"Shh, don't say things like that. Aren't you afraid Gu Tianlong will come after you?"
Hearing that, the student who had spoken immediately covered their mouth. That was right-even if Gu Tianlong and his people were getting beaten badly right now, they still weren't people the student could afford to provoke.
Barely more than a minute after Li Rui gave the order, Gu Tianlong and the hundred-plus thugs, including Iron Fist, had all been knocked to the ground by Li Rui's two hundred bodyguards, screaming in pain.
Rather than a fight, the whole thing was a one-sided stomping of noobs. Barely any of the hundred-plus thugs could fight back, and against opponents more than ten times stronger than themselves, whether they fought back hardly mattered.
Gu Mengqi, who had watched the entire thing from a distance, picked up her phone and made a call, saying in a trembling voice, "Dad, someone's beaten up my brother."
After calling everyone to a halt, Li Rui looked at Gu Tianlong, who was still lying on the ground moaning and wailing, then walked over to him step by step with his hands in his pockets.
As Gu Tianlong lay on the ground wailing, a pair of shoes entered his field of vision. His gaze traveled upward from the shoes until Li Rui's face came into view.
"Big brother, you're my big brother! Please let me off. I won't dare do it again."
"Let you off? I'm a good, law-abiding citizen. What would I possibly do to you? I was just passing by."
A piece of societal trash like Gu Tianlong wasn't worth Li Rui getting his hands dirty, but letting him off just like that? That was clearly impossible too.
Li Rui gave one of the bodyguards beside him a meaningful look.
The bodyguard instantly understood what Li Rui meant and nodded.
Just as Li Rui walked toward his car, four utterly harrowing screams rang out behind him in succession. A junior bodyguard stomped down hard, breaking all four of Gu Tianlong's limbs and shattering the bones. Fractures that severe could never recover to their original condition, even after treatment.
This was a society governed by law, after all. Li Rui certainly couldn't personally do something that left someone disabled. Even if Gu Tianlong broke the rules and brought in the police, at worst, the person who did it would take responsibility. Li Rui could pay for the best lawyer for that bodyguard, and he would be out in a few years.
After crippling Gu Tianlong, Li Rui ignored the hundred-plus thugs lying on the ground. Quite a few of them were delinquent students, after all, so teaching them a lesson was enough. He didn't want to blow things up too much right now.
Seeing Gu Tianlong's miserable condition, every one of the thugs feared meeting the same fate. While they were still afraid, they realized Li Rui wasn't paying them any attention, so they helped one another up and scrambled away. Gu Tianlong was carried away by several core members of the God-Slaying Gang.
After Li Rui got into the car, everyone who had watched the entire thing from inside looked at him with complicated expressions. Seventh Aunt, Eighth Aunt, Li Ru, and the others had traces of awe in their eyes, while Eighth Uncle looked slightly worried. "Xiao Rui, won't you get into trouble for crippling Gu Tianlong?"
"It's fine, Eighth Uncle. Thugs like Gu Tianlong have their own rules. If they called the police whenever something happened, none of them could stay in that line of work. Even if they really do report it, I have ways to deal with it," Li Rui said casually.
The system's synthetic bodyguards were one hundred percent loyal to him. Even if ordered to die, they would carry it out without fail. If there really was a problem, he could have the bodyguard take full responsibility. He would be out in a few years anyway. It was no big deal.
Unlike the others, Li Tai's eyes were filled with admiration. "Brother, are all these people your subordinates? You're incredible."
"Don't talk nonsense. Your brother isn't some underworld boss. These are all bodyguards from the family's security company. We're all good people, legal, law-abiding citizens of Dragon Country. Understand?"
"Oh," Li Tai answered, though the look in his eyes said, Don't take me for an idiot. I don't believe you.
"Ding! An increase in the host's family cohesion has been detected. The system rewards the host with 20 billion in Dragon Country Currency. All funds originate from overseas futures, stock markets, and cryptocurrency, with traceable sources. Please use them with confidence. The funds have been deposited into an overseas financial account."
Hearing that the system had rewarded him with another 20 billion in Dragon Country Currency, Li Rui's heart was already as still as water. He even felt a little troubled. Why not reward me with technology? I still want to lead Dragon Country to rise. I can't spend all this money anyway. How annoying.
Putting those troubles out of his mind, Li Rui thought about the bodyguards. When there had only been twenty, he could have them stay temporarily at a hotel. Now that there were nearly two hundred, he would certainly need new arrangements. With that in mind, Li Rui bought another senior business elite synthetic human from the system.
"Ding! 30 million in Dragon Country Currency spent. Senior business elite purchased and deployed within a one-kilometer radius."
Lu Yan, female, a citizen of Dragon Country, 1.65 meters tall, thirty-five years old, an orphan, a graduate of Harvard Business School, and formerly the CEO of one of the world's top one hundred companies.
Looking at the business elite synthetic human's background and résumé, Li Rui marveled that the 30 million in Dragon Country Currency had truly bought him more than his money's worth.
He then issued orders to Lu Yan through the system: register a family corporate group, establish a family fund, set up a security company, and construct a headquarters building for the group. In short, he dumped everything that had piled up over the past few days onto Lu Yan all at once. Li Rui also handed her the 20 billion in Dragon Country Currency he had just received as startup capital.
He couldn't possibly spend all the money he had now. How would he have time to deal with these chicken-feather-and-garlic-skin trifles? Thinking about how to live it up was the proper path.
After handling those matters, Li Rui had Li Wu announce loudly at the entrance to No. 1 Middle School that he was a bodyguard from the Umbrella Security Company, not some bad guy.
He also announced that the Umbrella Security Company would provide No. 1 Middle School with free security services for one year, sending ten bodyguards every day to protect the school's teachers and students.
The first purpose of doing this was to eliminate the negative impact. After all, so many people engaging in such a massive brawl at the school entrance had a considerable negative impact.
With Li Wu and the others announcing that they were bodyguards from a security company and would provide the school with free security services, the positive image this created could naturally minimize the negative impact of such a large-scale scene.
The second purpose was naturally to protect Li Ru and Li Tai. After dealing with the younger one, Gu Tianlong, who knew whether an older one would come along? Naturally, he had to take precautions before trouble arose.
He then had Li Wu take the bodyguards to find Lu Yan for arrangements, and only then did they leave in an orderly fashion.
A bunch of clowns had delayed Li Rui and the others for half an hour. Once everything was handled, Li Rui continued driving everyone toward the shopping mall.
Qianda Plaza, the largest shopping mall in Chuning County, had four floors in total. The mall was spacious and bright. Although it was only a shopping mall in a small county town, it had quite a few high-end brands.
Li Rui first took Li Ru to get a pair of glasses for three thousand yuan, then led everyone up to the third floor, where clothing was sold.