The Audacious Ryan Family

Just as the emperor was angrily bickering with his ministers, a storm was beginning to brew within the territory of the Ryan family.

Inside the family grand hall, Walker Ryan, the current head of the Ryan family, sat at the head of the table with an air of natural authority, while the Great Elder and the other elders sat in order below him.

"Family Head, that Saiwode has such audacity to actually refuse our demands like that! We must do something!"

The Great Elder was the first to speak, aiming his hostility directly at Saiwode with a tone full of fury.

Not long ago, their family had approached Saiwode to discuss the grading of a batch of goods.

To their surprise, Saiwode had shown them no respect at all, refusing them point-blank and claiming it was the rule of Xuanshen Island that no one was allowed to break.

This had infuriated the Great Elder; in his eyes, Saiwode was merely a merchant, and for him to dare humiliate their family meant he deserved to die.

"But Saiwode has the backing of Xuanshen Island, so it wouldn't be easy for us to take direct action."

A different voice spoke up, sounding somewhat hesitant.

"Just because Saiwode has the backing of Xuanshen Island, does that mean our Ryan family should be afraid? We are a family of the Lingester Empire!"

The Great Elder immediately glared at him, looking as if he were ready to start a fight.

"Enough, Great Elder. We are holding a family meeting; even if someone says something wrong, you shouldn't be this agitated."

Patriarch Walker watched this scene and spoke up to interrupt.

The Great Elder nodded, not minding the rebuke, and sat back down.

Moreover, while the patriarch had ostensibly said he was in the wrong, he had actually implied that the other elder was mistaken, effectively setting the tone for the matter: they would be firm.

The patriarch had not scolded that elder, yet he had clearly expressed his stance that the elder was wrong.

Since the founding of the Lingester Empire one hundred years ago, the Ryan family, having followed Lingester and earned the title of Duke, had settled in the coastal province of Haide.

Ryan had started as a mercenary with a carefree personality, later becoming a follower of Lingester, eventually rising to the rank of Grand General, and finally reaching the Saint Realm.

The members of the Ryan family all took Ryan as their role model, emulating his style of conduct—treating those around them with aggression and harshness, always demanding their word be law.

That was until twenty years ago, when a Marquis, unable to stand their family's posturing, taught one of their spoiled descendants a lesson.

Although that descendant was a local bully, he was still a member of the Ryan family, and they could not tolerate him being bullied by an outsider.

A Marquis? A level-nine powerhouse? They didn't care; not only was their ancestor Ryan a Saint Realm powerhouse, but the family itself boasted five level-nine powerhouses, including two of direct bloodline and three mercenaries.

For that incident, to ensure nothing went wrong, Patriarch Walker personally led two level-nine warriors and a large group of mercenaries into action.

However, what Walker had not expected was that the guy was so difficult to handle, holding off three of them for a quarter of an hour and allowing an old man and a child to escape.

Because of this, the family issued a kill order and searched for a long time, but to no avail.

It wasn't until that day that their ancestor Ryan, who had been in seclusion for a long time without a breakthrough, came out to clear his head and happened to hear about the matter, so he decided to investigate.

This investigation gave him a shock; he discovered that the old man named Bernas had actually broken through to the Saint Realm.

Ryan was instantly filled with murderous intent, for he knew very well the difference between the Saint Realm and level-nine.

Even if Bernas remained at the early Saint Realm for the rest of his life, he could still kill everyone in the Ryan family except for Ryan himself.

Furthermore, if Bernas were to continue breaking through to the mid or even peak Saint Realm, Ryan himself would be in danger.

Ryan would not allow such a hidden threat to exist near him, so he went to deal with Bernas personally.

However, to everyone's surprise, Lord Huosi appeared to protect those two.

Fortunately, Lord Lingester also stepped in, and in the end, the matter was settled with a mutual non-aggression agreement.

Walker recalled the past for a moment and continued to issue his orders:

"Pass on my patriarch's order: capture Saiwode and his butler, announce to the public that they have gone missing, suspected of being attacked by bandits, and then arrange for our men to find a way to take over their assets."

"Even if their corporate headquarters doesn't believe it, we can bicker with them; as long as we don't bring the matter into the open, Xuanshen Island won't be able to say anything."

"Remember, check for crystal balls during the operation; it must not be recorded."

"Back then, the God-level powerhouses jointly established the rule that they cannot attack Saint Realm powerhouses without cause; as long as this isn't made public, Lord Huosi cannot intervene casually."

"Don't kill them immediately after bringing them in; they still know many useful things. Get them to spill all their intelligence before disposing of them."

"Rest assured, Patriarch, I guarantee the entire operation will go unnoticed, unless they have something that can record our actions without a crystal ball."

The Great Elder nodded, thinking himself humorous, indicating there would be no problem.

As the patriarch's order was issued, the elders in the hall nodded in secret.

This style of conduct was exactly the hallmark of their family, and it was the manifestation of the will of the many elders.

