All of us are one

Chapter 30 Targeting Friends

The top floor of the Victoria Group building.

"This is the chairman's secretary's office."

Luca led Jiang Yanming out of the conference room and headed straight for the chairman's office. Along the way, Luca introduced each office as they passed by.

Jiang Yanming listened quietly, gradually gaining an understanding of the Victoria Group.

Apart from the secretaries in the secretariat, the people who can move freely on the top floor of this group's building are basically directors. Senior presidents or other presidents of the group need authorization to enter the top floor.

"We've arrived." Luca stopped in his tracks.

Jiang Yanming looked ahead and saw a double door with electronic sensors flashing red lights, seemingly scanning them.

"Chairman, Director Jiang has arrived," Luca said respectfully.

"Come in," an old man's voice came from the doorway.

"Director Jiang, please come in." Luca pushed open the door and stepped aside to let Jiang Yanming in.

Jiang Yanming went inside, and the door behind him closed immediately. He glanced to the side and noticed that Luca, who had led the way for him, hadn't come in.

He didn't pay attention, but instead looked around at the spacious and empty chairman's office.

The office layout is simple: a large desk and two comfortable massage chairs are placed in front of the bright floor-to-ceiling windows, and three sofas surround a coffee table on the other side.

"At this time, Arthur is usually here assisting me with some matters." The elderly man in formal attire slowly rose and said in a deep voice, "I think we need to talk alone, so I sent him away."

"Hello, Chairman." Jiang Yanming nodded slightly as a greeting.

Next, he looked at the chairman of the Victoria Group, an elderly man who seemed to be in poor health.

"Come and sit down." The old man walked towards the sofa.

Seeing this, Jiang Yanming followed and sat down opposite the old man.

"I remember you're a year younger than Arthur, you're 24 today, a bit older than Lucy," the old man said, as if making small talk.

"Yes." Jiang Yanming nodded slightly.

"You're so young," the old man said softly. "When I was 24, I had only known Tarot for a short time."

Jiang Yanming didn't respond, waiting for the other person to continue.

"Later, Taro, his wife, and I founded the Victoria Group. As the group grew, Taro and I had several conflicts, and our friendship was on the verge of breaking down several times."

The old man seemed to be reminiscing about the past, sighing softly as he said, "Although we had conflicting interests, our friendship never ended. I never imagined that he, who underwent mechanical modification, would leave this world before me."

Jiang Yanming recalled that when he used his divine sense to probe Professor Tarot, the professor bore a resemblance to the puppet in his memory, and couldn't help but think, "He really has been modified..."

"Director Jiang, do you know how Tarot died?" The old man looked at Jiang Yanming, his gaze revealing nothing unusual, quite peaceful.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know," Jiang Yanming replied calmly.

"I suspect that Taro was targeted by the Four Nations Alliance because of his connection with Holy Union spies," the old man said softly. "Our people found fragments of military weapons at the scene, and Taro and his bodyguards have all been modified by Holy Union."

"Hmm?" Jiang Yanming was surprised to hear this.

The Four Nations Alliance and the Holy Alliance are mortal enemies. He never expected that someone of Professor Tarot's status would be connected with Holy Alliance spies and even have been modified by them.

It's important to understand that any electronic program can have backdoors, and the modules for modifying humans are no exception; they may even be a major area for backdoors.

"You seem quite surprised," the old man sighed. "Yes, I never expected Tarot to come to this point, standing on the opposite side of the entire Four Nations Alliance."

"Fortunately, Tarot left his shares to you; otherwise, if it were someone else, they might have been confiscated by the authorities."

"You inherited shares in Tarot, which are founder shares with extremely high weight."

The old man solemnly said to Jiang Yanming, "My El family needs your support, which will help me and the future Arthur to take charge of the Victoria Group."

"As long as it doesn't harm my interests, I will support the El family," Jiang Yanming replied calmly.

"Of course," the old man said with a faint smile. "Our El family has been in charge of the Victoria Group for so many years, and we have always been making substantial profits for our shareholders. This has never changed."

"However, with Taro's passing, the group's drug development will not be as rapid, and future profits may decline."

The old man gave a heads-up, "Don't worry, we will recruit more researchers and increase investment in drug development to ensure the group's leading edge in this area."

"By the way, you are Tarot's student and also a director of the group. Would you be interested in taking over the group's laboratory in place of Tarot?" the old man asked casually.

