Chapter 4: Mysterious Death (Part 1)

  "Sorry, sir. Given the terrible outside environment, I suggest it's better for you not to go out." The doorman, with a smile on his face, blocked Zhang Fan and said calmly.

  Zhang Fan furrowed his brow, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his mind. He had just been unable to sleep, and got up again to look for clues. Since he couldn't find any further news in the castle, he was originally planning to go take a look around the castle, but unexpectedly someone stopped him.

  But the servant's words also reminded him that if those two people had gone out, unless they had sneaked out from somewhere else, it was really unlikely to escape the eyes of this gatekeeper.

  "Oh, so no one has gone out in the past few days?" Zhang Fan deliberately put on a very unhappy expression and asked coldly. ——Ordinary noble descendants generally think they are superior to others, being interrupted by a small person would naturally make them feel quite embarrassed.

  "The... um..." The waiter hesitated for a moment, clearly having some difficulty speaking up.

  Zhang Fan's heart was delighted, looking at his appearance, he must be joking! So his tone became even more severe: "If someone has already gone out, why do you think I can't go out? Do you think I'm not as good as others? Or do you want to restrict my freedom?"

  "Sir, I just made a suggestion. As for how you act, I have no right to interfere. In this ancient castle, the actions of guests are naturally completely free." Although the servant was somewhat red-faced by his words, he still maintained a good demeanor, which made Zhang Fan appreciate the lady count's ** technique.

  "Hmph, since that's how it is, get out of the way!" Zhang Fan casually brushed aside the servant at the door and pushed open the large gate with a straightened chest.

  "Wow!" Still not feeling the warmth of the castle with temperature control equipment, Zhang Fan felt like a small knife-like cold wind mixed with snowflakes hitting his face as soon as he walked out of the gate. The chill that penetrated to the bone made him shiver slightly.

  Zhang Fan slightly turned his head, and with a glance out of the corner of his eye, he saw the servant standing by the door with a faint smile on his face, clearly somewhat disdainful of Zhang's need to show off his heroism. Zhang Fan secretly smiled to himself, and put on an even more stubborn expression, turning around to walk outside.

  From the waiter's expression in response to his question, Zhang Fan already had a plan in mind - someone must have gone out before! However, whether they came back or not after going out, and who exactly went out, was hard to say. Of course, if he asked again, he might be able to figure it out, but if there really was something fishy going on, he would risk stirring up trouble.

  Moreover, the expression of the servant just now was also quite strange. This servant only slightly blocked him and gave up, and after Zhang Fan went out, the sneer on his face seemed to be more obvious. —— If he really didn't want him to go out for adventure, in that situation, he should have persuaded him to follow the trend, how could he have such an expression? It's worth noting that among these people who came to attend the gathering, eight out of ten are those who value face, even if they feel cold and hesitant in their hearts, seeing such an expression would definitely not retreat. Moreover, according to Zhang Fan's understanding, these second-generation ancestors would absolutely stay outside until their bodies couldn't bear it before going in, just to avoid being looked down upon by the people they considered inferior.

  But these are not the most important things. Since they came out, the top priority is to search around carefully and see if there are any clues. Of course, Zhang Fan's search range was limited to a place about 100 meters around the castle, unless the people who came out had his physical strength, otherwise it would be impossible for them to go more than 100 meters away.

  His search was clearly not going well. The snow and wind had been falling for a long time, and even the faintest of tracks would be covered by the snowflakes within ten minutes. Even where the snowflakes didn't fall, the strong winds could erase all traces. Moreover, the heavy snow also blocked part of his line of sight, making his search much more difficult.

  Turning around a corner, Zhang Fan glanced around and made sure no one was watching before suddenly crouching down, letting out a muffled "Huh!"

  In an instant, a gust of wind formed in front of me and then seemed to come alive as it plunged into the thick snow.

  As the wind blade moved under the snow, the upper layer of snow also loosened, and with a strong gust of wind, it scattered in all directions. This method was thought up by Zhang Fan after searching for half a day, a clever trick that wasn't bad on flat ground. ——And the dancing snowflakes in the sky just happened to provide the best cover for his actions.

  Unfortunately, this method is clever but not foolproof. Unless it's a large item, small clues are impossible to find. But now, in this situation, any clues that might have existed would have been blown away by the strong wind anyway.

  He tried a few directions and the wind blade seemed to have hit something, with a slight obstruction. Zhang Fan's heart moved, and he turned around and swept past.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, about a hundred meters away from the castle, there was a black lump lying on the ground, and its shape couldn't be made out.

