"I..."
Hesitation caught in Gao Fan's throat.
He didn't know what to say.
Countless words swirled within him, but every ti they threatened to spill out, his bobbing Adam's apple swallowed them back down.
After struggling for a long ti, he finally let out a slow sigh. "I don't... know either."
"Who is Gao Song to you?"
"He's... my eldest uncle."
Gao Fan slowly walked over and sat at the foot of the bed.
He looked up at Ming Po, who was standing by the headboard, and said, "Do you rember when I told you... how hard it was when I first took over the company? The only reason I barely managed to hold onto the business... was because of this uncle of mine."
"Your father's older brother? His biological brother?"
"Yes, biological. They just didn't share the sa mother."
Gao Fan explained, "When my grandfather was in college, he t his first wife. He made so money in Wenzhou back then, and around the fifties or sixties, he decided to move to Shanghai to build his career. But after that, my grandfather's first wife ran off with soone else.
"Society was pretty chaotic back then. She completely abandoned my grandfather and ran off to Hong Kong with a wealthy rchant. They probably lost contact after that; I'm not too clear on the details.
"My grandmother was a local from Shanghai whom my grandfather t later. After the economic reform, it was her family's investnt that gave my grandfather his startup capital.
"The law wasn't very prevalent in those days, let alone the internet or surveillance. Since he didn't know where his first wife went or how to contact her, my grandfather didn't know how to get a divorce either... Even though my grandmother was ten years younger than him, they eventually got married."
"...Ah?"
Ming Po was sowhat shocked. "Doesn't that an your grandfather committed bigamy?"
"No, that was still the seventies."
Gao Fan shook his head. "Before 1994, the cri of bigamy wasn't enforced in the sa way, and based on the principle of non-retroactivity, it didn't actually count... But precisely because of that, my uncle's situation beca quite complicated.
"By the ti my grandparents got married, my eldest uncle was already sixteen or seventeen. Later, my grandfather had two daughters and one son. My father was the youngest, and the most favored in the family.
"Back then, due to the social upheaval, my uncle dropped out of school after finishing elentary, and he even caused so trouble for my grandmother's family. On top of that, by the ti my father was born, the national college entrance exams had already resud... so my father and aunts all received a normal education and went to university. And because of all these reasons, my grandfather never gave my uncle any important position in the company..."
Gao Fan stopped here, leaving the rest unsaid.
But his implication was obvious. Because of this, his eldest uncle definitely had a terrible relationship with his father.
"No wonder," Ming Po sighed. "So it was an heir's struggle... Which isn't surprising, considering your family actually has a 'throne' to fight over."
Actually, from Ming Po's perspective, the old man's actions were completely reasonable.
He was already dissatisfied with his first wife, and on top of that, the grandmother's family had been a huge benefactor to him—not only did they provide funding, but a young lady ten years his junior had married a man who started with nothing. anwhile, the son of his "ex-wife"—even though they theoretically weren't divorced—had caused a fair amount of trouble for their family...
Under these circumstances, it was perfectly normal for him to harbor a bias against Gao Fan's uncle.
Yes, it was definitely favoritism. Because in the realm of family businesses, a child's academic qualifications are actually a minor issue.
After all, if your own child wasn't highly educated or exceptionally smart, would you really forbid them from inheriting anything?
That would be impossible. At the very least, you would leave them so shares or a sinecure. By directly excluding Gao Fan's uncle from the core circle of power, it simply ant he did not like this particular child.
A top-hundred global family enterprise...
In modern society, that truly qualified as a 'throne'. Taking action to kill a younger brother he despised made perfect sense from a motivational standpoint.
"So from that angle, I'm now leaning toward the idea that your father didn't beco a Deceiver of the World. That unnatural and completely unreasonable cause of death very likely ca from your uncle's direct manipulation."
