Chapter 1298 - 1158: Stirring the Waters

Chapter 1298: Chapter 1158: Stirring the Waters

In light of frequent family incidents, recently Baroque carries a large entourage whenever he goes out and sends people ahead to scout.

However, such actions create a big stir; it may be forgivable once or twice, but doing it every time would spark gossip among other family members.

— Not officially the patriarch yet, and already acting grand?

So sometimes Baroque also travels lightly or changes his appearance to disguise himself as someone else.

The main strategy is unpredictability, ensuring that adversaries in the shadows don’t find a pattern.

This time, he assumed a different appearance to handle a cooperative matter.

The other party has cooperated with the Versailles family for over a hundred years and has always stayed out of miscellaneous affairs, a typical neutral force.

These are the stable groups Baroque needs, and attending in person is expected.

The matter was handled smoothly, but on the way back, two vehicles belonging to the Versailles family were stopped for inspection.

Recently, the whole Empire is on high alert, so being occasionally stopped for random checks is not surprising.

Even if the vehicle belongs to the Versailles family, it’s the same — occasionally, even the Nutrient Injection gets stopped, let alone this family?

Anyway, once identity is verified, they can leave.

During the inspection, suddenly someone from the passing crowd made a move and attacked the vehicles.

Attacking in the street, especially during a City Guard inspection, is extremely vile in nature.

The Versailles family and the City Guard immediately retaliated, killing one assailant and severely injuring three.

However, the Versailles side also suffered heavily, with three dead and six injured.

Fortunately, Baroque wasn’t in either vehicle, narrowly escaping the crisis.

Interrogations revealed an assailant had a personal vendetta against someone in the Versailles family and acted upon recognition.

However, this is just the surface; further investigation uncovered the attackers belong to the subordinate forces of Descartes Duke.

The Duke himself isn’t progressing at Good Fortune Star, but has significant influence and power there.

The few attackers are considered fringes of the Duke’s subordinate forces.

Typically, the Versailles and Descartes don’t support conflicts between their sides and generally coexist peacefully.

However, it’s widely known their relationship isn’t good, merely maintaining minimal contact.

Occasional conflicts aren’t surprising, both parties prefer restraint and to mitigate the matters quietly.

This explains why the attackers dared to act on the street, backed by the Duke what’s there to fear?

Upon exposure of identity, the interrogated confidently stated, "We acted when the vehicle stopped, already very mindful of the impact."

Arrogant words, yet true.

If they had exploded two speeding vehicles, the severity and impact would have been much worse.

With Descartes Duke’s forces involved, the entire incident becomes increasingly complex.

It’s said that the recovering Versailles voiced out, indicating he will soon recover, and someone must be held accountable.

Of course, what he said regarding recovery should be taken lightly, the key point is the old Dean as the voice.

Descartes Duke’s forces are vast, with his representatives on Good Fortune Star.

The Supreme also expressed that it isn’t the Duke’s intention but an unfortunate misunderstanding by his subordinates.

He hopes the government can thoroughly investigate this matter to clear the Duke’s name; his side will actively cooperate.

However, even though he says this, does anyone believe it?

At such a sensitive time, the occurrence of such a bizarre incident makes the development increasingly puzzling.

Currently, there are many involved parties, and even more onlookers, hardly anyone notices the presence of Qu Jianlei and his group.

Qu Jianlei is actually quite impatient with how the situation unfolds, he dislikes watching such tacky drama.

I have so many things to do every day; isn’t this wasting time?

The Nutrient Injection noticed his impatience and reminded him of something.

"Descartes has many good things after all, handed down for so many years as a Duke."

In light of "good things," Qu Jianlei decides to endure a bit longer,

He has no grievances with Descartes, even with the vast treasures that Descartes possesses, he wouldn’t stir trouble aimlessly; it goes against his principles.

However, proactively investigating the other party’s situation doesn’t hurt; it might come in handy someday.

The key is idle hands make light work, who knows how long this drama will play out?

He has no intention of influencing the progress of the drama, but must find something to do, right?

Qu Jianlei briefly mentioned to the Nutrient Injection that he plans to focus on this aspect next.

The Nutrient Injection knows the boss is a bit agitated, suggesting, since that’s the case, I’ll have my people pay more attention to this issue.

Over the next two days, besides Little Lake collecting information, Qu Jianlei also personally investigates, keeping an eye on Descartes’ related forces.

Only after tailing he discovered that other forces are also secretly watching.

But how should it be said? The Duke’s forces haven’t truly entered the scene, and the people watching are generally not very powerful.

Except for a hidden Supreme Wood Attribute, the strongest was merely A-level Wind Attribute.

