Chapter 100: Chapter 100: Cooperation

"Heh, Zhao Tianxiong certainly knows how to talk," Su Man chuckled. "It was clearly a short-term loan of twenty million, plus twenty million in gambling stakes. Still, him telling outsiders it was forty million isn’t exactly wrong."

Fang Chen nodded, having sorted out the connections in his mind.

Su Man continued, "At the time, the Su family was going through some turbulence. Our cash flow had run into issues, and we urgently needed liquid funds to tide us over. Fortunately, thanks to your outstanding performance in the arena, Mr. Feng, that forty million helped the Su family survive our most difficult hurdle."

Her tone was sincere. "I should have come to thank you in person much earlier. However, I’ve been bogged down by business matters, and those funds only just fully returned to our accounts, which delayed me until now. I hope you won’t blame me for lacking manners, Mr. Feng."

"You are being far too polite, Man," Fang Chen replied, waving his hand. "At the gambling table, everyone assumes their own risks. You winning that money was due to your own judgment and courage; it had no direct relation to me."

Afterward, the three of them exchanged more pleasantries. Su Man was highly skilled at socializing—she spoke appropriately, and was humorous without overstepping any boundaries. She quickly broke the ice of their first meeting, and the atmosphere grew harmonious.

Su Zhe also chimed in with quips from the sidelines, recounting amusing anecdotes from the martial arts exam.

After a while, seemingly having received a subtle cue, Su Zhe proactively stood up. "Sis, Boss Feng, you two chat. I’m going out for some fresh air."

With that, he walked out of the lounge, gently shutting the door behind him.

Only Fang Chen and Su Man remained in the room, and the atmosphere grew imperceptibly more formal. Fang Chen realized that the small talk was over; it was time to get down to business.

He looked at Su Man and cut straight to the point. "Man, you coming over in person today probably isn’t just to express your gratitude, right? If there is anything else, feel free to speak plainly."

Half an hour later, the lounge door opened from the inside.

Su Man still wore a calm, elegant smile on her face. She turned slightly toward Fang Chen and said, "Mr. Feng, I hope you will carefully consider the matter I just brought up. Rest assured, I know where to draw the line; I guarantee you will not be implicated. After all, you and Su Zhe will be classmates at the academy in the future, and I am still counting on you to look out for him. As for the remuneration, everything is negotiable. We can always discuss it further."

Fang Chen wore a polite smile. "Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Man. I will seriously consider what you’ve said."

Su Man naturally caught the reservation in his words, but she did not point it out. She merely gave a slight nod. "Mm, alright then. I look forward to your good news."

She took a step, making as if to leave. After taking barely two steps, she seemed to suddenly remember something. Lightly slapping her forehead, she turned around and walked back. "Look at my memory. I almost forgot about this."

As she spoke, she retrieved a flat, palm-sized object from her handbag. It had a sleek, simple design with a metallic sheen, and she handed it to Fang Chen.

Fang Chen’s gaze fell upon the object, its shape faintly overlapping with the communication devices from the memories of his past life.

"A cell phone?"

A trace of surprise flashed through Su Man’s eyes. "You are truly knowledgeable and experienced, Mr. Feng. This is a ’child device’ of a cell phone."

"A child device?"

"Yes," Su Man explained. "The accompanying ’master device’ is with me. In this set of equipment, one master device can pair with a maximum of ten child devices. The child devices and the master device can call each other. If you want to contact me, just long-press this button."

She pointed to the call button on the device.

Fang Chen took the so-called child device, finding it quite heavy in his hand. This thing had only two buttons on it. One was obviously the call button, and the other was likely a combined hang-up and power button. It did not even have a number pad; it was as rudimentary as could be.

He realized that simply by long-pressing to call the master device, this was essentially a point-to-point, long-range walkie-talkie operating on a specific channel.

Su Man then added, "Mr. Feng, the effective communication range of this master-child set is about thirty kilometers from the downtown area of Jinchuan City. It basically covers the main urban district and some important surrounding towns. It is quite excellent and very convenient."

Hearing this, Fang Chen could not help but chuckle inwardly. "Heh, you call this convenient?" he thought.

