Civilization: Beyond Two Worlds

248 Posturing Using Asymmetric Information

As everyone knew, posturing was a very important skill.

Moreover, there were many branches.

One of them was called the information asymmetric posture.

That was to use the other party’s ignorance and imagination to cooperate with him in the process of showing off.

Just like now.

This was Xie Ligan’s perspective.

He discovered Kang De’s secret and made a guess. He also became ambitious. He strategized and gave orders. He was immersed in excitement and anticipation when he received a call from him. On the phone, Kang De was smiling and fearless. He even mentioned his office as if he was watching his every move.

He looked out of the window and saw the magnificent scene of looking down at the city.

He did not discover the binoculars opposite him or any signs of spying. As soon as he was suspicious, he saw a dark light flash and brilliance splash in all directions. As the light danced, Kang De stepped out of the void and slowly landed. Star fragments scattered behind him. His methods were divine and immortal, unlike the mortal world.

Even if he had a guess and was even certain, he was still shocked to see it with his own eyes.

He was even shocked.

In Xie Ligan’s eyes, Kang De definitely had the ability to fly into the sky and enter the ground. He could hide his tracks in broad daylight and fly. With a thought, he could appear anywhere. He must have floated outside the window and looked at him mockingly as if he was a god looking at mortals.

That was not the case.

Kang De only used the map of his phone to search for the location of the Xuanhua Headquarters company and found the public transport route. He turned invisible and walked down the stairs to leave home. He used the Indian method to freeload on the public bus and finally arrived at Xie Ligan’s building. Then, he picked up a stone to stabilize the spatial anchor and threw it onto the roof. He entered the white fog world, escaped, and arrived at the location of the stone. Then, he grabbed and threw it twice in a row before finally climbing up to the roof.

Then, he took out the climbing glove that Hong San had prepared and fixed the element of the Gecko’s Grip. He flipped down from the roof and stuck to the glass like Spiderman. Only then did he spy on Xie Ligan’s office on the top floor. He took out his phone and called him. Xiaoman had obtained this phone number from her father.

In other words, when he spoke to Xie Liqian, Kang De was hanging from the glass of the building with one hand. He could not open his eyes because of the wind on the top floor.

Then, he spoke in the most handsome expert’s language in the most miserable manner.

Moreover, he quietly stuffed a small piece of paper through the window crack. When he transmigrated back to the white fog world, he took off his gloves and used the pretentious spell of a wild mage. Only then did he appear.

Just like how peerless beauties had to deal with all kinds of skincare products, cosmetics, beauty preservation methods, fitness exercise, temperament cultivation, and so on, after all, beauty had a price.

It was the same to show off.

A qualified posture had to have relevant self-cultivation.

The outcome was also happy.

Kang De, who had appeared in such a way, was like a god who had descended to the mortal world. In an instant, the situation reversed. He took the initiative in an extraordinary manner. Although the person in front of him had dominated the business world for decades and was a top figure in his province or even the entire country, he was still as humble as dust in front of this extraordinary power.

He sat on the other party’s desk with a file and looked at him with a faint smile.

Xie Ligan was silent.

He wanted to speak, but his mouth seemed to have been sewn shut. His usual dignified aura and words that were enough to shake people’s hearts seemed to be useless.

Cold sweat broke out on his back as fear crawled into his heart.

This was because the person in front of him was unknown.

It represented the power that was not restrained by the rules. It was something that surpassed common sense.

The power, status, wealth, and methods he relied on were all used to achieve his goal by using the rules of this society. Money was not only money, but it could also leverage the various rules. Some people might not love money, but they would still be controlled by the various rules that could be leveraged by money.

However, the person in front of him would not.

Xie Ligan completely understood why Kang De would not give in to his son.

He completely understood why after the accident, at the police station, not only did Kang De not accept his humble apology, he still criticized and reprimanded him bluntly.

So that was the case.

How should he deal with it?

