manynovel Page 515
Page 515
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then someone said, "Who I am isn't important; what's important is that I want to discuss a deal with you."
"What deal?"
"I want you to release Zhao Xuzhen."
What if I don't let you go?
"Believe it or not, I'll offer you a deal you can't refuse."
"Hehe." Gu Ran chuckled. "How about we make a bet? If your offer can't sway me, then I bet... if Zhao Xuzhen's leg is healed, and your offer can sway me, I'll release Zhao Xuzhen. If it can't, I'll cut off Zhao Xuzhen's leg so he won't run around on the street."
A cold laugh came from the other end of the phone: "Fine, I'll take your bet. I'll call you back in five minutes, and I'll offer you a deal you can't refuse."
"I am waiting."
After saying that, Gu Ran hung up the phone and set a five-minute countdown alarm.
Isabel said, "President, should we contact the academy?"
"Need not."
"Who called?" Victoria asked.
"I don't know either." Gu Ran yawned and asked Victoria, "Have you ever heard of the Solomon Temple in England?"
"I've heard of it; it's the legend of the Knights Templar from back then."
What Victoria said was similar to what Gu Ran knew before, but seeing it with their own eyes today confirmed their belief in the secrets of the Solomon Temple.
There has long been a legend that the Temple of Solomon holds the secret of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," and that they have a way to enable hybrids to control pure-blooded dragons that are more powerful than themselves. Perhaps this is the secret that the poor knights found in the ruins of the temple.
If the Knights Templar had ever used dragons in battle during the Middle Ages, they would indeed have been invincible.
The dragon that Zhao Xuzhen was riding today was still in its juvenile stage, so Gu Ran didn't have to exert much effort.
"The Temple of Solomon will continuously select outstanding hybrids to join them in order to breed increasingly powerful offspring. Only hybrids that break through the limits can ride dragons."
"Zhao Xuzhen has priority in choosing a spouse, or to put it bluntly, the right to mate, simply because he is already a knight in the Temple Order. As for Jiang Wanzhi, she is valued not necessarily because she is so outstanding herself, but because she is deemed capable of giving birth to superior mixed-race offspring."
Gu Ran casually offered some speculations.
Isabel said, "So, the Temple of Solomon betrayed humanity long ago, colluding with the dragons, and they seem to have been preparing to become the new dragon race all along..."
“That deduction is correct.” Gu Ran nodded and said with a smile, “Remember to include it in the action report.”
The five-minute countdown clock ended as soon as the words were spoken.
But the other party didn't call back.
Gu Ran waited another minute, but still didn't receive a call from the other party, so she took the initiative to call back.
beep - beep -
As soon as the call connected, Gu Ran said sarcastically, "Six minutes have passed, why didn't you call me?"
This time, he didn't turn on speakerphone.
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
Gu Ran shouted into the microphone, "Speak!"
The other person took a deep breath and slowly said, "Gu Ran, so this was all your scheme."
"I don't understand what you're saying," Gu Ran said, feigning innocence.
"Back when Zhao Xuzhen blew up the flight you were on, you were already plotting how to get revenge on him. Then, through some unknown channel, you found out that he was going to see Jiang Wanzhi, so you were waiting for him to make a mistake. You also collected evidence of his betrayal of humanity and used the power of the Secret Party to help you suppress the Solomon Temple Society... I have to say, you are indeed very calculating."
"I don't know what you mean by saying this. I just happened to be in Kunshan to investigate and happened to encounter some hybrids and dragons causing trouble. I just happened to suppress them. I didn't force Zhao Xu to go to Kunshan, nor did I force him to become a little dragon. And I didn't summon that real dragon. You're saying this was my scheme? Do you have any evidence?"
There was another moment of silence from the other party.
Yes, it's all such a coincidence. If Zhao Xu hadn't transformed into a dragon and caused the next generation to appear, Gu Ran wouldn't have made a move at all.
"Also, don't change the subject. Didn't you say you'd offer me an 'irresistible deal' to release Zhao Xuzhen? What's your deal? I'm waiting!"
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone before someone said, "Name your terms. What will it take to release Zhao Xuzhen?"
"Hahahaha!" Gu Ran laughed loudly, "So, you can't offer me that condition I 'can't refuse'?"
The other party remained silent.
"So, it's time to talk about the bet," Gu Ran sneered. "According to the bet, you lost Zhao Xuzhen's leg!"
As he spoke, Gu Ran looked at Victoria and said, "Go and cut off one of Zhao Xuzhen's legs."
“Okay!” Victoria immediately stood up, looking left and right. “Where’s a chainsaw?”
"No need for a chainsaw, just use a knife." Gu Ran tossed Ichimonji Norimune over.
Victoria took the knife, its tip still dripping with blood: "I... I'm afraid I won't be able to cut it all in one stroke."
"It's alright, if one cut can't sever it, just cut it in two," Gu Ran laughed. "Anyway, as long as the leg is broken, it doesn't matter how many pieces it's broken into."
“Oh…” Victoria walked to Zhao Xuzhen’s side and drew her long sword.
Zhao Xuzhen could no longer pretend to be asleep. He opened his eyes, his crimson-gold pupils staring at Victoria, causing her to be shaken.
"You dare to act tough with me!"
Gu Ran rushed over and kicked Zhao Xuzhen in the head, kicked him in the temple with a soccer ball, and stomped on his eyes twice.
"Stop, stop hitting me!" Zhao Xuzhen had lost his previous arrogance and spoke normally, even begging for mercy.
“If you don’t fight, I’ll cut off your leg!” He took the long knife from Victoria’s hand.
"Gu Ran, do you know what the consequences will be if you cut off Zhao Xuzhen's leg?" The person who had been silent for a long time finally spoke again on the other end of the phone.
