Chapter 74: Kneel
At first?
He Yue keenly sensed something unusual.
The strange thing was, when He Yue’s scrutinizing gaze fell on him, the president’s expression remained tense, his words ambiguous, his calm eyes showing no emotional cracks. A seasoned businessman was hard to read, and his previous words were the first time he had shown any deep meaning in the face of He Yue’s questioning.
Truly interesting.
The complex situation piqued He Yue’s interest. His finger pressed against Arnis’s chest, poking his pectoral muscle through the thick suit.
In the moment when Arnis was stunned, He Yue caught the unconcealed emotion in his calm eyes.
Just as Arnis was about to speak, He Yue preemptively pulled the expensive fountain pen from his breast pocket.
Under his burning gaze, he uncapped the pen and casually signed his name on the signature line.
The teasing action was also completely justified, and Arnis could only swallow the words he was about to say. The fountain pen was placed back in his hand, the metal barrel retaining a little of the user’s body heat, which was slowly dissipating.
Flirting was as easy as breathing for He Yue, leaving the self-fantasizing president stunned.
After finishing the red wine in his glass, President Arnis, like a waiter, poured him some more. He chose his words carefully and said, “There’s a charity auction tomorrow night, Oried will be there too.”
The familiar name made He Yue’s sipping motion pause.
“I’ve investigated, the call to the police station, it was him.” Arnis asked.
He Yue’s gaze visibly darkened.
As expected, the Speaker could easily control the direction of an arson and bombing case, turning a blatantly flawed case into a trivial accident.
“What are you going to do?” He Yue asked.
“An insect who’s so afraid of death, if a gun is pointed at his forehead, he’ll say anything.” Arnis said in the calmest tone, the most arrogant words.
He Yue leaned closer, his nose almost touching his, his bright pupils reflecting only his image, staring at him intently.
His breath hitched, the face Arnis had been longing for and admiring from afar, was now magnified before him, so close he could see his every eyelash, so close he could kiss his nose with a slight tilt of his head.
“I can’t believe it, Mr. President… is this the simple and unadorned business war? If the other party doesn’t talk, just point a gun at his forehead?”
The simple and crude threat was indeed out of place with the president in his righteous suit. He looked elegant and composed, his restrained temperament and mature tone making him seem calm in any situation. He Yue found it hard to imagine him in this suit, holding a gun in a dangerous scene of gunfire.
Or, the gentlemanly suit was just a disguise, and Arnis was just such a ruthless character.
Arnis didn’t answer, not even hearing He Yue’s words, his gaze fixed on his full lips as he spoke, his mind filled with only one thought: “I want to kiss him.”
He was about to instinctively lean in when He Yue promptly pulled away.
Why was his Master so good at luring insects into the abyss?
Arnis calmed down.
Maybe he was mistaking him for some other female insect?
He said, “Sometimes, soft methods don’t work, you always need some hard means.”
He Yue didn’t pursue the matter, but nodded in agreement. “I’d also like to see Mr. President blow his head off with one shot.”
He was just saying it in anger.
If a powerful insect Speaker died “accidentally,” it would definitely have a butterfly effect on the entire insect society. His network of connections, his countless female insects, were all problems that needed to be considered.
He Yue believed that the calm and composed President Arnis would not act rashly.
And the president he thought was calm and composed replied in a calm tone:
“Alright.”
The charity auction was a gathering of big shots, and they casually shouted out astronomical numbers, as if those numbers didn’t correspond to real money, but just a pile of numbers.
Arnis wore a wireless earpiece, the indicator light occasionally flashing blue. When the camera swept over, he would always turn off the speaker on the table and whisper into the earpiece.
“Does Master have any favorite items?”
The way the rich insects tried to please He Yue was just by piling up money, and he found it very unoriginal.
“Not good-looking.” He Yue scoffed at the insect race’s aesthetics, not quite understanding their strong passion for those shiny gemstones.
His attention was completely on Oried.
He didn’t notice anything unusual, as if nothing had happened to Oried. This insect still looked triumphant, exuding an air of contempt for everything.
As for him destroying a painter’s dedicated art exhibition and using his power to cover it up, he didn’t care at all.
It was just explosives, just a private order, just to verify the threat of “you can’t hold an art exhibition without my consent.”
A casual matter, he didn’t care at all.
Oried glanced at Arnis, annoyed that he was sitting in the front row with the business elite Arnis.
Every time he glanced at Arnis, his eyes were filled with contempt.
