Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

It's AME again.

This name has lingered ever since that encrypted email at the summit.

I thought it was an observer, a higher-dimensional game club.

Now it seems I was wrong.

It is not a club.

It's a... asset recycling center? Specializing in taking in people like Shen Guodong who have nowhere else to turn?

Free transfer?

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Even if Shen Guodong were begging, his bowl would be overflowing with gold. Would he really give everything away for free?

The only explanation is that he traded it for something more important than money.

For example... my life.

The thought flashed through my mind.

Gu Ming looked at Shen Lian'an's swaying body, helped her up, handed her over to the Shen family's butler who had rushed over after hearing the news, and then, under everyone's gaze, turned around and got into the Audi A8 that Chen Mo had driven.

The car door closed, isolating the entire world from it.

"Boss," Chen Mo's voice was steady, but his knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel, "Where to?"

"Back to the company." Gu Ming leaned back in the seat, closed his eyes, and began to recall the whole incident.

Shen Guodong's gaze.

mercy.

Why would someone who has lost everything and is about to lose their freedom look at me like that?

What is he pitying?

Just then, my phone vibrated very slightly in my pocket.

Gu Ming took out his phone.

It's an email.

The email address cannot be traced and consists of a string of garbled characters.

The email had no subject line and no body.

There is only one time, one address, and one logo.

[Tonight, at 9 PM.]

[HG City, Nanshan Mining Area, Third Database, Area B-7.]

At the end of the email was a logo consisting of three letters, with a very simple design.

AME.

coming.

They actually... asked me to come back to my hometown to meet them?

Is this a trap, or... an interview before being offered amnesty?

Gu Ming remained silent for a moment, then looked up at Chen Mo's wary face in the rearview mirror.

"Chen Mo," he suddenly said, "prepare the car, let's go back to Hegang."

"Yes," Chen Mo replied without hesitation, then added, "Should we notify Wang Tianqi and have him bring his men?"

"No need." Gu Ming shook his head. "This time, don't tell anyone. Just you and me."

He looked out the window at the rapidly receding cityscape of Beijing and chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Hiding behind the scenes and guessing isn't my style.

Since you want to see me, then I'll go and meet you.

I want to see what you people hiding behind the scenes are really up to.

……

That evening, at 9 PM.

Hegang, Nanshan Mining Area, Third Database.

This is an underground fortification built in the 1980s. It has long been abandoned, and the air is filled with a mixture of rust, mold, and rotting paper smells.

Gu Ming walked alone in the dark corridor.

Chen Mo was left on the ground as backup.

He was holding only an old-fashioned flashlight that he had bought for fifty yuan, its light dim and yellowish.

The further you go in, the colder and damper the air becomes. Water droplets seeping from the walls drip onto the ground, making a "drip-drip" sound that is clearly audible in the empty corridor.

Damn, these guys really know how to pick a spot.

No need for sets when shooting horror movies anymore.

Finally, he arrived at the sign for Sector B-7.

This is the deepest part of the archive, filled with rotten metal filing cabinets.

The beam of the flashlight slowly swept across the dusty shelf.

The light stopped just as it swept across a corner.

There, a person was standing.

A middle-aged man dressed in a dark gray Zhongshan suit, with his hair neatly combed, wearing frameless glasses and polished leather shoes, stood out from his surroundings.

He didn't speak, but just looked at Gu Ming quietly, his eyes scrutinizing him.

Gu Ming was also looking at him.

"AME's?" he asked first.

"You can call me, Agent." The middle-aged man's voice was calm, with an unquestionable tone.

"Alright, Agent Comrade." Gu Ming shone his flashlight on his face. "Did you bring me to this godforsaken place to have a heart-to-heart talk, or to bury me alive?"

The agent ignored his sarcasm, took out a brown paper bag from the inside pocket of his Zhongshan suit, and pulled out a yellowed black-and-white photograph. He placed the photograph on a dusty filing cabinet in front of him, without handing it to Gu Ming.

"Take a look at this."

Gu Ming raised an eyebrow and stepped forward.

The flashlight beam fell on that photograph.

The photo shows seven or eight young people wearing matching dark blue overalls standing side by side, with a plaque behind them bearing four traditional Chinese characters: "Gu's Industry".

The people in the photo are all young, with sharp eyes and a unique spirit characteristic of that era.

On the far left of the crowd, a burly young man standing very straight stunned Gu Ming.

That is……

My father when he was young?

Gu Yuanshan?!

impossible!

In his memory, his father was always an honest, unassuming ordinary worker who had worked in a state-owned factory his whole life and would even blush when arguing with someone.

