Are You Serious, Axi

"I need to know who betrayed me! That heartless, ungrateful bastard deserves to die a thousand deaths!"

"Understood, Dragon King. We are already investigating and will give you a satisfactory answer as soon as possible."

The call ended.

Lin Fan's face suddenly looked as if he had aged over a decade in an instant.

Years of meticulous planning.

And yet, all his loyal subordinates were wiped out in less than a day.

Do you think finding people doesn’t cost money?

Doesn’t take effort?

Do you think training them doesn’t cost money?

After nurturing them to the point where they could sustain themselves, the entire business chain was gone. Isn’t that a loss?

Money, money, money—

On top of that, the main force he had built to take down the Xu Family was gone.

Heartbreaking.

Absolutely heartbreaking.

Sensing that Lin Fan’s state of mind was in shambles, Li Caijun waved his hand, signaling the peripheral, low-tier female celebrities to leave the room.

Once the women had exited, Li Caijun asked, "Brother Lin, what exactly happened? Why are you like this?"

"Yeah, Brother Lin, just tell us. Maybe there’s something we can do to help," Ma Qun chimed in with concern.

Lin Fan’s face was as dark as storm clouds, his voice heavy and hoarse.

"Gone. Everything’s gone. The five major branches I painstakingly built within the country were wiped out in a single day."

The two men were stunned.

Given Lin Fan’s intelligence, he would have surely taken precautions to minimize risks.

There was no way he would have carelessly exposed the locations of these branches.

He was always cautious and meticulous, leaving no traces behind.

"How could this happen?" Ma Qun, feeling the same anger and frustration, empathized deeply.

Meanwhile, Li Caijun, who often found himself disconnected from the emotional turmoil of others, simply wanted to play the role of an observer, curious to see how things would unfold.

Lin Fan’s eyes turned icy cold. "There’s a traitor among us."

Hiss!!!!!!

Both men gasped in shock.

Losing the branches was one thing.

But a traitor in their ranks? That was a disaster!

On the surface, the five branches were managed by their respective leaders.

But behind the scenes, all five leaders answered to Lin Fan.

He was their true boss.

Meanwhile, the operation to dismantle the five branches had made quite a stir.

However, the authorities made no attempt to hide their success.

After all, this was a major victory in their crackdown on crime.

These people were scum, vermin, the dregs of society.

Such positive news would naturally be reported by the media.

Of course, there was still much to be dealt with in the aftermath.

As for Yang Jingxuan and Zhang Naixi,

they had played a crucial role in this operation.

Without their intelligence,

the crackdown on crime wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

They were sure to receive commendations,

but that would come a few days later.

At home, Xu Mo, who had been idling around, turned on the TV.

A sudden news bulletin left him utterly dumbfounded.

With a loud thud,

he shot up from the soft couch,

his face a mix of shock and confusion.

"What the hell? The Crooked-mouthed Dragon King’s branches are gone?"

Xu Mo knew that these were the forces the protagonist had spent years building,

used for murder, arson, and all sorts of shady dealings.

They were perfect for handling the dirty work required by the plot.

But now, with these branches gone,

the Crooked-mouthed Dragon King had lost his loyal underlings.

How was he supposed to seize the Xu Family’s vast empire now?

Xu Mo’s thoughts grew increasingly bizarre.

He recalled how, at lunch earlier that day,

Zhang Naixi and Yang Jingxuan had come to eat with him.

They had even asked about the five branches.

Given their clueless expressions,

it seemed they hadn’t known anything.

If they were unaware,

how had the authorities gotten the information?

Xu Mo’s confusion deepened.

Was it possible that the authorities had infiltrated Lin Fan’s ranks long ago,

and only decided to act today?

Regardless,

Xu Mo couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. He needed to figure out where things had gone wrong.

Pulling out his phone, he scrolled through his blacklist,

unblocked a number,

and hit the call button.

Xu Mo expected the other party to ignore him,

pretend not to hear, or even hang up.

But he was wrong.

Less than a minute after dialing,

the call was answered.

Xu Mo swallowed hard, then spoke.

"Got a minute? I have some questions."

"Not really. I’m in the middle of a prostitution raid."

Yang Jingxuan’s voice came through.

Xu Mo: -------------------------

Hiss!!!!

Xu Mo sucked in a breath.

"My bad."

"Mm."

The call ended.

Xu Mo’s eyelid twitched.

After such a major event today,

you’re telling me your team wasn’t involved,

and instead, you’re off doing something else?

Then again,

maybe it was for the best.

At least Yang Jingxuan wasn’t in danger.

It was probably arranged by her superiors.

Xu Mo took a moment to collect himself,

then dialed another number.

Shortly after,

a neutral, yet excited voice came through the phone.

"Hey, cousin! What’s up?"

"Uh, yeah, cousin. I wanted to ask you something. Hope it’s okay."

"Sure, go ahead."

"I saw the news. Someone said the Vermilion Bird Hall, the Mad Blade Hall, and those other shady branches were taken down by the authorities today. But at lunch, you guys didn’t even know where they were, right?"

"Hold on, cousin. I need to handle something real quick."

"Huh? You’re going on a prostitution raid too?"

"Hiss--------- Cousin, how did you know? Are you spying on me?"

"Cough cough-----"

Xu Mo choked.

Yang Jingxuan being with the police was understandable.

But Zhang Naixi was with the military.

Since when did the military get involved in this kind of work?

Xu Mo had only been joking,

but to his surprise,

Zhang Naixi was serious.

Are you for real, Naixi?

Before Xu Mo could say more,

Zhang Naixi, citing her busy schedule,

hurriedly ended the call.

However, she did promise to treat Xu Mo to a big meal in the coming days,

leaving him even more puzzled.

Xu Mo scratched his head.

It felt like Zhang Naixi and Yang Jingxuan had said something,

but at the same time, it seemed like they hadn’t said anything at all.

"I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to ask them what’s really going on."

Xu Mo sighed.

At this point,

the plot of this past life had completely lost him.

Maybe it was just karma catching up to Lin Fan’s evil deeds.

But then again,

wasn’t this world supposed to revolve around the protagonist?

Even if Lin Fan committed countless atrocities,

the heavens would still favor him.

So what was going on this time?

Had even the heavens had enough?

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