Lu Siya pursed her lips. “Isn’t he your friend? How would I know? But what is it, is he short of cash lately?”
Meng Chao was a little surprised by the question. “Why did you say that?”
“Half a month ago, he came to me and asked to get all the money he would get from the mining rights of the Red Radiance Jade mine,” Lu Siya said. “You know just how many crystals there were in the Red Radiance Jade mine under Raging Waves. Even if the quality of the crystals had dropped considerably after the explosion, we could still mine them for decades.
“I had no intention to break my promise and I didn’t take even a penny of what Qin Hu should get. If he received the dividend every year, it’d be enough for his entire family to live comfortably for a few generations.
“But he wanted to sell me the mining rights that would last him decades. Of course, he offered a very low price.”
“How could this be?” Meng Chao was shocked. “Right now, Superstar is doing well in terms of business. He’s the second biggest shareholder, and can definitely live a leisurely life. Besides, he lost his powers, so he doesn’t need to buy any expensive cultivation resources. Why would he want to sell the money-generating treasure that will last him decades and get all the money in one go?”
He thought about this for a while, then recalled Qin Hu asking him about Broken Star Club.
“Vice-leader Meng, you finally have the time to listen to a report about my work?”
Qin Hu giggled on the other end of the call. It was noisy around him. Some people were calling out to him while talking to each other. “Director Qin! Director Qin!”
Meng Chao frowned. “Mr. Hu, what are you doing? Why is Broken Star Club?”
How in the world did Broken Star Club manage to get such a huge donation and so many cultivation cabins in the form of a donation?
“Ah. I’m at the headquarters of Broken Star Club. If you’re free, you can come over to talk. We can also eat with the directors!” Qin Hu yelled.
“Head… quarters?”
Meng Chao felt even more puzzled.
Broken Star Club was an organization for people to make appointments for the cultivation cabins. It had been located at the old lecture building for Agricultural University’s martial arts course, which only the refresher course students used for their activities. Even though there were few cultivation cabins there, the place was considered large, and it was easy for them to teach the Ultimate Style.
When did they get a headquarters? Was it necessary? Who paid for it?!
“I want to take a look too.”
After Meng Chao hung up, Lu Siya became interested. “Qin Hu is sometimes quite the interesting fellow.”
Meng Chao frowned. “Is he?”
“Of course, don’t underestimate him,” Lu Siya said. “On the surface, he’s just the vice-captain of Frenzied Saber and a normal hunter. Now, he even lost his power and appears to be unable to turn the tides.
“But think about it carefully. At that time, there were plenty of people underground. Both of the teams practically died, including all of the Heaven Realm elites aside from me. But he managed to survive, even though he was just at the peak of Earth Realm. He even obtained a blessing. Do you actually think that this is pure coincidence?”
Meng Chao became contemplative.
“Everyone has their own strength,” Lu Siya continued. “Qin Hu’s strength is his beast-like intuition. Every time, he stands on the side of the victor. If he was in one of those battlefields during ancient times, he would be what they call a lucky commander.
“I really want to know what he has managed to calculate and what made him think that there is something even more valuable compared to the mining rights of the Red Radiance Jade mine that would last him decades.”
Based on the address Qin Hu gave them, they arrived at the factory area in the north of Dragon City. Then, they walked to a few dilapidated warehouses.
One of the large warehouses was being remodelled. The exterior had already been painted anew. The white walls had the words Broken Star Club written in bold strokes and were decorated with a signboard and neon lights.
The inside had been split into five floors, but they were still being built. There were renovation materials everywhere, and workers moved in and out. The noise from the remodelling echoed incessantly in their ears.
“Qin Hu, that guy…”
Meng Chao did not expect that when Qin Hu mentioned a headquarters, he really meant using an independent building.
Even though he was just remodelling an old warehouse, the rent would end up in astronomical figures if he did things at such a large scale, since there was a lack of space in Dragon City.
Meng Chao exchanged a glance with Lu Siya, and both of them went inside.
Once the warehouse had been turned into the headquarters of the Broken Star Club, the first floor was turned into an exhibition hall, or rather, a hall of fame.The walls had all sorts of photos and posters.
Meng Chao drew closer to take a look and discovered that they portrayed various heroic deeds of broken-star superhumans.
Many of them were originally normal citizens, who awakened to supernatural powers when their lives were threatened, because they wanted to protect their families and homes.
Naturally, since they awakened to supernatural powers during battle, they were able to kill monsters that were much stronger than them and became heroes that caused a ruckus for a time.
Qin Hu had gathered news articles about hundreds of broken-star superhumans and placed them in the hall of fame with apparent seriousness, which helped him manage to instantly stimulate a sense of glory in all broken-star superhumans.
And at the center of it all was the news article about Meng Chao killing the Bloody Wolf Moon King during his national college examination.
“…”
Meng Chao’s face turned a little red.
“Vice-leader Meng!”
“You’re here, Vice-leader Meng!”
“Vice-leader Meng, the Broken Star Club you created is a great thing for all the broken-star superhumans!”
A few broken-star superhumans saw Meng Chao and strode over to give him passionate bear hugs.
The last few months, Gu Jianbo had been in isolated training, so Meng Chao was often the one who taught the numerous broken-star superhumans the beginning techniques for the Ultimate Style, since he was the true disciple.
