I manage female characters in all the heavens.

Meanwhile, five key individuals involved in the Cromwell Industries case were also found dead at the same time—some died in car accidents, some from "sudden heart attacks," and some from "falling to their deaths."

Everyone left a "last will and testament" before they died.

The wording of those suicide notes was strikingly consistent, detailing their crimes.

This includes not only the use of substandard materials in this electromagnetic railgun, but also the various shady dealings over the years in which Cromwell Industries has supplied substandard parts and materials to research institutions around the world through similar means.

Each and every incident is shocking.

The combined proceeds of these five individuals' crimes alone exceed 1000 billion Earth dollars.

Judging from the scale of these proceeds of crime, they seem to have really confessed everything.

1000 billion! That's the amount Li Yao and his wife offered as a bounty on Luo Feng!

But the problem is-

At such a delicate juncture, just as the War God Palace resolution was passed and the arrest warrant was issued, they all "coincidentally" committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

Did they really commit suicide out of fear of punishment at such a critical juncture?

The decision of the War God Palace had just been issued and was only circulating among the high-ranking officials of various forces. How did they know that they were beyond saving and thus committed suicide out of fear of punishment? Who told them the news?

When "Liu Ting" received this message, she was resting with her eyes closed in the lounge of the High Energy Research Institute.

She listened to the news quietly and remained silent for a long time.

In the Virtual War God Palace, in an encrypted private reception room.

Yao Weiwu was already waiting there.

This leading figure in China's scientific community was sitting on the sofa. The cup of tea in front of him had gone cold, but he didn't drink a drop. Instead, he frowned and looked at "Liu Ting" who walked in with a serious expression.

"Xiao Liu is here."

"Ah."

Liu Ting walked to the sofa opposite him and sat down. Without beating around the bush, she asked directly, "Mr. Yao, what do you think about this matter?"

Yao Weiwu was silent for a few seconds, then slowly spoke in a low voice: "Without a doubt, there is a problem."

"Those people had to die at this crucial moment, of all times. This wasn't suicide out of fear of punishment; it was silencing them."

Liu Ting nodded; she shared the same assessment.

Just as those criminals were about to be arrested and handed over to Hanxia for public trial, they suddenly died. Perhaps it was because they had bigger problems, and they were silenced to prevent those problems from being exposed during interrogation.

Or perhaps this experimental accident involves higher-ranking individuals, and in order to protect those higher-ranking people, these lower-ranking people were silenced, making them take the blame.

"Then the question arises—who silenced them?"

Yao Weiwu picked up the now-cold teacup, took a sip, and put it down, his tone carrying a hint of heaviness:

"Behind Cromwell Industries stands the Cromwell family, one of the nine core families of the HR Alliance."

"The Cromwell family can be considered the number one family among the nine major families of the HR Alliance."

“They have a planetary-level powerhouse—Elliot Cromwell, who, like me, is a councilor of the Ares Palace and one of the top combatants in the American military.”

The HR Alliance as a whole has several planetary-level powerhouses, but only this one belongs to a family.

Of the nine core families, only the Cromwell family has its own planetary-level family; the other families do not.

Therefore, the Cromwell family is undoubtedly the number one family in the HR Alliance, much stronger than the Bolenas family of Cattelan, whose strongest member is merely a "Phantom Demon" who is not even an invincible war god.

Liu Ting was slightly startled, but her face did not show any surprise.

She had long suspected that there were more than just a few small fry behind this.

With interests worth hundreds of billions, Chen Desheng was just a purchasing manager; even if he were incredibly audacious, he simply couldn't handle it.

Even with the addition of several senior executives from Cromwell Industries, it would be extremely difficult to achieve a flawless result.

However, if someone from the Cromwell family were to intervene, they would have the power, the channels, and the motive.

Humanity as a whole is indeed united in its external relations, but when it is not engaged in external conflicts, internal strife remains a serious problem.

It's an unspoken tradition for everyone to sabotage each other and hinder scientific research in other countries. If you do it, I'll do it too, and nobody criticizes anyone else.

But this time, even the Cromwell family probably didn't expect that a mere component could trigger such a major incident, leading to the death of a senior academician.

There's nothing like a railgun before, so nobody knows anything about it. It's entirely possible that someone could accidentally trip it up and hit its weak point.

Besides this incident, the Cromwell family certainly didn't want to take the blame, so silencing them became inevitable.

Yao Weiwu continued, "The proposal made by the American side to seize the management rights of the No. 26 ancient civilization site at the Ares Palace was first put forward by Elliott Cromwell."

"At that time, we were wondering why they would bother with this, since America and Ruins 26 are separated by most of the Pacific Ocean, making them inconvenient to manage. Their management team would be much larger if they took it over, so why did they bother with this?"

"Now it seems that their real intentions are not what they seem. What they want is not the management rights of the ruins themselves, but to drive Hanxia's investigative forces away from the ruins and cover up the truth of the accident."

Liu Ting sneered: "They didn't expect that I would directly intercept Murphy's fighter jet, buy time, and uncover the truth."

"So when they realized it was too late, all they could do was kill all the pieces and cut off the trail at its source."

Yao Weiwu nodded: "That's right, everyone is dead, there's no way to verify the facts."

