Chapter 32 Loyalty, Acting, Guaranteed to Satisfy You [Bonus Chapter for National Day...]
Looking directly at Fu Ze, who was staring straight at him, Rhinoceros Horn pronounced a name clearly and distinctly: "Bogdan".
His pronunciation was so standard that it almost lacked a human touch.
He shifted slightly upwards, his horn now at a higher position, looking down at Fu Ze with a condescending gaze. "With that badge on, he really does have the air of an executive officer."
After disguising himself, Fu Ze was not wearing the executive officer's badge at this time, so it was clear that Rhinoceros Horn was referring to what happened at the restaurant yesterday.
Although he was convinced that Rhinoceros Horn wouldn't easily lay a hand on him, given this man's track record of repeatedly "kidnapping" numerous plainclothes officers and refusing to release them even now, knowing that the Adjudication Bureau had launched a large-scale search, Fu Ze didn't want to risk provoking him further.
However, given his position as a high-ranking executive of the Rhinoceros Horn Kangming Group, it would be more important and direct for him to question himself about why he abandoned all his previous efforts and returned to L City. Why did he choose his position as an executive officer as the starting point?
Although the answer to this question is unclear at the moment, it does not prevent Fu Ze from giving a flawless response with ease.
“Of course not.” He shrugged lightly. “It’s just a cheap dog leash. You can find as many as you want in any of those sex shops on the street.”
Since the communicator has already been taken, no matter how much nonsense he spouts, Harami Hoshi won't find out.
Upon realizing this, Fu Ze suddenly felt a sense of relief.
When he was with Yuan Jianxing, who was overly perceptive, he would always circle a word twice on the tip of his tongue before speaking to ensure its "authenticity".
Without this procedure, Fu Ze felt as light as a swallow, as free as an athlete who had removed sandbags from his calves.
Rhinoceros Horn remained cautious. "Then why did you meddle in other people's business yesterday?"
This could be considered his indirect admission that he was the mastermind behind the restaurant bombing.
Fu Ze answered directly: "My direct superior gave the order, how could I disobey? Otherwise, it would be such a waste to just throw away all the money the group spent on creating this clean identity."
Unexpectedly, the other party mentioned Kangming Group first. Rhinoceros Horn paused for a moment, then snorted coldly: "Since you know that, why did you return to L City without permission?"
This issue arose faster than Fu Ze had anticipated, forcing him to jump straight into the main event of this "meeting" without any prior preparation.
Recalling the person's "teleportation" yesterday and the "flash" he had just witnessed, he tentatively began, "It concerns the [key]..."
However, before Fu Ze could continue, Xi Jiao's brows furrowed suddenly, and he lifted his leg, hooked Fu Ze's neck, and slammed his head to the ground, silencing the unfinished words in his throat.
"Didn't their executive task force teach you to be careful with your words and actions?" Rhinoceros Horn threateningly ground his heel against the back of Fu Ze's neck a few times, causing the bones there to vibrate slightly. "Even if they didn't, is Deer Ears so negligent as to fail in their duty?"
The blood supply to his neck was mostly blocked by the rhinoceros horn, and Fu Ze felt his brain suddenly start to feel dizzy and swollen.
But he had to use his remaining rationality to methodically advance his plan.
"But I'm more worried about not having the opportunity to speak than about being cautious in my words."
"I had heard about the taboo, and I tried my best to avoid learning about it. But as soon as Wan Chuanqiu saw me, he told me everything he knew in an attempt to drag me down with him. Am I just supposed to accept this?"
Fu Ze's voice sounded somewhat bitter.
"I've spent so much time and endured so much hardship. My hands are calloused from the gun, and I have old wounds all over my body. I don't want to and can't stop here because of these external factors."
“External factors?” Rhinoceros Horn chuckled. “But your words of loyalty at the gate of Yuanjianxing sounded quite heartfelt.”
loyalty.
Fu Ze noticed this word immediately, which carried a strong sense of personal judgment.
Considering Snake Eyes' description in his memories of Rhinoceros Horn handling even simple tasks like delivering things himself, and then connecting this to his earlier questioning of Deer Ears' "negligence"...
