Chapter 1676: Searching Carefully
However, all these years, it’s quite strange that Wang Lishan hasn’t come up here at all.
Given his ambition, upon learning about Mr. Xu’s former office, he would definitely have come to check it out.
It’s obvious, even without much thought, that the former office must be hiding many company secrets.
Wang Lishan has been plotting so meticulously, isn’t it precisely to gain control of the entire company? If he could master many company secrets, it would make his actions much easier.
At the same time, Xu Ke couldn’t understand why no one had visited the 25th floor over the years.
He didn’t believe that Wang Lishan was the only ambitious person in the company. The others hadn’t shown it, either because they lacked the courage or because they weren’t powerful enough.
Xu Ke firmly believed that true loyalty didn’t exist in this world.
Unless someone is a brother who shares hardships, others might betray you at any moment.
If he hasn’t betrayed you now, it simply means the right opportunity hasn’t arisen. Once the stakes and price are right, he would sell you out without hesitation.
Xu Ke had encountered such situations too many times, so much so that he didn’t even bother to think about it anymore.
Although he was kind and friendly to those around him now, there remained a subtle barrier in his heart.
He didn’t trust everyone unconditionally. On the contrary, he always kept a final line of defense within himself.
As the saying goes, even brothers need to settle accounts clearly, let alone with people unrelated by blood.
Since he became the CEO, he didn’t know how many people he had offended. He knew many people wished to ruin him secretly.
After all, his sweeping reforms had infringed on the interests of many.
In the face of interests, these people couldn’t care less. Once they made up their minds, they might even fight him to the death.
Although recently Xu Ke felt relatively safe in his surroundings, he knew this was just the calm before the storm.
The real danger was surely lurking behind, and everything now was just transitional.
Moreover, Xu Ke suddenly realized something most terrifying.
That was how surprisingly smooth the process of taking over the company had been for him.
Although he had indeed eradicated all forces that hindered him before, he found it hard to believe that none of the other employees had any grievances.
Xu Ke admitted he excelled at winning hearts, having improved company benefits the moment he joined.
But for those harboring grievances, such benefits couldn’t possibly dispel their displeasure.
Yet, the situation was he had been the CEO for this long, and not a single anomaly had been reported from his subordinates.
One should know that a power transition is bound to entail many issues. The absence of issues suggested the seriousness of the matter.
Either someone was behind the scenes orchestrating a grand scheme, or those dormant forces hadn’t acted yet.
Although outwardly there were only a few like Wang Lishan, Xu Ke knew there were probably many more like him in secret.
The reason they hadn’t been discovered was definitely because they were skilled at hiding.
Moreover, such individuals adhered to a belief that they wouldn’t expose themselves unless absolutely necessary, nor would they act until the timing was flawless.
Xu Ke believed that when truly critical times came, these people would surely swarm out in droves.
Even if every employee in the company betrayed him, he wouldn’t be surprised since, in this world, absolute trust didn’t exist.
Xu Ke directed his thoughts back to Wang Lishan. Based on their confrontations recently, this guy clearly had some ideas.
And having plotted for so many years, he was indeed formidable. If he hadn’t accidentally run into Xu Ke, his plan might have succeeded easily.
The 25th floor intrigued Xu Ke increasingly. He felt as if he was not far from the truth. He felt he was about to uncover the real meaning within.
As time ticked away, Xu Ke observed that many parts of the floor seemed highly suspicious.
Clearly, the area should be full of cobwebs, yet it was abnormally clean.
And some places that were clearly clean inexplicably had many indistinct spider webs appear.
Though cobweb formation was quite normal, appearing here seemed unusually abrupt.
After all, spiders favored dark places, but this area received sunlight year-round.
No spider liked sunlight, which went against biological instincts.
Gently removing the cobwebs, Xu Ke suddenly discovered an unusual symbol underneath.
The symbol looked like a Hexagram but differed from a regular hexagon.
In the center of the Hexagram seemed to be two circular patterns, but they were so small Xu Ke couldn’t see them clearly.
So he took a photo with his phone and enlarged it to examine.
Upon enlarging on the phone, he realized the center resembled two eyes.
They were quite abstract; without careful inspection, they were almost indiscernible.
Xu Ke removed another area of cobwebs, again finding the same pattern underneath.
Unlike the previous one, this pattern’s eyes seemed to look sideways, while the previous one’s eyes stared directly at Xu Ke.
Xu Ke felt sure there was a special connection between these two patterns, but with just these two, he had no clues at all.
They needed to find more useful information to piece everything together.
Xu Ke suddenly realized they had been targeting the wrong goals from the start; the symbols were what really mattered, not other things.
So he immediately planned to start searching from scratch, making sure not to overlook any corner.
"Murong Hai, start searching from the beginning, and don’t miss any corner. Especially in places with cobwebs, make sure to clear them and take pictures of the symbols underneath."
Upon hearing Xu Ke’s words, Murong Hai stepped closer for a look. Sure enough, he found two different Hexagram symbols beneath the cobwebs.
This instantly filled him with excitement, as it confirmed his previous guesses were correct.
"Don’t worry, Xu Ke, I’ll make sure this is handled properly for you."
This task was far more interesting than searching those dull offices, so Murong Hai immediately led his team back to the entry point.