Homo Sapiens

October 26, 2020.

In the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, the autumn wind was bleak, and the forests were a riot of color.

For some, their mood was just as bleak as the autumn wind.

Du Shuping, in Xiangjiang, was filled with this same bleakness. He had discovered to his despair that the Du Family, which he had built with his own two hands, was now at a dead end.

The moment he received the news, he was completely stunned.

"It’s over! The Du Family is finished!" Du Shuping sighed, looking up at the sky. At that moment, he understood what the future held for him and his family.

He just couldn’t understand why his son, Du Jianxin, would do such a thing. No matter how much resentment he harbored, he shouldn’t have been so impulsive.

But the facts were laid bare before him. He had no way of confronting his son to ask for an explanation. All he could do was resign himself to his fate.

Meanwhile, Yang Haibo and the others who had come for the social gathering were also dumbfounded.

Yang Haibo’s mood was just as foul. "Brother Du! How could Jianxin dare?"

"Brother Du! Your family has ruined us!"

"We’re finished now!"

One of the quick-witted ones immediately made a call back home.

"Hello! Honey, bring Ah Long to Xiangjiang right away. Don’t ask..."

"What? Ah Long is in jail for fighting?..."

Many of those who called home revealed expressions of despair. They were discovering that their families were unable to leave.

Finally, someone broke down, grabbing Du Shuping by the collar. "You and your damn son, Du! I won’t let you off!"

However, the few family heads who hadn’t sent their sons to Xiangjiang were now secretly relieved. As long as they had one son left, their families still had a chance to make a comeback overseas.

With this happening, the social gathering was obviously canceled.

But no one left. They knew they definitely couldn’t go back now. Staying in Xiangjiang wasn’t a good option either. Their best bet was to go to Xing Island, so they knew they had to stick together.

But soon, Du Lin of the Purple Heaven Investment Fund rushed into the clubhouse.

His face was ashen. He leaned in and whispered to the devastated Du Shuping, "Boss! The situation is bad. Three of the mining projects the young master invested in went bankrupt today, and we can’t get in touch with the remaining ones."

"Ah..." A wave of dizziness washed over Du Shuping. He clutched his chest, gasping for breath for a moment before recovering.

Seeing this, the others became even more nervous.

"Brother Du! What’s happened now?" Yang Haibo asked hurriedly.

But Du Shuping was ruthless enough to lie. "Purple Sky’s Peng City branch ran into some trouble. I need to go deal with it."

However, Yang Tiancheng, who knew the truth, wasn’t about to let him off the hook. "Uncle Du, it’s not the Purple Heaven Investment Fund that’s in trouble, is it? Those projects Jianxin invested in don’t seem to be doing so well!"

"What?"

"Du Shuping, you better explain yourself!"

"You’re not trying to run off with our money, are you?"

The moment they heard the Purple Heaven Investment Fund might be in trouble, the others flew into a panic.

They all knew that to trick them into this high-stakes deal, Du Jianxin had put up Purple Sky Company’s domestic assets and shares as collateral.

Now, even if they were given Purple Sky Company’s domestic industries, these families didn’t have the ability to take them over.

And with the money invested in the Purple Heaven Investment Fund now in jeopardy, it was like piling one disaster on top of another.

This money was the capital they needed for their families to make a comeback. They surrounded Du Shuping and Du Lin, demanding an explanation.

But just then, Yang Tiancheng reminded them, "Everyone, we should be figuring out how to leave Xiangjiang right now! I’m worried that if we wait, we won’t be able to leave at all."

"This..."

"Damn it!"

"What do we do? I only have a few million on me. Where can I even go?"

"I still have a few shops in Xiangjiang. Looks like I need to sell them off quickly."

Clearly, the group was scared. They began discussing how to leave and how much money they had left. Even Du Shuping felt that he couldn’t stay in Xiangjiang any longer.

Soon, at Yang Tiancheng’s suggestion, that very night, the core members of each family in Xiangjiang boarded flights in batches, heading for Manila.

The reason they chose Manila was mainly because Yang Tiancheng claimed to have several partners in Luzon who could help arrange a temporary, hidden residence for them.

