Arrangements

After hanging up, both Alexandra and Wang Bert sneered. Sincerity? Sincerity my ass!

Alexandra immediately began calling people. Split the Dragon Bone in half? Dream on. She would not give them even a single bone fragment. After all, the Dragon Bone represented The Hand's very life!

Alexandra said, "Bojutsu, Sowande, Murakami, Five Fingers, it's time for us to reunite!"

Wang Bert did not call anyone. He merely used the Purple Man Virus to control Giyohachiro, then had him leave and return to Murakami to report back.

Mercury watched Giyohachiro stagger away and asked worriedly, "Blood God, will your control still work after he leaves?"

"It will. As long as no one discovers it, it will remain effective forever!"

Wang Bert said, "The Hand probably won't notice that Giyohachiro has been controlled. They are martial artists, after all, not Magicians!"

"That's good. Blood God, that move of yours is really impressive!"

Mercury said enviously. She did not suspect anything at all. Wasn't it perfectly natural for the Blood God to control others with blood?

Wang Bert laughed loudly. "Of course! My Blood Shadow Magic Skill is the best under heaven!"

Madame Gao mocked, "I already told you, that isn't martial arts!"

Wang Bert rolled his eyes and said to Mercury, "Clean things up. We're going to the Security Company!"

"You're saying people from The Hand know qigong, have lived for centuries, and can even resurrect?"

Frank stared at Wang Bert as if asking whether he was kidding. Xue Ren, standing nearby, also asked in confusion, "Blood God, isn't that a little strange? Ninjas are from the Island Nation, while qigong is from China. They aren't even part of the same system!"

"So what if they're an international criminal organization?"

Wang Bert said irritably. That was just how Marvel had set things up—what could he do? "The Hand's main force may consist of Island Nation ninjas, but their leaders are five traitors from K'un-Lun in China. On top of that, they worship the Evil God, 'The Beast,' and have committed countless unforgivable atrocities!"

Wang Bert gave a brief introduction, then continued, "And our objective is to destroy The Hand!"

Frank said with some difficulty, "Bert, the most important thing in war is understanding both sides' strength. In your Eastern military doctrine, it's called knowing yourself and your enemy, and winning every battle. But qigong, ninjas, and all that are too far beyond my imagination. I can't accurately judge The Hand's strength."

"That's easy. Madame Gao, have a match with Xue Ren!"

Wang Bert smiled. "Xue Ren, be careful. Your strength is roughly equivalent to one of The Hand's Jonin, while Madame Gao is one of the Five Fingers!"

Xue Ren looked at Madame Gao, who seemed as though a gust of wind could knock her over, and asked skeptically, "Blood God, are you sure I can't beat her?"

In fact, Frank shared the same doubts. Westerners had a deeply rooted belief—more muscle meant greater strength. That was why their beautiful women always liked muscular men, and the bigger the muscles, the more they liked them.

"You'll know once you fight!"

Wang Bert said no more. He stepped back with Mercury and Frank, leaving the battlefield to Xue Ren and the expressionless Madame Gao.

Madame Gao turned to Wang Bert and asked, "Can I get serious? I really feel like hitting someone right now!"

Wang Bert smiled. "Go ahead! Vampires can't be beaten to death anyway!"

"That's good."

Madame Gao nodded. Her qi had recovered, but she remained under Wang Bert's control, since the virus had already invaded her brain.

"Old lady, be careful not to bite off more than you can chew."

Madame Gao's words irritated Xue Ren. He practiced free fighting, and he bounced forward on his feet before throwing a fast, powerful punch at Madame Gao's face.

The seemingly frail Madame Gao instantly lowered her body after Xue Ren attacked, then thrust out a palm like roaring thunder. Xue Ren flew away like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into the wall with a BANG! The wall itself caved in from the impact!

It was not over yet. Madame Gao was full of pent-up anger and had finally found an outlet. She immediately struck Xue Ren against the wall with a palm from a distance. Another BANG! rang out as Xue Ren smashed through the wall and flew outside!

A moment later, a BANG! of someone hitting the ground came from outside. Wang Bert asked Mercury speechlessly, "What floor are we on?"

Mercury answered expressionlessly, "The seventh."

"Take someone and bring him back up! He didn't believe what I said, so he deserves his bad luck!"

Wang Bert said irritably. Mercury immediately went out to call for people. This was a high-level conference room, with only the few of them inside. Wang Bert secretly thought, He really is weak. Should I have Xue Ren learn Wing Chun? If Yu Zhoudan doesn't learn Wing Chun, it always feels like something is missing!