Meng Chao was also the one who created some of the cultivation videos and livestream classes.
Hence, he was very close to a lot of the broken-star superhumans. But recently, he had been really busy with the case of the murderous pets in Blessed Paradise and had not contacted them much.
When faced with the really friendly broken-star superhumans, Meng Chao found himself really confused, so he just chose to ask about Qin Hu’s whereabouts.
“Director Qin is on the third floor. He has a meeting with the other directors. We’ll lead the way. They’re still renovating the place here, so there’s no railing on the stairs. It’s really messy.”
The broken-star superhumans led the way, and Meng Chao followed them while wondering about what he just heard. ‘When did the Broken Star Club get new directors? Wait, I think Qin Hu mentioned it last time. I had my head full of the Giant Sandworm back then so I didn’t pay attention to this tiny matter.
‘By the looks of it now, Qin Hu has made the Broken Star Club into a real club. The first floor is a hall of fame, the second floor is a buffet style restaurant, the third floor is an assembly hall and a small meeting room, while the fourth and fifth floors are cultivation centers. Even though they’re currently under renovation, the situation has become much better compared. It looks like a legit club and seems pretty grand.
‘Still, the question remains the same. Where did all that money come from?’
With a head full of questions, Meng Chao reached the third floor.
The door of the meeting room was not installed yet. There were no tables or chairs inside either. Everyone sat on wooden boxes.
While at the entrance, Meng Chao already heard Qin Hu’s loud voice. “Brothers, I don’t have anything else in my mind! Since young, I’ve been a really considerate person and spent my money like it’s nothing for others. I love my hometown, and I’m willing to contribute to my fellow citizens!
“This time, thanks to all of you trusting me, even if I end up breaking all my bones and lay down my life, I will definitely fight for the benefits, development, and dignity of all of our brothers and sisters who are broken-star superhumans!”
Meng Chao could not continue listening. He strode inside.
He looked around and sighed a little in relief.
Fortunately, the other directors sitting on the wooden boxes were people he knew. He had talked to them when he taught them the Ultimate Style. They were all the grassroots pillars in various industries. They worked hard and did their duty as good citizens, so they should not be fooling around with Qin Hu.
“Vice-leader Meng, you’re here!” Qin Hu’s eyes lit up and clapped his hands before he said, “Everyone, give him a warm welcome!”
Clap, clap, clap, clap!
The other directors clapped.
Meng Chao felt a little troubled. He said, “You don’t have to be so polite, everyone. You’re all seniors in various fields. Besides, I’m just the vice-leader, and even if I’m a vice-leader, I’m just—”
“And we were just about to come to you about that.” Qin Hu interrupted him and said, “Leader Ma wants to resign from his position. The directors and I talked about it. Everyone is in favor of you becoming the second club leader of Broken Star Club, so you definitely have to take this position!”
Meng Chao was stunned. “What?”
One of the directors explained, “So this is what’s going on. Leader Ma said that since he’s part of the Red Dragon Army and since the situation is tense at the frontlines, it’s very difficult for him to find the time to serve the Broken Star Club. Besides, while the Red Dragon Army doesn’t stop the soldiers from joining normal societal organizations, the Broken Star Club is becoming bigger. It won’t be very appropriate if he continues to be the club leader.
“So, he wants to resign from the position of the club leader and only remain as a normal club member. From now on, we’ll have to rely on you, Leader Meng.”
“That’s right, Leader Meng, the Broken Star Club was built by broken-star superhumans because we want to learn the Ultimate Style. You’re Mr. Gu’s true disciple, and you’ve been promoting the Ultimate Style really enthusiastically. You’re also a standard broken-star superhuman. Aside from you, there’s no one else who is more suited to be the club leader.”
“That’s right. Most of the broken-star superhumans have begun to slowly figure out the amazing properties of cultivating their branch meridians after watching your cultivation videos and livestream classes. We heard that you were also the one who gained inspiration and thought of the very first Ultimate Style cultivation cabin. You helped us open a brand new door for cultivation. If we don’t trust you, who else are we supposed to trust?”
The directors began talking together.
Meng Chao coughed dryly and scratched his head. “We can talk about this later. Right now, I have something urgent to talk to with Director Qin. Could you wait for us for a while?”
Before the group could react to his words, Meng Chao dragged Qin Hu out of the meeting room and went into a washroom that was not fully renovated yet. Then, he locked the door.
“Mr. Hu, you didn’t go behind my back and start collecting membership fees, right?” Meng Chao asked with a dark expression.
Qin Hu widened his eyes. “What do you mean by membership fees? What in the world are you talking about?!”
Meng Chao pondered it for a moment and asked, “You didn’t deceive others in the name of the Broken Star Club to get sponsors or set up some membership card that the members can only get by forking out a large amount of money, right?”
Qin Hu sighed. “Kid, am I really that deplorable in your eyes? We even fought together and trusted our backs to each other!”
“Then, I don’t get it,” Meng Chao said in puzzlement. “Where did you get the money to build the headquarters of the Broken Star Club? Did you really fork out your own money?”
“Of course I did. What else?” Qin Hu retorted.
Meng Chao stared at Qin Hu for half a minute. The longer he stared at him, the more awkward he found it. He felt that the face in front of him was really strange, but he could not say what was strange about it.