"Someone like you… you can feel fear too?" Daziel's voice was flat, utterly devoid of emotion, a statement of cold fact. "When you were pulling off these disgusting schemes, did you never once think about today?"
Mingxi's body gave a slight tremor, but she fought for composure, teeth gritted. "What do you even know? I'm doing this to protect Aurum Alley from being swallowed by foreign corporations! Those old business models? They can't even cover the rent anymore! Let alone compete with the Corporation!"
She inhaled sharply, drawing strength from her own rhetoric. Her voice notched up in volume. "Without me, Aurum Alley would have been eaten alive by those greedy corporate sharks ages ago!"
"Absurd," Daziel cut her off, his voice like ice. "So, criminal behavior is your justification?"
Yukong stepped forward then, slowly. Her face was still pale, but the sharp glint in her eyes had returned.
"I'm curious," Yukong's voice was clear, sharp, and laced with interrogation, "how does a mere secretary wield this kind of power?" She paused, her gaze piercing. "Where is the old Guild Master of Aurum Alley? I know him well. If he were still in charge, he would have stopped you in your tracks."
The words "old Guild Master" brought a flicker of disgust and disdain to Mingxi's face.
"You mean that old fossil? The one who's half senile and still thinks he can run everything?" Mingxi scoffed. "He's outlived his time, so out of touch with this era it's pathetic. I sidelined his authority ages ago. I'm the one calling the shots in the Aurum Alley Merchant Guild now, and these transformation plans? All mine!"
She puffed out her chest, a blatant boast. "Without me, Aurum Alley would already be theirs!"
Daziel looked at Mingxi, disappointment etched in his eyes. "You know," he said, his voice low, "in this, you're worse than those Corporation types. You've twisted yourself into believing you're righteous, completely ignoring the countless people you've crushed."
Mingxi's eyes darted away, as if Daziel's words had found their mark. A harsh laugh escaped her, tinged with a brittle mockery.
"Heh, Mr. Daziel," she sneered, "for someone who's supposed to be well-traveled, you're awfully naive. You should get out there more with the Astral Express, see the real world, how grimy and ugly it really is. Maybe then you'll ditch these childish ideals of yours."
Daziel remained unmoved, his voice calm. "I will see it," he replied steadily, "but my principle of protecting the innocent will never change. I will never change."
Mingxi fixed Daziel with a long, intense look. A complex swirl of emotions flickered across her face: unwillingness, scorn, and… something else.
A flicker of fear, almost invisible.
Just then, the sound of urgent footsteps pounded closer from outside.
Yanqing burst through the shattered doorway, leading a squad of Cloud Knights. His eyes immediately found Daziel and Yukong standing in the hall. He hurried forward, concern etched on his face. "Master Yukong, Mr. Daziel, are you alright?"
Daziel gave a slight shake of his head. "We're fine."
Yukong glanced at Daziel, a faint blush rising on her cheeks. Softly, she murmured, "Mmm... I, I'm alright too..."
Daziel gestured towards Mingxi, slumped and defeated on the ground. "The mastermind of this whole sick charade is right there." He let out a weary sigh. "The rest is for the Xianzhou Luofu to handle. I'm… I'm just tired. I need to rest."
Yanqing followed Daziel's pointed finger and immediately recognized the slumped figure of Mingxi. Anger flashed in his young eyes, but he turned to Daziel first, bowing respectfully. "Mr. Daziel, please, if you could spare a moment. We'll need a statement at the Divine Might Mansion before you leave. And Master Yukong, you as well, of course."
Daziel spread his hands in a gesture of weary compliance. "Fine, but make it quick." He glanced at Yukong again, a silent question in his eyes.
Yukong caught his gaze and gave a small, reassuring nod. She was alright.
Seeing this, Yanqing immediately barked orders to the Cloud Knights behind him. "Men, apprehend the ringleader!"
Several Cloud Knights moved forward swiftly and secured Mingxi.
Mingxi offered no resistance, simply staring blankly at the floor, all fight drained from her.
