Background Investigation of the Dragon King

The night after the family banquet ended.

In the basement of the Lin family mansion.

Lin Tian locked the door and dialed Vermilion Bird's encrypted line.

"Have you looked into the relationship between Shen Fei and Lin Ruobing?"

On the other end of the phone, Vermilion Bird's voice carried a hint of hesitation.

"Your Majesty the Dragon King, everything has been investigated. But the details... you might not want to hear them."

"Speak."

Just one word, cold as a blade.

Vermilion Bird took a deep breath and began the report.

"According to the feedback from our informant planted inside Lin's Logistics, Lin Ruobing has met with Shen Fei five times in the past month."

"The first time was at the Shen family villa, lasting about two hours. Shen Fei helped the Lin family resolve the Yuanhang Logistics crisis on the spot."

"The second time was a tour of the Shen's Logistics base, lasting four hours. It was just the two of them the entire time, with no assistants or secretaries present."

"The third time was at the Jinling Grand Hotel's business restaurant, where they had lunch together for an hour and a half."

"The fourth time, Shen Fei sent a car to pick up Lin Ruobing to see the construction site of the Qingxue Pavilion. That's the building Shen Fei named after Lin Ruobing's rival, Su Qingxue."

"The fifth time was this afternoon, again at the Shen's Logistics base, lasting three hours."

Vermilion Bird paused.

"Additionally, I managed to get a few photos."

"Send them over."

Three seconds later, four images popped up on Lin Tian's phone.

The first photo.

Shen Fei and Lin Ruobing walking out of the Shen family villa gates. The two were walking side by side, less than half a meter apart. Lin Ruobing's expression was very relaxed—not the polite relaxation of a business setting, but a genuine, heartfelt ease.

The second photo.

Inside the Shen's Logistics base. Shen Fei was explaining something to Lin Ruobing, pointing at the equipment ahead. Lin Ruobing was tilting her head to listen, her gaze resting on Shen Fei's face rather than the direction he was pointing.

The third photo.

At the entrance of the Jinling Grand Hotel. Shen Fei held the car door open for Lin Ruobing. As she was about to bend down and get in, she turned to look at him. That look was perfectly captured by the camera.

It was not the look of a business partner looking at another.

It was the look of a woman looking at a man who made her heart flutter.

The fourth photo.

Taken through the car window, showing Lin Ruobing sitting in the backseat of Shen Fei's car. She was looking down at her phone, a very subtle smile playing at the corners of her lips.

Four photos.

Lin Tian looked at them one by one.

Very slowly.

He stared at each one for at least ten seconds.

His expression remained completely unchanged.

The corner of his mouth still held its signature rightward smirk.

But the knuckles of the hand gripping the phone had turned completely white.

The edges of the screen let out a faint cracking sound under the force of his fingers.

"Your Majesty the Dragon King?"

Vermilion Bird called out cautiously over the phone.

Lin Tian did not respond.

He was looking at the second photo.

The one where Lin Ruobing had her head turned to look at Shen Fei.

He zoomed in on the image.

Zoomed in until only Lin Ruobing's eyes filled the screen.

Those eyes he had looked at for three years.

For three years, those eyes had always been cold whenever they looked at him.

Indifferent.

Disappointed.

As if looking at a piece of scrap metal.

But in this photo, those eyes were bright.

Shining with light.

Filled with curiosity.

Holding a kind of softness he had never seen in them before.

This softness was not meant for him.

It was for Shen Fei.

Lin Tian pressed his thumb against the screen, slowly applying pressure.

A crack appeared on the screen glass.

Starting from where Lin Ruobing's eyes were, it spread outward.

"Your Majesty the Dragon King!"

Vermilion Bird's voice grew anxious.

Lin Tian released his grip.

The phone screen was cracked, but it still worked.

He placed the phone on the table.

"Vermilion Bird."

"Here!"

"Is there any pattern to Shen Fei's recent movements?"

"Yes. He spends most of his time at the Shen family villa and occasionally goes to the Shen Group headquarters. His travel is basically a straight line between the villa and the company, though he sometimes visits the Jinling Grand Hotel or the logistics base in the suburbs."

"What about his security?"

"He has female twin bodyguards with him twenty-four hours a day. There are also hidden guards inside the villa; the exact number is unknown, but there are at least four. The exterior of the villa has a wide-reaching surveillance system and infrared sensors."

"Does he personally possess any martial arts cultivation?"

Vermilion Bird stayed silent for a second.

"We cannot confirm that. He has never displayed any martial prowess in public. However, Azure Dragon said that when he first saw Shen Fei, his intuition told him this person was very dangerous."

"Azure Dragon's intuition is very accurate."

Lin Tian leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Shen Fei.

The Crown Prince of the Shen family.

Accompanied by grandmaster-level bodyguards.

Controlling a three-hundred-billion commercial empire.

Able to freeze tens of billions in funds with a single phone call.

Able to trigger a six-nation joint law enforcement operation by Interpol with just one email.

And possessing an unknown level of personal martial arts strength.

From any angle, this was an extremely difficult target to deal with.

Harder to deal with than any opponent he had encountered in his entire life.

But Lin Tian was not afraid.

He had risked his life fighting drug lords in the jungles of Southeast Asia, crawled out of piles of corpses on the battlefield, and killed enemies twice his size with a dagger.

He had never feared anyone in his life.

What drove him to kill was never fear.

It was anger.

It was jealousy.

It was a possessiveness surging from deep within his marrow.

Lin Ruobing was his.

From the very first day he married into the Lin family, she had been his.

Three years of forbearance was not because he did not care.

On the contrary, it was precisely because he cared too much that he was willing to endure three years of humiliation.