His mind was like a wheel as he thought about how to deal with the situation in front of him. It was similar to a dangerous situation. In the past 40 years, he had dealt with more than once. He had dealt with unscrupulous competitors, bandits, and villains who wanted to get rich, and even the investigation power of the officials… In the end, he resolved them one by one.

He could definitely do it this time.

At this moment, the wind blew and something smashed into his face.

He instinctively closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, snow-white papers were scattered on the ground.

Then, Xie Ligan understood what had happened—the other party had thrown the information in his hand in his face.

“I’m asking you a question.”

“Why do you want to collect information on my parents?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Why can’t we pretend that nothing happened?”

“Are you in such a hurry to die?”

Stacks of documents on the table were thrown over. Soon, they were everywhere on the ground. They were thrown directly at Xie Ligan’s face, head, and then the USB drive. They smashed into his head and bounced out.

Xie Ligan opened his eyes and looked at Kang De without dodging.

Even if Kang De’s actions were like a little hooligan and were almost insulting, and he was insulting a high and mighty figure like him, Xie Ligan did not show any anger.

He only quietly clenched his fists.

He said in a low voice, “I think we can talk.”

“That’s not what I think,” Kang De said. “Your son has something on his mind. Your son caused trouble first, and your son sent people to harm me. You’re not ashamed or reflect on yourself. Instead, you continue to provoke me and even ask about my parents—I think you should accompany your son.”

Xie Ligan took a deep breath.

“Are you sure?”

His tone was neither fast nor slow, still filled with strength.

When a person had been in power for a long time, it was very difficult for him to bow and scrape because he had already forgotten what to do and did not know what it meant to beg for mercy in pain.

Xie Ligan was sitting on a chair with all kinds of information scattered on the ground. He looked at Kang De and calmed down. He slowly said, “Your alibi is very beautiful. The police don’t suspect you at all, because my son did something wrong. You’re the victim.”

“This matter did not blow up. Firstly, I expressed my request and attitude not to investigate further. Secondly, the police are all digging deeper into the motives of those four hooligans and whether my son killed anyone. The case is important and the police force is limited. No one will waste any time on a perfect victim like you.”

“But are you sure you want to kill me?”

He looked at Kang De and spoke sincerely and calmly as if he was only stating an ordinary matter.

“At this point in my career, it’s too hypocritical to be humble anymore. I, Xie Ligan, am a famous figure in my province and famous in the country. My company directly provides thousands of jobs outside the country. It indirectly holds shares and invests in many fields and maintains a personal friendships with a large number of rich people and even officials. I pay huge taxes and have friends all over the world. I’m not bragging or threatening you. I only want to ask you.”

He looked straight into Kang De’s eyes. “If you kill me, can you hide it?”

Before Kang De could answer, he said, “No, you can’t.”

“I’ll die for no reason. No matter how beautiful you did and how natural you pretended, it’s impossible.”

“If I die, the business world of this province will welcome a huge turmoil. The consequences and a series of chain reactions will deeply affect the commercial activities, livelihood economy, and even the political situation in this province. It will even shake the central government. In modern society, the range that a group with a yearly revenue of tens of billions can leverage and affect is really too big and huge. It’s definitely beyond your imagination and is enough to attract the attention of anyone. The leaders of the provincial Public Security Bureau have asked about Xie Guangjun’s matter this time. If anything happens to me, who do you think will ask?”

“Once the entire country starts to take this matter seriously and the top elites of the Republic start to get to the bottom of it, how long can you hide your little secret? What’s the use of your alibi? The relevant people won’t let go of any small possibility. You’re naturally a very suspicious one.”

At this point, Xie Ligan looked down at the documents scattered on the ground and smiled faintly, “For example, I used a favor and a price to obtain these things. If I’m alive, they’ll keep their mouths shut. If I’m dead, they’ll naturally tell me frankly. Therefore, the investigators will discover that I was investigating you before I died. They’ll obtain the same information and discover the same conclusion as me.”

“The country will discover your secret, Kang De.”

“And?”

Xie Ligan looked at the superhuman in front of him and repeated this question, “And?”

