"And this Vice Chairman Gu Yizhi is one of the six vice chairmen of the Hua Country Reincarnator Association. He wields a great deal of authority..."
At this, her voice faltered. She hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Just like Gu Ruilong, who tried to recruit you before, Gu Yizhi is also from the Kyoto Gu Family!"
Su Ruobing made no attempt to hide her disgust at the mention of Gu Ruilong’s name.
Li Chang’an finally understood.
’So it’s because I’m too exceptional that I’ve caught the attention of the Reincarnator Families from all the major cities.’
’On top of that, their investigations revealed I’m an orphan with no family and no prospects—a total blank slate. That makes me the perfect target for a major family to recruit.’
’It got to the point that after I uploaded the Martial Arts True Understanding 2.0 Version, even a vice chairman of the Hua Country Reincarnator Association couldn’t sit still anymore.’
’He personally came all the way here and waited three days, just for a chance to pull me over to Kyoto.’
After learning the truth, Li Chang’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
By now, Hu Xiuyuan and Su Ruobing had both composed themselves.
Hu Xiuyuan looked at Li Chang’an and said, "As long as you’re willing to stay in Linjiang, Chairman Su and I will have your back. You just need to focus on developing your territory. Don’t worry about anything else!"
Su Ruobing had a clearer understanding of the situation in Kyoto.
She knew the Gu Family’s influence all too well.
So she said with a hint of worry, "The Reincarnator Association was about to send you the reward for uploading the Martial Arts True Understanding 1.0 Version. But since you suddenly uploaded the 2.0 version, the Association has withheld your reward. They claim they’ll release everything together once the 2.0 version passes its review, but I suspect that bastard Gu Yizhi is pulling strings behind the scenes!"
She paused, narrowing her eyes before continuing, "But don’t you worry. That old fox only dares to pull some petty tricks in the shadows. He wouldn’t dare to actually mess with your reward. Once Martial Arts True Understanding is approved, the full reward will be deposited into your account. Not a cent will be missing!"
Li Chang’an wasn’t too concerned about it.
His Citizen Rights were already quite high.
And he wasn’t short on money at the moment.
Whether the reward came a day sooner or later didn’t really matter.
However, Li Chang’an was no pushover. This wasn’t the first time the Gu Family had tried to mess with him.
He could let it slide the first time.
But he had no intention of letting it go so easily this time.
So, after a moment of thought, Li Chang’an asked, "If the Gu Family is so powerful in Kyoto, where does their influence actually lie?"
As a rookie Reincarnator without any family backing,
Li Chang’an’s understanding of the powerful Reincarnator factions in the Main World was superficial at best.
So superficial, in fact, that he had only ever heard the term on websites and forums.
After all, he had just been an ordinary, dirt-poor student.
The only knowledge he had access to was the rigid, academic kind from textbooks.
His teachers might have taught him how to enter a Rebirth World, how to get a higher score on his first reincarnation, or even which factory assembly line would pay the most if he failed.
But they never taught you who you could afford to cross and who you couldn’t once you became a Reincarnator.
After all, to students, Reincarnators were the elite—the dream they’d worked their whole young lives to achieve.
They never considered that Reincarnators also had their own hierarchy, and that even if they succeeded, most of them would end up on the bottom rung of the ladder.
Hearing his question,
Su Ruobing glanced at Li Chang’an. She didn’t hold back and began to explain, "Kyoto has eight great Reincarnator Families, which are generally divided into the ’Four Major Families’ and the ’Four Minor Families.’ Both my Su Family and the Gu Family are part of the ’Four Minor Families’..."
"However, the head of the Gu Family’s main branch broke through to Tier Nine last year, becoming a Tier Nine Superpower User. As a result, the Gu Family’s fortunes skyrocketed, and they joined the ranks of the ’Four Major Families’!"
"The Gu Family is in the city defense technology business. Their influence isn’t limited to Kyoto; they have considerable sway throughout all of Hua Country!"
At this, Su Ruobing paused before asking, "You’ve heard of the Energy Particle Beam Cannon, right?"
’Energy Particle Beam Cannon?’
Li Chang’an nodded. "Of course. All the defense weaponry here in Cangxuan City is ancient. I was actually thinking about buying a few Energy Particle Beam Cannons to replace them!"
Su Ruobing continued, "The Energy Particle Beam Cannon is one of the Gu Family’s most profitable ventures. Let me put it this way: right now, across all the major cities in the Huaxia Human Alliance, around thirty percent of all Energy Particle Beam Cannons are manufactured by the Gu Family... Now do you have a clearer picture of how formidable these families are?"
At her words, Li Chang’an narrowed his eyes.
’That certainly put things in perspective. No, it was more than just perspective—it was downright startling.’
’No wonder these great families are all so massive.’
Li Chang’an narrowed his eyes and thought for a long time.
He suddenly recalled some of the military-grade hardware he had developed and put into production back in Night City. An idea began to form, and he asked tentatively, "If—and this is purely hypothetical—I could produce equipment even more destructive than the Energy Particle Beam Cannon, do you think I could trail behind the Gu Family and get a few scraps?"
Su Ruobing had been planning to give Li Chang’an a proper lecture on just how formidable the great families were.
But she never expected Li Chang’an’s train of thought to be so unconventional.
’His first reaction to learning how formidable the Gu Family was wasn’t fear or apprehension, but... to think about producing even more powerful military hardware... to steal business... from the Gu Family?’
The corner of Su Ruobing’s eye twitched.
She opened her mouth to speak, but then the corner of her lip twitched as well.
She took several deep breaths to compose herself before speaking. "You’re thinking too small. Your ambition is lacking! If you can really produce weapons more advanced than the Gu Family’s, why not just crush them and take the whole feast for yourself?!"
At her words, Li Chang’an’s eyebrows shot up.
His voice rose a few notches as he declared with an air of righteous indignation, "Chairman Su, you’re measuring a gentleman’s heart with a villain’s yardstick! I, Li Chang’an, have respected my elders and cherished the young my entire life! I still have the outstanding youth medal my teacher awarded me hanging on the wall of my low-income apartment. Am I really the kind of person who would do such a thing?"
...