Chapter 123: The Secret

Theresa had long known that Shinoda was a two-faced man, and she could clearly sense his hostility toward Ma. However, she chose not to expose it, realizing that this pressure was the only way to keep the neurotic man on edge and force him to continue his guardianship. It was precisely this dynamic that highlighted her own significance.

With their respective agendas hidden, they began their tour of the lakeside.

After a short while, Theresa said to Ma, "You don't know who my friend is, do you?"

"Is he important?" Ma asked, maintaining his usual carefree, empty-headed demeanor.

Shinoda Hiroshi could not help but fly into a rage, glaring at Ma with ill intent.

Theresa smiled slightly. "He is the CEO of Kobe Geisha."

Ma nodded. "Oh, in the entertainment business, then? In that case, we're in the same line of work. My name is Ma Weimin, and I do that too. I’ve even provided some script consultation. We should get to know each other when we have time."

Shinoda wore an expression reserved for an idiot and retorted, "I've never heard of any Ma Weimin. I've heard of 'Cow Weimin,' though—it's a sub-brand of Kobe beef."

A faint black line appeared on Ma's forehead.

Theresa added, "Actually, he is the eldest grandson of the sixth-generation leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi. You've heard of the Little Shenlong Group, right?"

"Oh, is that so?" Ma remained largely unmoved.

Shinoda Hiroshi could hardly accept this attitude, but he wasn't a fool. He had a premonition that Theresa was stirring up trouble, so he said nothing, pretending he hadn't heard a word.

They walked a few more steps as the sky began to darken. Shinoda stopped and looked at a building on the island in the center of the lake—the place Theresa had just mentioned as the site for the mixed martial arts exhibition.

After a brief hesitation, Shinoda checked his watch and asked, "There's still some time. Do you want to go take a look?"

Ma shook his head decisively. "No. I don't care to watch."

Shinoda glanced at him and said coldly, "I wasn't asking you. It's not that you don't care to watch; it's that you can't afford the ticket."

Theresa, not wanting the neurotic man to clash directly with Shinoda and ruin her plans, quickly interjected to buffer the situation. "Well, what he said was rude, but it is a fact. That place is illegal; it has no broadcasting rights, no advertising sponsors, yet the operating costs are staggering. So the entrance fees are indeed terrifyingly expensive."

Shinoda, a martial artist himself, was very interested in such events. In fact, he often scouted for useful talent at similar venues around the world. He smiled and said, "If Miss Theresa is willing to do me the honor, I will cover the admission for everyone, including your companions."

Theresa shook her head. "Actually, I have no interest in that. My tastes aren't quite so heavy."

Shinoda found it unwise to show off too much in front of Theresa, as this woman was quite complex and formidable herself. He nodded and said, "Alright, then we won't go. The time is about right; I have an acquaintance to meet, so I won't keep you any longer."

Before leaving, Shinoda Hiroshi walked over specifically to Quan Zhiling. Ignoring Ma, he handed a business card to her. "I am Shinoda Hiroshi. You should know who I am. If you ever need my help, or if you want to discuss any business matters, I’ll be waiting for your call."

This slightly provocative gesture made Quan Zhiling’s scalp tingle; she felt caught in a dilemma. Accepting it felt like betraying Brother Ma, yet refusing would mean slighting Shinoda Hiroshi. After a moment's hesitation, she decided she would rather offend the harmless-looking Ma, so she timidly took the exquisite business card.

Shinoda Hiroshi took a few steps away, then turned back, making a hand gesture like a pistol and pointing it slightly at Ma. "If you have the guts, perhaps we will meet again later."

"What does that mean?" Ma asked curiously.

"It means exactly what it sounds like. Interesting—you actually understood my Japanese?" Shinoda Hiroshi walked off toward the banquet hall.

Quan Zhiling stared at Ma as if he were a monster. She thought he was quite the talent—could he actually understand every bird-call language in the world?

Theresa frowned slightly. This made Ma appear even more mysterious and far from simple. Of course, Theresa preferred Ma to be as naive as possible, yet he kept showing small, puzzling glimpses of something else. Theresa pondered, hoping she wasn't overthinking it. When she had specifically introduced Shinoda Hiroshi to him, the guy had acted completely brainless. There were only two explanations: either he was a complete fool, or there was something fundamentally wrong with him.

After a moment's hesitation, Theresa also decided to leave—not because she had lost interest in Ma, but because Ma wasn't going anywhere, and after unexpectedly running into Shinoda Hiroshi, she was very curious to see who he was here to meet. She had a lingering feeling that this seemingly high-profile yet simple gathering was becoming increasingly complex, and perhaps something was about to happen.