Only the elder who had previously objected opened his mouth, but in the end, he closed it again. However, he had a bad premonition in his heart; he felt that Xuanshen Island would likely not let this go easily.

For many years, he had actually had some objections to some of the family's practices; in his view, the family was not a mercenary group, and their style of conduct should change.

The family could be unafraid of trouble, but they shouldn't go looking for it; doing so would sooner or later bring a fatal disaster upon themselves.

Unfortunately, his voice was weak and his status low; no one cared about his thoughts, and in the end, he could only sigh and leave it to fate.

As night fell, several figures moved forward at high speed.

At this moment, Saiwode, who had come to inspect the branch, was reviewing the data analysis report.

During this period, he had been so busy he felt like a spinning top; a rapidly expanding enterprise placed high demands on its controller, and he dared not slack off in the slightest.

Saiwode knew very well that this was his and his family's chance for a complete transformation. As long as he completed the mission well, he could shed his status as a low-ranking merchant in the empire and become a top-tier entrepreneur on Xuanshen Island.

Although entrepreneurs were still merchants, they possessed a background guarantee that they previously lacked; one could say they were in no way inferior to the nobles of the empire.

He naturally had to seize this opportunity, complete all tasks, and dared not relax even in the slightest.

"Hmm?"

The next second, Saiwode suddenly raised his head, put down the pen in his hand, and his eyes were filled with astonishment.

As a merchant who had been navigating the world for many years, he was no useless person lacking vigilance; on the contrary, he was someone who had seen blood.

Business warfare was not child's play, and for a chamber of commerce to grow large, it was inevitable that it would be built upon blood. His enemies would stop at nothing, so he was exceptionally sensitive to potential attacks.

Just now, a faint muffled groan had come from the night, sounding like an assassination attempt where the victim failed to cover their mouth in time.

As someone who had been assassinated more than once, he was very familiar with that sound.

"Damn it! It must be them!"

Saiwode's brain raced, and he immediately realized who the attackers were; they had to be from the Ryan family.

Although he didn't have many guards, under the arrangements of Xuanshen Island, they were all level seven or level eight warriors. To assassinate them silently would require at least two level nine powerhouses working in tandem.

In Haide Province, only the Ryan family could achieve this, and only they had the motive.

He had anticipated that the Ryan family might take action; previously, people from the Ryan family had come to him regarding the pricing of some cargo orders.

He had refused them at the time, and he had guessed that the Ryan family would not let the matter rest.

He just hadn't expected them to be so bold as to resort to direct assassination. Were they not afraid of Xuanshen Island intervening? Who gave them the courage to provoke Xuanshen Island? To provoke Lord Huosi?

While Saiwode thought, his hands moved without hesitation, quickly turning on the indoor surveillance camera.

This was a gift specifically given to him by his son, Charles, and he had installed it directly in his office.

The surveillance footage here could be transmitted to the headquarters of Xuanshen Island.

"You certainly wouldn't have expected the existence of a surveillance camera. As long as the video is transmitted back, there will be evidence, and Xuanshen Island will definitely make you pay the price."

A cold glint flashed in Saiwode's eyes, and he then quickly ignited and destroyed the documents in his hand.

He did not attempt to escape. The other party had made full preparations, and as a level six warrior, there was absolutely no possibility of escape under these circumstances.

"Yo! You didn't even try to run; you've got some guts!"

Following the sound of Walker's voice, over a dozen figures appeared in the room simultaneously.

"It seems my guards have already been slaughtered. I really didn't expect the Ryan family to stoop to assassination. Are you not afraid of Xuanshen Island? Are you not afraid of Lord Huosi's retribution?"

Saiwode stared at Walker's face, questioning him with an expression of "fury."

He was, of course, not truly angry, or rather, given his level of sophistication, even if he were truly angry, he would have suppressed it immediately under these circumstances.

He was merely trying to bait the other party into saying something treasonous.

"Xuanshen Island? Do you think our Ryan family cares about that? As for Huosi, if he dares to defy the world and violate the rules to take action, he will naturally trigger a siege by other god-level powerhouses. If he, Huosi, isn't afraid of death, he can go ahead and try!"

Walker replied with utter disdain.

"You have such audacity, daring to insult Lord Huosi like this."

Saiwode continued to question him, attempting to bait the other party into saying more.

"You talk too much. Take him away!"

Walker waved his hand, saying no more. Although he had checked earlier that there were no recording crystals here and no one else was present, allowing him to indulge his tongue, it was still better not to say too much about insulting a god-level powerhouse.

What a pity, but what he said is enough.

Saiwode thought to himself, though his mouth continued to act exceptionally furious, cursing and swearing incessantly.

What Walker did not know was that just after Saiwode was taken away, a red light flashed, and a video file was transmitted back to the headquarters of Xuanshen Island via the network.

And in this video, the words he spoke would make him, the Ryan family, and even the Lingester Empire pay a tremendous price.