Lin Zihao Was Stunned-Wasn't That My Cousin?

However, Lin Ming's next words instantly froze the wild joy on Liu Wuxin and the others' faces, like ducks being strangled by the neck.

"However," Lin Ming said as he picked up a napkin from the table and leisurely wiped the corner of his mouth, as though he had merely sampled an appetizer. He raised his head, looked calmly at Liu Wuxin, and spoke in the same indifferent tone, carrying an unquestionable coldness.

"Accepting gifts is one thing."

"Whether I agree to your proposal is another."

The air in the hall seemed to freeze completely at that moment.

The smile on Liu Wuxin's face shattered inch by inch like a cheap plaster mask. He stared wide-eyed at Lin Ming as though he had heard something utterly absurd.

"Ins... Inspector Lin, what... what do you mean?" Liu Wuxin's voice was dry and distorted from extreme shock and confusion.

"What I mean is," Lin Ming said, setting down the napkin and leaning back slightly. His gaze swept over Liu Wuxin, then Su Zhenghao, Li Wanjun, Chen Haidong, and the others before returning to Liu Wuxin. He spoke each word clearly.

"I like the gifts very much. Thank you."

"But the proposal you put forward earlier, to abandon the East, West, and South Districts, hold North City, and wait for the Beast Tide to retreat on its own or for support from the Main Hall..."

"That bullshit proposal."

"I don't agree."

While the atmosphere in the main hall turned razor-sharp and fell into an eerie silence because of Lin Ming's words, "I don't agree," two young men were furtively peeking around the corner of the corridor leading from the side hall of Soaring Cloud Pavilion to the main hall.

The leader was a young man in his early twenties, dressed in an expensive