No one knew about the intricate conspiracies Gu Tianming’s mind was spinning.
And the man at the center of it all, Chen Lin, was still completely clueless.
At this very moment, he was still at his corporation, cursing up a storm.
His company had been getting trashed for days on end.
One batch of troublemakers got arrested, and another batch showed up. Sometimes the ones who came had even been there before.
Didn’t that basically mean they were getting released after just one day in lockup?
And that female police officer was acting like a total psycho, dropping by for no reason all the time.
The moment she spotted anyone looking even slightly shady or suspicious, she’d demand their ID!
It got so bad that his Underworld Guards could only be assigned to clean toilets, for fear of being sniffed out.
The Ye Family—those bastards—were also stirring up trouble, sending people to suppress his corporation.
And then there was today’s disaster!
Damn it, the land he’d spent seventeen billion at auction to secure—today, some official in land resource management claimed there were “issues” and the approval hadn’t gone through.
Even if they wanted to start construction, they’d have to wait until the approval process was done.
For such a massive project, that official was clinging stubbornly to his position.
He refused to say what the problem was, but it was crystal clear he was hinting at needing a little “gesture of goodwill.”
Helpless, Impermanence had gone to negotiate with him—and got squeezed for even more money.
It made Chen Lin so furious he wanted to cough up blood.
Ever since coming to Dragon Sea City, everything—absolutely everything—had gone wrong.
He’d originally thought that with his War God Hades halo, he could swagger through the city unchallenged.
Beauties in his arms, a life of luxury and indulgence, operating low-key but showing off high-profile, trampling the elites and slapping down the prodigal sons.
While building connections with some powerful families, paving the way to grow bigger and stronger and create even greater glories in the future.
Then, once everything was stable, he could seriously investigate his own origins.
But holy hell—from the moment he ran into that son of a bitch Bai Jinghong, everything had gone to complete shit.
From start to finish, he’d been slapped in the face and mocked.
He’d even been shot by someone from Bai’s side—five Underworld Guards dead.
After finally getting to shine at the auction, the end result was a bunch of business partners pulling their investments and abandoning him!
It was infuriating to the point of death.
And the absolute worst part was the situation with women.
Since coming here, he hadn’t gotten close to a single goddess.
The one real chance he’d had to hook up—Fan Ning’er—had cuckolded him, moaning and panting with who-knows-who on the other end of a phone.
After Shen Yaoyao was assigned to Bai Jinghong’s side, she must have gotten seriously addicted to being a secretary.
No matter how he invited her out, she always made excuses. Apart from the plan reports, there were no messages at all.
Zi Yue had vanished without a trace—completely uncontactable. The investigation into her had also been cut short by the police raids.
The only one left by his side was Impermanence. But the guy wasn’t a woman! What was he supposed to do—become a stirrer of shit?!
To sum it all up: since arriving in Dragon Sea City, he’d been beaten, cursed at, scammed, humiliated, and cuckolded. His sole achievement was probably just visiting prostitutes.
Even Five-Star General MacArthur, if he saw Chen Lin’s life, would have to admit: “You really have it rough.”
He genuinely wanted to write the word “MISERABLE” on his own leg!
Meanwhile, Bai Jinghong had watched with his own eyes as Shen Yaoyao’s group safely escaped, and only then drove away himself.
Gu Tianming’s hatred for Chen Lin had now practically boiled over.
Barring any surprises, he would take action very soon.
Right now, he was short-handed. There was a high probability he would reach out to Bai Jinghong.
That way, with Shen Yaoyao acting as a conduit for misdirection, it would be easy to guide both sides straight into each other.
He could then reap the fisherman’s spoils, smoothly taking down both protagonists and sending them off to meet their grandmas.
Sure enough, no sooner thought than done.
Gu Tianming’s call came through.
Bai Jinghong pulled the car over and took his time answering.
He put on an enthusiastic tone. “Ah, Mr. Gu! What brings you to think of me?”
“You have plenty of men. Lend me some. I need to kill someone!”
Gu Tianming’s tone was rough, clearly suppressing a raging fury.
Speaking to Bai Jinghong, it sounded almost like an order.
