Forcing Lou Gao to Join? Dugu Bo: I'm Not Negotiating With You!

"Very strong?"

Lou Gao finally raised his head, a flash of sharp light flickering in his cloudy, aged eyes:

"How strong?"

"Much... much stronger than Bishop Miles!"

Lou Gao felt a jolt in his heart. Although that greedy ghost Miles was detestable, he was at least a Soul Emperor.

Stronger than him by that much?

Could it be a Soul Douluo?

Or even...

"Let them in!"

Lou Gao said in a deep voice, casually rolling up the blueprints and putting them away.

A moment later.

Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan walked into the office.

As the door slowly closed, Dugu Bo casually set up a barrier of soul power, isolating everything from outside detection.

Then, he slowly removed the hood from his head, revealing that slightly sinister yet majestic old face.

"Poison Douluo?!

Dugu Bo?!"

Lou Gao's pupils contracted violently, and he exclaimed in shock.

Although he was obsessed with forging, he had heard of the great name of this Title Douluo who reigned supreme with his poison.

But why would this person suddenly come to this godforsaken Gengxin City?

"It is indeed this old man."

Dugu Bo smiled faintly, and without wasting words, he took a blood-stained bundle from his Soul Tool and tossed it onto Lou Gao's desk.

Thud!

The bundle landed, rolled a few times, and came undone at one corner.

It revealed a head inside, eyes still wide with the shock of death.

That fat face, that expression of terror and despair—it was none other than the Martial Soul Main Hall Cardinal Miles, who had been throwing his weight around just moments ago!

"Th-this is Miles?!"

Lou Gao jumped up from his chair in fright, pointing at the severed head, his fingers trembling:

"You... you killed him?!"

"Not just him."

Dugu Bo pulled over a chair and sat down, as if speaking of a trivial matter:

"The entire Martial Soul Main Hall has been razed to the ground by this old man.

From this day forward, there will be no Martial Soul Hall branch in Gengxin City."

Lou Gao stared blankly at Dugu Bo, then back at the head, his heart churning with turbulent waves.

After the shock came an indescribable, wild joy!

Miles, that bloodsucker, had been squeezing the Blacksmith Association for so many years and had long since become a thorn in Lou Gao's side.

But because he was a man of the Martial Soul Hall, Lou Gao, despite being a Divine Craftsman, had never dared to touch him easily.

Now, this scourge was finally dead!

"Good!

Well killed!"

Lou Gao couldn't help but burst into laughter, feeling as if a foul breath had finally been vented from his chest:

"Your Excellency truly has impressive methods!

This Miles deserved to die!

This old man has long wanted to slaughter him!"

"Since that is the case, is this old man's gift of greeting satisfactory to you, President Lou Gao?"

Dugu Bo looked at Lou Gao with a half-smile.

"Satisfactory!

More than satisfactory!"

Lou Gao nodded repeatedly, his gaze toward Dugu Bo becoming much more cordial:

"I wonder what brings Your Excellency to visit?

As long as it is within this old man's power, I will not refuse!"

"Refreshing."

A sharp glint flashed in Dugu Bo's eyes as he finally revealed his true intentions:

"This old man has come this time to invite President Lou Gao, and the entire Blacksmith Association, to join my... alliance."

"An alliance?"

The smile on Lou Gao's face gradually froze, and his brows furrowed:

"Does Your Excellency mean..."

"It's very simple."

Dugu Bo held up a single finger:

"From now on, the Blacksmith Association will be under my protection.

I guarantee that no one will ever dare to bully you like Miles did again."

"But in exchange, the Blacksmith Association must provide me with weapons and equipment, and... obey my commands."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the office instantly turned heavy.

Lou Gao fell silent.

Although it felt satisfying that Miles was dead, he was no fool.

Dugu Bo was trying to annex the Blacksmith Association!

Even though Dugu Bo was a Title Douluo, he was, after all, a lone wolf, and his reputation was not exactly stellar.

If they boarded his ship, it would be equivalent to standing completely on the opposite side of Martial Soul Hall.

Once things came to light, the retaliation from Martial Soul Hall would be absolutely devastating!

The Blacksmith Association might suffer indignities, but at least they could still scrape by.

If they followed Dugu Bo, they would be living with their heads on the chopping block every single day.

"This..."

Lou Gao rubbed his hands together, a look of hesitation appearing on his face:

"Your Excellency, you know as well as I do that we in the Blacksmith Association are just a group of craftsmen; we don't want to get involved in the disputes of the spirit master world..."

"Furthermore, Gengxin City is, after all, territory of the Star Luo Empire. If we follow you, I'm afraid it won't be easy to explain to the Empire..."

"Besides, if Martial Soul Hall finds out that we were the ones who killed Miles, the consequences..."

Lou Gao's voice grew quieter as he spoke, clearly offering a polite refusal.

"Hmph!"

Just then, a cold snort rang out in the office like a thunderclap.

Dugu Bo stood up abruptly, and a terrifying, peerless pressure of spirit power erupted instantly!

BOOM--!

The momentum of a level 93 peak Title Douluo crushed down toward Lou Gao like Mount Tai!

The air in the entire office seemed to be sucked dry, and the tables and chairs groaned under the unbearable weight.

Although Lou Gao was a Spirit Saint, in the face of pressure at this level, he was like an ant facing a dragon, completely unable to resist!

Thump!

Lou Gao's legs went weak, and he collapsed directly to his knees, his face turning as pale as paper as cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

"This old man is informing you, not negotiating with you!"

Dugu Bo looked down at Lou Gao from above, his eyes flickering with chilling killing intent:

"Lou Gao, do you really think that after I killed Miles, I would still let your Blacksmith Association stay out of this?"

"Now, there are only two paths before you."

"Either submit to me, and from now on you will live in luxury and no one will dare to bully you."

"Or..."

Dugu Bo pointed at the bloody head on the table, his tone icy and bone-chilling:

"There will be another head next to this one: yours!"

"Choose for yourself!"

"I... I join."

In the face of absolute strength and the threat of death, Lou Gao's meager persistence instantly crumbled to dust.

He smiled bitterly, his voice dry, as if it were being squeezed out from his throat.

Although he didn't want to get involved in the conflict, he wanted to be decapitated even less.

Besides, following a Title Douluo was surely better than being slaughtered like a pig by those greedy bishops of Martial Soul Hall.

"That's more like it."

Dugu Bo's aura retracted in an instant.

That sinister old face was once again hung with a smile, as if the murderous fiend from a moment ago had never been him at all.

Dugu Bo stepped forward and personally helped Lou Gao to his feet, even thoughtfully brushing the dust from his knees:

"President Lou Gao, a wise man submits to circumstances.

From now on, we are all one family. This old man guarantees that as long as you behave and listen, the Blacksmith Association will only be more glorious than before."

Lou Gao managed to squeeze out a smile that looked worse than crying, his heart filled with bitterness.

Once you've boarded a pirate ship, how could it be easy to get off?

"Since we are family now, this old man won't beat around the bush with you."

Dugu Bo sat back down on his chair with a bold, imposing posture, his fingers tapping lightly against the tabletop:

"Rest assured, this old man doesn't have any major tasks for you to handle recently.

You should continue forging your iron and earning your money as usual, just don't go leaking this old man's affairs."