Great, I'm surrounded by villains.

Duan Mingyuan also heard the sound of water. Apparently, someone was taking a shower when this Bebop cowboy was making the call.

Coyote Twelve's curses sounded sad and angry, and full of regret.

"Mr. Cowboy, this is the consequence of leaving your post and drinking during work hours, especially when the person you are drinking with is a member of the Eastern Front."

Duan Mingyuan moved the phone further away and commented calmly.

"It's not like I haven't had a drink with her before!"

"You've never mentioned your true thoughts to her before, Mr. Cowboy. According to big data statistics, more than 80% of the results of blade fights are caused by both parties not being honest and playing tricks on each other."

Based on the awkward relationship between Coyote Twelve and Mocking Dove, Duan Mingyuan has already foreseen the tragedy that will happen in the future.

When Cowboy Bebop finally expressed her feelings through a long letter, she had already embarked on the journey to Hot Sands. Although Mockingjay immediately sent the fleet to the Hot Sands region, all that was waiting for her there was endless sand.

Duan Mingyuan resisted this future with his real name, especially since those caught in the tragedy were members of the Ranger's crew.

"you--!"

"Mr. Cowboy, ask yourself, what exactly are you dissatisfied with now?"

Duan Mingyuan asked back.

"Dissatisfied? Of course I am dissatisfied. I have many complaints!"

"for example?"

"Like, you're taking advantage of someone's misfortune!"

Coyote Twelve was still furious, and took advantage of the fact that he was drunk and had no ability to resist. This was against the style of a fair duel. "Normally, I should be on top!"

The result is fine, but the process is a big problem.

"This is a private matter between you two and you should resolve it between yourselves."

Duan Mingyuan was only a doctor and could not interfere with the details. "The afternoon meeting is over. The night is still long. You should solve the specific details by yourselves. Good luck."

Another case has been resolved, and it is time for the medical team to go off work.

He hung up the phone and threw aside Coyote Twelve's defiant words.

Before he could take a few steps, his way was blocked by an uninvited guest.

Compared to the last time they met, Carloya was much more distant. Even though she still had a formal smile on her face, her expression was very stiff, and she kept a distance of more than five meters from him.

"You left in such a hurry last time that I didn't even have time to say goodbye to you."

Duan Mingyuan took the initiative to break the awkward silence. His social skills have become stronger recently. If it were in the past, he would have just nodded to Gabriella and then left quickly, doing what he was supposed to do.

He really doesn't like socializing after work, and when he's resting, he just wants to stay at home and watch videos.

"Last time, something urgent happened on my ship, and there was a problem with a project I was working on."

Carloya continued to tell lies that neither side believed in order to maintain the dignity between them.

In fact, if her superiors had not specifically asked her to come here, she would definitely not want to deal with Duan Mingyuan again.

Bad luck is contagious, and Duan Mingyuan is the most "toxic" type.

After leaving Blue Star, bad luck continued to haunt her for a long time. All the projects she handled had problems to varying degrees, making the past half month extremely difficult for her.

"Mr. Duan Mingyuan, you haven't eaten yet, right? Today, the Chamber of Commerce has set up a dinner party at the Dome Restaurant of the Gear Hotel. The committee wants me to personally invite you. The Chamber of Commerce's top management attaches great importance to this summit and the changes on the Mechanical Planet, and has decided to personally come to witness this summit to prevent any more accidents from happening."

As he spoke, a roar sounded again from the sky above the Mechanical Throne.

The directors of the summit came to the window like frightened birds and looked towards the source of the sound. When they saw the huge shadow appearing above their heads, their faces changed.

The night sky above was lit up by the lights of the flagship, and the light and shadows shone on the land of the Mechanical Throne like a blooming silver anemone.

Suddenly, there was a commotion among the crowd.

They obviously recognized the meaning of the silver anemone. After a brief shock, they even spoke involuntarily in a lowered voice and became cautious.

"The current head of the Silver Lotus family is very interested in your deeds and hopes to talk to you in person. The time is 19:30. Once the head of the family is ready, he will go to the rooftop terrace."

Carloya handed the invitation letter with silver lace to Duan Mingyuan. After completing the task, she walked away quickly. She didn't want to be alone with Duan Mingyuan even for a moment, leaving the confused Duan Mingyuan there.

