The torrential rain poured down, whipping up white waves until the five-hundred-meter-long Bona River yacht bobbed precariously in the river's center. Despite the beating of the wind and rain, despite the curling waves, the yacht remained utterly motionless.

Inside the yacht's cabin, Gu Xiechen was curled listlessly on a sofa, twenty bottles of fifty-year-old Gold Foil Brandy lined up before him.

Du Lang, clad in a Marshal's uniform, sat rigidly opposite Gu Xiechen. His claw-like hands were clenched, emitting a crisp kaba, kaba sound, a latent internal force subtly echoing within the cabin, enough to make one’s eardrums ache. This latent force seeped through the yacht’s thick deck, neutralizing the river waves several meters away from the vessel into nothingness.

Du Lang learned immediately of the incident involving Gu Xiechen at the Federation Headquarters. He instantly mobilized his trusted subordinates and summoned the strength of an entire heavy armored division, driving straight for the Federation Headquarters building under the guise of an emergency drill. However, another heavy armored division from the Paris Garrison District had simultaneously received the exact same order for an emergency drill, resulting in a head-on collision between Du Lang's assembled forces and the existing garrison. The two mechanized armies tangled in the streets of Paris for quite some time before finally clearing a passage.

By the time Du Lang arrived at the Federation Headquarters conference hall, Gu Xiechen had already surrendered all the metal formulas from the second bamboo slip and secured the compensation agreed upon by Rang Mang'an and the others.

The agreement was clearly written in black and white; all transfer documents had been notarized by the relevant Federation departments. Everything was legally sound and procedural; everything was now irrevocable.

Immediately afterward, Gu Xiechen dragged Du Lang onto the Seine River. The two sat quietly on the small yacht, which measured no more than ten meters in length, silently listening to the sound of the wind and rain.

"Hecomes must have his reasons for doing this!" After a long silence, Du Lang finally spoke. "But what that reason is, I cannot yet fathom!"

Picking up a bottle, Gu Xiechen took a slow sip and smiled. "Guessing is the most unreliable thing. We must deal in concrete evidence. Come, see how well I did today?"

A thick stack of documents was tossed into Du Lang's hands, and he quickly scanned them.

The entire research and development history, including all process logs, for every large-scale engine under the company since its establishment.

The R&D data and process records for high-energy shields, engines, super-alloy armors, bio-energy, and the weaponization of biology, from the Federation's Academy of Sciences, excluding the Gu Corporation.

The R&D data and process records for the three largest military-industrial conglomerates in the Federation, aside from the Gu Corporation.

Ten percent ownership of the mining machinery and transport vessels belonging to the Federation's ten largest mineral companies, ten percent ownership of their resource planets, and ten percent of their workers and engineers.

Fifteen percent ownership of the battleship production lines and skilled laborers belonging to the Federation's five largest military-industrial conglomerates.

Administrative authority over Copenhagen City, its surrounding satellite towns, and the underground residential districts.

And so on, and so forth. Although Gu Xiechen had relinquished the alloy formulas contained within the second bamboo slip, he had also gained a great deal. With these assets, he now possessed a foothold in the Federation's political landscape. He could establish an enormous high-tech conglomerate, leveraging the already controlled Hadix Defense Company. He had the manpower, the capital, the resources... the means of production. He could fully assemble his own fleet!

"What are you planning?" Du Lang slapped the documents in his hands, frowning. "What are you planning? You want to form a private army? The Federation forbids that!"

"No!" Gu Xiechen looked at Du Lang with feigned surprise, shaking his head repeatedly. "Is that sort of illegal, lawless behavior something I would do? I merely intend to bolster the strength of the company I control."

Du Lang angrily hurled the stack of documents back into Gu Xiechen’s lap, grumbling, "Illegal and lawless? You actually take this so-called law and discipline seriously? Today, they clearly ganged up to set us up! Hecomes... we have a reckoning coming for this! When you play a game, you must abide by the rules!"

Gu Xiechen nodded. Hecomes had indeed violated the rules of the game. He had reached an agreement with Gu Xiechen and Du Lang, and by his status and position, he should not have broken that agreement.

Yet, he had done just that. He had broken custom! More importantly, he had directly endangered Gu Xiechen's life.

Clenching his jaw and puffing out his cheeks, Gu Xiechen recalled the most critical moments in the conference hall.

At that time, he had agreed with everyone to hand over the bamboo slips, and Qi'an and the others had already promised to compensate him according to his terms.

However, Bishop Andre of the Holy See used the excuse that Gu Xiechen might be concealing parts of the bamboo slip's contents, strongly suggesting that he and Bobi should jointly monitor Gu Xiechen’s spiritual fluctuations while he transcribed the second bamboo slip's alloy formulas—that is, while he wrote, they would probe their spiritual senses into Gu Xiechen's soul, observing every movement within his spirit.

This action was extremely dangerous. Having an outsider’s spiritual sense invade one's soul not only exposed all secrets to that outsider but, far more lethally, Andre and Bobi could obliterate Gu Xiechen’s soul at any moment. Allowing an external spiritual sense into one's own soul was akin to a city opening its gates during wartime and tossing all its soldiers' weapons onto the scrap heap.

Joanne hesitated slightly at this proposal, but Hecomes strongly endorsed Andre and Bobi's suggestion, and the matter passed.