In this insect society, money could be obtained, but power was rare.
The auction ended, and Arnis only symbolically raised the price a few times, not buying anything. The items here didn’t catch He Yue’s eye, so he didn’t bid on anything.
He was generous when he bid on He Yue’s paintings, but now he seemed frugal and cautious.
On the contrary, Oried gained a lot of attention, being hailed as a “philanthropist” by the media and pushed to the forefront of the optical network discussions. Cameras surrounded him, and flashes kept going off. He pretended to be low-key and refused interviews, telling the media he needed to rest.
He walked down the backstage corridor with a tired face, stumbling as if he had drunk too much, and after instructing something on his optical device, he stumbled into the lounge.
The door to the private lounge closed, cutting off all sound from outside.
Anyone who saw Oried’s appearance would find it strange.
He Yue pressed his ear against the lounge door and listened for a while, but there was no sound from the heavy door. He gripped the doorknob tightly and, when he turned to signal Arnis to follow, he saw the cold glint of a gun in his hand.
The casual joke He Yue had made was also taken seriously by Arnis.
The pistol was loaded, and the finger on the trigger was ready to fire at any moment.
“Don’t accidentally fire.” He Yue said half-jokingly.
Arnis stood in front of him, his body completely shielding He Yue. The moment he opened the door, the muzzle was aimed at the insect inside.
The words “don’t move” were stuck in Arnis’s throat.
Oried was tied to a wooden chair, a cloth gag in his mouth. The ropes binding him were tight, and besides securing him to the chair, they were also laced with some hatred.
He Yue and the fluffy white figure who rushed in looked at each other.
He Yue exclaimed in surprise, “Knasch? What are you doing here?”
The fox had originally been pointing a gun at Oried’s forehead, saying some ruthless words. He didn’t give the other party a chance to insult him, and listening to Oried’s muffled sounds, he laughed with a crazed, bloodthirsty grin.
All of this came to an abrupt end when He Yue entered the room.
Knasch, who had always hidden his true nature out of love, and acted as a docile green tea fox by He Yue’s side, hadn’t had time to switch back to his role, his cold smile frozen on his face, his movements also frozen.
“I…”
Knasch subconsciously hid the gun behind his back and lowered his head, his fox ears drooping, like a bad fox caught doing something wrong.
He Yue walked to his side, the shadow of his raised hand falling on his face. He closed his eyes, waiting for a forceful slap.
But the slap didn’t land on his face. Instead, a gentle hand ruffled his fox ears.
“You don’t even know how to lock the door when you’re doing bad things.”
Knasch cheered up, his ears perking up, and he wrapped his arm around He Yue’s, saying, “The fox knows he was wrong, the fox came in through the window, not the main door.”
He found an opportunity and once again turned into that obedient fox.
He Yue pulled the gag from Oried’s mouth and glanced at him coldly. “Did you burn the art exhibition?”
His contemptuous gaze swept over the insects, finally returning to He Yue. Oried laughed, his laughter wild and ferocious, and he didn’t hold back his voice, shouting, “Of course it was me! In the entire insect race, who else could so easily destroy your art exhibition and get away with it? Of course it was me! Only I can!!”
The high and mighty Speaker felt no guilt for his actions, instead treating it as a medal, a capital to show off.
Two black muzzles were pointed at him.
“Shoot? Do you two dare?”
He was so angry that his lips trembled, and he didn’t even care about the basic dignity of a Speaker. When the muzzles were pointed at his head, he believed his power would be the best shield.
“I can get away with arson and bombing, without any responsibility or investigation falling on me. What about you? Can you escape the law? Can you treat my assassination as an accident?”
Knasch pressed the muzzle against his forehead, leaving a mark. “Why wouldn’t I dare? Even if they catch me, so what? They can’t take my life.”
Oried raised his chin and turned his head towards Knasch.
“You think your life is worth a few cents, you slutty female insect? You think you’re worthy of being a bargaining chip to threaten and kill a male insect?” His provocative gaze completely disregarded the fox, this strange insect. “You’ve bonded, you’re a female insect with a Master, and whoever’s name is written on your imprint will pay for your mistakes.”
He had investigated them.
He Yue realized this from his words.
Oried then turned to the other muzzle.
“You’re here, pointing a gun at me. Do Yilinde and Ailaisi know?”
Yiai Group, Yilinde and Ailaisi. He Yue could guess the identity of these two names, the insect couple who had adopted Arnis.
