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

Chapter 281 A Loyal Dog with No Other Choice

Even though a long time has passed and he is now imprisoned.

When Jean-Jacques mentioned this incident, he was still furious, with veins bulging on his forehead, clearly extremely angry.

"Even today, I still vividly see those scenes in my nightmares—"

He said in a trembling voice, "The black smoke from the depths of the mine rose into the sky like blood-stained spring water. The miners in the shallow working area turned into burning human figures, frantically running out. Many of them collapsed on the ground while running, curling up into a charred corpse. Many more miners in the deep working area disappeared without a trace, and not even a single bone has been found to this day."

"At that moment, my mind went blank. After a three-second pause, my first reaction was to do everything I could to organize a rescue."

"Unfortunately, it was too late. The explosion and collapse deep in the mine were too powerful, and even the ground surface was covered with large areas of subsidence."

"To prevent ground facilities and people from being trapped in the burning mine, I could only organize the evacuation of survivors, but I couldn't save those trapped deep inside the mine."

"The final casualty count was far more than a few dozen; it was a full two hundred, two hundred and seventy-one!"

He closed his eyes in agony.

The veins on his forehead throbbed, as if he were wearing an uncontrollable mask of hatred.

The Snake Princess remained silent for a while.

"Was Hess Bailey responsible for this explosion?"

"Yes, that's him."

Jean-Jacques said, "After evacuating the crowd, looking at the series of collapses in the mining area, I quickly realized the problem—the mine I was in charge of had been operating safely for more than five years, and the raw crystals it produced were very stable. Even if an accident really happened, the affected area should not be so large, and the intensity should not be so strong."

"Not to mention, the accident didn't happen earlier or later at the mine, but it happened right when I came back. It's obvious they wanted to make me the scapegoat."

In an instant, I understood the truth.

"Hess Belad's appetite is far greater than I imagined. He is not satisfied with keeping only a third of the Ancient Dragonstone. Instead, he wants to create a major accident, make the entire mine account for losses, and then take all the Ancient Dragonstone for himself!"

"As for keeping me at headquarters for a week, it was just a delaying tactic. While I was away from the mine, he planted his own confidants to tamper with things. At the same time, he also seized on my weakness through the exploration report with the data I altered!"

"At that moment, I felt as if I had fallen into a bottomless ice cave, and I felt a chill from my tailbone to the top of my head."

"Sure enough, Hess Belad's confidant found me that very night in the hospital, looking distraught, and gave me two options."

"First, of course I can make a big fuss, raise questions, and reveal the existence of the Ancient Dragonstone."

"If that's the case, Hess Belad has a hundred ways to characterize this explosion as a man-made accident caused by inadequate safety measures, lax daily management, or even the unauthorized interception of crystal ore by management personnel. I will be taken to court as the person primarily responsible, and the carefully altered survey report I submitted will be the best evidence."

"No, the entire hospital was surrounded by the families of the deceased miners. Judging from their overwhelming rage, if they confirmed I was primarily responsible, I wouldn't have a chance of appearing alive in the dock; I would have been beaten to death, smashed into a pulp. Secondly, if I were willing to cooperate with Hess Belad's investigation team, conceal the existence of the Ancient Dragonstone, and successfully shut down the mine, then he would issue a report classifying the accident as an unforeseen event, caused by an unpredictable and unstoppable tectonic movement that triggered a resonance of ancient remnants, ultimately detonating some of the unstable crystal ore."

"In this situation, although I still bear primary responsibility and have to resign, I do not have to go to court to bear criminal responsibility, nor do I have to face the overwhelming anger of the victims' families."

"I... I had no choice at all."

"I can only blame myself for being too young back then. I couldn't imagine just how greedy and ruthless these seemingly respectable big shots could be!"

The Snake Princess made a "tsk tsk" sound.

"According to this logic, you really are an innocent and kind little rabbit, and all the responsibility has been shifted onto the cunning and treacherous 'Hess Belad'."

Snake Princess said, "But I feel that Hess Belad treats you very well, like a true confidant and favorite general. Otherwise, I don't understand where you, who was just kicked out of Dawn Heavy Industries and should be penniless, got such a huge sum of money that you can open the magnificent Golden Iris Entertainment Center and attract a large number of celebrities in the city to spend money there."

Jean-Jacques seemed to have his vital point gripped.

He was panting heavily.

The cold sweat on his forehead became increasingly dense.

“Okay, the Golden Iris Entertainment Center was indeed invested and built by Hess Black, and I was just his front man.”

Jean-Jacques smiled wryly, “Perhaps he conducted an in-depth investigation into me and thought I was a capable person who could get things done. Moreover, we had committed a heinous crime together, so he had a handle on me and could let me do some more secretive and dirty business.”

"I don't deny that I do have a talent for this. I have been running the Golden Iris Entertainment Center for so many years and I really enjoy it. I have been very successful and have accumulated a hundred times more wealth than when I was a mining engineer."

"However, fate has its own price tag. Every gift we receive comes with a corresponding cost. No matter how glamorous I may seem on the surface, I am in reality just a loyal dog kept by Hess Belad, a loyal dog that knows many of his secrets and will be slaughtered by him sooner or later."

"What do you mean?"

Snake Princess asked, "From what you're saying, the Golden Iris Entertainment Center seems to be more than just a high-end club?"

"Whether it's entertainment centers or arena betting, they may seem like lucrative businesses to ordinary people, but to core executives of mining groups like Hess Blackride, who are involved in crystal mining and smelting, they are nothing special."

Jean-Jacques said, "Given his status and position, he doesn't need such glitz and glamour to expand his so-called network."

"The reason why I went to such great lengths to open the Golden Iris Entertainment Center was for only one purpose—money laundering."

"He has been able to launder the illicit wealth he has amassed over the years through methods such as 'faking accidents, abandoning mines, and intercepting raw crystal ore' into clean, legitimate income through a series of complicated procedures."

(End of this chapter)