Star Odyssey

Chapter 709: The Four Great Conglomerates

Madam Nalan’s expression changed. “Endless Borders has a deep background. If Your Highness wishes to become enemies with them, then please carefully consider it first.”

“What do you mean by that?” Lu Yin asked.

She considered her answer. “I mean this—even with a similar cost, commodity, and vessel, Endless Borders can send goods to a given destination faster than any other transport company. The reason for this is because they have discovered many secret routes throughout the universe. These are all routes that they have personally explored, and Your Highness should know the cost of exploring a portion of the universe. Endless Borders has gained control of too many routes, and that is something that it could not have done without a certain level of strength and background.

“Even if Endless Borders rarely participates in conflicts between other powers, nobody dares to underestimate them. All of their enemies have simply vanished after being looted, without exception.”

Lu Yin’s gaze flashed, as the universe was so vast, and the greatest wealth that one could obtain was a route through space. Humans explored the universe and paid a tremendous price, just to discover these routes. Any route had been paid for with countless lives, and Endless Borders was clearly able to use its own strength to explore the universe. This was a strength that made Lu Yin feel a bit of fear. It should be recognized that he did not have the confidence to explore the entire Outerverse even if he had established the Great Eastern Alliance.

“Endless Borders has found secret routes that even many Innerverse powers wish to obtain, but none have ever succeeded. Their foundation is strong enough to resist the greed of Innerverse’s great powers, which is the true face of Endless Borders. Becoming enemies with them is even more frightening than going against an entire weave,” Madam Nalan solemnly explained.

Lu Yin pondered over this information.

“But,” she interjected as her tone suddenly changed, “The Outerverse has never heard of Endless Borders intentionally making enemies. They did not send anyone to participate in the conflict on Sourcepeak Planet and merely provided transport. In essence, Your Highness does not need to be overly concerned about them.”

Lu Yin’s expression remained calm, but in reality, his sense of caution towards Endless Borders had risen several times over. He did not like matters that were out of his control, and Endless Borders far surpassed his grasp. This was a group that could even pose a threat towards his future plans. This made him very uncomfortable, though there was nothing he could do about it for the moment.

“Compared to worrying about Endless Borders, why doesn’t Your Highness focus more on Aegis? They’re the greater threat,” Madam Nalan suddenly suggested.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed. “Aegis?”

Her expression turned solemn. “That’s right, Aegis. On the surface, Aegis bridges the gap between mercenaries and regular citizens by providing such services for hire. It is also the largest security company in the Outerverse. But in reality, those mercenaries are all people who have been trained by the company. They have countless training grounds littered throughout the Outerverse, all of them focused on churning out mercenaries that wander across the universe, gathering spoils of war. Even more frighteningly, Aegis is the greatest assassin organization in the Outerverse.”

Lu Yin’s pupils shrank. “Aegis is an assassin organization?”

She nodded. “This secret is not something that is widely known, and only those who are in the upper echelons of a select few circles are in the know. As the leader of one of the four great conglomerates, I am naturally aware of this fact. Additionally, of the top ten assassins in the Outerverse, six of them are a part of Aegis. The Outerverse has many assassin organizations, and at least a tenth of them are funded or were established by Aegis, and many others are related to Aegis in some other way. On one hand, they demand a high price for their bodyguards and mercenaries, but on the other, they send out assassins. This means that they control both sides of a conflict, earning money twice. This company similarly has an extremely deep foundation.”

Lu Yin had never expected Aegis to be the type of company that tried to control both sides of a conflict at the same time. This meant that, in the Outerverse’s underworld, they were able to play however they wanted and that Aegis was the true king there.

Not a single one of the Outerverse’s four great conglomerates was simple. Even though Madam Nalan appeared to be harmless before Lu Yin, the fact that the Nalan family was one of the Outerverse’s four great conglomerates showed that they had an immeasurable foundation, as evidenced by the fact that they were backed by the Sword Sect. With the precedent set by the Nalan family, Endless Borders and Aegis might also have the support of some great Innerverse power.

