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

Chapter 283 Big Lie
"Don't portray yourself as so righteous and awe-inspiring."

The Snake Princess sneered, "Even as a lackey, you've made quite a bit of money, haven't you?"

“I admit that I did make a lot of money from the Golden Iris Entertainment Center, but that was all money Hess Belad gave me to keep me in the hospital. I know too many secrets of these two beasts, and I will be killed to silence them sooner or later.”

Jean-Jacques smiled bitterly, “I had long been aware of the danger of being discarded like a hunting dog after the hunt is over, and I had made ample preparations for this day to come. The death of Sheikh Clatter has put me on high alert, and I knew that this day had finally arrived!”
"No matter who killed the owner of the Shattered Star Club, it proves one thing: the underground money laundering network behind the Golden Iris Entertainment Center is no longer safe."

"No matter how powerful Hess Belad or the other big shots in this network are, they still have many enemies."

“If these enemies want to follow the trail of Sheikh Krat’s death to explore and dismantle the underground money laundering network, I am the key to their breakthrough.”

"Once I'm targeted, whether or not I'm captured or some secrets are leaked, just to be safe, Hess Belad will strike first and silence me, leaving no one to prove anything."

"Heh, even if I'm just a lackey, I'm not willing to die in obscurity like this."

"Even if I'm going to die, I'll drag Hess Belad down with me!"
"Therefore, I carefully prepared a double, arranged a very secret safe house, and compiled all the top-secret information I had collected into a book. I originally planned to expose these scandals after escaping Dawn City and cause a huge uproar, but I didn't expect them to fall into the hands of the Black Dream Organization."

"That's fine too. As long as you spare my life, all this top-secret information, enough to turn Dawn City upside down, is yours!"

"Oh?"

The Snake Princess asked with great interest, "What specific information is there?"

"Hess BlackRock's money laundering network, in its specific operation, involves dozens of hidden bank accounts and corresponding transfer records, as well as recordings of his conversations with some of his clients."

Jean-Jacques hesitated for a moment, “However, these are all indirect evidence. Hess Belad is a very cautious man, and it is difficult to find any incriminating evidence against him. These things alone are probably not enough to bring him down. But I believe that what the Black Dream organization wants is definitely more than just bringing down Hess Belad.”

“You don’t need irrefutable evidence; some clues, or even some conjectures and suspicions, will suffice.”

The Snake Princess giggled.

"You seem to know the Black Dream Organization's modus operandi very well!"

She said, "You're right about one thing: you're just an insignificant node in this vast, all-encompassing network, a mere lackey whose life or death is of no importance. If you can actually reveal crucial intelligence, it's not impossible to spare your life."

"But do you really know what our Black Dream organization wants?"

“You just said you wanted to create chaos in Dawn City.”

Jean-Jacques, his eyes gleaming with confidence, said, “If I can help you do this, making most of the high-ranking figures in Dawn City panic like ants on a hot plate, not daring to stay in the city for even half a day, and only able to flee with their tails between their legs, completely disregarding any actions of the Black Dream Organization—would that be enough to exchange for my dog’s life?”

The Snake Princess stared intently at him: "What makes you think you can do this?"

"scandal."

Jean-Jacques said, enunciating each word clearly, "Biehers Belad deliberately detonated the underground mine, killing hundreds of miners and seizing an entire Ancient Dragonstone vein. This scandal is a hundred times more serious, involving almost all of Dawn Heavy Industries' top management, and could potentially destroy Dawn City!"

The Snake Princess was silent for three seconds. "Go on."

She said coldly, "If you're not lying, by this time tomorrow, you might be comfortably enjoying an iced drink and your precious freedom somewhere outside Dawn City. But if you dare to exaggerate or deceive me even by half a word, I will make you regret every single second that the substitute sitting in the luxury car turning into a fireball wasn't you!"

"Don't worry, I won't joke with my own life. In a sense, I'd rather Hess Belad die than your Black Dream organization. May the Belad family be wiped out, Dawn Heavy Industries be completely destroyed, and all those treacherous big shots get the judgment they deserve!"

Jean-Jacques's cold sweat turned into glistening hot sweat.

He was breathing heavily, and a perverse excitement appeared on his face.

Suddenly, he winked mysteriously and said, "You must have heard that the underground resources in the area surrounding Dawn City are depleted, Dawn Heavy Industry's main business is unsustainable, and it is about to run out of resources and collapse completely?"

"Yes."

Snake Princess nodded: "In the border region, this is no secret."

Jean-Jacques laughed: "Guess who first leaked this news?"

Snake Princess was slightly taken aback.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that Jean-Jacques' words had a hidden meaning and were implied.

After a full ten seconds, her voice rose eight octaves: "You mean—"

"Yes."

Jean-Jacques said, "It was released by an insider at the behest of the top management of Liming Heavy Industry. More specifically, Hess Black, the group's chief engineer, was the mastermind behind the whole thing."

"So, this is fake?"

The Snake Queen frowned deeply. "The underground crystal resources around Dawn City haven't been depleted at all?"

"The best lie is always half true and half false."

Jean-Jacques said, "After half a century of rampant mining, the crystal resources around Dawn City have naturally become increasingly depleted. Currently, the mines located on the shallow surface have been almost completely mined out, and the veins located deep underground are difficult to mine, costly, and full of various dangers, creating various unstable factors for the company's operations."

"However, while the difficulty of mining is increasing, various new mining and exploration technologies are constantly emerging and evolving. At the current rate of development, if everyone works together and is selfless, it will not be a problem for the company to operate stably for another 20 or 30 years. And by then, perhaps even more advanced exploration, mining and smelting technologies will have emerged."

"So why would Hess Belad tell such a colossal lie?"

Snake Princess said, "What good would it do him to spread false news of resource depletion, put Dawn Heavy Industries in trouble, and even cause panic throughout Dawn City?"

(End of this chapter)