That muzzle also paused.
“How much did Yiai Group spend to get my approval for their project?” Oried used his power to gain an absolute advantage. “Mr. President, do you want to see the news of Yiai Group’s project being illegally suspended, and the stock price plummeting?”
He had grasped Arnis’s lifeline.
The development of this scene was incredibly familiar, the same template just with a different person.
He Yue’s pupils trembled, and his gaze drifted elsewhere.
At the club, Kano, who had been so devoted to him, and had even expressed his love for him, would stand against him after weighing the pros and cons, asking him to compromise and leave the club.
That was just a club that had taken up some of Kano’s time. Now, before Arnis was a commercial empire that monopolized many industries, Yiai Group.
Arnis was a businessman, and He Yue didn’t think he would be chosen by this businessman when balancing the interests.
His back was pressed against a solid chest. Through the layers of his suit, he could feel the fountain pen against his back. The hand holding the gun didn’t lower, because Arnis had stepped behind him, his arm over He Yue’s shoulder, casting a shadow on his face.
Even though standing behind him wasn’t the most profitable choice in a business battle, Arnis still came closer, not putting down the gun.
At least this time, he had been unconditionally and firmly chosen.
He Yue began to believe the system’s report of 62%, and he became very interested in the reason.
Oried’s arrogant threats were clearly hitting Arnis’s weak spot, but they didn’t seem to have any effect. He became flustered and shouted:
“You can’t do anything! I’m the Speaker elected by the council, the highest official! All the insects in the council know about my misdeeds, they belong to my faction, they cover up all my crimes, they rely on my power to live. If any of you touch me, you’ll shake the foundation of the entire council, and I, I can destroy your art exhibition now, and I can destroy Yiai Group tomorrow!”
The Speaker was so angry that his eyes were bloodshot, and he didn’t care what he said. He had never been so humiliated, tied to a chair by a lowly female insect, and no one had ever dared to challenge him like this.
Just a newborn calf who wasn’t afraid of a tiger.
He didn’t take He Yue, this new insect who had just been born, seriously at all, let alone that meaningless art exhibition.
The two muzzles didn’t move, neither firing a fatal shot at Oried, nor lowering.
He laughed wildly, his mouth open wide, his laughter sharp and piercing.
“You know the truth now, right! What can you do!” Oried scoffed. “I just wanted to vent my anger, so I burned the art exhibition, for no reason, I just wanted to burn a few paintings to liven things up.”
A beep sounded, and He Yue, who was on edge, instinctively looked for the source of the sound.
The sound came from Arnis’s hand, a recording pen with a green light. The replay button was pressed, and a clear voice came from the recording pen.
“Of course it was me, the entire insect race…”
The sharp laughter abruptly stopped, and the only sound in the lounge was the replay from the recording pen, a nightmare that now haunted the previously arrogant Oried.
This was the evidence.
The ironclad evidence of the bombing.
“So, so what! You dare to take me to the police station? The court, the court won’t convict me either!”
The loud shouts, overlapping with the electronically altered voice from the recording pen, clearly lacked the previous confidence.
Arnis put away his gun and stopped the recording pen. His voice was calm and elegant, no different from a gentlemanly business elite.
“You’re right, Speaker, fighting is too barbaric, we should use more civilized methods.”
The recording pen spun in his fingers and landed back in his palm.
“So, Speaker, we’ll see you in court.”
“You dare! I can go back tonight and reject Yiai Group’s construction project!”
Compared to the furious Oried, Arnis seemed too calm. He seemed to be dealing with a difficult business partner, in his absolute domain, with absolute confidence.
“We never thought the Speaker would approve it in the first place, it’s just a business risk.”
Oried’s face was completely flushed, and he quickly retorted, “Then what about the illegal suspension of Yiai Group’s construction project!”
“You mean, you’re going to suspend Yiai Group’s over-budget, unfinished project, and help us divert the public’s hatred, right?”
Arnis said with a business smile, polite yet distant. His words, without a single curse, were like a sharp sword, piercing through Oried’s self-proclaimed hard shield.
“You…”
He couldn’t find any other attack points to hurt Arnis.
The standoff made the lounge quiet for a while, and Oried, after a moment of hesitation, finally spoke. “I can compensate.” His voice was very stiff, the words squeezed out after much struggle.
No one had ever dared to take him to court before. His power made the powerful submit, and the unknown obey. But Arnis was different, this calm lunatic, he might actually do it.