“I already know about three of the four great conglomerates, so tell me about the last. Amethyst Exchange isn’t simple either, is it?” Lu Yin asked.

She smiled coyly. “Your Highness is smart. That’s correct. Amethyst Exchange appears to be the Outerverse’s largest retailer, but in reality, they are actually the largest intelligence organization, and they have gathered the largest information database in the entire Outerverse. Whatever you want to know, they already have it. If they don’t know, then you don’t need to bother looking anywhere else.”

Lu Yin laughed. One corporation was the king of the underworld, one had grasped secret routes through unknown methods, and one was an intelligence organization. These were the true faces of the four great conglomerates. In that case, then what about the Nalan family? It should be known that, as a part of the four great conglomerates, the Nalan family was known as the Outerverse’s most wealthy family. And when it came to their business ventures, the Nalan family actually surpassed the other three corporations. So what else was this woman hiding?

Lu Yin did not ask any further questions, and Madam Nalan did not speak any more about the four great conglomerates either. Rather, she very calmly ended the call.

She had informed him about the other three great corporations, which was also equivalent to telling Lu Yin that the Nalan family was also not as simple as it appeared on the surface. Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, as the Outerverse still contained unknown depths. Things truly were not as simple as he had previously thought. Everything that had changed on the surface was merely a false veneer; the true dangers still remained hidden beneath the surface.

Fortunately, Frostwave Weave was situated to the east of the Outerverse, and the eastern weaves were not viewed as very important by the rest of the universe. Also, many people had started shunning the Eastern Weaves when they realized that many places were still isolated after the Ironblood Weave published its draft list. Otherwise, Lu Yin may not have been able to establish the Great Eastern Alliance as smoothly as he did.

These powers were hidden too deeply, but they had gradually started losing their patience since the recent events. Wei Rong had thrown the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society into chaos, which had caused Aegis to expose itself slightly. Endless Borders and Amethyst Exchange would not just idly wait by as this happened. Colossal companies such as Shamrock Enterprises, Mavis Bank, and Aurora Enterprises would also not be resigned to such a fate. A good show was about to begin, and all Lu Yin needed to do right now was simply wait for the most opportune moment to act, just as he had done with the Lockbreaker Society.

***

In Bard Weave’s Evenground Palace, beneath the same waterfall as before, Mu Nichang listlessly propped up her chin with a hand as she stared at the waterfall. After becoming the Sect Mistress, it had been a long time since she had left the sect. Also, whenever she made a move nowadays, there were always a bunch of people accompanying her, which was frustrating. She could only reveal her true personality when she was alone with her precious disciples, and being stifled like this was not a good feeling. In reality, she never even wanted to inherit this position, but her master had just happened to be the previous mistress. She wanted to find a chance to resign, or else she felt like she would contract some sort of stress-based illness one of these days.

Some people liked authority, but Mu Nichang truly did not enjoy it. From her perspective, being stuck in the position of Sect Mistress and passing through one’s life like this was just a waste of time. The universe was so huge, and she simply wanted to go out for a stroll.

“Master, master!” Doro ran over, gasping for breath.

Mu Nichang rolled her eyes. “Girls need to have manners. Look at you! How can Master feel assured in handing Evenground Palace over to you?”

Doro smiled bitterly. “Master, stop joking around. This disciple isn’t even an Explorer yet, so how could I take over Evenground Palace?”

“What’s impossible about it? Master supports you!” Mu Nichang waved her fists as she encouraged her disciple.

Doro was struck speechless, as anyone else would be eager to inherit the position of Sect Mistress. However, their line seemed to be rather strange, as her master constantly wanted to hand over the position of Sect Master to Doro, and Mu Nichang’s master had been the same. In fact, she had disappeared almost as soon as she had been relieved of the position. This made Doro reluctant to take on this position as well, as it almost seemed to be poisoned. Was something wrong with the position of Sect Master?