Fu Ze roughly sketched out the image of Rhinoceros Horn—a high-level manager who rose through the ranks from a top-notch enforcer, who tries to do everything personally to increase his influence, and who has an extremely high regard for "loyalty".
Then it becomes obvious how to cater to the preferences of such people.
“What you say isn’t important; what you do is,” Fu Ze said seriously. “Otherwise, couples who made vows of eternal love during their passionate romance should have stayed together, instead of parting ways after conflicts arose.”
Upon hearing this metaphor, the rhinoceros horn seemed to become interested.
He moved his foot away from Fu Ze's neck, placed his heel on the ground, and used the tip of his shoe to lift Fu Ze's chin, pressing further: "So what's going on between you and that former CEO? Are you in the honeymoon phase after just taking the 'CEO oath'?"
"Just playing along." Fu Ze smiled lightly.
The corner of his mouth, which had just been bruised, was constantly being pulled while he was talking, and the originally minor wound gradually widened, along with a lot of salty and fishy-tasting blood seeping out.
His body was already beautiful, and the blood stained his lips bright red, making him look like a woman with a golden ambition in an old movie.
"Of course, you may have doubts. If I was just playing along with him, would I be doing the same for you?"
Fu Ze blinked slowly, accepting the scrutiny of the rhinoceros horn like the most docile little beast.
"That's why I came."
A cunning and shrewd glint suddenly flashed in the little beast's eyes.
"After all, nothing proves sincerity better than walking into a trap."
"You're Snake Eyes' friend, so you should understand this point quite well, right?"
After saying this, Fu Ze immediately began to closely observe the rhinoceros horn's reaction.
Success or failure hinges on this!
After a long silence, Rhinoceros Horn pulled his foot away from Fu Ze's chin and stomped heavily on the ground.
“You’re so far away, yet you know so much. Lu Er really treats you like his own son.”
Fu Ze secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He made the right bet.
However, this is the second time that Rhinoceros Horn has mentioned Deer Ears in the conversation.
It's unclear whether they intended to use this person to intimidate Bogdan or to blackmail him.
But that's a story for later. After all, the person standing in front of the rhinoceros horn at this moment is Fu Ze, who is wearing Bogdan's body. And whatever the past between this deer-eared man and Bogdan may be, it has nothing to do with Fu Ze.
For Fu Ze, the only thing he needed to be concerned about was staying as far away as possible from Deer Ear, who knew a lot about Bogdan, to avoid being exposed on the spot.
Putting aside these distant concerns, after the exchange just now, Fu Ze tentatively believes that he has temporarily gained Xijiao's trust.
He must strike while the iron is hot and reinforce the image in the other party's mind that he is genuinely thinking about the interests of the Kangming Group.
“If you have the will, there really are no secrets in this world.” Fu Ze tilted his head slightly, as if to show weakness, and deliberately revealed his slender neck with faint blue veins. “If you are willing, even things that are not secrets can become secrets.”
Rhinoceros Horn looked at Fu Ze with great interest: "I've always heard that Bogdan is a man of few words and a cold nature, but I never expected that he would be so eloquent in person."
"Seeing is believing, and it's normal for a person's personality to change after experiencing a shock that almost overturns their worldview." Fu Ze licked the blood off his lips. "Also, you'd better get used to calling me—Fu Ze."
"Call me whatever you want." Rhinoceros Horn leaned back indifferently. "The key question is, what are you doing? And what do you want to do?"
At this point, we finally entered the real exchange and cooperation phase.
“My return to L City with Yuan Jianxing was indeed partly due to chance.” Fu Ze sat up on his heels and spoke to Xijiao as if giving a work report, “but more than that, it was my subjective disbelief that the Tribunal would punish him like that.”
"Let's set aside the fact that he doesn't really bear any real responsibility for the events at the transfer hub and the Fengyue Building. Even if he does, it's nothing compared to what he did and the results he achieved before."
Rhinoceros Horn narrowed his eyes. "You seem to... have a very high opinion of him."
"It's just being realistic," Fu Ze admitted very readily. "Strategically, we despise our opponents, but tactically, we take them seriously."
Rhinoceros Horn grunted, signaling Fu Ze to continue.