Yanqing turned back to Daziel and Yukong. "Master Yukong, Mr. Daziel, let's get out of this place."
Daziel and Yukong nodded, and followed Yanqing out of the workshop, leaving behind the stench and grime.
The Cloud Knights began processing the scene, securing the area. The Merchant Guild personnel were being rounded up, and the enslaved women, victims of this vile trade, were being rescued.
"Keep moving… behave yourselves!" A Cloud Knight's gruff voice cut through the air as a line of people, escorted by Cloud Knights, was led away from the workshop. At the head of the line, a foxian woman, head bowed and face hidden, shuffled along, avoiding all eyes.
"Hush now... it's alright…" Further in, officials from the Sky-Faring Commission and Earthly Branch were attempting to question the rescued women, now huddled together, weeping, their sobs echoing in the aftermath. Few were composed enough to speak coherently.
Outside the workshop, the moonlight bathed Aurum Alley in a gentle, silvery light. It filtered through the leaves, intertwining with a soft breeze, as if trying to cleanse the grime from the world.
...
Within days, the Xianzhou Luofu authorities released an official announcement about the incident.
From the announcement, Daziel learned that the sordid operation in Aurum Alley hadn't actually been running for long—barely two weeks. That was the reason they were behind on rent to the Corporation, not because it was a lucrative long-term enterprise.
And from the moment Daziel and his companions first suspected something was wrong in Aurum Alley to the matter's resolution, less than two days had passed.
As for why the Sky-Faring Commission, responsible for foreign trade, had missed the signs earlier? Corruption. Staff at the Aurum Alley Wharf had been compromised by the Merchant Guild for a long time. And it wasn't just the Sky-Faring Commission; officials in the Earthly Branch were also implicated in the Merchant Guild's web of deceit.
This explained why the Sky-Faring Commission's initial inspection had turned up nothing.
In a strange way, Scott had also played a crucial role. If he hadn't, in his usual style, crammed a Cloudleaper Toad into the cargo and it hadn't coincidentally inhaled the Merchant Guild's contraband bubbles, this festering problem in Aurum Alley might have remained hidden for much longer.
Yukong kept her word to Scott, hosting a bidding ceremony at the Aurum Alley Wharf Merchant Guild. But the final outcome wasn't a complete win for the Corporation group Scott represented, nor a victory for the remaining independent shops of Aurum Alley.
After deliberation and discussion, they formed the "Aurum Alley Commercial Cooperative," designed to provide mutual oversight and balance. They jointly appointed a man named Minghan as the cooperative's leader, tasked with managing Aurum Alley Wharf.
Daziel recognized the name Minghan. He recalled him being the young master of the local Merchant Guild's "Tonggong Workshop," someone with overseas study experience and, incidentally, one of the Corporation agents present in Aurum Alley this time. In the original story, Minghan had ultimately lost the commercial competition, yet had taken on the weighty responsibility of revitalizing Aurum Alley.
In this timeline, Minghan had developed a new development strategy focused on leveraging the wharf's logistics and transshipment functions, while also preserving a significant number of local shops. It seemed that his continued leadership of Aurum Alley's commerce aligned with the original course of events.
The embroidery workshop was already preparing to reopen. Yukong herself attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, solemnly proclaiming, "From this day forward, the light here… belongs only to those who wield needle and thread!"
And Mingxi, the architect of this whole affair, faced justice. A prison sentence in the Shackling Prison awaited her.
Things seemed settled, resolved. But a nagging unease remained in Daziel's gut…
In the original story, even though Mingxi was also trying to support the local shops, she wouldn't have resorted to such extremes—to illegal activities for profit, just to offset business losses. If it was argued that his own choices, his divergences in handling various events, had caused ripples in the timeline, he could accept that. March 7th, Topaz, the others… their interactions with him, being caught in the event's center, had altered things. Plausible.
But Mingxi?
The Merchant Guild's illicit operation had only started about two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago…
Wasn't that around the time he'd acquired the Reverse Side System?
Could it be… could all of this, in the end, still be connected to his damned system?!
_____
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