But the young man in the photo has a cold look in his eyes and an aura that suggests he's not someone to mess with.

Is this really one person?!

"It seems you recognize him," the agent said calmly.

Thirty years ago, there was a very famous private enterprise in Hegang called "Gu's Industry". It was involved in coal, steel and international trade. Its founder, Gu Wanxiong, was a very famous businessman in Northeast China at the time.

"And your father, Gu Yuanshan, was his trusted bodyguard and his brother who would risk his life for him."

He listened to these things and felt they were completely foreign to him.

Gu's Industrial Company? Gu Wanxiong?

What is all this about?

"Unfortunately, the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind." The agent continued, recounting a piece of history in a detached tone.

"During a hostile takeover attempt orchestrated by Beijing capital in conjunction with local forces, Gu Wanxiong and his wife were involved in a car accident and died on the spot. 'Gu's Industrial' was swallowed up overnight."

"And the mastermind behind that acquisition is none other than Shen Guodong's father, whom you just took to court."

"And... Shen Lian'an's grandfather."

Gu Ming suddenly raised his head, staring intently at the agent, his face flushed red.

"What...do you mean?" His voice became hoarse.

The agent didn't answer, but turned the photo over.

On the back of the photo, a row of neat, small characters were written in pen.

—"A gift to my dear friend Yuanshan, may our endeavors, like the stars and the sea, never end. Your brother: Wanxiong."

The date on the signature is thirty-one years ago.

Below the date is a small baby's handprint.

The agent's finger landed on the handprint.

"Gu Wanxiong and his wife left behind an orphan who had just turned one year old."

"Your father, Gu Yuanshan, took you with him and evaded three rounds of pursuit. They went into hiding and settled down in this city he hated."

"He burned all his past, destroyed all the evidence, and disguised himself as a useless ordinary person, hiding like a coward for thirty years."

He has only one purpose.

"I'll let you live."

The agent paused, then looked up, his eyes behind his glasses meeting Gu Ming's bloodshot eyes for the first time.

"So, Gu Ming."

"You are not Gu Yuanshan's son."

"You are Gu Wanxiong's biological son."

Your real name is not Gu Ming.

"You should call him..."

"Gu... Xing... Chen".

……

His life, his memories, his surname, his father... all were turned upside down at this moment.

It turns out he wasn't a reincarnated person.

He was just an avenger.

Avenger who doesn't even know he has a blood feud to commit.

It turns out that his relentless pressure on Shen Guodong was not a business attack.

That was just unconscious revenge.

It turns out that the company he founded is called "Starry Sky Holdings".

His father's dying wish was for his career to be as vast as the stars and the sea.

He finally understood why Shen Guodong had looked at him with such pity before being taken away.

In Shen Guodong's eyes, he was nothing more than a hothead who had just touched the mahjong table and had already overturned it.

An intruder who stumbled upon a secret that this group had been covering up for thirty years.

"Now, do you understand?" The agent looked at him, seemingly satisfied.

"AME is an alliance formed by the descendants of those who participated in the acquisition back then. We don't care about right or wrong, we only care about interests."

"Shen Guodong's era is over. Now, it's your turn."

He took out another document from his pocket—a beautifully crafted invitation letter with gold foil stamping.

"Give up 51% control of Starry Sky Holdings in exchange for a ticket to the game."

"You can officially return to the 'Gu family' and reclaim a portion of the assets that rightfully belong to you. We can help you resolve all historical issues."

"From now on, you are no one's son; you are simply one of us."

"This is... the organization's mercy towards you."

kindness?

Gu Ming smiled.

He first chuckled softly, then the laughter grew louder and louder, finally turning into a roar that echoed through the underground space.

He laughed so hard that tears streamed down his face.

for a long time.

He stopped laughing, raised his head, and stared at the agent with bloodshot eyes.

"I refuse."

He looked at the agent and said, word by word.

The agent frowned: "Think it over carefully. This isn't a discussion, it's a notification."

"I've thought it through very carefully." Gu Ming took out a brass key from his pocket.

That was the key to the old house left to him by his father, Gu Yuanshan.

He only understands now.

That was not just a key, but also the key to unlocking thirty years of blood debt.

"I'll tell you."

"I don't want to join you."

"I only want to... kill you, or be killed by you."

After saying that, he didn't even glance at the agent, turned around, and walked back into the darkness he had come from without looking back.

The agent stood still and did not obstruct the process.

He just said from behind:

"What a pity, you and your father are both out of touch with reality."

"Gu Xingchen, think it over carefully."

"Do you think you're defining this era?"

"Wrong."

"You're just taking back what was rightfully yours..."

"A blood debt."