What had just happened nearly made Frank's eyes pop out. A frail old woman had sent a burly man flying through a wall. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it!

"This is an elite martial artist from K'un-Lun who has lived for centuries. In fact, this is not even her strongest strength. A few decades ago, she could have blown up a tank with one palm strike!"

Wang Bert smiled at Frank. Frank gave a bitter smile. "I believe you now. Is everyone in The Hand at this level?"

"No. Only the Five Fingers are at this level. The remaining ninjas are divided into Jonin, Chunin, and Genin. Jonin possess qi and are roughly on Xue Ren's level. As for Chunin and Genin, although they do not possess qi, they are not weak either, considering how many years they have lived!"

Wang Bert said, "Also, they can resurrect, so they fear no death. They often carry bombs and die together with their enemies!"

Frank made a rough estimate and frowned. "This battle won't be easy."

"It won't be that hard either. I can deal with The Hand's Five Fingers!"

Wang Bert smiled. "And we have Madame Gao. The Hand doesn't know she has been controlled by me!"

"If that's the case, then the situation is completely different!"

Frank said happily. "But this requires meticulous planning. The Hand has committed so many evil deeds without being wiped out, so they definitely won't be easy opponents."

Wang Bert laughed loudly. "That's where our Instructor Caster comes in!"

"A million-dollar annual salary really isn't easy to earn!"

Frank said that, but he looked quite excited. A hard-bitten man like him loved the battlefield most of all.

For his family, he could leave the military and become an instructor, but that did not mean he did not want to relive the smoke and fire of war!

Frank said briskly, "I need more intelligence—the exact strength of The Hand, as well as the manpower they can bring in."

Wang Bert said, "Madame Gao, tell him. Answer whatever he asks!"

Madame Gao nodded expressionlessly. Frank glanced at her, then asked Wang Bert, "Is your method of control reliable?"

Wang Bert said, "One hundred percent reliable. My blood is controlling her inside her body!"

"That's good!"

Frank did not suspect anything either. As before, it was entirely reasonable for the Blood God to control others with blood!

While Frank questioned Madame Gao for intelligence, Mercury had already brought people to rescue Xue Ren. Although Xue Ren's injuries were serious, after drinking some blood, he had regained the ability to move!

Mercury asked coldly, "Do you know what you did wrong?"

"I was too careless. I never expected that old lady to be so powerful!"

Xue Ren clutched his aching chest and gave a bitter smile. Several of his ribs had been broken, and they would need time to heal!

"Your mistake was not underestimating her. Your mistake was not believing the Blood God!"

Mercury shouted coldly, "The Blood God said she was powerful, yet you dared not believe him? Who do you think gave you everything you have today?"

"What?"

Xue Ren froze, then broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly said, "I know I was wrong. I'll apologize to the Blood God immediately and beg for his forgiveness!"

Mercury said, "Do not make this mistake a second time. No matter what the Blood God says, you must believe him! Everything you have was given to you by the Blood God!"

"I understand!"

Xue Ren nodded very seriously, then asked somewhat hesitantly, "Why did you remind me? You're a Pureblood, while I'm only a Half-blood!"

"You are indeed only a Half-blood, but Half-bloods are Blood Clan too."

Mercury said, "I don't want the Security Company to fall into human hands! You must hold firmly onto the position of person in charge and not let anyone take it from you!"

Xue Ren knew whom Mercury meant. He said, "Instructor Frank is a good man and very capable. I admire him, but the position of person in charge will only be mine!"

"Good!"

Mercury nodded in satisfaction. Then she brought Xue Ren back to the conference room, where Madame Gao was introducing The Hand's situation. "This time, the other four Fingers of The Hand will definitely all come. They can mobilize around two hundred ninjas."

When Wang Bert saw Mercury and Xue Ren return, he motioned for them to listen in, then said to Madame Gao, "Two hundred ninjas? The Hand has quite a bit of influence in New York!"

Two hundred ninjas did not sound like much, but ninjas were direct subordinates. The Hand also had a large number of lower-ranking thugs. If necessary, they could gather over a thousand people in minutes.

Wang Bert's Blood Clan Security Company, along with the guards commanded by Mercury, could only mobilize a little over one hundred and fifty capable fighters in the short term—the Blood Clan's main force was at the Blood Clan Police Department, working themselves to the bone every day as they established a new order, Wang Bert's new order!

"This negotiation concerns the Dragon Bone, so The Hand will only use their direct subordinates."

Madame Gao said, "The Hand has plenty of personnel in the Island Nation and elsewhere. I suggest you negotiate with them as soon as possible, lest they bring in reinforcements from other places!"

"Of course."

