<h4>Chapter 29: Tragic Ending</h4>


    In truth, Zhang Lie didn''t regret his purchases at all. He would always be able to amass more points, and he had all sorts of resources with which to do so. Furthermore, apatible framework or technique would boost his personal strength by several times, and Zhang Lie had found himself enthralled by both techniques.


    He hurriedly flipped the manuals open and began to study the techniques in earnest.


    Even small inns boasted rooms with environment-modification capabilities, let alone a VIP suite in the best inn in the cksteel settlement.


    Over the next three days, Zhang Lie dedicated his entire attention to learning the two techniques. He was as dedicated as a high-school student cramming for the gaokao.


    And while he might have been able to focus on his techniques in peace, the six ns of the cksteel settlement and the Wang n could not.


    The Wang n had tried all sorts of tactics to vindicate themselves, but Wang Xiaohua''s sudden disappearance meant that it was all but impossible for them to do so. After all, Zhang Lie''s cunning trap had doomed them to ruin the moment Wang Xiaohua returned to the cksteel settlement with him.


    After five days, not only did they fail to clear their name, they had even given the six ns the mistaken interpretation that the Wang n was nning another attack against them. As a result, they imposed even harsher sanctions against the Wang n.


    The Wang n''s financial losses had, by that point, broken past tens of billions of dors.


    Not only that, the supervisory position on the interster hub situated on the Nn, which the Wang n had been eyeing, was suddenly filled by another candidate on the strongest rmendation from the six ns.


    This wasn''t something money alone could resolve: the Wang n had been nning to fill this position with a trusted n member for three whole years, but right as they were about to seed, the six ns had ruined their n!


    The Wang n had no choice but to concede the matter. In the end, Wang Jianxin stepped forward and bore full responsibility for what had happened, and he willingly epted expulsion to the Chaos.


    Chaos was where criminals were sent to bear their sentences, with a harsh environment and even harsher inhabitants. Most sent there perished, and none had a chance of returning to Earth ever again.


    Furthermore, the Wang npensated and apologized to the six ns individually, temporarily stabilizing the situation.


    That Wang Jianxin had taken full responsibility meant that the Wang n was now enemies with the Qin and Zhou ns. Even though the two ns had stopped retaliating at the Wang n for this supposed crime, there would be no goodwill between them were their hunters to meet in the dimensional world or on Earth.


    This unexpected disaster had ruined any hope of the Wang n expanding its influence further in the short term—and the instigator of this entire affair was just a nameless hunter called Zhang Lie!


    No matter how furious they were, there was simply nothing that they could do against Zhang Lie at the moment. And not only were they unable to take revenge on this damned cockroach, they even had to bear the full brunt of the retaliation.


    Of course, the Wang n wasn''t the only victim of this affair. The Qin n was suffering just as much; in fact, they would incur even harsher sanctions and retaliation.


    After all, the Wang n wasn''t directly responsible for murdering anyone. It was thus able to settle matters with marypensation, with a sincere apology, and with voluntary expulsion from the ''culprit'', but the Qin n had no such recourse.


    Because of Zhang Lie''s anonymous article, Qin Xiao had be the prime suspect for the murder of Zhou Qian. Yun Bing and Chu Feng had both testified to their innocence, and the Zhou n had learned the entire truth.


    In that sort of situation, if not for Qin Xiao''s selfishness, Zhou Qian wouldn''t have died, and he wouldn''t have needed to die. As a result, Qin Xiao, along with the entire Qin n, became a target of loathing.


    Since the Qin n wasn''t willing to hand over Qin Xiao, the five ns—the Yun and Chu, along with the three great corporationsunched a punitive attack against the Qin n.


    More precisely, they began targeting hunters from the Qin n in the dimensional world. In just two days, half of the Qin scions in the cksteel settlement were wounded or even dead, and the Qin n lost much of its influence.


    As for Qin Xiao, he had cloistered himself within the main household, not even daring to step outside.


    Even so, the five ns'' retaliation wasn''t over.


    The three corporations aggressively began to take over the markets in which the Qin n operated, as though they were nning to crush the Qin n into oblivion.


    And while the Yun and Chu ns might have turned a blind eye, Qin Xiao''s attempt to implicate Yun Bing and Chu Feng had severely offended both ns. As a result, they too began to pressure the Qin n.


    Faced with an assault on five fronts, the head of the Qin n began to panic. As the head, he couldn''t sacrifice the entire n''s wellbeing just for his son''s life.


    On the top floor of a certain skyscraper in the city of Liao, the elders and heads of each branch of the Qin n sat in urgent deliberation.


    "Head, you have to make a move! If not, the Qin n will perish!"


    Qin Zongming''s face was stormy. "A move? What move should I make? Shall I sacrifice my son to quell their anger? Who''s to say that they''ll calm down just because they have my son? And even if they do, will we even have any pride left over? How can we maintain control of Liao if we''re willing to roll over on the other five ns''mand?"


    Qin Zongming''s words caused an elder seated to his left to startughing. "In that case, Head, shall we expend all our resources and fight to the death with these five ns? The Zhou n has good reason to suspect Qin Xiao as the culprit of Zhou Qian''s murder, and we can''t shield him forever!


    "Now that the five ns are cooperating to crush us, Head, there''s no chance that we''ll be able to fight back. Give up on protecting your son! Reputation this, reputation that—what reputation can we maintain when our n''s being smothered to death?!"


    Qin Zongming had no refutation for the usations being leveled at him. The elder wasn''t wrong: if the n were to fall, no amount of reputation would do them any good.


    However, Qin Xiao was his only son! If he were to hand him to the five ns, wouldn''t it be equivalent to sentencing him to death? How could he bear to do that to his only son? But if he didn''t, the Qin n would be destroyed...


    He might be willing to ept such an oue, but the rest of the n certainly could not.


    Another elder spoke up. "Head, you need to be decisive! The Yun and Chu ns alone would be enough to destroy us, but they''re even working in tandem with the three corporations! As the head of the n, are you really going to ruin us all just for your son?!


    "We''ve already demonstrated our resilience by protecting Qin Xiao as long as we did, but to shield him further would be the greatest of follies! Head, your decision now will alter our n''s fate! I implore you, think of the big picture!"