Conspiracy

That night, Jingdu Base City, Xingwang Residential District.

Xingwang Residential District occupied a massive area; in terms of architectural footprint, it ranked within the top three in all of Jingdu Base City, serving as the stronghold for the Wang Family of Jingdu.

Inside the district, within a luxurious villa covering nearly a thousand square meters.

A large number of soldiers in uniform patrolled the perimeter. In this residential district, most security forces were ordinary guards in black suits, with only a few select areas guarded by soldiers.

Yet, the number of soldiers surrounding this particular villa was the highest in the entire district, far exceeding anywhere else.

Even inside the villa, there were over twenty soldiers equipped with full sets of firearms, maintaining extremely tight security!

This was because one of the villa's owners, Qiu Wenjun, was a military officer whose status within the General Military District of Jingdu Base City was high enough to rank in the top ten.

To have reached such a position as a woman was enough to prove her capability!

"Why!"

"Damn it! Damn it!"

In the villa's luxurious hall, Wang Xing'an, dressed in expensive attire, paced back and forth, his eyes filled with endless rage.

After the banquet ended, he had gone to find his grandfather, the head of the Wang Family, Wang Junyang.

From Wang Junyang, he had received some extremely bad news. Namely, that Wang Xingzhi had successfully returned to the family and had become one of the candidates for the family heir.

He had climbed to his current position step by step, and aside from his parents' support, he didn't know how much effort he had poured into it.

Yet, a child who had been expelled from the family could now stand on equal footing with him simply because he had become an Advanced War General. How could he be willing to accept this?

What was an Advanced War General worth?

His bodyguards, his father's bodyguards, his mother's guard unit... which of them didn't include Advanced War Generals?

However, Wang Xing'an also knew clearly in his heart that those bodyguards were ultimately outsiders; at critical moments, these people would never risk their lives for the Wang Family.

If they were members of the Wang Family, anyone who reached the level of Advanced War General would hold significant power in their own right.

And that Wang Xingzhi, able to possess the strength of an Advanced War General at the age of 27, could be considered the number one martial arts talent among the direct descendants of the Wang Family.

Although the Wang Family had another young person even more gifted than him, that individual was not a direct descendant of the Wang Family.

"An'er, what's wrong with you?"

A middle-aged couple suddenly walked in from outside the villa; the man was wearing an exquisite suit, while the woman was in military uniform.

Seeing Wang Xing'an's expression, the middle-aged woman asked with a look of concern.

"Dad, Mom!" Seeing the two of them enter, Wang Xing'an quickly called out.

"Hmph!" The middle-aged man let out a cold snort and said, "What else could it be? Isn't it just that the son of your eldest uncle came to offer birthday wishes to your grandfather this afternoon? You're not a child anymore, why can't you keep your composure?"

"Your eldest brother?" Qiu Wenjun asked in confusion, "Wasn't he expelled from the family by your eldest uncle back then?"

"Who told the eldest brother to have such a good son?" Wang Zihao sighed, "Wang Xingzhi, the eldest brother's son. Wenjun, you remember him, right?"

Qiu Wenjun nodded; as the eldest grandson of the Wang Family, she still had some impression of him.

Wang Zihao continued, "That child has high talent. Even without the family's help, he has now cultivated to the level of an Advanced War General!"

"An Advanced War General?" Qiu Wenjun was slightly stunned, "If I remember correctly, that child is only twenty-seven this year, right? Did he come today to acknowledge his ancestors and return to the clan?"

Wang Zihao nodded.

"Then what about An'er?"

Qiu Wenjun had been married into the Wang Family for decades and naturally understood the various rules of the family, so she directly asked the question Wang Xing'an most wanted to know.

"What else can we do? He needs to cultivate harder!" Wang Zihao said helplessly, "As long as An'er's strength can catch up to his, even if it's just a little behind, with the power you and I hold, it would be enough for An'er to become the primary heir of the Wang Family!"

"But..." Qiu Wenjun sighed and said, "That won't work; there's simply no hope at all!"

She knew Wang Xing'an's cultivation talent all too well. Over these many years, the two of them had consumed a massive amount of resources, yet they had only just managed to push Wang Xing'an's physical fitness to the level of an Elementary War General. As for his actual combat effectiveness, it was even weaker.

"Dad!" Wang Xing'an also called out from the side; he did not want his future life to be spent entirely on cultivation.

Wang Zihao naturally knew what kind of person his son was; saying that before was merely to provoke him.

Seeing that his son was simply not cut out for cultivation, Wang Zihao said slowly, "If that won't work, then there is only one way left!"

"What way?" Qiu Wenjun and Wang Xing'an asked in unison.

Wang Zihao remained silent.

"A-Hao, what exactly is the way?" Qiu Wenjun pressed.

Wang Zihao remained silent.

"I want him dead!"

After a long silence, Wang Xing'an suddenly spoke up from the side, "As long as Wang Xingzhi is dead, he won't be able to compete with me! Yes, that's it! Dad, what do you think?"

Wang Xing'an could become one of the leaders of the younger generation of the Wang Family; he was naturally no fool. He quickly realized the only way his father was referring to.

