Physical Mediation

Lü Yi's voice and his entire demeanor were like a rough stone, crashing into the seemingly calm but actually Undercurrent waters of the reception room. His words, "Old man, who are you?" coupled with his cigar dangling from his lips and his crossed legs, were full of undisguised contempt and provocation.

Uncle Gong's face instantly darkened, like a storm cloud before a tempest. Gong Zhenhai had dominated Seattle for decades, and everyone in both the legitimate and underworld circles addressed him respectfully as "Uncle Gong." He had never been so rudely called "old man" to his face. Not to mention the other party's street thug-like demeanor, which was a far cry from the "negotiator" or "behind-the-scenes figure" that he had imagined Lin Feng might bring upon his return.

A surge of anger, a mixture of deep offense and the arrogance cultivated over a long period of holding a high position, instantly eroded his last shred of patience. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Lü Yi from head to toe, his gaze filled with scrutiny and undisguised disgust.

"Who am I?" Uncle Gong's voice was forced out through clenched teeth, carrying a suppressed coldness. "I'm Gong Zhenhai, here to talk to Boss Lin! Who do you think you are? You dare to sit here and talk to me? Get your boss out here!"

He deliberately emphasized "Boss Lin" and his own name, trying to intimidate others with his status. His entourage stepped forward, staring at Lü Yi with hostile eyes. His hands seemed to hang casually at his sides, but the hem of his suit jacket was slightly bulging, clearly indicating that he could draw his gun at any moment.

Lü Yi seemed oblivious to Uncle Gong's anger and his entourage's threats. He took a deep drag on his cigar, letting the pungent smoke swirl in his lungs, then slowly exhaled a large cloud of thick white smoke towards Uncle Gong. The smoke obscured Uncle Gong's furious face.

"Boss Lin?" Lü Yi tilted his head, seemed to think for a moment, then grinned, revealing teeth slightly yellowed from tobacco smoke. "Oh, you mean my boss? He's a bit busy, so he asked me to come and talk to you."

He pronounced the words "let's talk" with particular flippancy.

"Talk to you?" Uncle Gong laughed angrily, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. He slammed his hand on the sofa armrest, making a dull thud. "Who do you think you are? You think you're worthy to talk to me, Gong Zhenhai? Get out! Call Lin Feng out! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"

His entourage immediately put their hands on their waists, their sharp eyes locking onto Lü Yi. As soon as Uncle Gong gave the order, they would act immediately.

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

However, faced with Uncle Gong's rage and the murderous intent of his two followers, Lü Yi was not afraid at all. Instead, he seemed to have seen something amusing, and his smile widened. However, there was no warmth in that smile, only a cruel and playful teasing, like a cat playing with Rat.

He slowly and deliberately held out his half-burnt cigar to the crystal ashtray on the coffee table beside him, a shimmering ashtray that looked incredibly valuable. Instead of gently flicking off the ash like most people would, he forcefully and violently crushed the burning cigarette butt against the smooth edge of the ashtray! Sparks flew, and the tobacco and ash were roughly squeezed and deformed, producing a faint hissing sound that was particularly jarring in the deathly quiet living room.

This action, full of violence and destruction, is consistent with his previous rude flicking of cigarette ash, but appears more deliberate.

Then, in the instant that Uncle Gong and his entourage were slightly taken aback by this unconventional action—

Lü Yi made a move.

His movements were so fast they were almost beyond the range of human vision! One second he was lazily leaning on the sofa, crushing his cigarette, and the next second, he sprang up from the sofa like a taut spring released from its tension! As his right hand left the sofa, he had already grabbed the heavy, hard crystal ashtray that he had just used to extinguish his cigar!

No fluff, no warnings.

Lü Yi lunged forward like a cheetah, his arm swinging in a wide arc. In the blink of an eye, before Uncle Gong and his entourage could react, the angular crystal ashtray, gleaming coldly under the light, slammed into the side of Uncle Gong's slicked-back hair with a gust of wind, without any fancy moves!

"Bang--!!!"

A dull, teeth-grinding thud, like a hard object striking bone, suddenly exploded in the living room! The sound was so loud that it seemed to shake the entire room!

"Ugh--!!!"

Uncle Gong let out a short, piercing scream that was almost inhuman! He didn't even see how Lü Yi moved; he only felt a blur before his eyes, and then an unimaginable, terrifying force, like being struck by a battering ram, pierced into his left temple! At that moment, he heard a chilling, faint cracking sound from his skull! The excruciating pain, like a high-voltage current, instantly swept through half of his head, and his vision was instantly filled with blood and stars!

His obese body was slammed into the ground by the relentless blow, causing him to slump to the side from the sofa and crash heavily onto the carpet with a thud! The two walnuts he was holding flew out of his hand and rolled a considerable distance. His meticulously combed hair instantly became disheveled, and a purplish-black bump the size of an egg rapidly swelled up on his left temple, the skin of which was torn open, and blood gushed out, flowing down his cheek and staining half of his face and his expensive dark purple Tang suit.