“What are you going to do? Escape? Resist? Can you escape?”

“What’s the scarcest thing in modern society? Firstly, privacy, and secondly, personal safety.”

“Where can you run to? Overseas? Gobi Desert?”

“The satellites in space are enough to see the faces of everyone on the ground clearly. There are cameras and big data networks everywhere on the streets. If a country comes to find you, can you escape?”

“The reason why personal safety is rare is that the strength of the country is enough to easily kill anyone. No matter who you are, no matter where you are, even if you hide in the vast Gobi Desert and walk, a missile falling from the sky will plow the ground for a few kilometers or even dozens of kilometers when you take the second step. Even if you plan to escape to space on a rocket, the accurate radar of the space country will immediately discover you. When you escape through the Kármán line, it will use an anti-satellite missile to blow you into fireworks.”

“Can you fight such power?”

“You don’t want your family, your friends, and your elders anymore?”

“Do you want to surrender? In the words of you young people, hand yourself over to the country?”

“Do you think the country will be at ease?”

“A famous entrepreneur and an influential business giant in the country has only had a little conflict with you. You killed him just like that. The country is composed of countless individuals. Will those individuals be at ease? Even if the country is at ease, what about my friends? They have the same power and wealth as me and have hidden privileges. They think they’re above all living beings, but they discovered that their lives are as fragile as ants in your eyes and can be casually crushed—what do you think they’ll do?”

Xie Ligan pointed at the documents scattered on the ground. “I’m investigating these only to talk to you. If you kill me, the people in the future will definitely not want to talk to you.”

Kang De had been listening and smiled.

“It’s really been hard on you. You can still say so much logic at a life and death moment,” Kang De said. “You’ve said so much. Are you begging me for mercy?”

Xie Ligan frowned and said, “I can apologize to you. My son was blind and offended you. His death is not worthy of pity. However, if you only want to humiliate me, I’ll look down on you. Kang De, you’re different. You’re undoubtedly an outstanding figure in the world. The heavens gave you this power. You can’t waste it.”

When Kang De heard this, he raised his eyebrows and said, “Oh? What’s your opinion, CEO Xie?”

“You have a strange power but don’t tell anyone. I’ve read many online novels and can roughly guess the thoughts of young people like you. You don’t want to have too many entanglements with the official forces. You’re afraid of not being free, and you don’t want to bear too much responsibility, but you’re unwilling to live an ordinary life, right?”

Xie Ligan changed his posture and his tone became calmer. As a successful businessman, he was extremely confident in his eloquence. As long as he spoke, things would definitely develop in the direction he hoped.

“The problem you face is the same as the problem many Internet celebrity companies face now. You’ve made many results and have very strong abilities, but you don’t know how to cash out.”

“For example, you have such ability, but you’re still an ordinary person. The power, wealth, delicacies, mansion, freedom, and women that we enjoy… You must want to have it very much too. Of course, you’re qualified to have all of this, or even more qualified than us, but you can’t find a way. There’s no way, because you don’t want to be ostentatious, join the government, or do bad things… right?”

Kang De crossed over and sat on the other side of the table, facing Xie Ligan. “Then?”

“Then, I can provide you with all of this. Believe me, you deserve a better life. Compared to falling into endless trouble after I die and you live, it’s better to cooperate. You can kill me at any time. This is the guarantee of our cooperation, and I won’t avenge Xie Guangjun. Now, I’m certain that he deserved to die. I have another son who’s much more promising than him. This is also the chip for our cooperation.”

“You can kill me at any time, and I can expose your matter at any time. This is mutual deterrence. Then, we’ll be safe and sound. It’s a win-win situation.”

Xie Ligan looked at Kang De and said sincerely.

“How about it? Think about it. I can tell you that there are many restrictions in China, but in many countries outside, money is the supreme ruler. I have friends all over the world. They’ll also become your friends. Then you’ll discover…”

He chuckled and said, “The excitement of the outside world is beyond your imagination.”

The two of them looked at each other.

Then Kang De revealed a gentle smile.

“Hehe.”