“What’s the matter?” Mu Nichang asked lazily.

Doro replied, “The Vastdearth Sect has contacted us to enquire about our preparations.”

“About what preparations?” Mu Nichang was lost.

“The preparations related to the previous agreement: using the sect’s entire strength to nurture a powerhouse at the same level as Lu Yin to suppress the Great Yu Empire and place Lu Yin in a difficult position.”

Mu Nichang cried out exaggeratedly, “Meng Tianlong is still thinking of doing such a thing? He can just go and die.”

Doro blinked.

With a voice full of disdain, Mu Nichang said, “Does he not know that Lu Yin took the entire Outerverse Lockbreaker Society from Sourcepeak Planet and brought them to Frostwave Weave? Trying to make things difficult for Lu Yin now is just stupid, as he can just send any two Lockbreakers to take care of us. Tell him to go to hell.”

Doro was candid, and sent that exact message back to the Vastdearth Sect. “Go to hell.”

In the Vastdearth Sect, Elder Hua Qiao stared at his gadget and felt like something was off. “Go to hell?” What was that supposed to mean? Did that woman from the Evenground Palace send this out by mistake? He thought about it and sent another message asking how the preparations were going.

He received the exact same reply. “Go to hell.”

Hua Qiao became furious, as Evenground Palace was obviously looking down upon their Vastdearth Sect. He immediately went to go find Sect Master Meng Tianlong and have the Sect Master demand that Evenground Palace make their stance clear. Humiliating an elder like himself was no different than humiliating the entire Vastdearth Sect.

But before he could find Meng Tianlong, the disciple who had been waiting to report to Elder Hua Qiao took the opportunity to share what had happened on Sourcepeak Planet. Hua Qiao had gone into seclusion for a dozen days to comprehend a battle technique, and he had only just come out. As soon as he returned, he had sent that message to Evenground Palace, not knowing what had happened at Sourcepeak Planet. Upon learning of those events and their details, his expression changed.

“What? The Outerverse Lockbreaker Society is going to shift their headquarters to Frostwave Weave?” Hua Qiao was in disbelief.

“Yes. According to the reports, Lu Yin has rendered meritorious services to the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society on Sourcepeak Planet, and so, Interim President Felynn has decided to relocate the society’s headquarters over to Frostwave Weave. They are currently en route.”

Hua Qiao looked up and suddenly understood why Evenground Palace’s attitude had changed so drastically. So this was why—the Great Eastern Alliance now had the support of the entire Outerverse Lockbreaker Society. Lockbreakers were extremely strong within their own realm, and just a few of them could easily deal with their two sects. Even though they had power vessels, Lockbreakers had lockbreaking tools, and it was very difficult to beat a Lockbreaker who was at the same power level. No wonder, no wonder.

Hua Qiao could not help but smile bitterly. Their sect had planned to unify the eastern region for such a long time, but it had all come to nothing. It was absurd.

***

In Flaxen Weave, the Tri-Banner Federation’s current chairman, Gibu, also received the news that the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society was shifting its headquarters over to Frostwave Weave, and he immediately sent Lu Yin a message of congratulations. He was dead set on faithfully following the Great Yu Empire, as without it, he would be relegated to being a former chairman. Also, his secrets were held by the empire.

The Vastdearth Sect had wanted to collude with Gibu to make things difficult for the Great Yu Empire, and he had immediately sent a message about this to En Ya. The reason why he had continued to cooperate with them had been En Ya’s suggestion, as that would allow him to gather more intelligence on the Vastdearth Sect’s plans, which he would then provide to the Great Yu Empire.

At times, Gibu tended to look down on the Vastdearth Sect. On one hand, they appeared to have subserviently agreed to join the alliance, but on the other, they had only done so while holding a knife behind their back. They were utterly unlike him, who was loyal to the end.

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