Chapter 387 - 260: Liu Xuan to the Rescue (2)
"Changes can be made, but they must comply with the board’s preliminary articles of association. Votes will not be based on the number of shares held; a motion requires the support of more than half of the board members to pass."
...
Lin Qi sat calmly inside the HGPD’s Floating Vehicle, looking around the interior with keen interest.
’This vehicle’s pretty spacious. I’d like to get one of these myself. That way, I could carry around all kinds of Prosthetic Bodies and tools to swap out or modify them whenever.’
"Hey guys, looks like we’re heading toward the west side of Red Fruit City, right? Who am I on my way to see? Care to give me a heads-up?"
Lin Qi was completely at ease. He wasn’t asking to fish for information.
On the contrary, acting this way was the perfect misdirection, fitting the persona Lin Qi had been carefully crafting for himself.
None of the riot squad members sitting beside Lin Qi answered him.
They all knew Lin Qi’s background was anything but simple.
Better to say nothing than to say the wrong thing and get on a powerful figure’s bad side.
Sensing the silence around him, Lin Qi didn’t say anything else and started mentally calculating the time.
About fifteen minutes had passed since he’d boarded the Floating Vehicle.
’If my estimate is right, Liu Xuan should have already made her move.’
’I just don’t know what their status is within the Liu Clan, or if Liu Xuan will be able to track my situation right away.’
’Liu Xuan should be able to locate me fairly quickly. Otherwise, the person behind this wouldn’t have needed to make a big show of messing with the cyber network hardware; they would’ve just paralyzed the regional network directly.’
Just as Lin Qi was thinking this, he detected something unusual with his Spiritual Vision.
A large number of HGPD flying vehicles appeared nearby. While there were no other Floating Vehicles from the riot squad, they made up for it with the sheer number of smaller aircraft.
These flying vehicles closed in on Lin Qi’s Floating Vehicle at incredible speed, completely surrounding it.
[WARNING: DESCEND IMMEDIATELY AND SUBMIT TO AN HGPD INSPECTION.]
[WARNING: YOU ARE SUSPECTED OF A MAJOR PROCEDURAL VIOLATION. DESCEND IMMEDIATELY.]
Inside the Floating Vehicle, the expressions of the riot squad members visibly soured.
’We’re so screwed!’
’The bigwigs at the top are fighting, and we’re the ones caught in the crossfire.’
Finally, the silence was broken.
The captain looked at Lin Qi and said, "Mr. Lin Qi, we had no choice. We have to carry out the missions we’re assigned. Now that things up top have been settled, could you please not make things difficult for us...?"
His tone was earnest, showing no intention of being stubborn.
As individuals with advanced Prosthetic Implantation, only by working for the HGPD could they earn enough to cover the maintenance costs for their Prosthetic Bodies and the price of Suppressor consumables.
The maintenance costs for those with A-Class Prosthetic Implantation are extremely high. The cost of maintenance over about five years is basically equivalent to a whole new Prosthetic Body.
Lin Qi, of course, nodded.
They hadn’t given him any trouble, and he wasn’t about to engage in some extreme form of revenge.
The captain breathed a sigh of relief at Lin Qi’s reaction.
He was glad he had a habit of keeping up with the Cyber Media news.
He’d looked up Lin Qi’s background the moment the mission came down from on high.
Relieved, the captain suddenly remembered something and spoke to Lin Qi again.
"Mr. Lin Qi, to be honest, I’m a fan of yours."
"I’ve been wanting to go to the No. 1 Prosthetic Clinic to get a Divine Iron Bull installed, but I have to wait for my time off at the end of the month."
"But there’s a long waiting list at the No. 1 Prosthetic Clinic now. I was wondering if you could maybe..."
Lin Qi raised an eyebrow. That was unexpected.
’Things are pretty much over, and now this riot squad captain is suddenly bringing this up.’
Of course Lin Qi wouldn’t refuse!
’Installing one of those nets the old man around fifty thousand Credit Points. Sure, this guy would be cutting the line, but he’s from Red Fruit City’s local riot squad! This is a good connection to make.’
’Having this personal connection would be good for the old man’s Prosthetic Clinic.’
And so, as the Floating Vehicle descended, Lin Qi and the captain exchanged contact information. Lin Qi promised he would put in a good word with the old man and arrange for him to jump the queue.
...
The Floating Vehicle descended vertically, landing on the road below.
Numerous HGPD officers had already blockaded the road.
