She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 769

Lucian's eyes sharpened, locking onto Zeke's face. "Grandpa..."

"After you went missing, Baldwin has been relentlessly pushing for Channing to take over your divisions in the company," Zeke explained. "I asked him for a detailed business plan on how he intended to manage the private enterprises that contract with the state."

"I've uploaded the file to the chat. You can all download it and see for yourselves."

Lucian opened the file, and Loyce leaned in to read it with him.

Baldwin knew the Shapiros were a military family with absolute loyalty to the state. Because of that, his proposed business plan looked incredible on paper—highly beneficial to the public, aligned with national interests, and not overly profit-driven.

To an untrained eye, it was a flawless proposal.

But as Lucian scanned a specific clause, his expression turned freezing cold. He let out a harsh laugh. "'To optimize logistics in the strait, the company requires real-time meteorological and dynamic vessel tracking data for the waterways and coastal ports, with maximum clearance and real-time synchronization.' Who gave him the nerve to write this clause? Ares?"

"Our civilian ports only need basic tide and weather forecasts," Lucian stated flatly. "Real-time, high-precision hydrographic data, especially anything involving the seabed topography, is highly classified military intel. It would never be open to private enterprises, let alone synchronized in real time."

The faction leaders, who weren't experts in naval logistics, hadn't noticed the trap. Now that he pointed it out, the severity of the situation hit them.

Zeke let out a cold laugh of his own. "He must think I'm completely senile. If this clause had been approved, it would have created a massive backdoor for spies and foreign agents. Unregistered vessels could easily find blind spots in our surveillance. The whole country would be compromised."

"And Loyce already filled me in," Zeke continued. "Channing is a heavy drug addict. The lab results from CoreWell Pharmacy are sitting on my desk right now. He's been using a highly specific narcotic—not your standard street drug, but a specialized stimulant straight from the Oceanic Federation. Coincidentally, that's exactly where Ares Global's weapons manufacturing and headquarters are located."

Zeke's eyes turned downright lethal. "I may be old, and I may long for a peaceful retirement with my family around me... but for them to weaponize my affections like this? They're less than human. They don't deserve to be called my son or grandson."

"I only have one living blood relative," Zeke said, looking at Lucian's face on the monitor, a flash of deep regret and sorrow in his eyes. "And that's Lucian."

He was making it clear: no matter what happened next, they didn't need to hold back on his account.

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