Ming Po analyzed seriously, "Because murder undoubtedly counts as causality, and since they shared a blood relation, it makes it an even heavier causality. By killing your father, it's basically impossible for him not to be tainted by causality...
"Look, even Heavenly Query judged that he killed your father, which proves he left behind traces. So how could that possibly fool the Ga of Deception?
"Instead... why are you so certain that your parents definitely beca Deceivers of the World? If you accept that they were directly murdered by a Deceiver of the World, then this whole thing makes perfect sense."
Ming Po found Gao Fan's perspective quite strange.
It was as if he had first decided his parents were Deceivers of the World, and then worked his logic backward from there.
After hesitating for a mont, Gao Fan finally nodded.
"Wait a mont."
He spoke, then quickly walked out of the bedroom.
He went into the next room and, after a short while, ca back holding sothing.
It was sothing that looked like a music box. A wooden box the size of a palm. Looking through its only transparent side, one could see it was completely filled with intricate gears.
Looking at it, Ming Po was reminded of the music box he had seen in the instance he just escaped from.
"What is this?"
Ming Po asked curiously.
"Its na is 'Xiao Gao'."
Gao Fan replied, "It's an Artificial Intelligence."
Saying that, he wound the music box a few tis and then placed it on the floor.
"Yes!"
A childish voice rang out: "I am the portable Artificial Intelligence robot, Xiao Gao. Hello there, big brother I've never t before. If Master is letting see you, it ans you are much more reliable than those two people!"
"...What?"
Ming Po was genuinely shocked this ti. "How is that possible?!"
Although he was just a screenwriter, he worked at an internet company and genuinely understood a bit of technology.
How could an Artificial Intelligence of this level be cramd into a palm-sized little box?
Most importantly, it was full of gears inside... and it was even powered by a hand-crank!
Could the gears actually be purely decorative?
"This is completely illogical!"
Ming Po couldn't quite wrap his head around it. "Is this a Treasure?"
"Yes, it is illogical."
Gao Fan, however, appeared very calm. "But this is not a Treasure... because this is Paradoxical Technology.
"The voice it uses is my voice from when I was a child. So I believe... my parents must have made this.
"Because my Anchor Point should logically be their Anchor Point as well. So..."
He paused here, then continued, "That's why I was able to find it here."
Ming Po finally understood.
He understood why soone with Gao Fan's mild, even cowardly personality harbored such intense killing intent toward those two forr teammates who had occupied his ho. Especially that Miss "Wen Yu"... Ming Po could tell that Gao Fan probably had so feelings for her. After all, she was a beautiful woman with a decent personality, and a friend who had supported him as they struggled to survive the grueling initial ga together.
Even though she was the one who later brought in that "Ironblood Leader" and took over his house...
But given Gao Fan's personality, he should have begged Ming Po not to kill Wen Yu.
Of course, given the relationship between Ming Po and Gao Fan at the ti, even if he had pleaded with Ming Po, Ming Po wouldn't have listened anyway.
The reason he possessed that level of killing intent back then was because, to Gao Fan... the significance of this house was incredibly important.
Although it had also been rented out, Gao Fan was not one of those "Zeroers". He had chips in his hand—few, but they existed—which ant he actually could have altered his cause of death and quit the Ga of Deception at any ti.
And since Gao Fan was cowardly, lacked confidence, and had no reliable teammates, he should have run away ages ago.
But he never did.
The reason for all of this was it.
The Xiao Gao Robot—its very existence proved that Gao Fan's parents must be Deceivers of the World.
This Anchor Point was not only Gao Fan's own Anchor Point... it was also the Anchor Point his parents had used.
This was their relic.
And Gao Fan definitely wanted to investigate all of this clearly. That was why he endured the humiliation and exploitation, remaining silent and never fleeing; and it was precisely because he could no longer tolerate it that he was willing to risk being killed to contact Ming Po and attempt to take out his teammates.
These seemingly contradictory behavioral patterns shared the exact sa motive.
—This house was his very obsession.
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