A middle-aged man stood in the doorway, apparently in his forties.
He wore a well-tailored black uniform made of fine fabric that looked expensive.
The man had a refined face, but his eyes held an unmistakable, persistent air of scrutiny.
"Jiang Yuanpeng?"
Black Wolf's one eye narrowed dangerously. "What brings you here in person? Could it be that your Jiang Family is interested in this little girl too?"
"It's the head of the Jiang Family!"
"Why would he come in person?"
"Damn it, if the Jiang Family wants to snatch her too, what chance do we have..."
The captains, who had been glaring at one another and refusing to give an inch, all grew solemn.
Throughout the Underground City, that surname represented absolute power.
Their influence spread like tangled roots, a behemoth no Mining Team could match.
If Jiang Yuanpeng truly intended to recruit the girl, they would probably have to hold their noses and swallow the loss today.
Hearing the captains beside him muttering the name "Jiang Yuanpeng," Bai Chen found it somewhat familiar.
Jiang...
Before he could follow the thought, his gaze was firmly drawn to a figure standing half a step behind Jiang Yuanpeng.
It was a girl in a luxurious dress, her makeup immaculate, watching them with gloating eyes.
It's Jiang Ruoxue. This woman is stirring up trouble again!
Bai Chen's heart sank. He immediately realized things were about to go badly.
Sure enough.
Jiang Ruoxue exchanged a glance with her father, Jiang Yuanpeng, both their gazes filled with cold indifference.
Only then did Jiang Yuanpeng slowly speak.
"You captains seem to be in fine spirits today, gathered here like this. Is it for this little girl?"
Black Wolf had the fiercest temper of them all. He steeled himself and said in a low voice:
"Head of the Jiang Family, our mining teams are recruiting a new member. Surely a small matter like this didn't require you to come in person?"
"That's right."
Jiang Yuanpeng actually nodded, and even a faint smile appeared on his face, though it held not a trace of warmth.
"I didn't come today to compete with any of you for her."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at his words.
As long as the Jiang Family didn't interfere, they still had a chance.
But Jiang Yuanpeng's next words sent all their hearts sinking to rock bottom.
"I came to tell you all,"
He paused, slowly sweeping his gaze over every captain present.
"None of you may take her."
What?!
The moment he said it, everyone in the room was shocked!
"Head of the Jiang Family! What do you mean by this?"
Liu Yu knitted her delicate brows and was the first to step forward.
"When we recruit members, it's always based on individual ability and mutual willingness. Isn't the Jiang Family reaching a little too far?"
"Exactly! Since when does the Jiang Family get to point fingers at us over who we recruit?"
"This is outrageous!"
The captains' pent-up anger flared in an instant, and they all spoke up in protest.
They might fear the Jiang Family's power, but that didn't mean they were willing to be humiliated like this, even stripped of the freedom to recruit.
Faced with their challenges, Jiang Yuanpeng's expression remained unchanged.
On the way here, he had indeed wanted to recruit the girl and bring her into the Jiang Family.
But just now, he had learned from his daughter that the girl had already made an enemy of the Jiang Family.
After confirming that the enmity was irreconcilable, Jiang Yuanpeng had decided without hesitation to use all the Jiang Family's power to suppress her completely.
Provoking a genius who had yet to mature was not frightening.
What was frightening was leaving her alone and letting her grow into a grave threat to the Jiang Family.
Since they were already on opposing sides, they had to use the most thunderous means to strangle her completely in the bud!
So not only could he not let the girl join any Mining Team today, he also had to send someone to deal with her as quickly as possible afterward.
"If you want to recruit her, go ahead. My Jiang Family won't stop you."
"But before you decide, you'd best weigh whether you and the Mining Teams behind you can withstand my Jiang Family's wrath."
A blatant threat!
Those words were like a bucket of ice water, instantly dousing the anger in every captain's heart.
The room fell deathly silent once again.
Black Wolf's fists creaked as he clenched them, his one eye filled with struggle and unwillingness. Liu Yu's expression also became extremely ugly.
They could refuse to accept it, but they couldn't ignore the future of their members and their entire guilds.
Make an enemy of the Jiang Family?
Not a single person present could bear the consequences.
Jiang Yuanpeng was very pleased with their reaction. This was exactly the effect he wanted.
"A word of advice. The Underground City is vast, and there are plenty of promising young people. There's no need to stake your own present and that of your entire Mining Team on an uncertain future."
"As for you two..."
His gaze lingered on Bai Chen for a moment, then returned to Lin Luoluo's face.
"From today onward, no Mining Team in the Underground City will take you in. Enjoy the last of your freedom."
With that, Jiang Yuanpeng spared the others no further glance, as though spending another second there would be a waste of time.
He turned and walked toward the door with Jiang Ruoxue.
Just before stepping through the doorway, Jiang Ruoxue turned back and gave Lin Luoluo and Bai Chen a malicious victor's smile.
Jiang Ruoxue didn't forget to add one last thing:
"Oh, right, you probably don't know yet, but Lin Luoluo is a cripple."
"You can all have a good think about how a cripple managed to get an SSS rating..."