Arnis walked up to him and untied the ropes that the fox had tied to the back of the chair. “I can’t make the decision on this, let Master decide.”
He stood behind the chair, one hand on the backrest, and gave He Yue a look.
He had done so much, just to get revenge for his Master.
“Apologize to me.” He Yue said lightly.
With an attitude of being able to bend and stretch, Oried gritted his teeth and said, “…I’m sorry.” “An insincere apology, how can I accept it?”
Oried said “I’m sorry” again, louder and clearer.
“You destroyed my paintings, and you think just saying that is enough?” “What else do you want!”
He Yue walked up to him. “An apology should have an apologetic attitude, isn’t that the most basic thing?” He raised an eyebrow and gestured towards the floor. “Kneel.”
The crushing of his dignity was the most fatal blow to an insect of Oried’s status, even more effective than death.
“Impossible! Make me kneel to an insect like you, unless I… ah!” The fox, standing at the side, pushed him from behind, making him fall forward to the ground. The fox hadn’t contributed much during the intellectual battle, and he hadn’t been able to say anything, so he was very anxious. He finally found a chance to punch Oried, and of course he wouldn’t miss it.
Oried fell forward from the chair, his knees hitting the ground, kneeling at He Yue’s feet, a submissive posture.
The dull pain in his knees and the sight of He Yue’s shoes reminded him of his current humiliation, the price for casually destroying a painter’s hard work. He gritted his teeth, the sound of his grinding teeth audible.
He braced himself and stood up, clearly not convinced. But he didn’t say anything else, just pretending he had accidentally fallen, not at all taking it as a humiliating kneeling.
“Is that enough now?” Oried said.
“Enough for what?” He Yue feigned confusion and smiled. “Did I say I would accept your apology?” His smile deepened, the remaining clouds in his eyes completely dissipating, his bright eyes still with a cunning look.
“See you in court, Speaker.” This smiling repetition was another blow to Oried.
His curses accompanied He Yue as he left the lounge, and were only completely cut off when the door closed. Oried didn’t dare to follow. He had been played by He Yue and Arnis, his face completely lost, like a dog being teased, but he didn’t dare to use force because of the two guns.
Closing the door, He Yue looked back at Arnis, who was following him.
“How exciting, Mr. President, you’re really skilled and quick to react to build your own business empire.” He Yue didn’t hold back his praise. “You’re not even afraid of Oried, there’s probably no one in the insect race who can control you, right?” Arnis walked to his side, and they walked together.
“I was terrified, my voice was trembling.” Arnis’s smile was calm and composed, without a trace of fear.
He Yue chuckled. “I don’t believe you.”
“I was lying to him, those construction projects are very important to Yiai Group.” Arnis said casually.
He Yue stopped, slightly surprised. “What are you doing with Yiai Group’s future?” “Didn’t I win the bet? This is the most common negotiation tactic. The more I express that it’s not important, the more I can get the upper hand in bargaining.” A lunatic, and a cunning merchant.
He Yue sighed inwardly.
This conquest target was different from any other before. He was so smart he was cunning, a dangerous target to be wary of. But he also had an incredibly high submission value from the beginning, and he was always helping He Yue.
He Yue could always attribute all of Arnis’s unusual actions to a merchant’s decision, and the other party seemed to be doing it on purpose.
They returned to the house in Arnis’s luxurious mecha and said goodbye.
“This is for you, remember our promise, Master.” Arnis took the fountain pen from his breast pocket and placed it in He Yue’s hand. “I look forward to your next art exhibition.” The luxurious fountain pen was heavy in He Yue’s palm.
(Can you help me check the price of this fountain pen?)
[It’s just a million-dollar level.]
It seemed even heavier.
Knasch was silent all the way, his head lowered as he walked ahead, bumping into the glass door with a thud. He stumbled back a few steps and was caught by He Yue.
“What are you thinking about?” He Yue asked.
The fox shook his head, his fox ears twitching.
The words “whoever’s name is on your imprint, will pay for your mistakes” had been echoing in his ears since he heard them, and he couldn’t get them out of his head.
He almost made a big mistake…
Knasch’s hand was in his pocket, clutching a remote control.
It was the switch for the explosives. He had wanted to use the same method Oried had used to destroy the art exhibition to send him to his death. He hadn’t thought about the consequences, just like in the organization, he never considered the consequences of killing.
He forced a smile and replied, “It’s just that what happened today was a bit sudden. I’m fine, Master.”
