Resurrection Empire

Chapter 1401: Chapter 528: Struggle

Just as Grue was half talking to himself and half deliberately "letting things slip" to calm his last loyal servant, someone knocked on the door of the small inn, giving the master and servant inside a fright.

"Who is it!"

A vaguely familiar voice came from outside the door.

"Liu Jin."

The two of them instantly tensed up, unable to guess the purpose of this man whose name was not well-known, yet who was actually an absolute power-holder in Nanxiang’s Earldom. They couldn’t tell whether he was friend or foe, whether he had come to offer some protection, or to kill them and silence them.

After all, just before he blacked out, a thought had flashed through Grue’s mind: this pitiful Viscount had unfortunately been dragged into the dispute between the two Earls. His being crushed until not even his bones remained would be nothing more than a minor compromise and利益 trade-off between the two Earls.

Although after waking up Grue realized his misstep—that even if he thought so, he should never have said it out loud in public—ending up offending the only two Earls in the entire Nanxiang Star Cluster at the same time.

Now Liu Jin, nominally the Nanxiang Marquis’s private adviser but in truth the spymaster with countless lives in his hands, had personally come calling. It was like ghosts knocking at the door at midnight—enough to scare anyone.

But since they had already found him, there was no hiding. Grue simply grit his teeth, steeled himself, went to open the door in person, and, forcing a broad smile over his immense fear, respectfully said, "Director Liu, if you needed me, you only had to have someone send word. I would have come on my own. How could I trouble you to run over in person."

After he finished, Grue, still bent in a bow, cautiously watched for any change in Liu Jin’s expression.

Liu Jin first looked down at Grue from above, but he didn’t put on any airs. He also bent his back a little, then reached out both hands to hold Grue’s elbows, as if to help him up.

Grue’s heart clenched even tighter, afraid that the Liu Jin of rumor, who could kill without spilling blood, had some poisoned needle hidden in his palm and could quietly pierce his skin and take him out in one smooth move. Even his movements turned stiff from the fear.

But Liu Jin, as a High Rank Professional, was ultimately much stronger. He easily helped Grue up and said, "The main thing is that this matter isn’t small, and it involves some covert operations. It wouldn’t be convenient to ask Mr. Augustus to come to my office to talk. Even I had to cover my tracks along the way, borrow someone else’s ID, then Disguise my face and slip over quietly."

Grue thought for a moment, then subconsciously crossed his arms, secretly checking whether there was any sting around his elbows, while his mouth invited the man inside: "Since it involves secrecy, then please, Director Liu, come in and speak. There are too many people and too many eyes outside."

Liu Jin did not rush to go inside. He only reached up and stroked his beard, chuckling, "No need to worry. There are no other living people left in this shabby little inn, and I’ve already cleared out any other surveillance devices. Whatever we say will be safe."

With the conversation at this point, Grue immediately grew serious, knowing that what came next would either be the moment when the blade came out of the map, or the opening to discuss something major.

"That’s good. I’m relieved. Please speak plainly, Director Liu."

Liu Jin gave Grue another long look, then began by praising him: "They all say you, Grue, as the second son, are useless, lacking both virtue and ambition. But now it seems everyone has underestimated you. You, Grue Augustus, were simply suppressed by your father. In terms of Intelligence and scientific research you’re indeed no match for your extraordinarily gifted elder brother, but in truth you have a deep mind, a strong city wall in your heart, and the resolve to match."

"You flatter me, you flatter me, I don’t dare accept such praise." Being lauded to the skies like that, Grue Augustus—bearing a Western name, with brown hair, high nose and snow-white skin—hurried to answer in a bookish tone.

"It’s not flattery. Others all think your Augustus line has fallen to rock bottom and will never rise again. But I know that your family has always had very deep ties with the Pakuiao Pirate Group of the Shattered Star Ring’s Five Elder Clan, isn’t that so? Though the Pakuiao Pirate Group carries an entirely new surname, who would have thought that seven or eight thousand years ago the genius captain who wholly took over the original William Pirate Group and then renamed it the Pakuiao Pirate Group was originally called Pacquiao Augustus."

With his own family’s trump card laid bare in a single breath, Grue no longer dared to hide anything and honestly admitted it.

Several hours later, Liu Jin left, thoroughly satisfied.

As for Grue Augustus, he took his loyal servant and another top operative carrying the Nanxiang Marquis’s seal of authorization, and boarded a warship nominally tasked with patrolling the border under the Military and Political Center, heading straight for the Shattered Star Ring.