It all happened so fast! From the moment Lü Yi moved to the moment Uncle Gong collapsed, it was only a second!

The two attendants that Uncle Gong brought only reacted at this moment, their eyes wide with rage!

"Boss!"

"Damn it! You're asking for it!"

The two men roared and drew their guns almost simultaneously! Their movements were swift, clearly those of skilled fighters. The dark muzzles of their guns instantly pointed at Lü Yi, who had just completed his strike and was still in a slightly crouched position.

However, Lü Yi didn't even glance at the two pistols pointed at him. His movements were fluid and unwavering; he didn't even turn around. In the split second between knocking down Uncle Gong and the two henchmen drawing their guns, he had already shifted half a step to the side like a ghost, placing himself precisely in the slight blind spot of their firing angles. Simultaneously, his free left hand, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, moved with lightning speed, leaving only a blur, and suddenly reached out, grabbing Uncle Gong's hair—who had just fallen to the ground, still in a semi-conscious, agonizing state, struggling to get up with his hands on the ground!

"Old man, did I tell you to get up?"

Lü Yi's voice was icy cold, carrying undisguised cruelty. His fingers, like hooks, gripped Uncle Gong's hair tightly, and with another cry of pain from Uncle Gong, he jerked his head upwards, and then—

The right hand rose again!

The heavy crystal ashtray, stained with Uncle Gong's blood and with a few strands of hair still clinging to its edge, traced a cruel arc under the light, and then, a second time, it slammed down hard!

This time, it hit Uncle Gong on the back of the head!

"Bang--!!!"

Another heart-stopping thud! Even heavier than the last one! Uncle Gong's head, which he had just raised slightly, was slammed back onto the carpet by this heavy blow, making a dull "thud" sound! Blood splattered, and more blood gushed from the back of his head, quickly staining a patch of expensive carpet red.

"Ugh... Heh heh..." Uncle Gong's scream abruptly stopped, turning into a suppressed, guttural gasp from his throat. His eyes rolled back, his body convulsed violently a few times, and he almost fainted. The intense pain, blood loss, and dizziness from the concussion rendered him completely incapable of resistance. Like a fish thrown ashore, he futilely opened his mouth and made hoarse sounds.

"Boss!!!" The two henchmen's eyes turned red. Seeing Uncle Gong's miserable state, they no longer cared about the shooting angle and were about to pull the trigger!

However, just milliseconds before their fingers were about to apply force and the firing pin in the chamber was about to be ignited—

"Squeak--Crunch--!!!"

Suddenly, a heavy, piercing, teeth-grinding metallic scraping sound and the rough roar of an engine came from outside the huge floor-to-ceiling window in the living room! The sound was so close, so loud, as if it were right next to their ears, instantly drowning out all the other sounds in the living room, and even making the glass windows vibrate!

The two attendants were so startled by the sudden, terrifying noise that was right next to them that their hearts stopped. Instinctively, they glanced out of the corner of their eyes toward the direction from which the sound came—outside the French windows, onto the lawn in the front yard of the villa.

That one glance almost froze their blood instantly!

Outside the window, a modified military jeep, entirely black with matte military green camouflage, tires almost half a person's height, and a rugged, menacing appearance like a steel monster, had silently and steadily come to a stop on the lawn less than five meters from the floor-to-ceiling window, as if it had emerged from the ground! The jeep had no roof, and in the driver's seat sat a burly white man with sunglasses, chewing gum, and a face full of scars.

What truly terrified the two henchmen and left them frozen in place was the menacingly thick, dark gun barrel, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, perched on the hood of the jeep.

M2HB 12.7mm (.50 BMG) heavy machine gun!

At that moment, the Grim Reaper's gun muzzle was steadily and accurately aimed at the two of them through the supposedly bulletproof floor-to-ceiling glass! Behind the muzzle, the burly white man's face revealed a standard sneer, a mixture of boredom, excitement, and cruelty. He even raised one hand and made a provocative "fire" gesture towards the two inside the window, while the fingers of his other hand lightly rested on the firing mechanism of the heavy machine gun.

12.7mm heavy machine gun!

Forget about the small pistols they're carrying; even if they're wearing ordinary bulletproof vests, they'd be as fragile as paper in the face of this terrifying weapon with its caliber! One shot could penetrate not only a person, but even the load-bearing wall of this living room! That floor-to-ceiling window would probably be no stronger than a piece of cardboard in its presence!

Cold sweat instantly soaked the backs of the two henchmen. Their hands, gripping their guns, began to tremble uncontrollably. Their fingers, on the triggers, felt frozen, utterly powerless. All their courage, loyalty, and murderous intent were crushed to dust in the face of this absolute violence and overwhelming force.

They had no doubt that if they dared to fire, even for just a fleeting moment, the Grim Reaper's scythe outside the window would unleash a storm of metal that would tear them, along with their heavily wounded boss behind them, and most of the living room, to shreds!

In those brief seconds or two, when the two attendants were terrified by the heavy machine gun fire outside the window and stood frozen in place—

Lü Yi has completed his "work".

