Liu Ruyan walked away gracefully, just as she had arrived.

Chen Yang stared at her departing figure, his eyes glinting with a cold light.

This woman is no ordinary person. Not only is her strength extraordinary, but her aura and the way she conducts herself already bear the commanding presence of someone in a position of power.

"Chen Yang, who exactly is that person?" Qin Qiu came over and looked at Liu Ruyan's receding back, frowning as she spoke.

The chill around Chen Yang receded. He offered a slight smile and briefly explained what had just happened, though he omitted that Liu Ruyan was from the Martial Association, claiming instead that she was the head of some pharmaceutical company. He finished with a hateful tone, "She's just a woman, yet so arrogant. If you hadn't arrived, I would have beaten her black and blue, so badly her own mother wouldn't recognize her."

"It's still better to be careful. If she dared to come alone, she must have something to rely on," Qin Qiu cautioned before changing the subject. "That woman is truly beautiful, and her figure is to die for."

"Beautiful? Compared to you, honey, she doesn't even come close," Chen Yang said with righteous conviction.

Qin Qiu was both speechless and amused by this man's desperate attempt at self-preservation. As she walked into the courtyard, she added, "But then again, that woman is indeed very pretty."

"Indeed, she's not bad," Chen Yang unconsciously nodded in agreement.

Qin Qiu suddenly stopped, turned around, and stared at Chen Yang without saying a word.

Chen Yang was speechless. Was this a trap? And the worst part is, I fell right into it.

"Finally telling the truth?" Qin Qiu glared at Chen Yang fiercely. "You men are all the same!"

"She might be alright, but my wife is much better! She leaves her in the dust!" Chen Yang puffed out his chest, speaking with a proud, shared sense of honor.

Watching Chen Yang's proud demeanor, Qin Qiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She gave up on the conversation and walked straight into the yard.

"My wife is the most beautiful CEO in all of Lingjin City, even along the entire Carefree Riverbank! And I, of course, am the happiest man in this world!"

Chen Yang followed eagerly, heaping praises on her as if to atone for the sin his previous words had committed.

"Enough already. She's beautiful, so what? I'm not jealous," Qin Qiu said, waving her hand dismissively. "After dinner, you're coming with us to buy some festival gifts."

"As you command, my dear wife."

「Meanwhile. At the Yuelan Grand Hotel.」

Sun Chen made over a dozen consecutive phone calls, finally managing to buy back all the shares the other party had scooped up at rock bottom, paying one and a half times their price. He lost a full 2.8 billion! On top of that, although the government agencies had withdrawn, they had arrested more than half of Meilin Group's senior executives, and it looked like they were facing prison sentences. Although the company had dodged a bullet, Meilin Group had suffered a severe blow that left it half-dead.

HUFF... PUFF... Sun Chen was sweating profusely, his clothes soaked through. He dropped the phone and slumped to the floor.

Everyone in the room exchanged looks, a lingering fear in their hearts. The great Meilin Group, a leading pharmaceutical giant, had been crippled in just half an hour. If the attacker hadn't been uninterested in a takeover, the company would have been swallowed whole. In other words, if any of them had faced the same situation, they would have been crushed just as easily, completely powerless to fight back. Just moments ago, they had been hoping Sun Chen could achieve something significant, but now... they were all back at square one.

"Holy shit!" Sun Chen roared, finally snapping back to his senses. He ground his teeth. "In a tiny place like Lingjin City, how can there be so many monstrously powerful figures? My fucking luck is the absolute worst!"

2.8 billion, just handed over like that. It felt like cutting off his own flesh. Thinking back on his smugness from moments before, his face turned beet red, and he nearly coughed up blood from the humiliation. This slap to the face hurts down to the bone.

Fan Changtian's face was somber as he paced back and forth in the suite. He spoke in a low voice, "Do you think the person backing Huarui Group could be the same person who killed Yuan Qingyun?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone in the spacious suite, without exception, sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

The possibility couldn't be ruled out! If that were true, considering the person's immense wealth and the scene Yuan Tianlong had described, what kind of individual were they dealing with?

Everyone's expression changed.

If things were as they suspected, even if they combined their forces, they might not be able to shake this adversary in the slightest.

"I believe that's impossible," Yuan Tianlong was the first to speak, his voice cold. "Just think about it. If this were all the work of one person, what kind of colossal figure would they have to be?

"It's inconceivable that we would have heard nothing about them, not even a whisper.

"Besides," Yuan Tianlong concluded, "why would an entity of that stature get involved with the tiny Qin Corporation and repeatedly back them up?"

His words certainly made sense. In their eyes, never mind the Qin Corporation, even the Juling Group of Qiyun Road was hardly worth their notice.

But Yuan Tianlong had his own ulterior motives. Given the current situation, if he wanted to avenge his son, he could only rely on their combined strength.

"Mr. Yuan's point is logical," Sun Chen quickly agreed. "If this fellow was connected to the Qin Corporation, with his resources and wealth, they would have skyrocketed long ago instead of remaining a minor player in a corner."

Having lost a significant amount of money, he naturally hoped to recoup his losses with that prescription.

"This matter concerns the safety of us all; we can't jump to a hasty conclusion," Fan Changtian summarized. "Let's divide the investigation into two prongs. One will continue to probe the Qin Corporation, and the other will look into Huarui Group. Hopefully, we can learn something about this big shot.

"Secondly, I've heard the top assassin on the Blood Droplet List has returned to the country. We shouldn't use our own people. Let's all chip in and hire this top killer."

Someone voiced their doubt. "Are these so-called assassins even reliable? Remember, Mr. Yuan's son was a ninth-level Fist Master, and he was still killed!"

A muscle twitched at the corner of Yuan Tianlong's mouth as he fought to suppress the rage boiling inside him.

Given time, with his son's talent, he would absolutely have become a grandmaster.

Such a pity... such a shame!

"Let me put it this way," Fan Changtian said, lighting a cigarette and revealing a grim smile. "This assassin, known as 'Krait,' has probably killed more tenth-level Fist Masters than you've ever even seen.

"The top-ranked killer on the Blood Droplet List... you think that's just a name for show?"

"Alright, it's settled then!" Sun Chen nodded in agreement.

Yuan Tianlong sealed the decision. "I agree as well."

Although the others were hesitant, they were in too deep to back out now. Since they had boarded this ship, they had to see the journey through to the end.

Fan Changtian nodded. "I'll contact Krait right away."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.