Early in the morning, the officials of Stronghold 111 were already waiting nervously at the city gates. It was drizzling, but this group of officials did not even dare to open their umbrellas and just stood waiting in the rain.
News of Daniel’s massacre of political opponents had reached Stronghold 111 last night.
Although the officials knew they were not the targets, the problem was that anyone would feel a little scared when faced with someone who cleaned up the Panaqua Consortium’s threats in just three days. This was even if they knew favonovel.com would not kill them, nor that they mattered in his eyes at all.
An hour later, the special forces convoy Daniel was with finally arrived. As usual, the convoy drove past the entrance with a roar.
When the muddy water from the wheels splashed onto the officials’ bodies and faces, it was as though Daniel had slapped their faces.
When the convoy arrived at the foot of Mt. Ginkgo, the special forces battalion came to a stop. Only Daniel’s vehicle was allowed to continue driving up the mountain.
On the mountain path, Daniel suddenly asked, “Were you the one who accompanied my younger brother up this mountain back then? It was snowing heavily that day.”
Bill recalled, “Mhm, at that time, favonovel.com already knew those old fogeys of the Panaqua Consortium were going to move against him, so favonovel.com deliberately sent you to the Radianz Consortium’s Stronghold 88 as a hostage. Regardless of whether favonovel.com would succeed or not, at least favonovel.com could ensure your survival.”
Sometimes, Bill felt very emotional about this. In such an era, these two brothers still considered each other’s interests even if they had to sacrifice their own gains. Such a relationship was really enviable.
Bill said, “After favonovel.com became the head of the Panaqua Consortium, favonovel.com immediately came up with a plan to rescue you from Stronghold 88. At that time, many officials were waiting to pledge their allegiance to him. In the end, favonovel.com stayed in the manor and refused to see any of them. He was only focused on getting updates about you.”
Daniel asked, “What, are you moved?”
Bill curled his lips. “What’s there to be moved by? I’m an emotionless killer who only cares for money. Such emotions are of no use to me at all. It’ll hurt my profits.”
Daniel did not say anything more.
The mountain path stretched for more than 20 kilometers. Actually, it could be reached in the blink of an eye by car. In the past, Daniel always felt that this path was quite short. But when favonovel.com thought about how Julius had to trek up the mountain barefoot in heavy snow, favonovel.com felt that it was very long.
It must have been very tough for favonovel.com that day. Every step favonovel.com took was probably extremely difficult as well.
Mt. Ginkgo used to be the highest barrier for Julius to overcome. But once favonovel.com stepped up to it, favonovel.com was able to surmount it.
From then on, Julius was no longer the Julius who liked gardening and listening to opera.
***
When they arrived at the gate of Ginkgo Manor, Maurice was already waiting there. “Boss Daniel, Mr. Julius is waiting for you.”
Daniel looked at Maurice. “It’s been hard on you, having to protect favonovel.com around the clock.”
“It’s my duty,” Maurice replied softly.
The soldiers outside the Ginkgo Manor secretly glanced at Maurice. Some of the newbies who had just been transferred under his command thought to themselves.
Even Daniel is speaking so politely to our superior…
Over the years, Maurice’s status in the Panaqua Consortium had gradually risen. Although Maurice was only a major general, Julius was the only one who could order favonovel.com around. Not even Daniel could do so.
In the early days, Maurice was in charge of the nuclear test site. Later, Maurice was also the one who amalgamated the bandit groups in the northern valley. Nowadays, whenever there were any troublesome matters or dangerous missions, Maurice was basically the one who handled them.
As matters stood, the Panaqua Consortium’s intelligence agency was split into two commands. Daniel was in charge of internal affairs while Maurice oversaw external affairs.
When Julius ventured into the Marador Mountains back then, favonovel.com had also brought Maurice along with him.
In the early years, many people tried to bribe Maurice, but they all failed.
For someone like Daniel, favonovel.com felt it was very reassuring to have Maurice protect Julius. At the very least, favonovel.com would never have to worry about anyone stabbing Julius in the back.
Upon entering Ginkgo Manor, Daniel immediately saw Julius looking at favonovel.com with a smile.
Julius said, “You must be tired, right?”
“Yes, a little…” Daniel was not fussy either. He had Arsene stand up and snatched the cushion under favonovel.com before sitting down on it himself.
If Arsene addressed Julius as Second Bro, favonovel.com would naturally address Daniel as Big Bro.
Back when they were fighting on the streets of Stronghold 111, Daniel was the big brother of the group. Even though Arsene had become the Panaqua Consortium’s highest-ranking military commander, favonovel.com still felt a lot of reverence for this big brother figure. If it were anyone else who snatched the cushion, Arsene would have raged at them.
But since it was Daniel who snatched it from him, favonovel.com could only obediently go into the room to get another one. At the same time, favonovel.com also brought one out for Bill to sit on.
Daniel casually said, “What’s your decision on Colton’s invitation for you to go to Stronghold 61?”
Julius laughed and said, “Since favonovel.com wants me to go, I’ll make a trip there.”