He had never heard of the Silver Lotus Family, but from the few words that Carloya said, he could guess that the other party was a high-ranking official of the Chamber of Commerce.

For this reason, he had to seek off-field assistance and told the third prince what had just happened.

The Third Prince naturally noticed the arrival of the flagship, and perhaps because of the influence of the surrounding atmosphere, he couldn't help but lower his voice when speaking, sounding sneaky.

"The family is the real owner of the Chamber of Commerce. I didn't expect that even they would come."

The third prince muttered, "Do you remember that story? The ancestors of the Semitic people once made a huge bet with the God of Trade, Heya, and they lost their planet in that bet."

"remember."

"The Silver Lotus family is the descendant of that bloodline, but they have always been very hidden and almost never show up in public."

This mysterious veil has given rise to endless fantasies and countless rumors about the Yinlian family.

But no matter which planet or civilization, a basic consensus has been reached.

——The family controls half of the universe.

And now, they are working on owning the entire universe.

"You are about to meet the richest man in the universe."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 277 A Subtle Stance

Anemone and the richest man in the universe.

This is a quite remarkable title, especially since Duan Mingyuan has never been rich. His wealth has always been at a level that is comfortable but far from being extremely wealthy.

It’s a shame to say that he worked diligently for a whole year but earned less money than picking up “garbage” for a few days in September.

After getting along with each other, he finally understood why Jiu Yue didn't care about money when they first met - this little fox never made money, but never lacked money.

Duan Mingyuan checked the invitation and found that Jiuyue was also included in the invitation list.

But this is not surprising. The relationship between him and Jiu Yue is not a secret. With the power of the Flash Flag Chamber of Commerce, it is easy to investigate these things.

As for the topic of the evening, you can guess it with your toes.

The turmoil on the Mechanical Star has brought the influence of the Blue Star Mission to its peak. If the Third Prince publicly supports the merger bill between the Chamber of Commerce and the company, it will inevitably affect the decisions of most directors.

Although the directors understood the impact of the merger of these two forces rationally, not everyone was determined to completely turn against the Chamber of Commerce, especially under the personal witness of the current head of the Yinlian family.

Duan Mingyuan didn't like this kind of occasion full of political calculations, but now the entire Gear Hotel was filled with news media from various planets, and his every move was related to the image of Blue Planet in people's eyes.

After thinking it over, he told September about the dinner.

The little fox accepted everyone who came and went back to his room to change into a dress in high spirits.

Before the Ranger set out, she had heard that the Sixteen Star Summit would be a grand occasion, so she carefully selected several beautiful dresses.

At 19:20, Duan Mingyuan and Jiu Yue took the elevator to the rooftop terrace ten minutes early.

Additional personnel were deployed in the elevators and security passages, and they were replaced by direct security personnel from the Silver Lotus Family. They carefully reviewed the identity of each invitee and ensured that they did not carry any lethal weapons.

When they arrived at the banquet hall, the family's security captain handed the two rings to him and Jiu Yue respectively.

"It's normal to feel a little uncomfortable when you first put it on, but it will go back to normal after about a minute."

The captain said, "The limiter will temporarily suppress your energy. This is just a safety measure. The owner and his invited friends want to ensure that nothing unexpected happens during the banquet. After the banquet, the security personnel will help you remove the limiter."

These men in black are elites carefully selected by the family. They have to deal with different types of people every day. In this era, safety can not be guaranteed by confiscating guns and weapons. The existence of some people is much more dangerous than any weapon.

Duan Mingyuan and Jiu Yue are such people.

In the captain's words, the head of the Silver Lotus family seems to be a high-risk job, and there are countless people in the universe who want to assassinate him.

Some people do it for fame, some do it to win high rewards, and there are also power struggles within the family.

This made Duan Mingyuan feel a little ironic.

As the spiritual leader of the united front that the Shanqi Chamber of Commerce has worked hard to create, as well as the future "big devil", the number of people who try to assassinate him is far less than the number of people who try to assassinate the head of the Yinlian family.

Moreover, the work of these elites is not as good as imagined.

The ring did not suppress any energy, nor did it even pose any hindrance to his abilities.