The Door of the Floating Vehicle slowly opened. Lin Qi stepped out and finally saw who he was waiting for.
Liu Xuan and Liu Xinglu appeared. They had arrived in an HGPD flying vehicle.
"Are you okay?"
Liu Xuan came over to Lin Qi, her voice tinged with concern.
It was rare for Lin Qi to hear any emotion in Liu Xuan’s voice.
Right now, Liu Xuan’s left eye was still glowing with a brilliant purple light.
’An S-Class Suppressor, and running at high power.’
"I’m fine. These HGPD guys were actually pretty decent."
Lin Qi hadn’t forgotten his promise, so he put in a good word for them.
Liu Xinglu walked over as well. "Xiaoxuan, you two can talk later when you’re back," he said. "This is a mixed commercial zone. People from other corporations have already noticed us."
"If word of this spreads on the cyber network, it will have a negative impact on both the Liu Clan and United Pharmaceutical."
Red Fruit City might have tight surveillance, but they still had to abide by the law.
The Liu Clan couldn’t just forcefully intervene in matters that weren’t illegal.
Especially when many of the onlookers in this area were employees of major corporations.
If this incident blew up, other major corporations would surely fan the flames from behind the scenes.
Liu Xuan nodded. The light in her left prosthetic eye rapidly dimmed. "Let’s head back to Fortress Road first," she said to Lin Qi.
Liu Xuan then turned to Liu Xinglu. "Fourth Uncle, I’ll attend the second half of the Liu Clan board meeting remotely later today."
Even though Lin Qi was safe, the matter was clearly far from over. Liu Xuan intended to bring the issue with United Pharmaceutical to the table at the upcoming board meeting.
What Liu Xuan didn’t know yet was that today’s events had made Liu Xingyuan determined to clean house within the Liu Clan.
It was a shake-up at the highest level of a major corporation, one that would send ripples through every corner of Red Fruit City.
Liu Xinglu nodded. "Let’s go. I’ll see you two back first, then I’ll head to the company."
As Liu Xinglu spoke, he was already multitasking, remotely piloting a flying vehicle to their location.
The three of them boarded the flying vehicle one by one.
...
Shortly after they boarded the flying vehicle, Lin Qi suddenly remembered something. "I just realized, your flying vehicle is still back at the No. 1 Prosthetic Clinic," he said to Liu Xuan.
The HGPD flying vehicle was like a four-seater car, but for the air.
Lin Qi and Liu Xuan were both in the back seat.
Liu Xuan turned her head to look at Lin Qi. "That vehicle can be controlled remotely," she said. "I’ll set the coordinates later and have it fly itself back to the villa."
’Remote control?’
’That’s definitely a feature on high-end flying vehicles. My old junker certainly can’t do that.’
At first, Lin Qi didn’t see the problem with her statement.
But then, it hit him.
’Wait a minute!’
’Fly itself back?’
’Then why did Liu Xuan email me and ask me to fly the vehicle back myself?’
Lin Qi stared straight at Liu Xuan.
Stared at like that by Lin Qi, Liu Xuan instinctively averted her gaze, reverting to her usual cold demeanor.
’No response!’
’Putting on the ice queen act!’
Sitting in the front, Liu Xinglu witnessed this exchange and sighed to himself. ’Ah, to be young.’
But the silence had stretched on for too long, so Liu Xinglu found a topic to break it, asking Lin Qi, "Liu Siqi tampered with the cyber network hardware. How did you manage to notify Xiaoxuan?"
Liu Xinglu seemed to be making a deliberate effort to improve his relationship with Lin Qi.
After all, Liu Xuan had already gone to such lengths for Lin Qi. As an elder who supported her, he couldn’t keep playing the villain.
’Besides, they still have Liu Xingyuan. He’ll play the villain to the very end.’
Liu Xinglu had a twofold purpose in asking this question.
First, he wanted to inform Lin Qi of the identity of the culprit.
And second, he was genuinely curious as to how Lin Qi had pulled it all off.
Even Liu Xingyuan would have had a hard time digging through the Cyber Network Company’s cloud servers to find that information.
Lin Qi naturally replied with his prepared explanation. "Earlier, on the Floating Vehicle, I noticed that you seemed a bit wary of me, Fourth Uncle. That made me consider the possibility of running into trouble after returning to Red Fruit City. So, I rented a server on the Cyber Network Company’s cloud service website ahead of time and set up a trigger program..."
Hearing the first part of Lin Qi’s answer, Liu Xinglu felt a little awkward.