Chapter 569 - 341: The Target Appears
When Frank Stu heard what Su Ze had to say, he truly couldn't find an excuse to make him leave the puzzle piece behind.
Su Ze had guessed correctly. Frank Stu did indeed want him to leave the puzzle piece, but for now, he could only push the thought aside and agree to Su Ze's demand.
"Then it's settled. Your Stu Commerce Association should get started on the promotional work as soon as possible."
Su Ze rose to leave, and Frank Stu personally saw him out.
When the woman in red waiting outside the door saw Frank Stu personally escorting Su Ze out, she no longer had any doubt about the authenticity of the potion in her hand.
Su Ze left the Stu Commerce Association and turned to the woman in red following behind him. "I'm very interested in the Stu Commerce Association," he said. "If I wanted a deeper understanding of its origins and history, who should I ask?"
The woman in red knew this was her chance to prove her worth. She thought for a moment before replying, "We streetwalkers all have gangs that protect us, and those gangs serve certain bigwigs inside the shelter. I can use those connections to help you gather information on the Stu Commerce Association. I could deliver it to you later, would that be acceptable?"
It wouldn't be easy for a streetwalker like her to use gang connections to gather information. She would have to spend money to grease some palms. She had already decided to sell the potion on hand and use part of the proceeds to collect the data.
She knew that as long as she handled this well, a generous and powerful man like Su Ze would be sure to reward her handsomely.
Su Ze nodded. "Alright. First, take me to the best hotel here. Once you've collected the information, just bring it directly to the hotel."
The woman in red led Su Ze to a hotel and left after he was checked into his room.
Su Ze didn't linger in the hotel. He returned to the Magic Cube and piloted it to the perimeter of Inheritance Point No. 4.
"Mr. Ya, hide just outside the entrance. Contact me if anyone approaches," Su Ze instructed.
"You can count on me," Mr. Ya said with a toothy grin.
After completing his fifth evolution, Mr. Ya had recently been consolidating his power, preparing to absorb the Star God-level Bloodline Crystal in his possession.
He could keep watch here and train at the same time.
Su Ze left Mr. Ya near Inheritance Point No. 4 and returned to Dawn Shelter. He left a doppelganger in the hotel while his real body remained aboard the Magic Cube.
The cloaked Magic Cube hovered in the sky above the Stu Commerce Association. From inside the ship, Su Ze had a bird's-eye view as he monitored Frank Stu.
For the rest of the day, Frank Stu made no unusual moves, merely directing his subordinates to begin the promotional work for the auction.
That evening, the woman in red came to the hotel and delivered a file to Su Ze.
"Sir, this is the information I collected. Some of it came from my gang, and some came from the shelter's library."
Su Ze accepted the thick stack of documents. He casually pulled a vial of medicine from his storage artifact and tossed it to the woman in red. "This is your payment."
"Thank you!" the woman in red exclaimed. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"That's all for now. You can go. If I need you again, I'll find you."
The woman in red withdrew, looking slightly disappointed.
Su Ze closed the door and began to leaf through the documents.
He flipped through the pages rapidly. With a sweep of his Spiritual Power, all the text and images were instantly absorbed into his mind.
The common written language of the Western Continent was the same as that of the Ancient An Country on the Lin Hua Continent, so Su Ze had no trouble reading it.
At his current level of existence, his memory and comprehension far surpassed that of an ordinary person; it wouldn't take him long to learn a new language from scratch.
A moment later, he set down the documents, having gained a general understanding of the Stu Commerce Association.
The Stu Commerce Association was founded by the Stu Family. Contrary to what the woman in red had said, the Stu Family were not outsiders but were native to the Western Continent.
This misconception arose because the Stu Family had moved their entire clan off the Western Continent some four to five hundred years ago. It was only after more than two hundred years that they returned and established the Stu Commerce Association.
According to the documents, the Stu Family had been allies with the two other major families of the Western Continent for generations, a friendship stretching back hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
One of those two families was the Hogan Family, the foremost family of Dawn Shelter.
This was the same family that had once produced a legendary powerhouse, who later vanished under mysterious circumstances.
The Hogan Family's legendary powerhouse, Uur Hogan, had disappeared three years ago. His most beloved grandson, Baliss Hogan, vanished at the same time.
Su Ze had long suspected that the fourth puzzle piece was in the possession of the missing Baliss Hogan. He hoped this auction might lure the man out of hiding.
And now, with the Stu Family being connected to the Hogan Family, Su Ze was even more certain that Frank Stu knew something.
The other family with close ties to the Stu Family was the Wol Family, masters of another large shelter on the Western Continent—the Dawn Shelter.
The Wol Family were the true masters of the Dawn Shelter, and their level of control over it was far beyond what the Hogan Family could compare to.
Although the Hogan Family was nominally the number one family in Dawn Shelter, their power and influence had actually plummeted ever since the disappearance of their legendary powerhouse, Uur Hogan.
Combined with the fact that their most promising heir, Baliss Hogan, was also missing, the Hogan Family's top combatants now only consisted of a few Overlord-level experts.
The real power in Dawn Shelter was now jointly held by two Venerable Powerhouses from other families.
However, the Hogan Family had operated in Dawn Shelter for hundreds of years, and they still had their connections and prestige. If the family could produce another Venerable Powerhouse, they could easily return to the center of power.