"Let's get this straight. It's not that I'm going to cut off Zhao Xuzhen's leg. It's that you're incompetent. You couldn't set a price and lost Zhao Xuzhen's leg. I'm just fulfilling our bet. So, you lost this leg because you had to show off in front of me. If you hadn't shown off and hadn't agreed to the bet, Zhao Xuzhen's leg would have been fine."
"So, you brought this on yourself and lost Zhao Xuzhen's leg, understand? The responsibility is yours, don't try to shift it to me, I'm not going to take the blame."
Chapter 601 Earning a Small Profit of 100 Billion Dollars
Gu Ran's words were very clear: Zhao Xuzhen's leg was lost because the person on the other end of the phone lost.
"What, you want to back out of the bet?" There was silence on the other end of the phone, so Gu Ran continued with his full taunts, "If you pay a high enough price, I might consider canceling the bet."
"Name your terms," the person on the other end of the phone said.
"Let me think about it, $10 billion will do," Gu Ran said with a smile. "So, are you willing to give me a $10 billion subsidy?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end: "Isn't your appetite a bit too big? Do you know what 100 billion means? Iceland's annual GDP is just over 100 billion US dollars."
"I think my appetite is still good. I'd be willing to accept 1000 billion if you offered me that."
“But in my eyes, Zhao Xuzhen’s leg isn’t worth 100 billion,” the other person said.
“In my eyes, Zhao Xuzhen’s legs are only worth $1 million,” Gu Ran laughed, “but I think your face is worth $99 billion. What do you think, Dragon King?”
"So you know who I am?"
"I don't actually know, but you're bragging so much, I'm guessing you might be the King of the Sky and the Wind?"
The other party remained silent again, as if the connection between the sky, the King of Wind, and boasting made him lose face.
He had boasted that he would offer Gu Ran an "irresistible offer," but he failed to deliver and ended up losing Zhao Xuzhen's leg in the bet.
The combination of the two factors truly made him lose face.
Gu Ran continued sarcastically, "You wouldn't want Zhao Xuzhen to wander around the world with a broken leg, saying to all the mixed-race people in the world, 'It was a certain Dragon King who made me lose a leg, it's all because that Dragon King is incompetent,' would you? A dignified Dragon King would be so disgraced. I wonder how you would be ridiculed when you sit at the same table with your other Dragon King brothers and sisters. Jormungandr would probably laugh the most unrestrainedly."
"I'll transfer the money to your bank account." Upon hearing this, the person on the other end of the phone immediately agreed to Gu Ran's terms.
Sure enough, dragons are all very concerned about their image, especially the Dragon King.
Gu Ran said, "Just transfer the money to my student card account. You should be able to check it, right?"
"How much do you really know?" the person on the other end of the phone said. "Logically speaking, you shouldn't be here at all, and you shouldn't be in the future, but you appeared out of nowhere. Who... are you?"
Gu Ran certainly wouldn't answer his question directly, but instead brought up something else: "Logically speaking, as long as you don't provoke me, I'm too lazy to bother with you, but there's a saying, 'He who provokes first is despicable.' Since you messed with me, if I don't retaliate, it seems like you dragons will look down on me."
In the world of dragons, the principle of "revenge is a must" applies. If you can't get revenge, it's because you're too weak, and weak people are looked down upon by dragons.
Therefore, Gu Ran must take revenge, but he must do so in a way that is not too difficult, otherwise he will easily attract endless revenge from the other party.
That's why Gu Ran went to such lengths to set up this scheme.
The person on the other end of the phone said, "What would it take for you to agree to release Zhao Xuzhen? As long as the conditions aren't too unreasonable, I can agree."
"Get this straight, I'm now the executive officer of Kassel College. My mission is to escort the 'traitor' back to the college. If I release the 'traitor,' I'll be committing dereliction of duty and will be imprisoned on a small island in the Pacific. Do you think I would make such a fundamental mistake?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a sigh: "I understand what you mean."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
Just as Gu Ran ended the call, his phone rang again. This time, it was Nuwa calling.
"Hey, I've got it sorted out. Five minutes ago they launched an attack, trying to grab Su Xiaoqiang who was walking next to me, but I stopped them. Su's parents are also under the protection of the Zhang family, and everyone is safe and sound."
Gu Ran said, "Okay, I understand. Thank you, Nuwa."
"It's a minor matter. This time, I also caught the mole within my own ranks, and the Zhang family also uncovered a lurking danger. It's a win-win situation."
"Then I'll have to trouble you for the next few days, Nuwa. I'm afraid the Temple of Solomon will come again."
"Don't worry, if they dare to come, I'll slap them to death!" Nuwa said decisively.
After chatting for a few minutes, the two hung up the phone.
Isabel had good hearing. After listening to Gu Ran's call, she summarized the conversation and finally looked at Gu Ran with some surprise: "Is the other party really the King of Sky and Wind?"
Gu Ran shrugged: "Who knows? I'm just guessing."
"So... Chairman, you anticipated all along that the other party would kidnap someone close to you as a threat?"
"I'm just doing this as a precaution."
After the plane exploded, Gu Ran began to plot against Zhao Xuzhen, so he had Su Xiaoqiang stay by Nuwa's side very early on.
The other party previously said they would offer an "irresistible condition," which was actually a threat to Gu Ran by kidnapping the people around him.
Gu Ran has no weaknesses, except for the people around him.
If the other party wants to kidnap someone, they will have to use the undercover agents who have been lurking in the aristocratic family.
The moment the Dragon King died, the war between the hybrid races began. A mysterious force had been sending spies to infiltrate every hybrid family, always ready to carry out decapitation strikes, attempting to become the new dragon race and ascend the throne of the world.