"Sigh!"

Wang Zihao let out a sigh, which served as his tacit agreement with Wang Xing'an's statement.

He had a relatively good relationship with his eldest brother when they were young, but now that he had to kill his eldest brother's only son, he felt a momentary pang of reluctance.

However, in order to ensure his son became the heir to the Wang Family, he could no longer afford to care about such things.

"Dad, Mom, I'll arrange for someone to kill him right now!" Wang Xing'an said with a vicious look on his face.

"You're going to hire someone to kill him? You idiot!" Wang Zihao scolded. "Not to mention whether you could even kill him, even if you succeeded, if it were traced back to you, how would you ever compete for the position of heir?"

"Besides, how have I taught you all this time? 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.' That Wang Zhi now possesses the strength of an Advanced War General and has joined the Phantom Squad, which ranks in the top three within Jiangnan Base City. You're going to find someone to kill him? Who would you even hire?"

"Then what should we do?" Wang Xing'an asked anxiously.

"That's right, Ah-Hao! Can't you see that An'er is just worried?" Qiu Wenjun also chimed in from the side to persuade him. "If you have a plan, just say it!"

"I truly don't have the heart to kill my older brother's only son," Wang Zihao sighed.

"Enough!" Qiu Wenjun said suddenly. "It's just the two of us here, why are you still saying these things? If you really didn't intend to take action, would you have sent people to investigate him?"

"You... sigh!" Wang Zihao said helplessly. "The only way to kill Wang Zhi is to put out a bounty!"

"Hire mercenaries?" Wang Xing'an was startled.

After the Grand Nirvana, a large number of mercenary organizations appeared across the world.

As long as there is money, they will do anything; many base cities even recruit mercenaries to defend against monster attacks.

When posting a mission with mercenaries, the bounty amount is determined by the other party, and the asking price is generally very high.

"Dad, the price for that will be extremely high!" Wang Xing'an couldn't help but say.

"Hmph! What does a high price matter?" Wang Zihao said. "This is the only way to ensure absolute secrecy! Your mother and I still have some savings; it should be enough!"

To maintain secrecy, they could never use the family's public assets.

Fortunately, both of them held high-ranking positions, and over the years, they had managed to accumulate quite a bit of illicit income.

Soon, Wang Zihao found an unregistered SIM card and dialed the bounty hotline for a mercenary organization called the Flame Legion.

"I want to place a bounty!" Wang Zihao said directly once the call connected.

"Please speak!" A woman's voice came from the other end.

"I want to kill an Advanced War General level martial artist in Jiangnan Base City, 'Blood Blade' Wang Zhi!"

There wasn't a hint of emotion in Wang Zihao's voice, while Qiu Wenjun and Wang Xing'an stood to the side, not daring to make a sound.

"Understood. Please wait a moment while we calculate the bounty."

Killing someone?

Even if it were to kill a War God Level powerhouse, the Flame Legion would still accept the job.

As long as you can afford the price!

Wang Zihao waited quietly.

Before long, the woman's voice came through the phone: "According to our investigation, 'Blood Blade' Wang Zhi has already broken through to the Advanced War General level. To kill him anonymously, it will cost 30 billion!"

"30 billion???" Wang Zihao's voice changed. "How is it so high? That Wang Zhi is just a martial artist who just broke through to the Advanced War General level; why would it cost 30 billion for just one person? What kind of Killer requires such a price?"

"Sir, please don't be agitated!"

The woman on the other end said softly: "Our Flame Legion has extremely strict regulations regarding pricing. For killing an ordinary Advanced War General level martial artist, our price is generally around 10 billion."

"However, this 'Blood Blade' Wang Zhi became a member of the Wang Family—one of the nine core families of the HR Alliance—just today. Therefore, we require a 10 billion secrecy fee. Of course, if you are willing to disclose your own identity, we can waive that 10 billion."

Are you kidding? If he could disclose his identity, why would he be hiring mercenaries in the first place?

"Then what about the other 10 billion?" Wang Zihao continued to ask.

"Wang Zhi is a member of the Phantom Squad. To kill him, we may very well have to face the entire Phantom Squad. The captain of the Phantom Squad is also an Advanced War General level Spiritual Master, so we must add another 10 billion!"

Hearing this, Wang Zihao gritted his teeth slightly.

There was no negotiating the price with the Flame Legion.

However, coming up with 30 billion would hurt even him to the bone.

"Fine!" For the sake of his son, Wang Zihao ultimately agreed. "Get to work immediately and resolve this as soon as possible."

"Please transfer the bounty to our Flame Legion's exclusive account!" The woman's voice on the phone remained calm.

Wang Zihao hurriedly used another phone to transfer the 30 billion from an anonymous account to the Flame Legion's account. The Flame Legion was a massive organization, so he wasn't afraid of them welching on the deal.

"Sir, happy doing business with you." The woman smiled. "We will immediately arrange a suitable Killer. As soon as the target appears in the Wilderness Area, the Killer will strike!"

After saying this, the call was disconnected.