He once again felt that the technology in this world was far too backward. It only allowed two specific phones to call each other and could not even connect outside the city. At its core, it was just a slightly more advanced walkie-talkie. However, upon further reflection, this seemed to make sense in a world that revered the Martial Dao. The technological tree had likely been mostly invested into the medical field.

He accepted the child device.

Su Man hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward. Her tone carried a trace of a formal invitation. "Mr. Feng, I still hope you can earnestly consider it. If the matter is accomplished, I am willing to raise the price to one million."

"Alright, keep in touch," Fang Chen said, not giving a definitive answer.

"Very well, Mr. Feng. I will head back first. Regardless of whether we end up cooperating, I am very glad to have met you."

Su Man gave Fang Chen one last faint smile before turning and leaving.

Fang Chen politely replied, "Thank you. Take care, Man," and then closed the door.

The lounge returned to a state of quiet, leaving Fang Chen alone. He replayed the contents of the cooperation Su Man had just proposed in his mind.

The Su family’s intention was crystal clear—revenge, and reclaiming their lost properties.

The Su family used to be considered prominent in Jinchuan City, possessing quite a few businesses. But ever since Su Man’s father and second uncle passed away, the family had lost the foundational True Martial Realm experts holding down the fort.

In this world, wealth without high-end martial force to protect it was like a child walking through a crowded market carrying gold. Many lucrative venues, such as underground gambling dens and shops involved in gray-market trades, simply could not be defended.

Although the Su family could also acquire firearms and ammunition through various channels, in front of a true True Martial Realm expert—especially when the enemy was calculating against the defenseless—the deterrent effect of guns was greatly discounted. In a head-on confrontation, well-trained gunmen might still pose a threat. However, in daily life, an ordinary person or even an Ordinary Martial Artist armed with firearms could not possibly fend off a True Martial Realm expert who was obsessively targeting them day and night.

Eating, going home, sleeping, driving... A single moment of negligence could be seized as an opportunity by the opponent. One might be silently eliminated before even having the chance to draw their gun.

Ultimately, many of the Su family’s highly profitable businesses were forcibly seized in this manner, through various overt or covert means. After Su Man took over this massive mess, in order to preserve the family’s foundation, she had no choice but to temporarily swallow her pride and pull back their defensive lines.

But the situation was different now.

Su Zhe had been admitted into the Cyan Yang Martial Arts Academy! This meant that the Su family might once again possess the backing of a High Martial Realm expert or even someone stronger in the future. However, it also meant that the expenses of supporting a student at the Martial Arts Academy would be astronomical.

With the Su family’s current financial strength, providing Su Zhe with generous cultivation resources was already leaving them severely stretched thin. Su Man had to take action. She needed to take back everything they had lost, seizing more resources for Su Zhe and for the future of the Su family.

Yet, Su Zhe himself was clearly unsuited to carry out this dirty work personally. Although his strength had become quite impressive after his recent improvements, what Su Man required was absolute suppression and the clean, swift execution of a one-hit kill.

If the target could vanish silently without causing a massive uproar, the police would likely just treat it as an accident or a missing person case, collect the body, and be done with it. But the moment a stalemate or an extended brawl occurred during the operation, things would get troublesome. Not only might they alarm the police, but they could even draw the attention and intervention of the Martial Arts Association.

Even worse, Su Man’s intentions would be completely exposed. At that point, she would likely face far more frenzied and reckless retaliation from the opposing family. Therefore, Su Man decided that she either wouldn’t do it at all, or she would choose the strongest available option to ensure a total crushing victory that left no future troubles.

Thus, she had sought out "Feng Yuxiu"—Fang Chen.

Having finished recalling Su Man’s proposition, Fang Chen gently shook his head.

"Forget it," he thought.

He had already made up his mind.

"If this were before the martial arts exam, when I was desperately strapped for cash to scrape together the five-hundred-thousand registration fee, I might have given this kind of job a thought or two. After all, it’s taking what we both need, where risks coexist with rewards," he pondered.

"But now..."

He was about to step into the Cyan Yang Martial Arts Academy, and his future was bright. Why take unnecessary risks for money that he was no longer in desperate need of?

"Never mind," he concluded.

Fang Chen completely tossed the thought aside. His path lay at far higher summits. There was no need to lower his head and wade into these muddy waters for a few paltry benefits at this point in time.

The Su family’s predicament—he would let them figure out a way to resolve it themselves.

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