Chapter 478: Chapter 231: Exploding Reputation, Crisis

Their performance far surpassed anything produced by the major families currently on the market!

Although Li Chang’an had spent the past few months focused on education and training, the production lines in the Cangxuan City factory had never stopped. The Super Electromagnetic Cannon and the Energy Particle Beam Cannon had now become the most talked-about pieces of military tech on the Reincarnator forums—bar none.

If Li Chang’an hadn’t promptly reduced the volume of incoming orders, the factory in Cangxuan City would likely have a backlog for the Super Electromagnetic Cannon and Energy Particle Beam Cannon stretching from the beginning of the year to the end, with no guarantee of fulfilling them all!

It was clear that Night City Military Technology Group had finally overcome its struggles and entered an era of explosive growth.

One day, while Li Chang’an was mulling over where to build a new factory to expand production, Su Ruobing suddenly called him.

Li Chang’an didn’t think much of it and answered right away. "Hello, Ruo Bing. What’s up?"

Su Ruobing was silent for a long time on the other end of the line. Finally, she spoke in a rather complicated tone, "Chang’an, Gu Yizhi just contacted me through my father. He said the Gu Family wants to sit down and negotiate with you!"

"What did you say? Negotiate?" Hearing this, Li Chang’an thought he must have misheard.

After finally managing to calm down, Li Chang’an couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh. "Heh. They could have negotiated sooner, they could have negotiated later, but they pick *this* moment to talk. Does the Gu Family have no shame?"

Back when Li Chang’an had just launched the Super Electromagnetic Cannon and the Energy Particle Beam Cannon, if the Gu Family and the other military-tech clans had been willing to swallow their pride and negotiate, he might have actually considered meeting with them.

But at the time, instead of humbling themselves to negotiate, they tried to eliminate him at the source.

The Gu Family was even more despicable, resorting to all sorts of vile tactics, including but not limited to making him "disappear" in the most literal, physical sense.

Their repeated provocations and acts of hostility had thoroughly stoked his fury.

After exhausting every trick in the book and finding they still couldn’t stop the rise of Night City Military Technology Group, *now* they finally know to come to him for negotiations...

’You’d need an incredible amount of gall to pull off something so shameless.’

On the other end of the line, Su Ruobing’s tone remained steady. After another moment of silence, she spoke again, "I’m just letting you know. Whether you negotiate or not is up to you..."

She paused, then after a moment of thought, continued, "But even if you don’t want to negotiate, I don’t think you should rush to refuse. This is a critical time for Cangxuan City’s development. If you have a complete falling out with them now, unpredictable accidents could easily happen. It would be better to use the pretense of peace talks as a smokescreen. Let them think we’re willing to negotiate, and buy more time for Cangxuan City to develop!"

Hearing Su Ruobing’s suggestion, Li Chang’an tilted his head in thought for a moment, a cold smile suddenly touching his lips. "You have a point. Since those guys went through the trouble of contacting you through your father, I should at least humor them, right?"

"Relay this message for me: peace talks are possible, but first, they need to settle the score for everything they’ve done against Night City Military Technology Group. As for how they do that, let them figure it out for themselves. Once they’ve thought it through, they can come back to me!"

It was, to put it mildly, an incredibly arrogant stance.

But given the explosion of orders Cangxuan City was seeing, he had the capital to back it up.

Su Ruobing nodded but didn’t hang up. She immediately relayed Li Chang’an’s demands verbatim.

A moment later, Su Ruobing replied, "They want to find a place to meet with you in person!"

Li Chang’an sneered again. "Do they think I’m an idiot? Not a chance!"

Su Ruobing said nothing, simply relaying the message once more.

Li Chang’an expected a quick reply, but after a minute of waiting, the line suddenly went dead.

Li Chang’an tried calling back, only to find her communicator had been turned off.

A sense of foreboding washed over Li Chang’an.

Over the past three months, sales of the Energy Particle Beam Cannons and Super Electromagnetic Cannons produced in Cangxuan City had exploded, thanks to their numerous advantages: high firepower, stability, reliability, and being both affordable and durable.

They had carved out a huge, profitable slice of the market right from under the noses of the established arms-dealing clans.

To say they were making a fortune would be an understatement.

From that moment on, Li Chang’an knew he could become a target for hostile interest groups at any moment.

That was precisely why he had remained in his territory during this time and hadn’t begun a new reincarnation. Apart from needing to cultivate more talent and stabilize his Realm, he was also guarding against potential retaliation from those vested interest groups.

And yet, after all this time, those groups had remained surprisingly quiet.

Until today, when they had suddenly conveyed a message through Su Ruobing, expressing their desire for peace talks.

At first, Li Chang’an had assumed they had finally caved, realizing what they were up against. But now, it seemed there was more to the story than he knew.

With this in mind, Li Chang’an tried calling Su Ruobing’s number again, but he still couldn’t get through.

Just as Li Chang’an was about to head to Linjiang Prefecture to check on Su Ruobing himself, a new call popped up on his communicator.

There was no caller ID, just a string of digits. This made Li Chang’an feel even more uneasy.

After all, very few people had his number, and nearly all of them were saved as contacts. An unknown number like this shouldn’t have been able to get through.

When something seems off, it usually is.

Li Chang’an grew wary, but after a moment’s thought, he decided to answer the call.

The voice of a serious-sounding middle-aged man came from the other end. Without any pleasantries, he got straight to the point: "You’re my daughter’s boyfriend, I take it?"

Li Chang’an was completely bewildered by the abrupt question.

After a long pause, he asked tentatively, "And your daughter would be...?"

The man on the other end clearly hadn’t expected that response. His voice rose in pitch. "My surname is Su. Name’s Su Ziyue. Besides my daughter, just how many girlfriends with the surname Su do you have?"

’Su?’

’Su Ruobing’s father?’

Li Chang’an was quick on the uptake. He gave an awkward laugh. "Hello, Uncle Su. This is Li Chang’an. Is there something I can help you with?"

He had a good idea why the man was calling, but it was the sort of thing the other party had to bring up first. Even though he’d guessed, he could only play dumb.

On the other end of the line, Su Ziyue let out a cold snort, not dwelling on Li Chang’an’s earlier gaffe. "I hear you and my daughter opened a military-industrial company together. You gave her a 20% stake. That makes her a shareholder in your company, does it not?"

’So that’s what this is about!’

Li Chang’an tensed internally, but his tone remained deferential. "Of course. Ruo Bing is my benefactor, as well as a shareholder in Night City Military Technology Group!"

Seeing him admit it, Su Ziyue finally revealed his true reason for calling. "In that case, I intend to sell those shares. As the chairman, you shouldn’t have any objections, right?"

Hearing this, the smile faded from Li Chang’an’s face, and his tone grew serious. "I have no objections, of course. But shouldn’t this be something Ruo Bing discusses with me herself?"

Su Ziyue frowned but kept his voice even. "She doesn’t want to make things awkward, so she has authorized me to handle this on her behalf. All you need to do is tell me yes or no!"

Li Chang’an was silent for a long moment, then suddenly chuckled. "I’m sorry, Uncle Su, but I think you might be misunderstanding something."

...

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