"Fucking hell, we all earned the money, why should this little brat get to take it all by himself?"

Xu Jun grabbed Chen Yubo's head and roared, "Old Lin, Chen Xingzhou is almost dead, what the hell are you still holding out for? Are you capable of it? After taking the money, is it not good for everyone to split it and go their separate ways?!"

"No, it's not good."

Old Lin tugged at the tablecloth, wiping the blood off his hands, expressionless, "The money that's yours, you should take, and take it with a clear conscience. But if it's not yours, don't touch it, not even a tap—touch it and you'll get burned, and end up with nowhere to bury your dead body."

"Your mother's dead! I'm going to send this son of a bitch to meet his brother right now!"

Seeing no hope of survival, Xu Jun's face twisted with malice as he decisively pulled the trigger. "Go eat shit!"

Alas, there was no loud bang, no gush of blood.

Just the clicking sound of a jammed gun.

One click, and another.

He frantically pulled the trigger, but under Ji Jue's gaze, it was pointless.

In the end, amidst the changes from ferocity to horror, only a blank stupor remained as he stared at Old Lin walking up to him, finally coming to a realization.

He threw down the gun, sneered with contempt, about to say something, but a hand grabbed his throat.

And then, thick smoke and sparks burst forth from his mouth and nose!

In an instant, a man struggling in fear was turned to ashes in his hands, with a trickle of Flame Light sinking into Old Lin's mouth and nose. His eyes were pitch black as if leading to a pit of Earth's fire, the crimson Flame Light flashing and gone.

And then all returned to normal.

Finally, he looked at Ji Jue.

"Many hands make light work. If that wasn't satisfying, there's another one lying on the hill behind us, holding a camera taking pictures this way," Ji Jue said, pointing in the direction with a sigh, "The clarity's quite decent."

Old Lin nodded, and his figure vanished in a flash.

Inside the room, a deadly silence prevailed.

Everyone looked at each other, and finally at Ji Jue. Ji Jue remained silent, and no one dared to speak. Only Chen Yubo, who had survived a great difficulty, sprawled in the chair, panting frantically.

Awkwardly wiping off the black ash that had landed on him.

Minutes later, Old Lin returned, holding a camera with some gigantic lens, and in his other hand, a phone with its casing partially melted.

In front of everyone, he placed them on the table.

The sound of collision was crisp.

"Everyone, rest assured, those with guilty consciences won't die well, but those who can stay are still brothers, sharing life, death, and riches. When the boss comes back, we'll make sure nobody who stayed is short-changed!"

For the first time since the beginning, Old Lin showed a smile as warm as the sun.

But as they say, a distant cake won't quench immediate thirst, even if it's brewed into kvass. After demonstrating the brutal consequences of being a traitor, it was now time for the carrot and the sweet dates.

Uncle Lin clapped his hands, and an assistant came over with a cart, piled high with one black box after another.

Everyone who chose to stay received one, even Ji Jue got a share, heavy in his hand.

At this density, Ji Jue couldn't help but lick his lips.

All gold bars?

The investment was indeed extravagant.

With the incentive of cold, hard cash and the promise of a brighter future, it seemed like there was suddenly hope for the days ahead. Moreover, there was Old Lin's promise that even if everyone couldn't do business in Cliff City, they could make a comeback in Thousand Islands when the boss was out of the hospital, etc.

The morale that was initially low also began to pick up.

When the meeting was coming to a close, the first to jump up was the blissfully unaware Golden-Haired Bro. Unlike the others filled with sly thoughts, he stood out as stupid, uneducated, and with clear eyes, still spouting loyalty from his mouth, too naive for his own good.

"Hey, that's badass, dude."

He was the first to come over, smiling warmly with curiosity, "How did you figure it out? Are you a hacker?"

"It's just a trick to fool people, it's worthless once figured out," Ji Jue waved his hand with a smile. "When it really comes down to it, we still rely on everyone here."

"Hey, no problem, no problem, the first one to mess with the boss' brother will have to get through me!"

Golden-Haired Bro grinned, laughing heartily and obliviously as he thumped his chest.

Truly enviable.

After Old Lin sent the business subordinates away, he sat down beside him, "Mr. Ji, how do you feel?"

Ji Jue just shook his head, "I still can't accept your way of doing things."

Beheading people at the drop of a hat or leaving them without a corpse.

Scary as hell.

Old Lin sighed, "That's the way the syndicate works. White Deer and Tian Yuan are different; if you err, you can't just be fired and that be the end of it. If you mess up, you must bear the consequences."

"If you don't do anything, there won't be any mistakes, right?"

Ji Jue was unimpressed.

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. With Chen Xingzhou's ship sinking, could one seriously expect everyone to die for their cause? At this point, those who verbally claimed disloyalty were definitely disloyal, but those demonstrating loyalty were not necessarily true to their word.

Everyone was an old fox that had crawled out of a filthy gutter— who takes the 'Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio' seriously?

Those who claimed to believe in the boss, eight or nine out of ten were merely playing along, biding their time until Chen Xingzhou's last breath, seamlessly transitioning to the next job.

Maybe they had even found their next gig.

More importantly...

"With so many gone, is that enough?" Ji Jue lifted his eyes to survey the restaurant; apart from him and Little An, only Ah Yi and Golden-Haired Bro from the Chosen One remained.

It was clear at a glance that Ah Yi was too scared to be of any use. Golden-Haired Bro was the opposite, too naive to fathom his own mortality.

If Lei Yaoxing really turned hostile, would these few be enough to protect Chen Yubo?

Are you serious?

Even if you, Uncle Lin, are made of iron, how many can you take on?

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