“Even though we all know that the Cromwell family is behind this, without direct evidence, we can’t take any action against a planetary-level senator.”

Nobody's a fool. Such an obvious act of silencing someone is something everyone can guess was probably done by the Cromwell family.

However, without any evidence, given the Cromwell family's position in the HR Alliance and America, no one could act rashly.

Chapter 269 Keeping the accounts, the interest keeps rolling.

With everyone dead, the public trial naturally came to an end.

But at least the fine from Cromwell Industries arrived in their account immediately.

Even the embezzled funds that Chen Dehai and some people from Cromwell Industrial Group had embezzled over the years were recovered and returned to Han Xia by the American side.

At this point, there's no way to dig any deeper.

If the important figures of the Cromwell family are forced to pay the price, it will inevitably lead to conflict between Han Xia and the HR Alliance and America, even a battle at the level of councilors, which is something that no one in all aspects of humanity wants to see.

Liu Ting was silent for a moment, then leaned back on the sofa and let out a long breath.

"So, this is the only way to end this matter?"

"What can we do if we don't count it?" Yao Weiwu sighed, his tone carrying a deep sense of powerlessness.

"The people and the evidence are all dead. Cromwell Industries has been punished where they should be punished and compensated where they should be compensated."

"Han Xia has already received all the compensation she could get. If she continues to pursue the matter and demands that important figures in the Cromwell family be held accountable, there is no legal basis for it and it will only be seen as a provocation against the HR Alliance."

“Some things are like enemies to us, heroes to us. America and the HR Alliance will definitely fight to the death to protect the Cromwell family.”

"Hanxia has no ability to confront the two major powers, and humanity has no room for a civil war."

After listening, Liu Ting remained silent for a long time.

She certainly understood that what Yao Weiwu said was true.

In any world, the essence of politics is never a black-and-white matter of right and wrong, but rather a contest of power and compromise.

this is the truth.

Although she is now a half-step star-level mentalist and has entered the War God Palace, which sounds impressive, she still doesn't rank in the top fifty among the world's top human combat power.

The world of Swallowed Star is too advanced. Even Earth, a remote and impoverished place that has no contact with the universe, is already beyond the reach of many worlds.

God of War level, God of War level. In other worlds, that would be a true God of War. A single move could cause the heavens and earth to collapse, and a single roar could shatter mountains and rivers. The fact that she was able to reach the end of this level in just a few months shows that she has a very deep foundation.

There is an insurmountable chasm between the feasible star level and the war god level.

Even though she can now take on a planetary-level first-tier king-level monster in a three-on-one fight, if she were to face a planetary-level warrior head-on, she would still be forced to passively take hits.

Her current telekinetic output is 100 million kilograms, with an amplitude of 8. The maximum explosive force of her telekinetic power is 800 million kilograms, or 8000 tons.

What about a feasible level-one martial artist?

The basic physical body and primal energy burst is 2000 tons of force. Even the weakest planetary-level beings on Earth can exert more than four times that force. Add to that the huge advantage of energy projection, the special abilities of planetary-level beings, and the Black God Set, how could she possibly fight them?

Not to mention, the Cromwell family is backed by the entire HR alliance, a huge and deeply entrenched interest group that is far more complex than a single planetary-level entity.

"Our strength is still not strong enough, and our status is still not high enough."

Liu Ting sighed silently in her heart.

If she were a planetary-level psychopath, or even stronger, would the Cromwell family dare to so blatantly harbor a criminal, silence evidence, and cause trouble for her?

I'm afraid we'll have to tie up the culprit overnight and send him to Hanxia to beg for forgiveness.

Unfortunately, she doesn't yet have that level of influence, so she can only keep track of the debts for now.

However, as everyone knows, bookkeeping accrues interest, and when she settles the score later, even if the Cromwell family hands over the culprit, it won't solve the problem.

She stood up and nodded to Yao Weiwu: "Old Yao, I understand. Let's leave it at that for now."

If we delve further, it will lead to a human civil war. Given that humanity as a whole is in grave danger of facing monsters, the cost of a civil war is unimaginable; one wrong move could be the extinction of humanity.

No one would risk all of humanity for Gao Jiyuan, including Hong and "Liu Ting" herself.

Looking at her calm expression, Yao Weiwu felt a mixture of relief and heartache.

This girl experienced a series of events in just a few days, including the tragic death of her mentor, being hunted by a king-level monster, breaking through the ruins to overturn a case, and being powerless in the face of the dark secrets... Most people would have collapsed long ago.

But she didn't.

She didn't even complain or angrily slam the table; she simply accepted the outcome calmly and then began thinking about her next steps.

This composure and maturity surpasses the vast majority of her peers, and even surpasses countless people decades older than her.

"Liu Ting" turned to leave the virtual space, but paused at the door.

"Mr. Yao, there's something I'd like to ask you."

"You said."

"Keep an eye on the movements of the key members of the Cromwell family. Don't try to find out anything, and don't arouse their suspicion. Just keep an eye on them."

Yao Weiwu's gaze sharpened slightly, and after a moment of silence, he slowly nodded:

"……it is good."

"Liu Ting" said nothing more, and her virtual figure disappeared into the encrypted meeting room.