A Tyrant's End

The only miscalculation was that no one had expected the minor forces secretly encouraged by the two families to suddenly target Wang Kun's family. They had acted on impulse as well. When HYDRA received the news, Chen Mo was still on the plane and completely unreachable. After getting off the plane, he had rushed straight to the Martial Arts School with Howard, so the intelligence personnel had not reported it for the time being.

The HYDRA agents stationed around the Martial Arts School had also been tasked with secretly protecting it and eliminating any attacking enemies. Without Chen Mo's orders, they would not act rashly.

It could only be called an unfortunate coincidence. If Chen Mo had been in Europe, he would have received the intelligence immediately and been able to direct the HYDRA agents to rescue the hostages and eliminate the threat.

Fortunately, Chen Mo had returned in time. He simply led the team in and attacked openly himself. After all, it was best not to deploy HYDRA agents if they could avoid it, lest they cause unnecessary trouble.

The gunfire downstairs finally stopped, but even after a long while, no one came in to report. The ominous feeling in Floyd's heart grew stronger and stronger.

He reached for the cigar cutter on the desk, his hand trembling slightly. It took him a long time to cut the cigar. Just as he picked up a match to light it, a set of footsteps sounded in the corridor, slowly drawing closer. Floyd's heart jolted, and he raised his head to look toward the door with a complicated expression.

The footsteps halted outside the door. The office doors were pushed open, and seven figures dressed in identical black combat uniforms strode inside.

"It really is you!"

The moment he saw Chen Mo, Floyd's expression changed. The cigar in his hand fell onto the desk, and he slumped back in his executive chair, his face ashen.

He knew his family was finished. And so was he!

Chen Mo looked at the man seated behind the luxurious desk and slowly raised his gun. He did not like wasting words, and there was no need to say anything more at a time like this.

Floyd closed his eyes in despair, a deep wave of regret rising within him. He had clearly known how terrifyingly strong Chen Mo was, so why had he still tried to be clever and target the Martial Arts School?

Unfortunately, it was all too late.

Although a pistol was hidden beneath the desk, Floyd, who had personally experienced Chen Mo's strength, knew very well that Chen Mo would never give him the chance to touch it.

Chen Mo coldly pointed the muzzle at his forehead. Looking at the fallen tyrant before him, waiting with closed eyes for death, Chen Mo felt no pity whatsoever. Everyone chose their own path. Since he had chosen the wrong road to death, then he could walk it to the end!

"Bang!"

That night, Chen Mo and his group swept through the headquarters of Brooklyn's two major Mafia families. Nearly all of the families' core members were wiped out. Brooklyn's underworld was rocked to its core, and its entire underground order would soon face a reshuffling.

Back at the Martial Arts School, Howard had a cigar clenched between his teeth as he followed Chen Mo inside with an excited expression.

"Tonight was incredible! Hahaha! We're rich!"

As he spoke, he looked toward Huang Quan and the others' hands.

Huang Quan, Han Qing, and the other two were carrying heavy suitcases upstairs into the Martial Arts School.

They had packed up and brought back the vaults of both families. Having controlled Brooklyn's entire underworld for decades, the two families had accumulated an astronomical amount of wealth.

"No, I'm rich." Chen Mo's cold voice came from the sofa.

Hearing this, Howard hurried over and sat down in front of the sofa, saying ingratiatingly, "Don't be like that. I put in work tonight too!"

Chen Mo nodded, and a look of delight immediately appeared on Howard's face. "That's right. You got shot the most and had the strongest ability to draw fire. More than half the people I took out were aiming at your head."

Howard's face stiffened in embarrassment. He knew he had indeed been a little too excited tonight. If Chen Mo had not been watching out for him, he did not know how many times he would have been killed already.

Seeing him sit on the sofa silently in frustration, Chen Mo asked indifferently, "Are you short on money?"

After all, Howard was the largest arms supplier in the United States. Stark Industries was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Although the wealth taken from the two families was enough to equal nearly half his company, it should not have made him lose his composure like this.

"Researching Anti-Gravity Technology costs too much. I've nearly spent all the company's liquid capital." Howard looked up at Chen Mo with a resentful expression. "I'm much poorer than you now!"

Howard was not a pure businessman, after all. His interests lay more in developing new technology. Once he got going, he could stay in the laboratory for days without eating or sleeping, never considering the cost. The problem was that the research he pursued was also the most expensive. He had probably failed to rein himself in this time and gone too far, nearly running his company into the ground.

"I know you still have plenty of money. Otherwise, why would those Mafia people keep targeting you? The doctor told me everything. You're the one funding his experiments now. So tell me, are you going to help or not?"

As Howard spoke, he raised the cigar he had casually taken from Floyd and took a deep drag before slowly exhaling. "If you don't help, I'll have no choice but to sell shares. Then I'll end up with a bunch of troublesome shareholders nagging in my ear all day."

Imagining that scene, Howard looked deeply unwilling, then turned to Chen Mo with eyes full of anticipation.

Howard was a technology fanatic. He had formed Stark Industries only to commercialize his experimental results and make money to fund further research. All of the company's shares were in his own hands, which was why he could so willfully spend nearly all of its liquid funds and end up forced to sell shares.

Chen Mo suspected that this was how Stark Industries' later shareholders had come about. In Iron Man 1, Tony had been sidelined by Obadiah through the board of directors entirely because of the pit his father had dug for him long ago.

Looking at Howard, who had no idea he was about to set his son up for trouble, Chen Mo leaned back against the sofa.

"Then you should sell shares."

The disappointment had only just appeared on Howard's face when Chen Mo continued.

"I want fifty percent."

Howard's eyes lit up. He had originally intended to squeeze some money out of Chen Mo to handle the immediate crisis and keep things afloat, but that was not a long-term solution. Selling shares was probably inevitable sooner or later. Compared to investors who only cared about profits, he could completely accept selling shares to Chen Mo. It might even be a good thing.

He and Chen Mo often researched cutting-edge technology together. From what he knew of Chen Mo, money meant nothing to him. Chen Mo joining would not affect the company's operations. On the contrary, Howard would gain a wealthy backer and a research partner who shared his interests.

He refused to believe that when the research reached a critical point and money ran short, Chen Mo would not cough up the funds.