Having made up her mind, Theresa walked over. Just as Shinoda had handed his card to Quan Zhiling, this woman of unconventional style handed a gold-leaf-embossed, exquisite business card to Ma. She also made a pistol gesture at him and said, "If you have the guts, perhaps we will meet again later. I have a surprise for you."

With that, she walked away.

Ma looked at the business card, his mind drifting, as if he had recalled something or as if the Demon King were about to return. Quan Zhiling, meanwhile, stared at Theresa's mature, shapely figure with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Since Qiu Tianjue's people were no longer nearby, Ma didn't need to follow her for the moment. Using the last of the sunset's glow, he studied the card. It contained little information—only two shield-like emblems and two email addresses; there wasn't even a phone number.

He sensed his state and was certain he was still in his "Ma" persona, not the "Demon King" state. Yet, having seen something familiar, bits and pieces of information surfaced in his mind.

Lately, things had been getting stranger. When the Great Demon King awakened, he no longer fought for control of the body. He seemed to have given up on the struggle for physical dominance; instead, when he awakened, it was like quantum entanglement, transmitting things into Ma's memory and thoughts. The information volume was sometimes decent, but other times, very sparse.

Quan Zhiling leaned in close, looking like a bird nesting, and asked, "What is this? No phone number, no contact info, just two shields?"

Ma looked toward the direction Theresa had left and muttered, "This is her identity marker. These two shields—one is her family crest, representing the Victoria family; the other is the emblem of the British Home Office. She has quite the pedigree. She is the 'Victoria’s Secret'."

"What?" Quan Zhiling was confused. "You mean she’s a pair of panties?"

Ma Weimin's aura had become very strange, but he smiled slightly and muttered to himself, "Not panties, but power and wealth."

He continued, "The greatest empire in Earth's history was called the 'Empire on which the Sun Never Sets,' and it nearly owned the entire world. The peak of that era was called the Victorian era. The system of that time was called monopoly capitalism."

Quan Zhiling listened silently.

"In such an era and under such a system, global wealth was funneled into the hands of a very small elite. Where exactly did the global GDP of that time flow? That unsolved mystery is called 'Victoria’s Secret'."

"There is a kind of power and wealth where the strong only get stronger. Under the model of plutocratic monopoly capitalism, the witch's secret only grows; it never shrinks. It can follow the progress of global productivity and expand, always maintaining its share of the world's wealth, never to be suppressed."

"There is a second-rate code-breaker named Song Hongbing. He used clever writing to point to the Rothschilds, trying to wake the world and solve the 'Victoria' mystery, but in truth, he knows nothing of real power."

"There are two types of people who could have saved Europe. The first was the Mustache’s SS. They wiped out the German royal family, a branch of the Victoria line—this was the German version of 'smashing the landlords and distributing the fields.' They used the power and wealth they obtained to launch the Axis war. The second were the Soviet Red Army. Unfortunately, after these two code-breakers beat each other to a pulp, they forgot to join forces to march into the 'Empire on which the Sun Never Sets' to solve the mystery."

"Feeling the threat of the SS and the Soviet Army, the witch’s clan was finally suppressed. Thus, wealth and power, along with the secret, continuously shifted across the Atlantic. One Demon King family used this opportunity to stage a 'Chenqiao Mutiny' across the ocean, seizing the throne. They successfully placed a pair of panties on their heads as a crown, and that pair of panties—or crown—is called 'Victoria’s Secret'."

"Afterward, the Demon King announced: 'I swear to share the world with the scholar-officials!'"

"To keep the wealth and power of the scholar-officials, one must insist on 'private property being sacred and inviolable'—this is the core interest of capitalism. The first Demon King, my father's grandfather, appointed Roosevelt as the American Privy Councilor and Minister of the Gate. The Demon King and the scholar-officials' factories built 300,000 warplanes and countless warships. With this, the invincible American military crossed the Atlantic to 'protect the throne,' wiped out the Führer, successfully held off the Soviet army at the Berlin Wall, and guarded the European bridgehead."

"The Red Army was fierce, but in the end, they couldn't march into Great Britain to solve the mystery. So, although the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets fell apart, Europe’s last pair of panties wasn't stripped off. Those panties are called 'Victoria’s Final Secret.' Without the revolution and communism of the Soviet Army, this family naturally continued to hold onto part of the secret—wealth and power—which continued to spread and flourish."

"Now do you understand what 'Victoria’s Secret' is?" Ma looked at her with a strange expression.