"I'm just a master's student, and I haven't graduated yet. Besides, I have personal matters to attend to, so I won't interfere in the group's affairs," Jiang Yanming declined with a smile.

"Many of the researchers in those labs are your seniors or fellow students," the old man shook his head slightly. "If you had taken over the labs, I don't think there would have been any problems. It's a pity..."

Jiang Yanming smiled without saying a word. If he really took over the laboratory, the old man in front of him would probably give a different story.

"I heard you have something to do this afternoon and will be leaving at noon, so I won't keep you for lunch." The old man slowly stood up.

"Chairman, I'll take my leave now." Jiang Yanming stood up, said goodbye, and walked towards the door.

"Director Jiang, have you finished your talk with the chairman?"

Luca was still waiting outside the door, and when he saw Jiang Yanming come out, he came up to greet him.

"Yes, I'm going back now." Jiang Yanming pointed to the elevator next to him and asked, "Can I take the elevator by myself?"

"Of course, the HR department has already entered your information, Director Jiang," Luca replied. "This elevator is only for the chairman and directors."

"That's good." Jiang Yanming walked towards the elevator, and when he saw Luca following him, he raised his hand to stop him, "No need to see me off, you go about your business."

"Okay, Mr. Jiang, take care." Luca stopped and watched Jiang Yanming leave.

Jiang Yanming entered the elevator, pressed the button, and began to think: "Arthur's grandfather met with me and told me the cause of Professor Tarot's death, but it was a reminder that he suspected I was the one who did it."

"That's true. Arthur mobilized the security team for support. As Arthur's grandfather, he couldn't possibly be unaware of this."

"He is indeed an excellent professional. Family interests far outweigh personal feelings. Even knowing that I killed his friend, he still tried to win me over in order to take control of the Victoria Group."

With this thought in mind, Jiang Yanming calmly took the elevator to the lobby on the first floor.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, he was met with stares because he had come out of the private elevator.

After Jiang Yanming walked away, the three female employees who were waiting for the elevator started talking quietly.

"Who is he? He's so handsome, could he be the new secretary in the secretariat?"

"It shouldn't be, I haven't heard of any new people joining the secretariat."

"How could it be a secretary? That's a boardroom elevator. Not even secretaries can ride it! Many CEOs can't use it."

"So he's a director of the group? Such a young director?!"

……

Jiang Yanming left the Victoria Group building and drove to the Jingtao Martial Arts School in the Bay Area.

"Senior Brother Jiang."

"Senior Brother Jiang!"

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother Jiang!"

After instructing several disciples on stance training and fist practice in the training ground on the second floor, Jiang Yanming went to the rest room on the fourth floor of the martial arts hall.

Unlike before, he didn't see his senior brother Kotak in the lounge, but he did find the warehouse key on the coffee table, along with a note pressed down by the key.

Jiang Yanming picked up the note and glanced at it, his eyes narrowing slightly: "A full-blown battle... not yet."

As a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, his actual combat strength is definitely no less than that of a Qi and Blood Condensation cultivator, but his physique is only at the peak of Martial Forging.

Having broken through to the Mingwu realm for many years, the eldest brother's physique is so strong that it should be considered top-tier among martial artists of the same level.

In terms of martial arts strength alone, he was no match for his senior brother, so the agreed-upon battle was not yet time.

"Our senior brother has some business to attend to, but he won't be leaving the Four Kingdoms Alliance for at least six months." Jiang Yanming found it strange. "Six months without work, and not even going to the Northern Continent. Are mercenaries all that idle?"

Although he was puzzled, he didn't pay too much attention to it and closed his eyes to rest.

Yesterday's battle had greatly depleted his spiritual energy, and he then focused on replenishing it, only now being able to calm his mind and rest.

Before we knew it, it was one o'clock in the afternoon.

After having lunch at the martial arts school, Jiang Yanming drove to the Long Island neighborhood.

"Mr. Jiang, please come in."

After the security personnel carefully inspected the vehicle and asked Jiang Yanming to scan it on the machine, they allowed him to enter.

"The security measures in Long Island neighborhoods are indeed much stronger than in other neighborhoods in the Bay Area."

Shortly after Jiang Yanming entered the Changdao neighborhood, he saw two patrol teams of security personnel passing by on the road.

If the South Bay neighborhood where the professor is located also has this level of security, it would take him much more effort to kill the other party, and there would likely be casualties in the senior brother's team.

