As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 279: Peeling off the cocoon
"One minute."

The Snake Princess said casually, "If you continue to waste your time on these trivial matters, half an hour will pass quickly."

"No, that's not all!"

Jean-Jacques was deathly pale. "I think I know the cause of Sheikh Kratt's death. He must have accidentally revealed his financial situation and was targeted by someone with ulterior motives!"

"Oh?"

The Snake Princess then became interested. "Go on, is Sheikh Krat very rich?"

"I don't have any. In the past two years, the economy of Dawn City has been sluggish, and everyone is in debt. The bigger the business, the greater the losses. Sheikh Krat's Shattered Star Club is no exception. However, he swindled a large amount of membership fees by creating various pretexts and false advertising. He also illegally raised funds from his employees and team members, and made a lot of money."

Jean-Jacques hurriedly said, "This guy is, after all, the top club operator in Dawn City. Relying on his decades-long reputation, he has really managed to swindle quite a few suckers. I heard that many employees and team main players have poured their life savings into the projects he hyped up, and even gambled their future by taking out high-interest loans, just thinking of making a fortune."

"Who knew that Sheikh Krat had no intention of running the business properly at all, but had long planned to abscond with the money. After getting the money, he exchanged it all for rare crystal coins that are small in size, high in value, and easy to carry. After all that, I estimate that the rare crystal coins in his hands are worth at least tens of millions or even more."

"Unfortunately, despite his painstaking efforts, he ended up wasting his time. Not only did he fail to escape to a carefree life, but he also lost his life!"

"Sigh, I knew his method wouldn't work. This guy has been too flamboyant these past few months, making too many enemies. With such a high-profile operation, who in the industry doesn't know there's something wrong with him? In the end, not only did he lose his life, but he also dragged the entire industry into a state of fear. He's incredibly foolish!"

Who are you referring to by "the entire circle"?

The Snake Queen continued, "Did you help Sheikh Krat exchange so many rare crystals?"

"No, no, no, how could it be me?"

Jean-Jacques smiled wryly, “To do something like this, first you need to have that many rare crystal coins, second you need to get in touch with the relevant banks, and finally you need enough power to launder the bad debts that Sheikh Krat transferred through the bank and then transfer them out through legal channels. It takes at least seven or eight procedures to turn the membership fees collected in advance and the illegal fundraising into legal income that is impossible to trace and cannot be returned.”

"There are far too many people and forces involved here. How could someone as powerless and insignificant as me possibly handle this?"

"Right."

The Snake Princess remained noncommittal. "And what role did you play in all of this, dear Mr. Jean-Jacques?"

When it came to the key point, Jean-Jacques became hesitant.

"three minutes."

The Snake Princess licked her lips. "If you really don't want to talk about it, then let's just forget about it and get started?"

"No, no, no, I'm just a middleman!"

Jean-Jacques, his face pale, said, “Alright, I admit I introduced Sheikh Kratt to this path, but I swear, I wasn’t directly involved in any subsequent transactions between Sheikh Kratt and the key figures—in our line of work, security and secrecy are paramount; as a broker, I neither need nor dare to participate in the actual transactions!” “Is that so?”

Snake Princess deliberately said, "But why is it that the information our Black Dream organization obtained suggests that Sheikh Krat's rare crystal coins seem to have flowed out from the crystal mine you used to manage?"

"Do I need to remind you? When you were still a mining engineer at Dawn Heavy Industry, there was a very suspicious accident at the crystal mine you were in charge of. The mine exploded and collapsed, killing at least dozens of miners."

"Subsequently, a mine that was originally quite rich in reserves suddenly became worthless and no longer had any value for development. You took on most of the responsibility and left Dawn Heavy Industry. However, in a short period of time, you somehow obtained a large sum of money and founded the Golden Iris Entertainment Center. From then on, you were successful in all directions and thrived."

Jean-Jacques was struck dumb.

I never expected that something so old and secret would be dug up again.

His eyes flickered for a long time, as if he realized that in front of the most ferocious female demon of the Black Dream Organization, any concealment or sophistry was meaningless.

He finally let out a long sigh and said with a bitter smile, "I knew this would go wrong sooner or later, but I swear to God, I really didn't do it. I'm just a scapegoat!"

He seemed to know that every word he said now would be hard to believe.

Ignoring the pain of his limbs being almost severed, he struggled violently again, panting heavily, and said, "I know what you suspect—that an accident was deliberately staged to turn a rich mine with amazing reserves and normal operation into a waste mine with no development value, wipe it off the books, and then sell it off for secret development."

"From then on, there was no need to hand over profits or pay any taxes; it was incredibly profitable."

"This is a well-known trick in the industry, nothing surprising at all."

"However, this simple and crude approach is far too risky, especially since it involves dozens of lives. If they didn't have a powerful backer, they would be exposed in no time and die without a burial place!"
"Back then, I was just a small mining engineer, responsible for the operation of a medium-sized and high-quality mine at Liming Heavy Industry. There were at least eighty or a hundred people like me in the group, and we wouldn't make a sound even if a big shot stepped on us."

I know my own worth and abilities.

"In daily operations, slightly withholding some raw crystal ore or tampering with the quality is the same thing as taking bribes or demanding kickbacks."

"Killing dozens of miners in one go, deceiving the investigation team sent by headquarters, scrapping the entire mine, and then reselling it is another matter entirely."

“I’m not that ruthless, nor do I have the means to cover things up. Besides, once the matter is exposed, I, as the operations manager, will be the first to bear the brunt and will inevitably face the most severe punishment. Tell me, how could I be so foolish as to do something like playing with fire and killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?”

“That makes sense. I believe you are not the mastermind.”

Snake Princess said, "However, you also admit that there were indeed problems with the mine you were in charge of back then. The mining accident that caused the deaths of dozens of miners was not an accident, but was deliberately created. The purpose was to monopolize all the precious crystal ore inside. After being polished, these crystal ore were transformed into rare crystal coins in the hands of Sheikh Krat?"

(End of this chapter)