"...Mm, all right."
Su Lin quickly understood what he meant, but she still felt that the young master was being a little childish. "However, with all due respect, angering a director of City Hall doesn't seem like a wise decision."
"Whatever. It makes no difference anyway."
Xu Shi spread his hands. It wasn't as though he didn't know that Tang Shuang had always viewed him through a biased lens.
Even if he worshipped her like an ancestor today, her attitude wouldn't change. She might even think he was easy to bully and become even more excessive.
Better to curse her out and vent some frustration. At least it felt good.
If only one person got to enjoy this, it had to be me.jpg
Come to think of it, as one of the female leads, Tang Shuang was quite an extraordinary figure.
Although she looked like a mature married woman, she was actually a year younger than Su Lin, only twenty-six this year.
For a woman to become Director of the Inspection Bureau at such an age, her capabilities spoke for themselves.
She also kept herself clean in her daily life, with no scandals to speak of.
If she had to be given an overall evaluation, perhaps only his fiancée could measure up against her.
Turning someone like that into his dog was obviously going to be difficult.
Still, she wasn't all that important in Xu Shi's eyes.
Tang Shuang herself was a combat-type Ascendant. With talents like Su Lin and Xia Wuyou, he already had enough for the time being.
So she was actually the female lead he was least anxious to win over—being able to cut off the possibility of her joining forces with Spark and use this chess piece at the right time was more than enough for him.
Tang Shuang wasn't stupid. Once she knew he had his eyes on her, she definitely wouldn't hand him any leverage.
As for illegally using weapons, that was even less worth considering.
Would City Hall really fall out with Serpent Coil over a few tens or hundreds of thousands of Credit Points?
It was just a matter of making a call. There wasn't even any need to apply pressure.
Did they understand the value of being the top taxpayer? Hips akimbo.
But then again...
"Did what happened that day affect District Seven?"
Xu Shi thought for a moment before giving his order. "If so, send them some relief supplies in the group's name."
"Yes."
Su Lin understood immediately.
"Don't forget to get the media to publicize it."
Xu Shi added, "Let them all see clearly who was actually putting in the effort when something like this happened."
He didn't expect this alone to change the people of Sin City's attitude toward the conglomerates, nor did he care about their attitude.
But without question, this would shift the victims' primary hatred in District Seven onto Spark.
And it would also put a little more pressure on the director. Killing two birds with one stone—wasn't that wonderful?
"Understood."
Su Lin couldn't help but sigh softly. Sure enough, the young master hadn't done this out of genuine pity for the people of Sin City.
Still, she couldn't help feeling curious. "To be honest, I've always felt that there was no need for you to target Spark so intensely, Young Master?"
She now knew Shen He's identity as well—he had once been the second young master of the Tianhe conglomerate, one of only two survivors of that incident. The other had been his younger sister.
But Tianhe's era had long since passed, and the current Spark was nothing more than an ordinary little gang.
The sort that could be knocked over in droves with a single brick in Sin City.
So she didn't think Xu Shi should devote too much attention to it—since he had already decided to battle Lin Wenhua, shouldn't he focus on that instead?
"Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit."
Xu Shi seemed to have noticed what she was thinking. "When something poses a threat to the group, failing to completely sever it, slice it apart, and chop it to pieces is the most unwise course of action, isn't it?"
It was difficult for him to explain to Miss Su Lin that if he didn't do this, one day in the future, Xia Wuyou would slit her throat with a single sword, and he himself would soon follow, ending up with a hole blown through his head.
But she would definitely understand that logic.
Besides, dealing with Shen He and going after Lin Wenhua didn't conflict with each other. He could handle both simultaneously.
Like he always said, grab with both hands, and make both hands strong.
"...You're right. I hadn't thought it through."
Su Lin paused at his words. On careful consideration, there really was nothing wrong with it.
But she was even more surprised to hear such words come from Xu Shi's mouth. It really didn't sound like something he would say.
All she could say was that Chairman Xu's recent changes had given her little shocks at every turn.
Was this the bearing an outstanding conglomerate leader ought to display?
The young master was feeling more and more like the master in his prime... perhaps even surpassing him?
"This isn't your fault."
Xu Shi sighed, took her hand, and smiled. "It's just that even if you don't care about them, they may not let us go."
And besides.
More than two weeks had already passed since the attack.
Spark and Shark Tooth should have reached a conclusion by now, right?
For example, regarding their next operation against him?
Perhaps because he had accepted his role as the villain, he was even looking forward to what would happen next.
"I said it before: if you want the cooperation between Shark Tooth and Spark to continue, Mr. Shen must prove your value to us."
At one of Spark's hideouts, Shen He was having a video call with a trench-coated man wearing a long wolf-tail hairstyle. "Otherwise, not holding you accountable for the losses you caused would already be the greatest leniency I could offer."
"...What happened last time was just an accident."
Shen He gritted his teeth. "Of course, I won't deny that it was my mistake."
"What does Young Master He want us to do?"
"That should really be my question. What can you do to show us your capabilities?"
The wolf-tailed man frowned. "But since you asked... Serpent Coil has twenty Sea Crane small drone prototypes stored in a hangar in District 13."
"These drones use new technology. They're highly resistant to Rust Fog and are very valuable to Shark Tooth."
"...I'll find a way to get them."
Shen He understood what he meant.
"Then I wish you success, Mr. Shen."
The wolf-tailed man smiled with faint disdain. "However, Shark Tooth won't provide you with any assistance this time, so please be careful."
"I understand."
Shen He nodded slightly before cutting off the communication.
One wrong move, and now every step was constrained.
The cooperative relationship between Spark and Shark Tooth had always been as fragile as thin ice. After the previous failure, it was indeed extremely difficult to salvage everything.
The other side's attitude also irritated him greatly—back when Tianhe had been at its peak, an existence like Shark Tooth might not even have been qualified to carry his shoes.
But times had changed, and he had no choice but to lower his head.
If he wanted to restore Tianhe's former glory, he couldn't stop moving forward because of a single failure.
"...Call everyone to a meeting."
After a long while, he initiated another communication. "It's time to prepare for the next operation."
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