CHAPTER 639: CHAPTER 392, EVEN A RABBIT WILL BITE WHEN CORNERED!

Lu Dongsheng’s brows were tightly knitted as he sized up Tang Fei with profound implications and asked, "What? Do you suspect it was our Lu Family that did this?"

"How could that be?" Tang Fei said angrily. "Whoever I suspect, I would never suspect the Lu Family. I regard the Lu Family as my own; who would suspect their own family?"

"Is that so? Then why are you asking?"

"I just want to hear you tell me in person, so I can be certain of the answer in my heart. Once I rule out the Lu Family, it will be easier to find the real mastermind among the other families."

"It was the Lu Family that did it," Lu Dongsheng said.

"What?" Tang Fei looked at Lu Dongsheng with an astonished expression. Was he playing some kind of new word game with him?

"You’re surprised?"

"It’s not that I’m very surprised, it’s just... why? Why would it be the Lu Family?"

Lu Dongsheng pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Tang Fei, speaking in a grave tone, "The Lu Family has countless reasons to do this. The Royal Family uses the Monitoring Bureau as a blade, relentlessly pursuing our Lu Family, and you know better than I do that most of my people and the loyal direct descendants of the Lu Family have been almost completely cut down, don’t you?"

Tang Fei, with an embarrassed look on his face, said, "I had no choice. Before doing this, I also communicated with the Lu Family. You were willing to cooperate, too."

"We were willing to cooperate, but not at the cost of harming the core interests of the Lu Family... You must have heard, they wanted to remove me as the Director of the Mechanical Engineering Department..."

Tang Fei nodded and said, "I’ve heard. But they shouldn’t dare to... It would have too negative an impact. It’s a foolish act that would harm the enemy but hurts oneself even more."

With the resources and technology controlled by the Lu Family, if they really took down Lu Dongsheng as the Director of the Mechanical Engineering Department, it would deal a devastating blow to the Empire’s mechanical technology and military-industrial complex.

If not a member of the Lu Family, who else could do the job of the Director of the Mechanical Engineering Department?

Lu Dongsheng glanced at Tang Fei and said, "Don’t put so much weight on me. The planet will keep spinning without anyone... As for being an official, anyone can do it. If you were put in the position of the Director of the Mechanical Engineering Department, maybe you could do even better than me."

"I don’t have that confidence," Tang Fei said with an awkward smile.

He felt that Lu Dongsheng’s words also made sense. Inside the systems of the Empire, were there few instances of an outsider leading an insider?

Why must the Lu Family be the ones to run the Mechanical Engineering Department?

Would the Ma Family, skilled in AI technology and bioengineering, be able to do it?

Could the Dongguo Family, shining in the field of smart technology, also be a candidate?

Even the Qin Family had made outstanding contributions in the field of electronic information; it wouldn’t be impossible for them to take up this position...

Of course, the Qin Family was a military family. If the Mechanical Engineering Department were handed over to them, it would likely keep the Royal Family awake at night.

Who among the ruling class would like to see the occurrence of a family arming themselves?

"If I’m removed, the various military enterprises and smart research centers under the Luban Mountain Group would all change hands, and the Lu Family would have no way to protect these industries..."

"If the core technology and team members of the Lu Family were taken over by them, then the Lu Family would become a vassal of the Royal Family... Like fish on the chopping block, they could be eaten however and whenever they desired..."

"Is such a Lu Family still the Lu Family? Thousands of years of dignity and glory created by the Lu Clan would be all gone; what’s the point of such a Lu Family even existing?"

"Since our ancestor Lu Ban, our Lu Clan has been proud to be craftsmen, and craftsmen have their own principles and pride. We would rather die standing than live on our knees."

"So, we must resist, and we must tell the Royal Family, as well as everyone else... The Lu Family has a temper, too, and we will show it. If they want to swallow up the Lu Family in one gulp, then they should be prepared for the possibility of the Lu Family biting back."

"Even a cornered rabbit will bite; let alone the steely men who carry the bloodline of the Mechanical Ancestor... To do nothing would be to shame our ancestors, wouldn’t it?"

"However," Tang Fei asked curiously, "why did you leave such obvious traces? Isn’t that just creating trouble for yourselves?"

With the Lu Family’s technological prowess, they could have upgraded and modified those junky pirate ships without anyone noticing.

There was no need to use such advanced outer materials and the newly developed control systems.

Once that kind of thing is uncovered... everyone will know it was the work of the Lu Family.

"If we don’t leave traces, how would they know it was the Lu Family?" Lu Dongsheng retorted.

"..."

"If we don’t leave traces, how would it arouse suspicion from the Royal Family?"

"Are you saying that the more apparent it is, the more it will make the Royal Family paranoid?"

"Zhong Daolong is a very suspicious person. When someone puts these pieces of evidence on his desk, he will definitely question..."

"Did the Lu Family really lead this attack? What is the Lu Family’s request? Is the Lu Family being framed? What do those people want to do?"

"That’s also why he sent the Military Committee to investigate this matter instead of dispatching Chen Fenglei’s Beehive... That’s the agency he trusts the most..."

"If he trusts the Beehive, trusts Chen Fenglei, why not let them handle this case?"

"Because he wants to lure the snake out of its hole."

"Lure the snake out of its hole?"

"Yes," Lu Dongsheng nodded and said, "I think the one in the Phoenix Palace also wants to see exactly how many people, or rather how many forces, are involved in this case..."

"Doesn’t Shen Wuxiang see this is a trap?"

"Shen Wuxiang sees it, but he doesn’t care," Lu Dongsheng voiced, "After all, the Shen Family is stronger than the other families... He’s using the Lu Family as bait to test the attitude of the Royal Family."

"The Shen Family has always kept out of it; why would they make such a risky probe?"

"It’s precisely because they’ve kept out of it that they’ve begun to feel the danger. Never underestimate the political intelligence of the Shen Family. They survived the last major purge and got the biggest piece of the pie... they’re not to be taken lightly by anyone or any power."

"So, what’s the Shen Family’s ultimate goal?"

"He’s leveraging a greater cause to pressure the Lu Family... If the Royal Family intervenes, they know their position is extremely vulnerable."

"What if the Royal Family doesn’t intervene?"

"Destroy the Lu Family, or subsume them."

"How can the Royal Family possibly want to see that?"

"Often... the Royal Family isn’t omnipotent." Lu Dongsheng looked at Tang Fei and said, "Think about it, if the Shen Family and the Lu Family form an alliance... how many people in the Empire would lose sleep over it?"

Tang Fei expressed understanding.

With the Shen Family controlling the Empire’s largest military force and the Lu Family mastering core military technology, who inside the Empire could still oppose them?

Even the Royal Family wouldn’t be enough.

Tang Fei, touching his nose, looked at Lu Dongsheng and asked, "Aren’t you considering it? I think this alliance has potential."