Everything was so that one day he would be worthy of her.

And now, another man had barged in.

Using money, power, and schemes to pull his woman away step by step.

While he could only sit on a plastic stool, eating plain rice and pickled vegetables, watching it all happen.

This feeling was worse than killing him.

Lin Tian opened his eyes.

There was no longer any hesitation in them.

"Vermilion Bird."

"Here!"

"Tell White Tiger and Azure Dragon to compress the assembly time to thirty-six hours."

"Thirty-six hours? Your Majesty the Dragon King, according to the original plan, it was three days—"

"I changed my mind."

Lin Tian's voice had no inflection.

It was terrifyingly calm.

"Three days is too long. Every extra day we wait, Shen Fei gets one step closer to Ruobing."

"I can't wait anymore."

Vermilion Bird swallowed hard on the other end of the line.

He wanted to say something, but ultimately did not speak.

Because he heard something in Lin Tian's voice.

It wasn't impulse.

It was a resolute determination ready to face death.

Once the Dragon King made up his mind, not even ten bulls could pull him back.

"Yes! The entire assembly will be completed within thirty-six hours!"

"Furthermore."

Lin Tian stood up and took out that pitch-black dagger from a hidden compartment.

The blade gleamed with a cold, eerie light under the lamp.

"Compile all of Shen Fei's background into a file."

"The information of every person around him, the location of every property, and the loopholes in every security route."

"I want to see a complete battle plan before the operation."

"Yes!"

"And also."

Lin Tian sheathed the dagger at his waist.

His voice suddenly became extremely soft.

So soft it was as if he were speaking to himself.

"Find out exactly how far things have progressed between Shen Fei and Ruobing."

"The details of every meeting, every chat record, every look."

"I want to know it all."

A chill ran down Vermilion Bird's spine.

"Yes, Your Majesty the Dragon King."

The call disconnected.

Lin Tian stood in the basement.

Alone.

The incandescent lamp overhead buzzed with electricity.

He looked down at the cracked phone screen in his hand.

The screen was still on the second photo.

The one where Lin Ruobing was turning her head to look at Shen Fei.

The cracks radiated outward from her eyes like a spiderweb.

Lin Tian's thumb gently brushed over the crack.

"Ruobing," his voice was incredibly low.

"You won't leave me."

"No one can take you away."

"Whoever dares to take you, I'll kill them."

He turned off the phone screen.

The basement plunged back into dimness.

Only the blade of the dagger at his waist reflected a faint, cold gleam.

...

Shen Family Villa.

Eleven o'clock late at night.

Shen Fei had just stepped out of the shower, his hair still wet.

Wearing a loose gray T-shirt, he sat in the study, toweling his hair dry.

The system panel popped up with a new message.

[Eye of Fortune Emergency Monitoring Report!]

[Lin Tian's assembly time has been compressed from three days to thirty-six hours!]

[Cause Analysis: Lin Tian's jealousy regarding the host's relationship with Lin Ruobing has reached the brink of losing control, causing the action plan to be advanced!]

[Estimated action start time: Late tomorrow night to the early hours of the day after tomorrow.]

[Current domestic assembly progress of the Dragon King Palace: 68%]

[Number of elites arrived in Jinling: Approx. 1400, with 600 still en route.]

Shen Fei looked at the data on the panel.

Thirty-six hours.

A full day and a half earlier than expected.

Jealousy truly was the best catalyst.

When a man who had endured patiently for three years learned that his woman might be stolen away, all his reason and patience would crumble.

Lin Tian was no longer that calculating Asura Dragon King.

Right now, he was nothing but a mad beast blinded by jealousy and hatred.

A mad beast is the most dangerous.

But also the easiest to deal with.

Because mad beasts don't think.

They only charge.

Shen Fei picked up his phone and sent a message to his uncle.

[Time confirmed. Late tomorrow night to early the next morning.]

A reply came three seconds later.

[Received. Fully in position. The garrison troops of the Jinling Military Sub-district are ready to mobilize at any time. The helicopter formation has relocated to the suburban airport and is on standby.]

Shen Fei then sent a message to Ling Shuang.

[Before tomorrow night, get Lin Ruobing to the villa. Make up any excuse. Business negotiations, contract signing, whatever. Just make sure she is here with me.]

A reply came five seconds later.

[Understood. I'll contact Lin Ruobing's secretary.]

Shen Fei put down his phone.

He picked up the towel and continued drying his hair.

The door was gently pushed open.

Su Qingxue walked in, carrying a glass of hot milk.

"Still busy?"

Shen Fei took the milk.

"Almost done."

Su Qingxue glanced at the phone on his desk, then at his expression.

She didn't ask what he was busy with.

From the time she met Shen Fei until now, she had learned one thing.

Don't ask what shouldn't be asked.

He would naturally tell her when he wanted to.

"Rest early."

Su Qingxue turned to leave.

"Qingxue."

Shen Fei called out to stop her.

"Hmm?"

"We might have a guest tomorrow night. Lin Ruobing."

Su Qingxue paused for a moment.

"Okay. I'll have the butler prepare a guest room."

She didn't ask any further.

But as she walked out of the study, her footsteps were half a beat slower than when she arrived.

Shen Fei noticed, but said nothing.

He took a sip of the milk.

Warm, with a touch of honey.

Just like every other time.

Shen Fei put down the glass and took one last look at the system panel.

[Current Luck Value of Lin Tian: 9600]

[Hunting Progress: 36%]

[Estimated Time of Final Battle: In approx. 30 hours]

Thirty hours.

At this time tomorrow, I hope you can give me a little surprise, Lin Tian.