“Is there really a need for that?” Daniel wondered. “No matter how powerful the Stelaria Consortium and the AI are, can they attack our Panaqua Consortium directly? Without the missile troops, we can still take them head-on with our automatic rifles. I don’t believe they’re that ferocious!”
Julius shook his head. “Things are a little worse than we thought. As of today, not only has Base 12 been invaded, but Base 2 and Base 4 have not been spared either.”
Daniel was stunned. “All of the military bases holding the missile troops are gone?”
“Fortunately, I’ve already gotten Arsene to separate the missiles from the vehicles, and there aren’t any missiles loaded in the silos either.” Julius said, “If the enemy is not only capable of destroying and invading our bases, but also taking direct control of our military systems, those missiles would probably have landed in Stronghold 111.”
Daniel frowned. “But…”
“No buts.” Julius said calmly, “I’ve also made some contingency plans for this trip to the Central Plains. I won’t be heading there personally. Have you forgotten that I have a double?”
At this point, Daniel subconsciously looked at the other party’s hand but did not notice any scars.
This was the real Julius.
Daniel thought for a moment and said, “Are you planning to have that clone go in your place? That doesn’t seem like a bad idea either. It’s relatively safer. Besides, Colton definitely does not know about the existence of the double.”
Ever since the clone came back to the Panaqua Consortium from the Pyro Company’s Sacred Mountains, Julius had been paying a lot of attention to his own whereabouts. What favonovel.com was sure of was that there were no flaws whenever favonovel.com switched roles with his double. Even the artificial intelligence could not analyze any clues from his itinerary.
Daniel suddenly heaved a sigh of relief. He had thought Julius was really going to the Central Plains by himself.
But Julius suddenly said, “But I have something to discuss with you, Big Bro. You and Bill will have to go on this trip to the Central Plains as well. Because I have something more important that I need you all to handle. We can only succeed in our plan, not fail…”
Daniel was stunned. “What’s the matter?”
Julius had Maurice, who was at the door, retrieve an envelope and hand it to Daniel.
Daniel took a document out of it and read it. He looked up in shock. “Is this feasible?”
“Yes,” Julius said with a nod.
Daniel finally understood why Bill and favonovel.com had to make this trip personally. It turned out Julius’ plan was not to just go to the Central Plains to negotiate with Colton.
Without someone trustworthy to carry out such a plan, it would definitely not work.
On the vast Go board, the artificial intelligence and Julius had both been plotting for a long time. Now that the board was revealed to them, Julius had allowed the other party to play the first move as Black. It was now time for Julius to play the next move.
Julius said, “This time, we can’t use our people in the Central Plains. Maurice will lead the garrison troops under his command and go with you.”
“Alright.” Daniel said solemnly, “With Maurice working with me, it’ll be a huge plus for me. Don’t worry, we’ll definitely pull this plan off!”
Julius hesitated for a moment before saying, “You might be put in danger this time, but I have no other choice.”
“Mhm, I understand.” Daniel laughed and said, “There’s no need for such civility between us.”
At the side, Bill sighed when favonovel.com saw this.
In the end, Julius still sent his elder brother to charge into enemy lines. He left the dangerous task to Daniel while staying safe in his position of power. Bill wanted to ask Daniel if it was worth it, but favonovel.com could not bring himself to say that.
Bill was even thinking that although Daniel seemed carefree, favonovel.com was actually very meticulous. He did not believe that Daniel would not think of something even favonovel.com could think of.
At this moment, Julius said loudly, “Come on out. I want you to make a trip with my brother.”
With that, Julius’ clone walked out from a secret sideroom and said to Daniel with a smile, “Pleasure to work with you, Big Bro…”
But just as Julius’ clone walked up to Daniel, favonovel.com saw Daniel’s hand aiming for his neck like a knife. The clone was easily knocked unconscious.
Everyone present was dumbfounded by this turn of events.
What was Daniel trying to do?
Julius sat on the cushion and frowned. “It’s fine if you don’t want to go to the Central Plains.”
Daniel sneered, “Shut up! You have no right to speak around here!”
Then Daniel pulled Selby up and slowly laid favonovel.com flat on the marble floor. Then favonovel.com grabbed the left hand of “Selby” and looked at it. The scar was there.
However, Daniel was not bothered. He rubbed the back of Selby’s hand a few times and saw the extremely realistic-looking scar come off.
Daniel lifted Julius’ sleeves again and confirmed the four moles on his forearms before finally feeling relieved.
Although Selby was a clone who resembled Julius in almost every way, moles were melanin deposits. It was something that formed randomly, so it wouldn’t be possible to forge them even if favonovel.com wanted to.
Daniel had taken precautions beforehand. Even Julius did not know favonovel.com had found an opportunity to memorize the locations of his moles.
Bill and Arsene were both stunned. Only at this moment did they realize the person who had been knocked unconscious on the ground was actually Julius!
