Gu Lingfei froze, casting a puzzled glance at Jiang Che.
Her expression seemed to ask: Didn’t you explain our relationship to her?
Jiang Che shrugged, offering a helpless smile in response.
"Ugh, what a scumbag!" Gu Lingfei muttered under her breath.
"Ahem... Ningning, you’ve got it wrong this time. Jiang Che and I aren’t pretending to be a couple—we’re the real deal!"
Gu Lingfei had initially planned to brush it off, but after a moment’s thought, she decided to be honest. After all, there was no way to keep something like this hidden forever.
Better to lay it all out now than risk a messy confrontation later!
The moment Gu Lingfei finished speaking, Ji Ningxue on the other end of the call fell into a prolonged silence.
Even through the phone screen, Jiang Che could practically smell the brewing storm of a classic romantic showdown.
Not that it bothered him much. A little drama was nothing to a man bold enough to maintain a harem. What was one more confrontation to him?
After nearly a minute of silence, Ji Ningxue finally spoke.
"Feifei... is this true?"
Her voice carried a faint tremor, something entirely unfamiliar for the usually unshakable business magnate.
As a strong-willed woman, Ji Ningxue had absolute confidence in her judgment. She’d been certain that Gu Lingfei and Jiang Che were just putting on an act—which was why she’d allowed herself to indulge so freely.
But now... her scalp prickled with dread.
"Of course! Che and I have been official for ages~" Gu Lingfei teased, deliberately dancing on Ji Ningxue’s already frayed nerves.
"Oh... I... I see."
Even through the screen, the devastation in Ji Ningxue’s voice was palpable.
"Alright, alright, I’ll stop messing with you, Ningxue. I already know about you and Che."
Ji Ningxue’s heart lurched—like a thief caught red-handed by the owner.
"Feifei, I... I didn’t mean to..."
A whirlwind of possibilities flashed through her mind. Should she bow out gracefully? Or fight for what she wanted? The thought of stepping aside filled her with unbearable reluctance.
Even if her current role was that of the "other woman," Jiang Che was the first man who had ever truly broken through her defenses. No matter how wrong it was... she still wanted to fight for him.
But Gu Lingfei’s next sentence short-circuited her brain entirely.
"Ningxue, that waste Xiao Chen isn’t worthy of you. Only someone like Che is a match for you. Welcome to our big family~"
"Wha—what? Big family?" Ji Ningxue was utterly baffled.
She’d done some basic research on Jiang Che and knew he had plenty of admirers—a charming, flirtatious young man.
But this? This was beyond anything she could have imagined.
"Look, some things are too complicated to explain over the phone. Tomorrow, I’ll have Che pick you up and bring you to the Jiang family estate. You’ll understand once you see it for yourself."
Gu Lingfei sighed, rubbing her temples before shooting Jiang Che a glare.
[You little playboy, you handle the explanations tomorrow.]
Jiang Che smirked, taking the phone from her without hesitation.
What kind of man would hide behind a woman forever?
"Hey, Ningxue-jie? I’ll come get you tomorrow. Make sure to dress up nice, alright?"
"Jiang Che!!!"
Safe to say, Ji Ningxue wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight.
------
Meanwhile, across the ocean...
Xiao Chen had arrived in his own domain.
"All hail the Dragon King!"
"All hail the Asura!"
"All hail the War God!"
A row of subordinates knelt before Xiao Chen, who now stood clad in a sleek black suit and sunglasses—exuding an air of untouchable dominance.
"Rise."
Gone was the desperate, lovestruck fool. In his place stood a man radiating confidence, his smirk sharp and unyielding—every inch the ruthless underworld kingpin.
"Lord Asura, we recently accepted a mission at the Asura Hall. Initial intel classified the target as Silver-tier, but we’ve suffered repeated failures. We escalated to Gold, then Platinum, even Diamond-tier assassins—all unsuccessful. The target is... formidable."
Xiao Chen frowned and waved a dismissive hand. "Send the five Master-tier assassins. That should settle it."
His tone brooked no argument.
As the Asura Hall’s King of Assassins, he couldn’t possibly dirty his hands with such trivial matters.
What would that do to his image?
"By the way, how many mercenaries are currently available in the War God Pavilion?" he asked.
"Reporting to the War God, we have roughly 1,000 deployable mercenaries at present."
Xiao Chen nodded, satisfied.
A private army of 1,000 was nothing to scoff at—even in volatile regions like the Middle East.
Of course, the War God Pavilion wasn’t his true trump card. That honor belonged to the Dragon King Palace!
Within its ranks lay his ten thousand elite warriors and a million-strong army!
"I intend to mobilize all my forces and bring them to China. Any objections?"
His announcement left the room stunned.
"My Lord... the Dragon King Palace’s registered personnel number in the millions. Transporting them all to China would cost a fortune in airfare alone!"
"At 20,000 yuan per ticket, a million men would cost 20 billion!"
Xiao Chen’s frown deepened. "A mere 20 billion? Are you telling me my Dragon King Palace—with its million-strong army—can’t scrape together that much?"
Long Xu, one of his subordinates, twitched. "Lord Dragon King... the Dragon King Palace is technically a security company. Most of our members are scattered worldwide working as security guards. Recalling them now would be... impractical."
"Besides, security work isn’t as lucrative these days. The majority are just registered in name—they’ve already quit. The actual number we can mobilize... is less than one-tenth."
Xiao Chen’s rage erupted. "What have you all been doing? I was only in China for three years! How could the Dragon King Palace fall so far without me?"
Clearly, without its Dragon King at the helm, the organization had lost its very soul!
"Please calm yourself, my Lord," Long Dan said, bowing deeply. "Your ten thousand elite warriors have already begun gathering upon hearing of your return."
The mention of ten thousand elite warriors soothed Xiao Chen’s fury slightly.
Those so-called million-strong army? Not even worth a single hair of his true elites!
Just then, a distant rumble shook the ground, as though an entire cavalry was charging forth.
They were here!
Finally!
As the dust settled, four towering figures—each nearly eight feet tall—stood before Xiao Chen.
Emblazoned across their foreheads were four bold characters:
‘Ten’ — ‘Thousand’ — ‘Elite’ — ‘Warriors’