He released his grip on Uncle Gong's hair, letting Uncle Gong slump like a lump of mud in the pool of blood, groaning in pain. He shook off the bloodstains and a few strands of hair from the ashtray, then casually tossed the valuable crystal ashtray, now a murder weapon, onto the smooth solid wood floor beside him with a loud thud, like throwing away trash.

He didn't even glance at the two terrified henchmen, as if they and the two pistols pointed at him didn't exist. He strode over to Uncle Gong, who was slumped on the ground, his face covered in blood, and his consciousness fading.

Then, he lifted his foot and, with the heavy sole of his military boot, which was covered in mud and bits of grass, unceremoniously stepped on Uncle Gong's bloodied and swollen cheek.

The sole of the boot pressed against the wound, bringing a new wave of excruciating pain. Uncle Gong let out an even more pitiful whimper, his body curling up in agony.

Lü Yi bent down and looked down at the "Uncle Gong" who had been arrogant and domineering just a few minutes ago. His face was still expressionless, but his eyes burned with a cold and excited light that was almost like that of a wild beast.

"Old Deng," Lü Yi's voice wasn't loud, even tinged with a hint of mockery, but each word was like a cold iron nail, piercing into Uncle Gong's mind, which was on the verge of collapse, "Now, can we have a proper talk?"

He ground the stone with the sole of his boot again, and Uncle Gong let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

"I'm asking you, how much are you willing to pay for your old life?"

Money to buy your life!

Overwhelmed by excruciating pain and fear, Uncle Gong finally managed to grasp the meaning of those words. He strained to turn his eyes and look at Lü Yi, who was standing on his face. That face, blurred by smoke and blood, now appeared to him like a demon crawling out of hell. He glanced again at the despairing heavy machine gun outside the window, and his last shred of hope and reliance shattered completely.

He knew he was finished. He had kicked a hornet's nest. The other side was no ordinary businessman or outsider who could be "reassured" or "subdued." They were Madman! They were ruthless Butcher with overwhelming force! His identity, qualifications, and so-called "connections" at home and abroad were nothing but dust in their eyes!

"I... I have money... I have money..." Uncle Gong managed to squeeze out a hoarse, broken voice from his throat, filled with sobs and extreme fear, "Don't... don't kill me... I'll give you money... how much do you want... I'll give you anything..."

"Oh? You're rich?" Lü Yi raised an eyebrow, the cruel, playful smile on his face finally taking on a hint of "sincerity," though that "sincerity" seemed even more chilling. He released his foot from Uncle Gong's face.

Then, he bent down and reached out his large, blood-stained hands, which had just been used to attack someone with an ashtray, and with a gesture that was completely opposite to his previous brutality and even a little "enthusiastic," he helped Uncle Gong, who was limp as a rag doll and covered in blood, up from the ground.

He even casually grabbed a clean white decorative linen handkerchief from the armrest of the sofa next to him and roughly but carefully wiped the blood streaming down Uncle Gong's face. The action was like Butcher wiping away the prey he had just finished processing.

"Oh dear, look, wouldn't it have been better if you had said so earlier?" Lü Yi's voice also became "amiable," but combined with his current actions and Uncle Gong's miserable state, it sounded incredibly ironic and horrifying. "Who is this? How could they be so reckless, beating you up like this, Uncle Gong? It's too brutal! It's outrageous!"

As he wiped, he muttered indignantly, as if someone else had just committed the crime.

Uncle Gong was helped to sit on the sofa, his body still trembling uncontrollably, his head buzzing, his vision blurring, and his wounds burning with pain. Looking at Lü Yi's face, so close yet filled with feigned "concern," he felt it was more terrifying than the devil.

"Here, Uncle Gong, have some water to calm your nerves." Lü Yi produced a half-open bottle of mineral water from somewhere, unscrewed it, and shoved it into Uncle Gong's hand without a word. Then he casually sat down next to him, crossed his legs, and took out another cigar to light, as if the bloody scene had never happened.

"Let's talk about the price calmly now." Lü Yi exhaled a puff of smoke, smiling as he looked at the still-shaken Uncle Gong. "Look, your life, the lives of these two brothers you brought with you, your few restaurants and laundromats in Seattle that are doing fairly well, and... the share of those shady channels you 'manage' for certain people... what's the total value of all that?"

He knew all about it like the back of his hand, clearly having a thorough understanding of Uncle Gong's businesses.

Uncle Gong trembled, realizing that the other party not only wanted cash, but also the business he had built up over the years! They were going to uproot him and rob him of everything! He opened his mouth, wanting to bargain, but when he saw Lü Yi's seemingly smiling but actually cold eyes, and glanced at the heavy machine gun still pointing at them outside the window, all his words stuck in his throat.

He knew he had no choice. If he didn't give it, he would die right now. If he did give it, he might have a sliver of hope, though he would be destitute and become a laughingstock.

"I... I'll give..." Uncle Gong closed his eyes, two streams of turbid tears mixed with blood flowing down his face, using his last breath...