The vehicle drove along and soon arrived at a manor.

The estate covers a vast area, even encompassing a beach, which is bisected by a high wall.

As soon as Jiang Yanming parked his car in front of the manor, the security personnel at the manor gate immediately came forward.

The security personnel recognized Jiang Yanming and did not stop him. Instead, they reminded him, "Mr. Jiang, you need to park your car in the parking lot, and then..."

Jiang Yanming did as instructed, parked the car, and took the security personnel's tram to the villa in the manor.

After some effort, he successfully reached the garden where Lucy was.

It was a greenhouse garden, covering a considerable area, with an indoor temperature of over 20 degrees Celsius, and various flowers in full bloom.

Jiang Yanming entered the garden and walked along the path, admiring the flowers along the way. When he saw the stone pavilion in the center of the garden, he immediately spotted Lucy painting.

Because it was warm in the garden, Lucy, with her beautiful silver hair, wore a pale yellow lady's dress, revealing her fair arms.

She held a palette of paints in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, painting on the canvas, pausing from time to time to think.

Jiang Yanming arrived at the stone pavilion, immediately drawing Lucy's attention: "Jiang, you're here."

"The painting is good," Jiang Yanming nodded in approval.

It was an oil painting of a sunset by the sea, with a realistic style and vibrant colors. At least from Jiang Yanming's aesthetic point of view, it was a good landscape painting.

Lucy put down her paintbrush and turned to Jiang Yanming, saying, "The more you paint and practice, the less bad you'll become, but compared to those exceptionally talented masters, you'll be far behind."

"Drawing also depends on talent." Jiang Yanming nodded in agreement.

"Yes, talent is very important," Lucy said, looking at the canvas. "Unfortunately, I'm only so-so when it comes to painting."

"You really enjoy drawing?" Jiang Yanming asked curiously.

"It's alright, at least it's better than..." Lucy said, then shook her head slightly and stopped talking.

Jiang Yanming was a little puzzled, but he didn't press the matter further. Everyone has their own secrets, and Lucy was probably no exception.

He and Lucy weren't particularly close, so he naturally wouldn't pry into her secrets, just as she wouldn't ask him about his.

"Aren't you going to continue drawing?" Jiang Yanming asked.

"We'll talk about it later. I can draw whenever I want, but friends don't come every day," Lucy said matter-of-factly. "Right now, of course I have to chat with you, my friend."

"Yes," Jiang Yanming smiled upon hearing this, "It's true that we should spend time with our friends."

To be honest, he was a little surprised that he had become Lucy's acknowledged friend so quickly.

"When will Arthur arrive?" Jiang Yanming sat on a stone bench by the pavilion, keeping a certain distance from Lucy.

"He'll be back soon. He's on his way back from the City Hall Square. He said he's entered the Bay Area," Lucy replied.

"Oh, that's certainly soon." Jiang Yanming nodded upon hearing this.

The two chatted for about twenty minutes before Arthur arrived.

"Jiang," Arthur asked as soon as he arrived, "I heard you went to the Victoria Group today?"

"Yes." Jiang Yanming nodded. "He attended the group's board meeting and then met with your grandfather."

"You...didn't have a conflict, did you?" Arthur asked nervously.

"No," Jiang Yanming said with a faint smile. "We had a good talk and reached some consensus."

"That's good." Arthur felt much relieved, then thought for a moment and said, "I'll probably be spending most of my time assisting my grandfather with the group's affairs from now on, so we'll probably have much less time for afternoon tea."

Upon hearing this, Lucy frowned slightly, her beautiful face showing displeasure that she made no attempt to hide.

"There's no way around it, I have to perform well, after all, my cousin Luca has also joined the group." Arthur sighed upon seeing this, "If I make another mistake, I'll probably have to step down as the family heir and end up just loafing around and waiting to die."

"Is it because of me?" Jiang Yanming's eyes narrowed slightly.

Now he understood why his grandfather Arthur had acted so calmly, even though he knew he had killed Professor Tarot.

So, he killed the other person's friend, and the other person was punishing his friend in return.

Arthur remained silent, then sighed softly and said, "Not entirely."

"Do you need my help?" Lucy asked.

"No need, let's just have a good get-together today and not talk about anything else," Arthur said with a forced smile.

Jiang Yanming nodded silently, but his mind was racing...