"Then why is this time different?" Fu Ze seemed to be deep in thought. "It can't be that he fell in love with that little internet celebrity at first sight and wanted to get revenge for her, can it?"
Perhaps seeing that Xijiao's attitude had softened, one of the armed men around them became bolder and suddenly expressed his opinion on Fu Ze's remarks: "That's not necessarily true!"
Another person agreed, saying, "Exactly! I felt completely smitten when I saw that pink hair being blown by the wind in that video. Yuan Jianxing must have been smitten with that person standing so close!"
Fu Ze: ...
First of all, my hair at the time was orange with white highlights, which had absolutely nothing to do with pink.
Secondly, how come you know so much about things that even I, the person involved, was unaware of?
In addition, you are probably not qualified to put yourselves in others' shoes like Harami Hoshi.
“Then there’s only one possibility.” Fu Ze ignored their interruptions and forcefully steered the conversation back on track. “Yuan Jianxing came here because of what Snake Eyes said about Charon’s crossing. And the so-called demotion is just a smokescreen to divert attention.”
Rhinoceros Horn, who knew the truth about "Charon's Mistake" perfectly, remained noncommittal to Fu Ze's analysis. "Then why didn't you just kill him? On the way here, at the restaurant bomb last night, and in the room we shared last night, you clearly had many opportunities."
Upon hearing the phrase "sleeping in the same room," a number of jeering voices immediately arose from the surrounding area.
Fu Ze was both amused and exasperated, and for the first time felt that Xi Jiao was a bit inflexible.
“I understand your insistence on certain principles, but don’t lose sight of the big picture for the sake of small gains.” He coaxed, “Let’s set aside whether my speculation is correct or not, and assume that Yuan Jianxing’s purpose in coming here is to overthrow the Kangming Group. In that case, he can’t stay in the position of junior executive officer forever.”
While others were still somewhat confused, Rhinoceros Horn immediately understood the hidden meaning in Fu Ze's words.
There are only so many executive positions available. If Yuan Jianxing wants to get promoted, someone else will be unable to.
Driven by their own interests, the executives, who should have been united against external forces, will split and fight amongst themselves, giving the Cummins Group an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
If we were to weigh a threat that is currently very small but could potentially grow into a future threat against the benefits that could be gained from that threat's growth, it would be truly difficult to say which would be more important.
"In order to fully prove my position and correct the undercover plan that has gradually gone astray due to many unexpected events," Fu Ze said with a burning gaze, "I need to find a just-right opportunity to climb to a higher level without giving anyone any grounds for complaint, by stepping on the corpses and merits of some people."
Upon hearing this, the previously noisy room instantly fell silent.
Although Yuan Jianxing's activities were mainly confined to V City, as members of the Kangming Group who were selected by Rhinoceros Horn and were essentially half of his personal guard, they had heard a lot about his name and his illustrious achievements.
Stepping on Yuan Jianxing to reach even greater heights? This handsome guy really dares to dream.
"Good, finally you've said something useful." Rhinoceros Horn showed great approval.
He clapped his hands, and the people around him immediately lowered the guns they were pointing at Fu Ze.
“However, what you say isn’t important, what you do is.” Rhinoceros Horn threw back at what Fu Ze had said earlier in its entirety. “I see results. As for what those results are, that’s something you need to think about. I only look at the results.”
“Alright, I’ll risk my life to make sure you’re satisfied.” Fu Ze stood up and bowed to Rhinoceros Horn. “However, to reduce obstacles to our operation, I’d appreciate it if you could hand over that junior executive from yesterday to me. He’s been out of contact for so long; if I can’t come up with a reasonable explanation, I won’t be able to explain myself to Yuan Jianxing.”
-
After catching a glimpse of the vibrant colors unique to that haute couture set through the corridor of the furniture mall, Cui Ya's body rushed over across mountains and seas before her consciousness could react.
"My God, where did you run off to?! Do you know that if we're any later, Commander Yuan will be... Who is this?"
Without answering the first question, Fu Ze tossed Du Yang, who was being carried on his shoulder, freeing one arm, reached out and pulled off Cui Ya's communicator, and reported to Yuan Jianxing on the other side: "I found Du Yang."
"His condition is not good, he needs to be taken to the hospital immediately."
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