The moment Gu Xiechen picked up his pen and paper, the spiritual power of Andre and Bobi intensified a thousandfold, penetrating the core of Gu Xiechen's spiritual realm through tens of thousands of fine filaments. Under the military threat posed by the Holy See and the Alliance of Gods, Gu Xiechen had no means of resistance and could only allow their spiritual senses deep into the very origin of his soul.

As Gu Xiechen transcribed the alloy formulas from the second bamboo slip, his soul began to fluctuate. The memories clearly linked to the bamboo slips gradually became distinct, and the spiritual filaments of Andre and Bobi, like cats smelling fish, greedily rushed forward. Fearing the other would seize the prize first, their spiritual powers engaged in a frantic sprint deep within Gu Xiechen's soul. They wildly amplified their spiritual output, surging toward that segment of Gu Xiechen's memory.

Gu Xiechen was anxious. That segment of memory contained not only the contents of the first and second bamboo slips but also the contents of the third and most crucial slip. Yet, if he summoned this entire memory block, it would inevitably draw the attention of Andre and Bobi. He had no way to control himself to summon only the information related to the first two slips while retaining the third.

Just as they were about to touch Gu Xiechen's greatest secret, the twenty-four-story pagoda, which had been suspended in the vast Taiji vortex of Gu Xiechen's Sea of Consciousness, underwent a change.

The twenty-four-story pagoda, utterly devoid of ornamentation, emanating an ancient, weighty, and primeval aura, shot forth a hazy azure mist that perfectly enveloped the origin of Gu Xiechen's soul. The clear light flowed according to Gu Xiechen’s will, generating layers of illusions within his memories. Whatever Gu Xiechen wished them to see, they saw clearly; whatever he did not wish them to see, they simply could not see, or could not see clearly.

The memories related to the bamboo slips were displayed to the two truthfully.

Their spiritual senses were bewildered by the azure light. They clearly documented the two scrolls of the bamboo slips, discovered the existence of the Golden Crow Celestial Fire, and saw Gu Xiechen commit the alloy formulas recorded on both slips to memory.

According to Andre and Bobi’s understanding, memories etched so deeply within the spiritual realm could not be altered. Therefore, they were completely convinced that Gu Xiechen only possessed two scrolls.

Gu Xiechen instantly realized the true power of the dilapidated pagoda and was ecstatic!

The second bamboo slip contained forty-nine unique alloy formulas; he had only surrendered twenty-three!

Concealed by the azure light, Andre and Bobi could not pry into Gu Xiechen’s true memories and were forced to allow Gu Xiechen to do as he pleased!

After Gu Xiechen finished writing down the twenty-three alloy formulas from the second bamboo slip, Andre and Bobi reluctantly withdrew from Gu Xiechen’s soul, but almost simultaneously, they each left a venomous restriction within his spirit. Andre left a remote-controlled Purifying Sacred Flame, while Bobi left a Curse of Misfortune that could detonate at an unknown time. The only consequence of such a restriction exploding deep within the soul was complete spiritual annihilation, never to be reborn.

Gu Xiechen was furious internally. He loathed Andre and Bobi, and he harbored equal hatred for Hecomes, who had betrayed him.

This is why, the moment Du Lang arrived, he wordlessly dragged him out of the Federation Headquarters. Along the way, he utilized the azure light emitted by the pagoda to thoroughly cleanse both restrictions.

Even now, thinking of the ruthlessness of Andre and Bobi, Gu Xiechen's body trembled slightly with anger.

Du Lang gazed at the grim-faced Gu Xiechen and finally sighed after a long pause. "Your foundation is still too shallow! That is why, the moment I was constrained, you were immediately isolated and helpless. You could handle Alexander easily because his foundation was even shallower than yours. But facing figures like Jo'an and Hecomes, you are utterly outmatched."

Indeed, Gu Xiechen's foundation was too shallow.

It seemed he possessed extremely powerful backers and formidable allies. But his backers were constrained by the Declaration of Reclusion and could not directly intervene in Federation affairs, and his allies certainly could not watch over him at all times. Thus, when the high echelons of the Federation united against him, he was immediately thrown into chaos, his life and death no longer within his own control.

"A lesson!"

Gu Xiechen forcefully tapped the wine table before him, earnestly reflecting on his gains and losses since leaving the Gu Corporation—his merits and faults.

Du Lang was pleased; one needed to suffer setbacks to grow, to be beaten down, only to climb back up from repeated failures to achieve true maturity.

Gu Xiechen was thinking now; this was a good thing!

The wind and rain gradually subsided, and a faint line of crimson light began to rise on the eastern horizon.

All twenty bottles of Gold Foil Brandy were drained, and Gu Xiechen’s face was flushed. He stood up unsteadily, climbed out of the cabin, and stood at the bow of the yacht.

Staring blankly at the eastern sky, Gu Xiechen smiled strangely. "The tallest tree in the forest is the first to fall... If the sun hides behind the clouds, people won't see it!"

A fierce gust of wind swept over, churning the dark clouds on the horizon and shrouding that crimson line of light once more.

A week later, Gu Xiechen resigned as Director of the Special Operations Bureau, with Sai Shi, whom he recommended, taking over.

He simultaneously resigned his post as a Federation Senator, which was filled by the Bearded Commander.

Another week later, someone was hunting a great python in the artificial forest.

Thus, a month passed, and Gu Xiechen completely vanished from public view. Some people had even forgotten that there had ever been a rising star in the Federation named Gu Xiechen.

A thick curtain of black enveloped Gu Xiechen, hiding him completely. No one knew his height, weight, or whether he was fair or dark, handsome or ugly...

The turning point had begun...