Shi Xuan was taken aback.
The doubts Ren Zhong previously mentioned gradually started to connect.
Ren Zhong interrupted him, "Don’t ’but’ just yet. Let me ask you, what do you think of Ma Dafu?"
"A benevolent fool, virtuous but lacking talent."
"If what you’re showing is your true self, then you’re a capable and good person."
Ren Zhong: "If Ma Dafu remains the Mayor of Starfire Town, but I become the owner of the resource recovery company, what do you think Starfire Town would be like? Worth looking forward to?"
Shi Xuan: "Putting aside the Pu Cha issue, to fully support a town of nearly 30,000 people, the production line configuration of the resource recovery company needs to reach at least a cost of over two hundred million. Mr. Ren, you’re planning to make your first bucket of gold from founding Starfire Resources through the stock market?"
Ren Zhong nodded, "Yes."
"Frankly speaking, the stock market is just gambling. I can’t..."
Ren Zhong took out a tablet again, showing a portion of his various operations over the past two months, "Mr. Shi, take a look first."
After a long while, Shi Xuan silently put down the tablet, hesitating several times to speak.
"Mr. Shi, just say what you want to say."
Shi Xuan shook his head repeatedly, "Crazy! This world is crazy! Impossible..."
Ren Zhong clicked the player in the exoskeleton armor, it was recordings of different people.
Ma Dafu: "Impossible..."
Ma Xiaoling: "This..."
Yang Bingzhong: "Hiss~! You’re amazing..."
Ren Zhong laughed, "These people are respectively Ma Dafu, the Mayor of Starfire Town, Ma Xiaoling, the Guard Captain, and Yang Bingzhong, the owner of Starfire Resources. Their first reactions were similar to yours, but now they’ve all become my investors. Understand what I mean?"
Shi Xuan rubbed his aged and wrinkled face, a battle waging in his mind.
Assuming everything Ren Zhong said is true.
Then he seems too unreal.
He’s wealthy, kind, honest, possessing an astonishing professional’s talent, and also a stock market manipulator with incredible strength.
He’s too perfect, like an extraterrestrial not tainted by worldly smoke.
Shi Xuan: "Mr. Ren, even without Yang Bingzhong, you would eventually earn a lot of money in the stock market, obtaining citizenship directly by paying taxes."
"But you chose to betray Yang Bingzhong, attempting to save the lives of twenty thousand wastelanders in Starfire Town."
Ren Zhong laughed, "I wouldn’t call it betrayal, because I never truly pledged loyalty to him. After understanding the atmosphere in Starfire Town, I had decided he must pay the price."
Shi Xuan: "You chose a path that defies human nature."
"Yes, just like you did back then."
The room fell into silence once more.
Shi Xuan’s knuckles kept tapping on the table.
The dim yellow light from the ceiling illuminated the room.
The voltage supplying the bulb was unstable, flickering occasionally, producing a sizzling electric sound.
The atmosphere felt a bit awkward.
Finally, Shi Xuan turned to look at Ren Zhong again, "Mr. Ren."
Shi Xuan: "I need to verify something."
"What is heard is illusion, what is seen is reality. I want to confirm if your strength is truly as formidable as you claim. In less than two months, starting from scratch and then killing Lin Wang, Mr. Ren, your advancement speed is still somewhat unbelievable to me. A Fourth Level Mechanical Warrior in just two months after entry, it’s incredible."
"I acknowledge your ability to earn money through the stock market, but Source Star is a world where power is paramount. I want to see if your shoulders are truly strong enough to carry the lives of the twenty thousand people in Starfire Town and the seven thousand here! It’s more important than anything! If you can become a Level Nine Professional, not to mention protecting a mere less than thirty thousand, even three million wouldn’t be an issue!"
Ren Zhong raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Alright."
Shi Xuan waved his hand, "Then let’s begin now! Please!"
Ren Zhong shook his head, "Mr. Shi, I forgot to tell you something. Five days ago, I had a fight with Ma Xiaoling, and was severely injured, still not fully recovered."
"What!" Shi Xuan was shocked, "Ma Xiaoling? The Ma Xiaoling from the Ma Family?"
Ren Zhong was surprised, "Mr. Shi, you’ve also heard of Captain Ma’s great name?"
"The Ma Family’s second prodigious talent to appear after many years, exhibiting innate ’Sixth Sense’ as a warrior right after reaching Fourth Level, as the nearby Qi Mountain Tribe leader, how could I not know. Forgive my imprudence, but why did she fight you? And even left you seriously injured?"
This question indeed stumped Ren Zhong.
After thinking for a moment, he reluctantly sighed, "I started a relationship and later abandoned her, playing with her feelings. At least from her perspective, that’s how she understood it."
"Hiss!" Shi Xuan drew a breath of cold air, "So Mr. Ren, you survived because you’d already become a Citizen?"