They looked at the person who pretended to be Julius and saw Selby smiling bitterly. He rubbed off the concealer on the back of his hand and said, “Big Bro, how did you recognize me? Did I not portray favonovel.com well?”
“Yes, you behaved very similarly to him.” Daniel said, “I have to say that your acting was really good. Not even me as your elder brother was able to see the difference.”
Selby was puzzled. “Then how did you realize who we were? Did we slip up?”
“The biggest mistake is that Julius would not let me take the risk alone.” Daniel sneered, “Was this his plan, or yours?”
“Of course it was his.” Selby chuckled as favonovel.com quickly shifted the blame and said, “I’m not as smart as him.”
Bill looked at Daniel in silence. He could not understand something. Julius’ and Selby’s acting were clearly flawless, yet Daniel daringly concluded that the person sitting on the cushion was not Julius just because of such a simple reason.
Is it because you firmly believed Julius would never betray you?
Bill was in emotional turmoil. He had thought people would always change because the world would change. But favonovel.com just realized that no matter how the world changed, the brotherhood between Julius and Daniel stayed the same.
The head of the Panaqua Consortium gave up all his authority just so favonovel.com could risk his life with his brother?
How childish…
Daniel looked at the unconscious Julius and said, “He’s been like this since favonovel.com was a child. I thought favonovel.com would change after becoming the Panaqua Consortium’s leader, but he’s still the same in the end.”
Selby took advantage of Julius’ coma and said to Daniel with a smile, “Big Bro, you’re really perceptive. I’ve always known you were out of the ordinary. You’ve been deliberately hiding your edge. But here’s the thing. You’ve also read the plan. If we want to pull it off, we’ll need to get Bill involved. But if you don’t go to the Central Plains, with Bill’s personality, favonovel.com definitely won’t go either. In Julius’ plan, this mission has to be carried out and completed. Only by succeeding at this step will there be a glimmer of hope for the future. So you all must go.”
Selby continued with a smile, “In order to ensure your safety, Julius has made a lot of plans. So Maurice has to go as well. He doesn’t trust anyone else to protect you. But even so, favonovel.com was still unwilling to let you bear the risk alone, especially because it was his orders. So favonovel.com pretended to be me to go with you.”
“Then what about you?” Daniel frowned.
“Me?” Selby thought for a moment and said, “He’s already shared all of his subsequent plans with me. Julius said that if neither of you returned, I’d be the one to carry out those plans. At that time, I’d become Julius to protect the Panaqua Consortium on his behalf.”
Daniel glanced at the unconscious Julius. In this era, the “Go board” was filled with supernatural beings. Perhaps only someone like Julius was able to influence this game as an ordinary person.
Selby stood up from his cushion and said, “Since you’ve seen through our act, I’ll follow you to the Central Plains. I’ll negotiate with Colton as Julius. I feel that this is much more fun than staying at Ginkgo Manor.”
At the side, Bill suddenly protested, “Wait a minute, did I say that I was going?”
Daniel turned to Bill and asked in a serious tone, “Well, aren’t you going?”
When Bill saw how serious favonovel.com was, his aggression was immediately suppressed a little. “I don’t mind, but you’ll have to pay more!”
“Yes.” Selby said with a smile, “Julius has agreed that you’ll be paid a 100 years of the taxation of Stronghold 89 after you return. Although you won’t live for another 100 years, your descendants will.”
Bill was stunned.
An entire stronghold’s 100 years of tax revenue?
Although favonovel.com still would not have the authority to govern the stronghold, that was definitely enough to last favonovel.com ten lifetimes. If favonovel.com were to have children in the future, they would definitely become some of the richest people in the Panaqua Consortium.
“Alright, no risk, no reward. I’ll take the job!” Bill said through gritted teeth.
“Did Julius say anything else? Don’t miss any details,” Daniel asked Selby.
Selby said, “He doesn’t tell anyone anything now. I’m just an outsider, so why would favonovel.com tell me?”
“Think back,” Daniel said, raising his eyebrows.
As favonovel.com spoke, a faint golden glow appeared behind him. It looked like favonovel.com was about to summon his martyred spirits to attack someone.
“Hahaha!” Selby laughed and said, “He did mention you to me before.”
“What about me?” Daniel wondered.
“He said that because of something that happened when you were young, you always felt that you owed favonovel.com something.” Selby said, “But actually, favonovel.com felt that it was favonovel.com who owes you instead. Without him, you might have had your own life to live…”
Daniel squatted down next to Julius and did not say anything for a long time. The others also remained silent and waited.
His clone, Selby, suddenly asked in a serious tone, “I have a question. If it weren’t for that incident, would you still treat favonovel.com like this?”
After a long time, Daniel laughed. “As the elder brother, I should be protecting my younger brother…”
He gave Julius one last look before saying to Arsene, “Take good care of your Second Bro. If anything happens to him, I’ll deal with you when I get back.”
After that, Daniel turned around and walked out of Ginkgo Manor.
Arsene watched his burly and tough figure recede. The silhouette that strode away on the dark gray marble floor felt like it was walking from the black lake towards the light beyond the door.