Wang Bert nodded and continued asking, "Tell me how many Jonin and Chunin they have. Also, where will they choose to negotiate?"

"Rand Corporation has a dock in Hell's Kitchen. They will probably choose to negotiate with you there, because Rand Corporation has already been taken over by The Hand."

Over the next hour, Wang Bert and Frank carefully questioned her about all kinds of intelligence. Madame Gao was quite displeased. These bastards would not even give an old woman a chair to sit on. Where had the virtue of respecting the elderly and caring for the young gone? Xue Ren did not know what Madame Gao was thinking. Otherwise, he would definitely have complained, "You count as an old woman? My ribs are still broken!"

Frank took a sip from his thermos and smiled at Wang Bert. "We can win this battle!"

"Then it's up to you!"

Wang Bert laughed loudly. Punisher's assurance was extremely reliable! Hiring him for a million-dollar annual salary had been a huge bargain!

After hearing the intelligence, Xue Ren finally had a chance to apologize to Wang Bert. He lowered his head and said, "Blood God, I should not have doubted your words. Please forgive me!"

Seeing Xue Ren voluntarily admit his mistake, Wang Bert's anger eased somewhat. He said, "Knowing your mistake and correcting it is the greatest good. Don't make the same mistake again."

"Yes, Blood God!"

Xue Ren hurriedly nodded and gave Mercury a grateful look. Without her guidance, this hurdle would not have been easy to overcome.

Mercury ignored Xue Ren because her phone rang. She walked aside to answer it, then returned a moment later and said, "Blood God, Ms. Carter is at the café. She wants to see you!"

"I'll go back and see her!"

Wang Bert nodded to Frank, telling him to focus on formulating tactics, then returned to the café with Mercury.

When Carter saw Wang Bert, she got straight to the point. Wearing a women's business suit, she looked especially capable. "You want to short Stark Industries?"

Wang Bert sat down and nodded. "Yes. Why?"

Carter stared intently at Wang Bert and said, "Tony was attacked in the Middle East. His fate is unknown!"

Wang Bert smiled. "Looks like my judgment was correct. Mercury, have the Financial Company begin!"

"Yes, Blood God!"

Mercury immediately went out to make the call. Short selling Stark Industries now would definitely bring in a considerable profit. The Blood God's judgment was truly accurate.

Carter asked again, "You knew this would happen?"

Wang Bert said, "I received a little insider information. Ms. Carter, there's no need to keep staring at me. I didn't do this. I don't have that much of a grudge against Tony. He only designed a mask for me a few days ago."

Carter said, "Then do you know who did it? Tony is my nephew. I don't want anything to happen to him!"

Instead of answering, Wang Bert asked, "Ms. Carter, everyone knows the U.S. Military loves using Stark Industries weapons. But do you know what weapons Terrorists like to use most?"

"What weapons?"

"Stark Industries weapons too! The weapons used to attack Tony may very well have been designed by Tony himself!"

Carter shouted, "That's impossible! Stark Industries would never sell weapons to Terrorists!"

Wang Bert said calmly, "Ms. Carter, times have changed! Tony's attack was the sin of Stark Industries itself. That is all I can tell you."

Carter was stunned. She asked thoughtfully, "Are you saying there is internal conflict within Stark Industries?"

Wang Bert did not say anything further. He changed the subject and asked, "Ms. Carter, is the establishment of Blood God Group proceeding smoothly?"

Carter could only set aside her doubts for the moment. She nodded. "Fairly smoothly. Things have already moved from chaos toward order, but there is a problem with the Blood Department. To research Artificial Blood, we need real experts, and such experts are either employed by other companies or look down on our new company.

"I plan to return to England in a few days. I have quite a few connections there and should be able to hire some decent experts!"

"I see!"

Wang Bert thought for a moment, then asked, "Have you heard of Rand Corporation?"

"I have. It's a major company with a market value of nearly ten billion dollars, mainly engaged in pharmaceuticals, along with real estate and various other businesses!"

Carter nodded. To become a good President, she had put in quite a bit of studying! "Rand Corporation has been controlled by The Hand. In the next few days, I will destroy The Hand. Then we can take control of Rand Corporation!"

Wang Bert said, "Prepare a plan to hollow out Rand Corporation's Medical Department, then use it to establish our own Blood Department!"

"Take control of Rand Corporation?"

Carter was stunned. A massive conglomerate worth nearly ten billion dollars—could they really just take control of it? Come to think of it, it seems like taking care of The Hand this time could earn us quite a lot of money?

Wang Bert rubbed his chin and muttered, "What should I do? I'm already so rich, yet I'm somehow about to become even richer?"