saying anything harsh to that face.
“Aoi Tai”.
"What's wrong? I just wanted to get some fresh air. You can't arrest me for this? Besides, we're guests, and you're not the host. It's unreasonable for you to question me, isn't it?"
“You knew all along, didn’t you?” Milo glanced at the seemingly harmless face of the man in front of him, ignoring his shamelessness. “When you were changing into your winter clothes on the ice field, your expression already betrayed you. You knew all along that it wasn’t normal for those people to give me that orange windbreaker.”
"Expression? What kind of expression?" Aoi touched his face. "Do I have the kind of expression you're talking about?"
“I know you approached Glenn to use him. But I have no intention of interfering in your relationship with him, or your feud with the Baker family or anything like that. I have no interest in where you’re going tonight or what you’re planning to do. I just want to know how much you were involved in this attack?”
Aoi was silent for a moment, then tilted his head and asked with a smile, "So, you're planning to get rid of me?"
"I'm still waiting for your answer."
Aoi Tai's smile stiffened slightly: "Okay, believe it or not, I didn't mean to hurt you. I knew nothing about the moose attack. About two weeks ago, Glenn asked me to arrange a game trip at Surrey National Park. I thought he just wanted me to go with him. You know, back then I didn't know he wasn't the real Joshua. Whatever he wanted to do, I had to find a way to please him. Actually, I really hate the temperature here, and I hate skiing even more."
As he spoke, Aoi sighed, "I never imagined he would come up with such a way to hurt you. To be honest, it's incredibly foolish, isn't it? But he's also ruthless enough. If we both died, it would seem more like an accident. In the face of such immense wealth, humanity is the most vulnerable to temptation."
Before even asking the question, Milo already had the answer in his heart; his belief or disbelief didn't change because of this confession. If Aoi Tai really had the ability to kill him, he wouldn't have been foolish enough to come and confront him alone tonight. In the end, the person in front of him was just a teenager, clueless, and thought he could show off his skills in the playground.
“I believe you. But there’s one thing I need to know your answer to.” Milo changed the subject. “Do you know Glenn is using drugs?”
Aoi's expression froze, clearly somewhat surprised.
"Katongye, something from the south, is prevalent in Tengbang. It's not very profitable, and its purity isn't high; it's not a common drug here."
"You suspect I was the one who smuggled the poison for him?" A look of disgust flashed across Aoi's face. "Of course I didn't do such a thing!"
Milo didn't miss that expression. That was enough. He had achieved his goal for tonight. By cutting off the connection with Kui Tai, there must be other secrets behind Glenn's drug use. Just as Blaise said, it would indeed take some effort to investigate Glenn's killing of him thoroughly.
"Wait, I know what you're planning. Glenn has really crossed you, and you're going to deal with him, right?" Aoi stepped forward. "Perhaps I can help you."
Milo didn't say anything.
“If you want to get rid of his position, you can go to the Akda Freeport warehouse. As far as I know, Glenn has ordered a shipment from Tengbang under the name of Green Contracts.”
Why are you telling me this?
"Just like why you chose to ask me first, instead of treating me as Glenn's accomplice. Is it possible that I actually quite like you? When you look at me, there's a secret hidden in your eyes. That's probably why I'm willing to help you."
Milo stared silently at Aoi.
Aoi didn't say anything more offensive, and took a step back with great tact: "Well then, goodnight, dear Mr. Joshua."
*
The snow stopped the next day, and Green Company arranged a private plane to pick them up. The plane took off smoothly and arrived at Akda Airport from Sule in about five hours.
In the skyscrapers of the central business district, the titanium alloy doors of Green Contract headquarters slid open silently. Inside the lobby, several R&D engineers in white lab coats stood at attention, their hands clasped in a gesture of respect. Executives bowed in greeting, their eyes following the mysterious guest who had arrived from the southern region.
Milo's gaze swept across the crowd, landing on the icon at the top center.
Against a glacial gray background, flowing green lines outline a minimalist new seedling, with leaf lines gradually thinning and being reassembled time and again under the fluctuations of data flow.
Green Pact is a newly sprouted bud that has just broken through the soil.
The logo of the Fog Forest Medical Association is a frost tree, densely layered and aged over many years.
Milo suddenly felt a slight white light before his eyes, and his heart began to race. He forced himself to look away and smiled at the group of people in front of him again.
The drug Gary gave him was indeed potent enough to allow him to sleep through the night while keeping him alert, but he couldn't handle the occasional heart palpitations.
