In truth, Ye Zhen had suspected the old ancestors of the Seven Clans of Lone Dragon Island on the very day that Zou Ba, one of the Pinglu Ten Heroes, caused trouble during the market opening ceremony.
Ye Zhen had not been on Lone Dragon Island for long. The three great water estates in the surrounding area were all his own people, and the only ones who bore a grudge were the Seven Clans of Lone Dragon Island.
But at the time, Ye Zhen had not been certain. It was only a suspicion.
However, the very next day, Ye Zhen ordered the Heavenly Patrol Divine Hunters and Ghost Investigators transferred to Lone Dragon Island to investigate everything related to the Pinglu Ten Heroes.
The Pinglu Ten Heroes were a gang of powerful scoundrels who had gathered together, fond of robbing homes, plundering households, killing, and setting fires. Their table manners were usually ugly, but when it came to wealth, they had plenty of methods.
Using the same tactics, the Pinglu Ten Heroes had acquired silent equity stakes ranging from half a share to several shares in six marketplaces within two million li of Pinglu Island, reaping countless dividends every year without lifting a finger.
Based on the intelligence he had gathered, Ye Zhen had studied their methods. Basically, whenever they demanded silent equity, all ten heroes would appear together and use their strength to force the other party to surrender dividend-bearing shares. Moreover, they always acted with great discretion and concealment.
They had never dealt with any establishment the way they had dealt with the Lone Dragon Island Marketplace.
So when Zou Ba publicly demanded silent equity, he was no longer merely seizing profits. He wanted to bury the Lone Dragon Island Marketplace before it could even be born.
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