At this, Bai Jinghong merely sneered inwardly, then feigned shock.
“Mr. Gu, who dared provoke you? That’s utterly reckless!”
Gu Tianming ground his teeth. “A stray dog. Enough talk. Lend me some men. After this is done, I’ll give you a generous reward!”
“Lend you men? No problem at all. The person you’re dealing with is here in Dragon Sea City, right? I know this place well. We hit it off at first meeting—I can’t just stand by and ignore your troubles!”
“Tell me, who are you going after? I’ll help you deal with them.”
Gu Tianming was honestly surprised. This Bai Jinghong was being so agreeable.
But on second thought, he figured Bai must have realized his identity wasn’t simple and wanted to curry favor.
After all, casually throwing out six hundred million today must have left some impression.
Gu Tianming had never even bothered to investigate Bai Jinghong’s background.
The situation was simply too urgent, and he had far too few men. There was no time for investigations.
“A man named Chen Lin.”
“Chen Lin? Alright. Give me more specific intel, and I’ll help. You want him dead, right? I’ll figure out how to lure him out.”
“Once we set up an ambush, dealing with him will be easy.”
Gu Tianming sneered coldly. “You’re helping me so eagerly. What do you want in return? Spit it out.”
There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and Gu Tianming wasn’t naive enough to believe Bai Jinghong was offering unconditional help.
“Straightforward! I like it!” Bai Jinghong laughed heartily. “You know I’m a businessman—I prioritize profit. After it’s done: one-point-five billion. How about it?”
“Mr. Gu, I’m not trying to bleed you dry. But this is a beheading offense we’re talking about!”
Gu Tianming wasn’t afraid of the price being high. He could afford it.
Once he finished off Chen Lin, the Hell Organization would answer to him alone.
By then, that Bai fellow would still be cozying up to him, eager to please. Plenty of opportunities to take that money back later!
“Fine. I agree. I’ll pay half upfront. After it’s done, the other half. But you have to guarantee there are no mistakes.”
Bai Jinghong vowed with absolute confidence. “I’ve got some reputation on the streets.”
“I can arrange men to help you, and I can set up the ambush. But the actual killing—you handle that yourself.”
“That goes without saying!”
“We’ll discuss the specifics in person tomorrow!”
Bai Jinghong agreed and hung up.
He tossed his phone aside and burst out laughing.
No matter what was arranged, it would be them dying.
Luring Chen Lin out wasn’t hard. He could set up the ambush in advance.
While they were locked in a vicious struggle, he’d sweep in for the harvest.
The time, the place, the mission—essentially all of it was under his control.
And this time, he’d have to prepare some submachine guns.
Aim to take down both protagonists in one go.
Bai Jinghong drove back to the Autumn Club.
Shen Yaoyao and Zi Yue were already waiting in the previous room.
The moment Bai Jinghong walked in, both women rushed to greet him.
“Jinghong, how did it go? Did you fool Gu Tianming?”
Shen Yaoyao sounded almost anxious.
Bai Jinghong nodded. “He called me. Wants me to work with him to take out Chen Lin.”
“I agreed.”
He paused, thinking, then looked at Shen Yaoyao. “Yao Yao, this next part is where you come in.”
“Chen Lin still doesn’t know about your relationship with me. He still thinks you’re the War General planted at my side as a mole.”
“Call him and tell him I’m planning to visit a departed friend at the Nine Dragons Cemetery in the southern suburbs.”
“That’ll be a good place to ambush me.”
Shen Yaoyao nodded firmly.
Chen Lin had already been itching to make a move against Bai Jinghong.
According to Chen Lin’s current grand plan, he needed to cripple Bai Jinghong so he could use Shen Yaoyao to better devour the Bai Corporation.
After all, opportunities for a clean, quiet job without the Bai Family catching on were rare. If Bai Jinghong was quietly taken out at a cemetery, who would ever know it was him?
Chen Lin would definitely go.
All Bai Jinghong had to do was leak the information to Gu Tianming.
The moment the two sides ran into each other, there was no doubt Gu Tianming would strike first.
And once the opening move was made, the outcome was already sealed.
Bai Jinghong only needed to watch the show and pick off the leftovers.