  "Oh no!" Zhang Fan rushed over and turned over the object on the ground, his heart sinking.

  This lump on the ground was actually two corpses hugging each other! And these two people, he knew them all! —— They were actually Muhammad and Siyada, whom Zhang Fan had been searching for from just now to now!

  The bodies of the two people had been frozen stiff, and they had obviously been dead for a long time. Although their facial expressions had undergone some degree of deformation, Zhang Fan still recognized them at a glance.

  Muhammad, a Middle Eastern oil tycoon and a fairly influential tribal leader, is said to have open or secret ties with the leaders of at least two-thirds of OPEC countries. His real name is unknown, and outsiders refer to him by his self-proclaimed title "Muhammad".

  Cedric, the giant of South Africa's gold and diamond industry, is said to be the behind-the-scenes ruler of not only South Africa but also several smaller neighboring countries. In a country where racial discrimination still exists, it is no small feat for a black man to have achieved such a position of power. Although he rarely makes public appearances, anyone who wants to make any moves in central and southern Africa cannot help but take notice of him. Apart from the few countries that he can directly control, various armed forces in central and southern Africa have all received his financial backing. Some people even say that if there is an armed conflict in central and southern Africa, getting Cedric to mediate would be far more effective than having the United Nations intervene.

  But these two powerful men who could cause global or at least regional turmoil with just a stomp of their feet, actually died right outside Countess Yekaterina's ancient castle in the Alps!

  Almost at the first time, Zhang Fan understood the severity of the matter!

  The deaths of these two people will absolutely cause a huge stir internationally!

  The situation in the Middle East has been unstable, and the shadow of war has not been eliminated for nearly a decade. If it were just an insignificant place, it would be fine, but unfortunately, this is where one of the lifebloods of the global economy - oil!

  Since human society entered the industrial era, the status of oil has been rising. As one of the world's most important energy and chemical raw materials, oil can be said to be crucial. Someone once said that if the world's oil production stopped for a month, human society would basically have to retreat fifty years!

  The Middle East is one of the most important oil-producing regions. In its heyday, one out of every three barrels of oil in the world came from the Middle East. In recent years, due to the emergence of new energy sources and the development of some offshore oil fields, the region's oil production has declined somewhat, but it remains one of the main oil-exporting regions.

  One incident is enough to illustrate the Middle East's position in the world - when a major power in the world threatens to use force against a country in the Middle East because it suspects that country of developing nuclear weapons, the global oil price suddenly soared by 30% within three days! This event almost triggered a global economic panic.

  This is just a threat, but Muhammad's death is absolutely much more serious than this! Zhang Fan can even predict that due to Muhammad's sudden death, the original power division within OPEC will be out of balance. In order to seize greater benefits, various forces will engage in a fierce battle, leading to economic panic, soaring oil prices, and the world falling into a new round of economic crisis due to a chain reaction.

  This is already a very bad thing, but if there's something worse than Muhammad's death, it would be that Sayyida also died with him!

  Unlike Muhammad, who in a larger sense merely grasped the economic lifeline (and certainly also a part of military power), Xiada was an out-and-out military warlord, who had originally relied on force to rise to power and never gave up his hold on it after succeeding.

  Ziad was originally just the leader of a resistance organization, and then gradually climbed to a high position through various means. At the same time, he cultivated his own armed forces in most countries in Central and South Africa through bribery and cultivation. In addition, he controlled the ownership of most gold mines and diamond mines in South Africa, so his power expanded rapidly.

  In some countries within his sphere of influence, just one word from him can bring down the agents cultivated by the Western world - whether through elections or armed uprisings. In recent years, he has virtually turned Central and South Africa into an iron plate, and even a certain country that claims to be the world's policeman and has the strongest military force in the world cannot penetrate it, and can only accept his reality of being the sole dominant power in that region.

  Of course, if we talk about assassination or something like that, it is naturally feasible. However, considering that once Sia Da dies, the entire Central and South Africa will inevitably fall into even more uncontrollable chaos, recognizing his status would be a better deal in comparison.

  Xiyada is dead, and the situation in Central and South Africa can be imagined. This doesn't seem like Muhammad, under Xiyada's command, most of them were soldiers with real guns! And in Central and South Africa, there is absolutely no one who has enough prestige and ability to replace Xiyada - that is to say, no one obeys anyone, and when the time comes, war will inevitably break out!