Glenn enthusiastically introduced, "Ladies and gentlemen, today I want to announce something important. Green Deeds was actually founded by me and another gentleman. Standing before you now is Joshua Green. Yes, we not only share the same name, but he was also my classmate in Lanman, and more importantly, my best friend. Of course, you can also call him Milo, right?" As he spoke, Glenn smiled at Milo.
Milo nodded, which was taken as tacit approval.
"Next, Milo will be in charge of reviewing all of Green Contract's data documents. Please cooperate fully, as this is to prepare for Green Contract's better development in Lanman. Now, please give Milo a warm round of applause."
A round of applause erupted, and Milo gave a token smile.
As the group walked toward the company's office area, Glenn, walking beside Milo, suddenly spoke up again: "I think I should apologize to you again for what happened yesterday. I'm sorry, Milo, I really shouldn't have done that."
Milo replied, "Go ahead and get busy. Don't you have a lot planned for today?"
Glenn initially agreed, but it took him a while to realize how Milo knew his itinerary. A moment of surprise and doubt washed over him, but he quickly composed himself and asked uneasily, "Didn't those two come with you?"
“That’s what I wanted to ask you too,” Milo smiled. “Didn’t you say you’d handle these two people well?”
"Of course, of course," Glenn chuckled dryly, then said nothing more.
In the large, enclosed conference room, Milo stood in front of the projector, intently watching the report on the screen scroll by frame by frame.
Gary, sitting below, spoke first: "Is the information that Kui Tai gave reliable? I heard that Blaise went to Akda Free Port first. Where did he get the information? Could it be that Kui Tai is trying to double-cross them by selling the information to them as well?"
Without turning his head, Milo replied, "He didn't sell them; I leaked them to them."
"Why?" Gary asked, somewhat surprised.
“These two were originally here to discuss cooperation with Glenn. As things stand, I guess Glenn has only extended an olive branch. As for whether he will accept it or not, that old fox Sigon is definitely hesitant. Blaise and his group are here to pave the way for him. In that case, let them go. Dealing with customs is a troublesome matter, and we don’t need to take that risk ourselves.”
Gary was somewhat alarmed. He had initially assumed Blaise and Milo were on the same side. Back in Wudong Port, Blaise had transferred all his shares in the Liddell Group to Miles, which must have been a setup for Milo. Because of this, although Gary had sided with Milo, he remained uneasy. He always felt that men shouldn't have physical relationships; once they did, the risk of things going wrong was much greater.
But now, looking at it again, Gary thought he might be wrong. This was a tough character that even Miles couldn't win over with either persuasion or coercion. Even if Blaze was willing to go to such lengths for Milo, it was ultimately just Blaze's wishful thinking.
Being ruthless and money-oriented is a good quality for accomplishing great things.
He underestimated Milo.
Gary thought to himself, but his hands didn't stop flipping through the documents: "Myers' company is planning to launch a new drug soon, and if I'm not mistaken, he's using this to lure Glenn."
Milo replied, "I know." Then, he tapped the screen with his finger, "There's movement over there."
Akda Freeport Warehouse Monitoring Room.
Blaise surveyed the area, the miniature camera embedded in his hearing aid flickering slightly, connecting to the World Trade Center office building hundreds of miles away.
Blaise stopped in front of a shipping container and made a gesture.
Nonai then stepped forward and asked on Blaise's behalf, "Is the temperature data on here newly measured?"
After receiving an affirmative answer from the worker, Blaise did not say anything further.
The large screen in the conference room displayed live footage of refrigerated containers.
Looking at the images on the screen, Gary frowned as he flipped through the data in his hand: "These data don't match up. Glenn's people must have tampered with the temperature records, most likely to cover up the fluctuations in bioalkali activity."
Milo typed on the keyboard to bring up the freight map and said, "This batch of goods is just a test. He has three more batches of goods that were directly mixed into Tengbang's rubber production line. Those are the things he really wants to bring in."
Gary was shocked: "He's insane! How dare he use a drug lord's ship to bypass customs?"
Milo, however, showed little emotional reaction: "The drug lord's ship is much safer than his own."
“The person who gave him this idea is very good at exploiting human greed, has connections everywhere, and can get in touch with Tengbang’s informants.” Milo turned to Gary, “Now, do you still think of Miles as just a simple businessman?”
Gary was taken aback, and hesitated before speaking: "Are we just going to let him ship the goods in like that? If this gets out, the company's reputation will definitely be damaged."
Milo calmly said, "They can't get them in. The Tengbang Navy might intercept intelligence and seize those boxes of medical equipment. By the time Glenn is busy putting out the fire, our report should be sent to the arbitration tribunal."
Gary suddenly realized: "You're planning to use this incident to bring Glenn to justice through legal arbitration and armed intervention?" As he spoke, a chill ran down Gary's spine. "Wouldn't that be too ruthless?"