Jiu Yue was experiencing the "discomfort" that the captain had mentioned. She took Duan Mingyuan's arm and leaned on his shoulder.

Duan Mingyuan observed that in addition to him and Jiu Yue, there were many familiar faces invited, including eight directors of the Sixteen Star Summit.

They looked bitter, knowing full well that this was a Hongmen Banquet.

The head of the Yinlian family personally came to Jiqiao Star and invited them to dinner, but it was definitely not for them to enjoy the food.

"Mr. Mingyuan, look, was the terrace like this before?"

September suddenly asked.

This place has been turned into a high-end restaurant, and it has been completely renovated.

The red carpet leads to the interior of the restaurant. Perhaps it is because of the light or the wallpaper, but the entire restaurant is bathed in gold. Square tables are neatly arranged, with tablecloths embroidered with gold patterns, and rows of carved wooden chairs next to them.

She clearly remembered that the rooftop of the Gear Hotel was not a luxury restaurant, but an open-air bar and swimming pool. She had been planning to invite Duan Mingyuan to hold a pool party in the evening.

It's summer on Planet Mechanical, and with the way events are progressing, Jiu Yue feels that it's time for them to have their much-anticipated swimsuit episode.

She was not attracted by the restaurant's decoration at all. Instead, her face fell. "Where's the swimming pool? Why is my swimming pool gone?"

In addition to the dress, she also prepared a swimsuit.

It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a "nirvana move".

But these damn Semites converted the entire rooftop terrace of the hotel into a restaurant, making her swimsuit party plan go awry.

"Maybe this is also a mechanism on the Mechanical Planet."

Duan Mingyuan guessed after looking around the restaurant.

The restaurant was not a temporary structure, and even the most talented architect could not have completed the renovation in less than an hour, so it was more like a mechanism that the Yinlian family had set up long ago.

He also felt an inexplicable solemnity and dignity from the decoration, as if he was walking into a church.

He and September were obviously the most eye-catching guests at the dinner.

The family arranged seats for everyone, and the directors at each table were far apart. They could only look at Duan Mingyuan with surprise and astonishment.

After taking his seat, Duan Mingyuan quickly learned the identities of the eight directors.

They are the members who are most wavering about the merger between the Chamber of Commerce and the company, and in fact not all of them can firmly cast a vote against it.

Some were out of fear of the Chamber of Commerce's previous series of measures, but more were out of fear of the long-standing connection with the Flash Flag Chamber of Commerce. Most of the planets they were on had intricate business dealings with the Chamber of Commerce. If the Chamber of Commerce cut off all trade after the vote and imposed economic sanctions on them, their planets would most likely experience large-scale turmoil.

In reality, the Chamber of Commerce doesn't need to actually invade their planet.

A drastic economic downturn will bring about massive unemployment. When the economic system of the entire planet is facing collapse, it will trigger unimaginable social conflicts.

By then, the Chamber of Commerce would only need to provide some arms and technical support to the rebels to bring down a regime without bloodshed.

If the position of these eight directors were to waver, the vote would become a delicate 8:8.

As a result, Blue Star, which has been newly selected to the summit, may become the most crucial vote.

The solemn atmosphere of the dinner and the subtle composition of the people made Duan Mingyuan understand the family's intentions.

Inviting him to this dinner was itself a means of tackling the issue. Putting him together with the eight most wavering directors would make Blue Star's position on this matter waver.

In fact, the Sixteen-Star Summit is not an ironclad organization. Each director only knows the vote they are about to cast. Suspicion and fear will always accompany them until the moment of counting comes.

No one wants to be betrayed and become the "outsider" who is pushed out after other directors change their votes.

I caught a cold and slept for a day. I was planning to rest, but I wrote a chapter now that I feel better. Let’s see if I can write another chapter…

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 278 Prisoner’s Dilemma

Jiu Yue only knew that the atmosphere in the banquet hall was very depressing, but she didn't know what was happening there.

After some observation, she also found that the cherry tomatoes provided at the banquet were very sweet. They seemed to be a new variety from another planet, tasting like a mixture of watermelon and kiwi.

She picked up a cherry tomato and handed it to Duan Mingyuan's mouth, while listening attentively to Duan Mingyuan's explanation, her pointed ears trembling.

This is what the fox demon looks like when it concentrates.