Xue Feiting was very decisive; if something needed to be cut, he cut it. Since this industry had no future for the time being, they’d just do something else.

But a Dragon Head was still a Dragon Head; it was never that easy to pull out. Tug on one hair and the whole body moved: layoffs, factory disposal, shareholders’ income falling... all of it was invisible debt.

And once you shrank, you couldn’t get your hands on many government projects, and big companies would also cut back on cooperation.

If the scale shrank, the Xue Family wouldn’t be the storm‑stirring Xue Family anymore, and if they wanted to rise again later, there wouldn’t be a second Yi Family backing them.

While the Big Demon was filling out the form, the Xue Mansion on Capital Star was in an uproar.

Xue Feiting insisted on changing business lines, but Xue Feiqun thought that was impossible. "We finally grabbed that big a market share, why should we step aside for that Su brat."

"We’re not stepping aside for Su Xiaocai, we just can’t beat her. Only by retreating can we find a chance to return to the peak. The Xue Family has been the Dragon Head for too long. In ancient times even the throne rotated; what right does the Xue Family have to stay number one for decades? If we want to preserve our strength, we can’t meet this head‑on." When Xue Feiting did business, he never only looked at output and numbers on a balance sheet; he wanted the Xue Family to develop better.

In business, loss and profit weren’t necessarily opposites.

Sometimes you knew a particular deal would lose money but still did it, because you could earn it back from their pocket later.

But when you knew you’d keep losing and losing, with no way to fight back, no way to turn a profit, you had to pick the right moment to exit.

No matter how hard your backing, you couldn’t surpass Su Xiaocai’s black‑tech Mecha.

Once the Xue Family regained control of the tech, they could just come back then.

"I don’t agree. That little brat only makes low‑end machines; we can just copy her Mecha and do high‑end. Anyway, what people look at is the brand—brand equals quality assurance. Do you know once we retreat like this, it’ll be really hard to get back into the circle?" In Xue Feiqun’s view, as long as it could make money, they should keep making it; once you stepped down, there might be no coming back.

That was how so many capital players operated anyway.

"We can’t lose the military market." If they pulled out, the Yi Family would also lose a big chunk of its voice. Xue Feiqun felt that as long as they held on and looked for a chance, they could eventually swallow up Su Xiaocai’s industry.

"Feiqun, we don’t just sell Mecha. The Xue Family has many other businesses, and I never said we’d withdraw completely." They would still run Mecha; they just wouldn’t butt heads with the Have a Billion Veggies Mecha Company for now.

Xue Feiqun: "No way, we need to maintain our edge. Maybe the tide will turn. Big Brother, since when did you become this spineless?"

"Do you know how much the company will lose if we keep going? Where am I supposed to make up that deficit from? How exactly do you expect me to run this company? Here, you run it. You’ve been meddling in affairs for years anyway. You take over—it’s perfect, I’ll go travel with your sister‑in‑law and nephew to relax."

"I’m doing this for the Xue Family, and you keep telling me to run it. Are you just trying to dodge responsibility?"

"Yep, I don’t want to take responsibility anymore. You do it!"

The two of them were arguing till their faces turned red.

Xue Feijun, Yi Xue, and Xue Zhiyi sat off to the side, silent.

Xue Feijun opened his comm screen and studied Xue Huiyi’s blueprints.

Yi Xue watched the two brothers fight with worry, quietly ordering people to put away anything that could easily be grabbed and thrown, afraid they’d start swinging.

Next to her, Xue Zhiyi had his head down playing with a ragdoll cat. He was immersed in his own world; he heard them talking, but couldn’t understand.

In this family, each person’s mind was somewhere else.

Silence didn’t mean agreement, and the ones shouting might not be voicing their true thoughts.

Xue Feiting and Xue Feiqun still hadn’t argued their way to a conclusion.

Over on the Big Demon’s side, the form was already filled out. Su Xiaocai skimmed the completed content and exclaimed, "You want the entire Mecha in pink and black?"

This color scheme—never mind humans thinking it was flashy, even in the eyes of an Insect Man it would be extremely conspicuous.

"That color request will weaken the stealth features." Su Xiaocai said, "Is that your favorite color? Because judging from your clothes, you seem to prefer bright, gaudy colors."

Pink, that was pure girly heart.

"The pinker the Mecha, the harder it hits. Don’t worry about that. This Mecha is mainly to deal with the Insect Mother and Insect Man warriors. It’s not for fighting people, so it’s fine."

The Big Demon wanted a super‑agile type of Mecha. "Don’t be fooled by my gentle and frail appearance; I already have Level Ten Qi Sensing. The custom Mecha the Xue Family made before could never keep up with me, so I want a Star Level Mecha. Can you do it? I want a Mecha with over ninety‑five percent compatibility with me personally."

Gentle and frail?

One of the investigators couldn’t help glancing at his chest—those bulging, solid pecs, their curve more extreme than a fitness influencer’s.

"If you want a Star Level Mecha, you’ll have to give me full‑force combat data and videos. And the fees will be very high—can you afford them? As for maintenance, do you have people with the right skills?"