Zhang Fan's mind raced in that instant.
Who could have leaked information about the underground dome to Marquis Charles?
Qiu Qingquan? But there's no reason for that. If we have to talk about motives, then Qiu Wanyan, as the Marquis's wife, should be the most suspicious, right? But considering her relationship with Marquis Charles, she is actually the least likely person.
That leaves only Qiu Wanlan, but what is the motive?
Qiu Wanlan never left Xiliang in her entire life. She had almost no interaction with Marquis Charlie. Or rather, as the second young lady of the Qiu family in the female-dominated Xiliang Kingdom, she didn't really think much of this so-called brother-in-law.
Could someone have overheard us?
Zhang Fan only told two people about the underground dome.
One is Mr. Qiu Qingquan. He believes that Mr. Qiu Qingquan knows the importance of the matter and must have cleared the surrounding people when he talked about these things, otherwise he would not have asked Qiu Wanlan to guard downstairs in the academy.
The other one is Qiu Wanyan. When they chat in the pavilion, they only bring up the topic when no one else is around, so they shouldn't have been overheard by anyone else...
No! There was a third person present at the time!
Zhang Fan stared blankly, somewhat lost in thought.
Alice?
Could it be her?
Wasn't she asleep?
It shouldn't be her. Her alibi is that she was taken away by Madam Qiu, and she didn't have time to speak with Marquis Charles...
No! She has time!
Zhang Fan suddenly realized that in the short ten minutes between leaving the pavilion and meeting Marquis Charles, he and his daughter had a chance to speak.
Zhang Fan was racking his brains. These were just his guesses. Everyone was a suspect, but no one had any evidence to prove it.
Seeing that Zhang Fan remained silent, Marquis Charles burst into laughter.
“Major General Zhang, you are an excellent general, but not a qualified strategist.” Marquis Charlie stood up, walked to Zhang Fan’s side, and patted him on the shoulder. “Young man, I know what you want.”
Zhang Fan looked up at Marquis Charles. How could someone who could manage the Charles family, maneuver between Prince Reinhardt and Marquis Ferlinan, and use the Senate to suppress the people of the Ryan military be an ordinary person?
“And I also know,” Marquis Charlie said with a smile, placing a hand on Zhang Fan’s shoulder, “that you are Dean Erwin’s man.”
Zhang Fan's body trembled, and Marquis Charlie released his hand with a smile.
"But it doesn't matter. I appreciate talent. Are you interested in helping me? Of course, you will still be Prince Reinhardt's subordinate and Dean Erwin's mole. Nothing will change."
"Does the Marquis want me to be a double agent?"
Zhang Fan looked at Marquis Charles, no longer pretending to be a timid subordinate meeting a superior. He relaxed completely, leaning back in his chair with a relaxed smile on his face.
Marquis Charles stared at Zhang Fan for a while with some surprise. After things were made clear, the young man in front of him seemed to be a different person.
Zhang Fan had already come to terms with it. Scheming and intrigue were not his forte. Unless Ivanka intervened, he might be able to deceive the other party. He always did things directly and straightforwardly. Why would he have to beat around the bush, abandon his strengths and cripple himself?
“You are very clever.” Marquis Charlie nodded. “You are an indispensable part of my plan. What I need you to do is very simple: maintain your current identity and act as a mole, taking orders only from me!”
“Okay.” Zhang Fan nodded. “Exchange it for a ‘Star Core’.”
Marquis Charles paused for a moment, then fell silent.
Just a few seconds ago, he thought he had seen through the young man, but a few seconds later, the other person seemed to have become a different person, and he felt that he could no longer see through the young man.
He never expected that the other party would so directly raise the core issue of "star core" in front of him without any preamble.
"Is the 'Star Core' that important to you?" Marquis Charlie asked.
“I’ve come all this way for the ‘Star Core’,” Zhang Fan said with a serious expression. “As for other things, including Milan and Fas, Ryan and the Royal Military Academy, the Chaotic Lands and Benghazi, Ruolan Star and Xiliang… all of these are just things I did incidentally for the sake of the ‘Star Core’.”
