"Then… what kind of 'explanation' would make you willing to leave?"
Laurent's attitude softened considerably. She recalled what Arden had said when he barged in—not "a life for a life," but merely wanting an explanation.
Between the two, that left room for negotiation.
"Heh, it's nothing much."
Seeing that the other party understood the situation so quickly, Arden Xu smiled in satisfaction. He then raised the hand wrapped in gauze and waved it lightly at Laurent.
In truth, the minor injury from yesterday had already healed long ago. The bandage was purely for show—and it wasn't even the same hand that had been injured the day before.
"I got hurt a bit, and I was badly startled! I didn't sleep at all last night. You see… at the very least, there should be some medical expenses and emotional distress compensation, right?"
"Oh!"
Laurent immediately understood—he was asking for dennies!
"No problem. Name your price!"
Without much hesitation, Laurent agreed. For her, any problem that could be solved with denny wasn't really a problem at all.
…..
After another round of sharp verbal sparring, Arden finally showed satisfaction when his phone chimed with the notification that the denny had been transferred.
Looks like the commission fee from Cunning Hares is covered too.
Cunning Hares worked efficiently and were fairly reliable, but their commission fees… were outrageously high—usually three times that of an ordinary Agent!
Sometimes, Arden really wanted to pat Nicole's ample chest and ask her, "With commissions this high, how does Cunning Hares still run a deficit every month?"
"I can feel your sincerity, Lady Laurent. So, before I leave, I'll tell you one more piece of information."
The denny compensation was merely incidental—the real goal was the plan to flush out the mole.
"What information?"
Laurent seemed a bit distracted.
This compensation was paid out of her own pocket. If she routed it through company accounts, it would inevitably raise suspicion.
Although Laurent wasn't short on denny, being extorted for such a large sum still left her feeling deeply uncomfortable.
"I have to say, the people you hired were very cleverly positioned. There were quite a few of them too. But… do you know why Ju Fufu and I were able to deal with them so easily?"
"Oh?"
Laurent really was curious about that.
"Heh. Don't think that only Porcelumex knows how to bribe people and plant spies inside their opponents."
Before Laurent could ask anything further, Arden grabbed Ju Fufu and left.
...
Director's Office.
After Arden Xu and Ju Fufu departed, Laurent's face darkened, as if a storm were about to break.
"Investigate! Investigate it thoroughly!"
Putting herself in his shoes, Laurent quickly grasped the meaning behind Arden Xu's words.
There was a mole she had planted in Meffer Mine, and likewise, there was a Yunkui Summit mole within Porcelumex—allowing them to anticipate her own moves.
"Damn traitors!"
Soon, Porcelumex launched a massive internal investigation.
…..
Meffer Mine, Break Room.
Ding-dong! "You have a new message. Please check it!"
Arden checked the message on his phone.
"Efficient as ever."
The message was from Nicole. She had successfully infiltrated Porcelumex's internal ranks.
"Let's start our move as well."
In the break room, besides Arden, there were Ju Fufu and Pan Yinhu—the two people he trusted most.
According to the plan, the three of them would casually leak information about the Yunkui Summit mole planted within Porcelumex to four suspects.
Of course, the so-called "mole" didn't refer to Nicole, but to four ordinary Porcelumex employees.
Arden was confident that the real traitor, upon receiving this information, would definitely pass it along to Porcelumex's head—Laurent—to claim credit.
All they needed to do now was wait.
Ding-dong!
On the evening of the next day, Arden Xu received another message from Nicole.
"So, it's Number Four."
The "mole" information leaked to the suspects corresponded to different individuals. Nicole's message showed that the employee under Porcelumex's investigation was "Number Four," which meant the corresponding suspect was…
"Haah~!"
Looking at the result, Arden let out a sigh. "No wonder Mayor Mayflower entrusted the mine's management rights to Yunkui Summit. The people on his side really can't be trusted."
Originally, Arden had thought the mole would be one of Yi Jing's disciples—he had long felt that person harbored ill intent. But the investigation revealed otherwise. The mole was neither Yi Jing's disciple nor someone from the engineering team, but a supervisor sent to the mine by Mayor Mayflower himself.
For a brief moment, Arden even felt a bit sorry for the mayor. Despite being the most powerful figure on the surface in New Eridu, there were only a handful of subordinates he could truly trust.
"…"
Shaking his head, Arden stopped thinking about the mayor's situation. No matter how bad things were, he was still the mayor—there was no need for a minor Yunkui Summit disciple like him to worry.
"Let's deal with the internal problems of Yunkui Summit first."
Nicole's report included not only the results of the mole test, but also the intelligence she had uncovered.
Although Yi Jing and his disciples hadn't directly participated in the Ethereal attacks on the mine, nor in the assassination attempts on Arden and Ju Fufu, they had secretly provided Porcelumex with quite a lot of information.
"Hmph! I've finally got something on you!"
Arden had long disliked Yi Jing, and naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity to drive him out of Yunkui Summit.
"As for his disciple…"
Only one of Yi Jing's disciples was involved—the eldest disciple, Bu Lü.
"You, all plump and harmless-looking, and even you…?"
Arden admitted he had misjudged him before. "Maybe I can make him a tainted witness?"
The priority now was bringing down Yi Jing. Everything else was secondary.
Arden, alongside with Ju Fufu and Pan Yinhu, sought out Bu Lü and laid everything out for him.
"If you still want to stay in Yunkui Summit, then confess everything Yi Jing ordered you to do—every dirty deed."
"….."
Faced with Arden's pressure, Bu Lü chose silence.
After all, Yi Jing was his master—not someone he could betray so easily.
"I'll give you one night to think it over. Tomorrow morning, we return to the sect and report everything here to Master Yixuan."
"A wise man knows when to adapt. Don't keep clinging to false hope… someone like Yi Jing isn't worth ruining your future to protect!"
Arden believed Bu Lü would choose the right path.
Sure enough, early the next morning, just as Arden opened the door and stepped out of his room, he saw Bu Lü waiting outside.
Dark circles ringed his eyes—he clearly hadn't slept all night.
"Second Senior Brother…"
"Raw… rr~?"
At that moment, Ju Fufu also stepped out.
"Uh… and Senior Sister too. I was wrong. I'll go back with you!"
"Good—very good!"
Hearing this, Arden patted Bu Lü on the shoulder in satisfaction. "Don't worry. As long as you tell us everything you know, I'll make sure you can stay in Yunkui Summit."
"Thank you, Second Senior Brother! Thank you, Second Senior Brother!"
Overcome with emotion, Bu Lü dropped to his knees and hugged Arden's leg tightly.