This wasn’t Qu Jianlei getting complacent, but with him using Divine Sense, these people were like bright lights in the dark night.

Then, something interesting emerged; after observing for two days, he unexpectedly uncovered a situation.

"Oh my, the attack on Baroque was secretly orchestrated by the Rebel Organization!"

Duke Descartes had considerable influence on Good Fortune Star, mainly because the military presence was strong here, and the Duke valued this aspect.

However, being a former noble, even if he infiltrated the military, he couldn’t be too blatant about it.

Thus, the Duke primarily influenced indirectly, using locals as the foundation.

This led to lax management—an unavoidable measure, as strict management would unsettle the government.

For this reason, the Duke’s forces truly were a mixed bag, a motley crew of all sorts of people.

Descartes didn’t mind this; the more chaotic it was, the better his trusted aides could hide.

He didn’t mind when his subordinates occasionally did excessive things.

To the Imperial forces, a Duke with a less-than-stellar reputation was the one they could trust.

As a result, some Rebel Organization people even managed to infiltrate and orchestrate this stirring action.

Nutrient Injection was a bit surprised by this news but quickly accepted the reality.

The Rebel Organization was a troublemaker, appearing in such turbulent scenes was no surprise.

Nutrient Injection had a question, "Boss, what’s your impression of the Rebel Organization?"

"No impression," Qu Jianlei casually replied, "I have enough troubles myself, I don’t want to mess with them."

He did recall that the last time, Little Jing used the Rebel Organization as a medium to get in touch with him.

"But how about you, do you have any sympathy for them?"

Nutrient Injection understood his implication and shook her head calmly.

"I’m not used to labeling strangers; as long as it doesn’t affect my Cultivation, I prefer to discuss matters as they are."

This was a typical mindset of a High Tier Awakened; perhaps it sounded a bit selfish, but they had the right to be willful.

It was somewhat akin to a Cultivator, unconcerned with the mundane world, only pursuing their own transcendence.

Back when the government set a trap, not only did they disregard the people’s lives, but they also indirectly harmed many Awakened.

Nutrient Injection aided two Supreme beings without any guilt towards the Imperial forces, as her goal was to get close to the boss.

Qu Jianlei wasn’t surprised by this response, "So now... shall we speed up the development of the situation?"

Nutrient Injection pondered for a moment, then slightly nodded, "I think we can, do you want to inform the Imperial forces about the Rebel’s existence?"

Talking with someone who understands is easy, Qu Jianlei nodded, "Completely muddy the waters, then we can seize the opportunity to act."

"I agree," Nutrient Injection smiled upon hearing this, "I was just unsure of where you stood."

In the end, both were accustomed to being self-centered; making such decisions wasn’t surprising.

Qu Jianlei pondered and spoke, "However, it’s still necessary to trace the upper echelons of the Rebel Organization."

The next night, anonymous messages were sent to the military, government, the Duke’s representatives, the Versailles family, and even Yao Yang Academy.

The Rebel Organization’s emergence was indeed a significant affair, putting the entire Good Fortune Star on edge.

However, the informant notified multiple forces, resulting in chaos in cooperation between these factions.

The Duke’s mansion was the first to act, followed by the City Guard; as they met, the military’s attack ship quietly arrived...

Due to inconsistent actions and differing interests among the parties, the Rebel’s operatives almost escaped.

Fortunately, the two captured were grassroots members; no major mishaps occurred, although one attempted suicide and failed.

Then the situation was exposed instantly, and subsequent capture efforts hit a stalemate.

During joint interrogations, things didn’t bode well for those who were caught.

Their statements revealed the Rebels intended to create further chaos, and their superiors were also on Good Fortune Star.

However, without being able to continue apprehensions, multiple parties contemplated another issue: who exactly was the anonymous informant?

Logically, the other party’s stance should lean toward the Imperial forces, but no one viewed the situation that naively.

In the eyes of those in high positions, there is no black-and-white recognition.

The main issue was the informant’s multi-angled approach, directly leading to the investigation’s discontinuity.

It’s possible they distrusted one force, leading them to notify multiple parties, but... could things really be that simple?

Most rebels were hell-bent on resisting the Empire, with self-sacrifice tactics not being uncommon.

Ultimately, without capturing the top members, it was only two grassroots who were sacrificed—perhaps even deliberately betrayed by higher-ups.

This, in turn, highlighted the rebels’ existence, escalating the situation’s severity.

From another perspective, even if the rebels hadn’t been exposed, could the government and military have remained unaware of their existence?

The rebels often used unscrupulous means to achieve their goals, so the informant’s motives and identity are worthy of deeper investigation.