Even a rabbit will bite when cornered. Milo's drastic move gave Glenn no chance to breathe; it wasn't just a power grab, it was a matter of life and death. If implemented, Glenn would certainly be sentenced under Frosttravin law. Even if he survived, he would face decades in prison, and the drug lords in the south would seek revenge.
Milo looked up: "Are you standing up for him?"
“No, not at all.” Gary hadn’t expected that someone his age could be so intimidated by this young man. He immediately came up with an excuse, “But you can understand why he wanted to cause an accident to kill you.”
Milo suddenly laughed: "You think I'm getting revenge on him?"
“Gary, you should know that I’m using a combination of enticement and coercion to get you to work for me. If you can’t take it anymore and feel humiliated, you can stab me with a knife one day, and I’ll actually think you have guts. But if you try to betray me or go off on a sham with Miles, guess what I’ll do to you?” Milo raised an eyebrow. “I know all too well how dangerous these kinds of people are, because that’s how I climbed up myself.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Gary felt a chill run down his spine, stopped talking, and fell into a long silence.
“I know you didn’t mean that.” Milo stood up. “Alright, it’s time to wrap things up.”
Gary instinctively stood up as well. The conference room door slid open silently, letting in the light from the corridor outside. Milo walked out.
Gary stood still, his gaze sweeping across the empty conference room before finally settling on the frozen surveillance footage.
Blaise was gesturing to the sign on the container, while Nonai took notes.
The scene was cold and distant. Gary's throat bobbed, and only a belated chill crept up his spine.
*
World Trade Center office building, private meeting room.
The heavy soundproof door was pushed open from the outside by two security guards in dark uniforms with stern expressions. The room was even darker than the conference room, with only a single focused spotlight shining in the center.
Glenn was roughly shoved in, staggering, his face still showing shock, anger, and a trace of bewilderment that had not yet completely dissipated, as if he had been suddenly dragged from the clouds into the abyss.
Just minutes before, he was in his luxurious office dreaming of the huge profits that would come from a successful collaboration with Miles, and the next second he was presented with a temporary restraining order and "invited" here.
Glenn abruptly broke free from the restraints of the security personnel behind him, trying to maintain the last shred of dignity, and roared, "Milo! What are you doing? This is illegal detention! I want to see my lawyer!"
Before he finished speaking, Milo emerged from the shadows where the spotlights couldn't reach. He ignored Glenn's roar and instead walked to a small control panel on the other side of the room, tapping lightly with his fingertips.
The screen embedded in the wall lit up, splitting into several images: one was a screen showing abnormally high container temperature data just transmitted from Blaise Port in Akda; another was a screenshot of a brief news flash released by the Tengbang Navy, showing the seized containers bearing the Glenn Company logo; and the last was the cover of a component analysis report issued by the laboratory.
Milo turned around and threw the file folder in his hand onto the coffee table in front of Glenn: "A lawyer? I'm afraid he needs to explain these things to you first."
Glenn's gaze swept across the screen, his pupils suddenly contracted, and the color drained from his face instantly.
Milo leaned closer, his shadow almost enveloping Glenn: "This test result is crystal clear. The medical equipment you transported was full of Celestial Tear bioalkaloids, exactly the same as the patented ingredients of the painkiller that Miles recently invested in. You can't deny the irrefutable evidence of abusing your power by bypassing the company's board of directors."
Milo tapped the screen with his fingertip on a screenshot of news about the Tengbang Navy: "What's worse is that the Tengbang government forces just seized your batch of raw materials. Colluding with illegal armed groups and smuggling contraband are enough charges to keep you in jail for life."
"You can't do this!" Glenn's fear finally overwhelmed his anger, and his voice became shrill. "I risked everything to start this company for you! Without my connections, could you have established yourself so quickly? Now you want to kick me aside? What right do you have to treat me like this!" He tried to lunge forward and grab Milo's collar, but the security personnel behind him held his shoulders firmly.
“Because you already planned to kill me before I even got here.” Milo’s voice pierced Glenn’s ears clearly. “Perhaps Miles gave you some signals, and you were indeed instigated by him to do this, but a month ago, before you went to Lanman, you had already begun arranging the show at Sule National Park. So, how much do you want me dead?”
“I’m the one who shouldn’t understand.” Milo crouched down, his gaze level with Glenn, who was bent over due to being suppressed.
This posture should have made him appear weak, but Milo did it with a condescending, scrutinizing air: "I allow you to leech off me, to enjoy money, fame, and status—all things I can't have. And yet you still dare to betray me?"
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