“I joined Ryan not because I feel a sense of belonging here, but because none of the people and things here are related to me!” Zhang Fan stood up, looked intently at the other person, and said, word by word.
"I only want the star core!"
Marquis Charles's sharp gaze was like two knives fixed on Zhang Fan, and Zhang Fan looked directly into his eyes without any intention of backing down.
"What if I don't give it to you?" Marquis Charles suddenly laughed. "What can you do if I don't agree?"
“There’s only a desk that’s two meters long and one and a half meters wide between me and the Marquis. I’m confident I can flip over that desk in half a second,” Zhang Fan said calmly.
"Huh? And then?" Marquis Charlie was somewhat taken aback; he didn't understand what Zhang Fan meant by suddenly saying this.
“If I’m not mistaken, there should always be a pistol under the Marquis’s desk.” Zhang Fan chuckled easily. “Considering the indoor environment, it should be a .38 caliber ‘Lek’ military pistol with five rounds, a high rate of fire, great power, and strong stability.”
Marquis Charles glanced at the drawer under his desk, his lips pressed tightly together.
"The pistol should be loaded and ready to fire at any time. I wonder what your fastest firing speed is, Marquis?"
Zhang Fan grinned and ran his fingers along his belt.
"I have a belt knife hidden here. It has a ceramic blade and can effectively bypass the security check at Moonlight Island. Just press the belt buckle and the 10-centimeter-long blade will pop out."
"From flipping over the desk in front of me to pulling out the belt knife and slitting your neck, it takes me about a second."
"I wonder if Your Excellency, Marquis, is confident that you can complete the actions of drawing the gun and firing it within one second?"
Marquis Charles remained silent.
He can't do it.
Even opening the drawer under his desk takes him more than a second.
He suddenly felt a pang of regret. He finally understood how the Adelaide Police Chief had died, and it was a death that was entirely justified.
Regardless of any political maneuvering, the other party directly breaks the deadlock in the most violent way, without playing any scheming or intrigue with you.
If you hand a tangled mess to someone obsessed with power, they might painstakingly trace it back to the starting point and then untangle it thread by thread. Zhang Fan's approach, however, is to disregard all the twists and turns, cut the knot directly, and the problem is solved.
“We’re talking about cooperation; there’s no need to go this far.” Marquis Charles sat down again and placed his hands on the table.
“There’s really no need for that.” Zhang Fan sat down as well. “Life is so wonderful, I don’t want to die young.”
“Hahaha—” Marquis Charlie laughed, “The ‘Star Core’ was indeed the thing that changed the fate of the Charlie family, but for the Charlie family now, whether or not they have the ‘Star Core’ is not that important.”
“We can sign an agreement, and once it’s done, I can hand over the ‘Star Core’ to you.”
“Even Alice, I can betroth her to you.” Marquis Charles smiled, no longer beating around the bush when speaking to Zhang Fan, “In exchange for this…”
The other party offered a price that included their daughter; that's quite a hefty sum.
Zhang Fan waited quietly for the other party to offer a price; an equal exchange was perfectly reasonable.
“When the Charlie family replaces Ryan as royalty, the Star Core will be offered up without hesitation.”
“A ‘star core’ and a beautiful woman—it’s a win-win situation.” Zhang Fan laughed. “I really can’t think of any reason to refuse.”
"make a deal."
Zhang Fan extended his hand, and the two clasped hands across the table...
Before leaving Marquis Charles's room, Zhang Fan unbuckled his belt and placed it on the desk, a smile on his face.
"A keepsake for my future father-in-law."
After watching Zhang Fan walk out the door with his head held high, Marquis Charles's gaze was drawn to the leather belt on the table, and he couldn't help but pick it up and examine it closely...
"Hahaha--"
Marquis Charles's laughter echoed in the room, and he tossed the belt on the table into the nearby trash can.
It was just an ordinary belt.
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