Some had originally planned to go to Xing Island, but they reconsidered, thinking the island was too small for them to hide effectively.

Furthermore, Yang Tiancheng said that if they felt things weren’t right after arriving in Manila, they were free to decide for themselves whether to go to Europe, North America, or Xing Island.

Wanting to stick together for warmth, the group fell for Yang Tiancheng’s lies.

After arriving in Manila overnight, they were indeed arranged to stay in a very secluded manor.

The next day, early in the morning.

Du Shuping awoke from a nightmare, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

Just then, a knock came at the door. "Uncle Du, everyone’s inviting you for breakfast."

"Alright, I’ll be there in a minute."

After quickly washing up, Du Shuping went to the manor’s dining hall. He noticed that everyone present looked haggard.

He sat down and looked at the table, which was laden with soy milk, fried dough sticks, and buns. He picked up a bun and took a bite, but it tasted completely bland.

Twenty minutes later.

Wu Xinlan, dressed in a maid’s uniform, appeared at the entrance of the dining hall, led by Sangjibada Laiyal.

Seeing Wu Xinlan dressed like that, Du Shuping and Yang Haibo frowned. But the figure that appeared next made them turn pale with shock.

"You..."

"Li Qingye?"

"What are you doing here?"

Li Qingye smiled and greeted them, "Good morning, everyone."

The moment he saw Li Qingye, countless thoughts flashed through Du Shuping’s mind. Suddenly, a realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. He pointed a trembling finger at Li Qingye.

"You... you... You’re the one who set up Jianxin?"

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP...

Li Qingye clapped as he replied with a smile, "Correct. Uncle Du truly lives up to his reputation as an old fox, figuring it out so quickly."

Du Shuping’s eyes blazed with fury. He spat through gritted teeth, "Don’t get cocky. The Wang Family and Cui Family will find out about you sooner or later. You’ll be finished then, too."

"Is that so? Then I’ll wait and see," Li Qingye said with a shrug.

Yang Haibo, however, looked at Yang Tiancheng standing behind Li Qingye, his expression flickering as he roared, "Tiancheng, what are you doing?"

Li Qingye sneered. "Tiancheng, bark like a dog for your father."

Instantly, Yang Tiancheng dropped to the ground. "Woof, woof, woof..."

"This..." Yang Haibo could barely stand. He collapsed back into his seat, as if his entire world had crumbled in an instant.

Li Qingye watched their pathetic displays, his expression turning cold. "Alright. Once I’ve squeezed your overseas assets dry, I’ll send you off to experience life."

He ignored their curses and their pleas as they dropped to their knees to beg.

Their fate was to be implanted with bio-chips. First, all of their overseas assets would be squeezed dry. Then, the older ones would be sent to pick through garbage, while the younger ones would be sent to mine asbestos.

He would let them live. Live in agony.

「In the car on the way back.」

Wu Xinlan’s eyes held nothing but fear. ’How she wished she could just die and be done with it.’

"Why are people so insatiably greedy?" Li Qingye suddenly asked, looking into her eyes. Then he closed his own and murmured to himself:

"Perhaps it’s the animal nature left behind by our genes. A harsh survival environment makes humans uncontrollably hoard all resources."

Sangjibada Laiyal shook her little head. "Sir, can’t we remove that gene?"

Li Qingye stroked her hair. "No, because greed is the root of desire, and desire is the driving force of human progress. Every desire, no matter its form, has a reason for its existence."

"But the Soldiers have no desires, and they still work hard, don’t they?" Sangjibada Laiyal asked, confused.

"Because I gave them specific desires."

Sangjibada Laiyal’s eyes lit up. "Then couldn’t we give everyone specific desires? That would solve all the problems."

Li Qingye gazed calmly out the car window. "Solving the problem of human nature is far, far more difficult than solving the problem of genes."

Watching the strange and varied people on the town streets, his distant gaze was hard to read.

[Special Note: To avoid unnecessary trouble, Bangkok will henceforth be referred to by its ancient name, "Thonburi." Please refrain from commenting on this.]

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