Chapter 1000 - Sign Of The Times (1/2)

When Zhou Shoushi realized he was going to die today regardless of what he said, he gradually calmed down.

Zhou Shoushi adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and even combed his hair with his hand before saying, ”Do you know the Wang Consortium is annexing the Pyro Company and the Kong Consortium?”

Ren Xiaosu sat down across from him. ”I know, but what does that have anything to do with what we're talking about now? Are you saying that everything that y'all did was to target the Wang Consortium?”

”That's right.” Zhou Shoushi said, ”Several years ago, the Wang Consortium revealed their ambitions when they kept using trade to try to weaken the consortiums around them. Moreover, they've implemented mandatory conscription of their citizens for so many years, so everyone knows they've been wanting to start a war in the Central Plains.”

”So?” Ren Xiaosu asked.

”So our Zhou Consortium was just seeking self-preservation.” Zhou Shoushi said coldly, ”If the Wang Consortium can resort to unscrupulous means, why can't our Zhou Consortium do the same? Did you not notice that they just recalled all men under the age of 30 who had served in the military? Actually, they didn't even use their full strength during the war with the expeditionary army. Otherwise, the Pyro Company wouldn't have ended up losing so badly, and your Northwest Army wouldn't have had to fight so hard at Mt. Zuoyun! Don't you think your fellow Northwest Army soldiers at Mt. Zuoyun who died there suffered wrongful deaths?”

Ren Xiaosu shook his head. ”That's your reason for killing Jiang Xu?”

”Only by doing so would the entire Alliance of Strongholds share a common enemy. It would also make the Qing Consortium and the Zhou Consortium join forces to resist the Wang Consortium together! If the plan was successful, you would also have taken revenge for Jiang Xu, right? Therefore, the Northwest would've become part of the plan as well.” Zhou Shoushi said, ”This was supposed to be the best strategy for the Zhou Consortium.”

Ren Xiaosu had to admit that if Wang Yun and the others had not worked together to find the real culprit, the Zhou Consortium's plan would have indeed succeeded. At that point, the Wang Consortium would become the enemy of the entire world, and there would be no chance for them to slowly annex the various consortiums.

If Zhou Shiji hadn't encountered Ren Xiaosu, he could've been hailed as a cunning strategist, a great man, or something on that level.

”But y'all weren't affected by the war with the expeditionary army. If you're envious of the Wang Consortium's mandatory conscription policy, you could've done the same. You could've come up with various strategies to counter them, but you shouldn't've used Jiang Xu's life in exchange for your victory. Perhaps to you, killing Jiang Xu was the best choice for the Zhou Consortium. But in my opinion, he was the most innocent one.” Ren Xiaosu sighed and said, ”Besides, what did Jiang Xu do to deserve this?”

Ren Xiaosu stood up and unfurled the curtains a little.

When the afternoon sun shone into the gloomy room, Zhou Shoushi could not help shielding his own face from the sunlight. It was a little blinding.

Ren Xiaosu said, ”Tell me, what's Zhou Shiji's itinerary?”

Zhou Shoushi said with a dark expression, ”Why should I tell you? Can I live if I tell you?”

”Well, no.” Ren Xiaosu grinned. ”But won't you feel a little lonely if you had to die alone? Wouldn't it be great to have someone accompany you? Think about it. He's clearly the one who came up with the plans, yet you're the one dying for it instead. Don't you find that unfair?”

Ten minutes later, Ren Xiaosu walked out of the intelligence agency's headquarters. He had obtained the specific details of Zhou Shiji's itinerary, as well as the contingency plans of his team if he encountered danger in the stronghold.

It was as though Zhou Shoushi was particularly worried Zhou Shiji would not die, so he explained everything very clearly.

Honestly, Ren Xiaosu felt the interrogation process had gone too smoothly. Perhaps Zhou Shoushi was really afraid of loneliness.

This was the bunch of sunlight fearing, spineless cowards who had orchestrated Jiang Xu's death while hiding behind a thick curtain of conspiracy.

For a moment, Ren Xiaosu also considered another potential problem. If he really managed to kill Zhou Shiji on his visit to the Zhou Consortium this time, a civil war would definitely break out within the Zhou Consortium instantly.

According to Luo Lan, there was no one in the Zhou Consortium who was capable of taking charge other than Zhou Shiji.

In this fashion, the Wang Consortium would no longer have any opponents in the Central Plains.

This was probably why Qing Zhen had urgently summoned Luo Lan back. Could Qing Zhen have seen the day when the Wang Consortium would unify the Central Plains?

And then, would the Wang Consortium go on to attack the Northwest and the Southwest after that? Ren Xiaosu felt that they would.

At that time, the Wang Consortium would turn into a behemoth.