Asset Inventory

War itself is not complicated, especially corner wars, where the rise and fall of several forces can be determined in a single day.

But the real test of this power lies in the preparations before a war begins, and in the post-war appeasement, treatment, exchange of benefits, and political maneuvering.

This time, in order to deal with Liang Household Garden, Zheng Family Garden has used a lot of connections. There are only two openly known connections, but at least five or six others are secretly making connections and waiting for the right moment.

If all goes well, all of Liang Household Garden's assets will become food for these forces, and of course, Zheng Family Garden will definitely get the fattest piece.

However, the war did not achieve the desired results, so appeasing other forces and exchanging benefits became extremely important.

When it comes to connections, using them once and never using them at all are two completely different things.

These tasks should have been done by "Zheng Qingbo," but "Zheng Qingbo" is not Zheng Qingbo after all. So, someone simply wrote down the task and assigned it to his chief secretary.

Jiacha exhausted. This day had been a rollercoaster for him. First, he almost took down the Liang Household, then he almost got killed, and now he was in charge of cleaning up the mess for the new boss. After that, he was responsible for inventorying the assets of the Zheng Family Garden for the new boss, and after that, he would most likely have to transfer the assets for the new boss.

Such a heavy workload made Jiacha, who had just narrowly escaped death, even paler. But soon, as he turned the prayer beads in his hand, a wisp of red light emerged from his face. Amidst the strange Buddhist chants, Jiacha's complexion quickly regained its rosy hue, and even his steps became much lighter.

Jiacha quickly arrived at the study where Boss Zheng usually worked. Sure enough, "Boss Zheng" was working there. Upon seeing him, he nodded solemnly.

"Where are the documents? Let me see them. Master Chao of the Tide Sea Righteous Hall is one who doesn't let revenge last overnight. Find a few gangs to help him vent his anger, but the losses can't be too heavy. It would be best to involve forces from other gangs as well."

Jiacha a strange expression, Zheng Qingbo handed over the document. Looking at Zheng Qingbo, who was working with his head down, his expression became even more subtle and puzzled. However, as he turned his prayer beads, he quickly got used to this strange phenomenon. He walked to the back of the study, pushed open a hidden door, and saw the real Boss Zheng.

Oh no, now I should Boss Hu.

"Zheng Family Garden doesn't have much money on its books, only three or four hundred million," Hu Mang said disdainfully.

He could earn that small amount of money in just three or four trips to Dragon Blood Tide.

"Boss, Zheng Family Garden is currently in a phase of rapid expansion. The expenses for various modified prosthetic Law Artifact ordered from the Demonic Machine Hall, personnel and supplies, and the underground connections you have with Boss Zheng also require financial support..."

Jiacha listed the uses of the funds item by item.

However, Hu Mang was only being proud verbally. The Dragon Blood Tide only comes around once every ten years, and who knows when the next one will be? Besides, some business matters cannot be measured by money.

So he just said it casually, and then started clicking his tongue in amazement.

"But this Boss Zheng really has a lot of underground assets."

"Eighteen plantations, a 50% stake in the Agarwood Sea Trading Station, the second-largest shareholder in the Golden Durian Trading House, 50-year usage rights to three medium-sized wharves, a natural spirit mineral vein, and wow, they even co-manage a gold mine with sea sands, oh, and an underground black market on Water Entry Island."

Some of these things were known to Jiacha, while others were unknown even Jiacha him. For example, he now finally knew how Zheng Qingbo sold some of Zheng Family Garden's spoils of war. It turned out that the black market was run by Boss Zheng! He had originally planned to investigate it.

"Boss, the contracts and agreements for these assets are all in Zheng Family Garden, but the management of these assets is all handled by Zheng Qingbo's mistresses. What should be done with those mistresses?"

Jiacha hesitated for a moment, knowing it was time for him to pledge his loyalty.

"Do you need me to arrange for someone to clean up and bring everything back?"

Hu Mang shook his head in disagreement, "Zheng Qingbo is a smart man, but others aren't fools, especially since he has several mistresses whose identities are already public knowledge. If you deal with them, wouldn't others immediately notice something's wrong?"

"That--"

"It's alright, Zheng Qingbo will take them to worship Buddha. Once they believe in Buddha, they'll behave themselves."

Jiacha a daze, he seemed to see that Human-Body Blood Buddha again, the half-smiling mouth on that blurry face, the red lines that undulated like blood vessels, and the screams that were distorted by the Buddhist chants and bones piercing the skin. He subconsciously shivered, lowered his head, and dared not ask another question.

Hu Mang smiled, seemingly oblivious to the other person's expression.

"However, I didn't expect that Boss Zheng's network of connections was so deep. Luckily, I acted early, otherwise, if those three people had come over, things might have gone wrong."

Aside from his Zheng Family Garden Zheng Qingbo, and even in Java and the local Autonomous Association, Boss Zheng's three most significant networks of connections were none in Java.

In Hu Mang's view, these three lines were indeed somewhat unbelievable.

The first line of communication is the Yu Household, or more precisely, a branch of the Yu Household. It was precisely by relying on their reputation that Zheng Qingbo was able to maneuver within the Autonomous Association and ultimately successfully prevent Heavenly Gate from taking over.

The second line of communication involves a rebel army in Luzon. This is no ordinary rebel army, but the largest rebel force in the region, a powerful warlord capable of producing tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of Foundation Establishment cultivators. Zheng Qingbo has been secretly supplying this force with war Law Artifact.

The third line is like Lingyunzi, one of the Heavenly Gate people who ran away with buckets twenty or thirty years ago. Among them, there were at least seven or eight Golden Core cultivators, and even Lingyunzi coincidentally fell within the scope of the funding.

With these three lines of influence, Zheng Qingbo's clandestine power far exceeds that of a local gangster, and his ambition certainly does.

Fortunately, everything Zheng Qingbo has worked hard for over the decades has now been given to Hu Mang for free.

"Boss, everything else has been handled cleanly, but there are two things that even with Boss Zheng's prestige, I'm afraid it's a bit difficult to suppress."

Which two things?

Jiacha said:

"The first issue is the accountability from the Demonic Machine Hall. They are questioning us about the fact that we caused them to lose at least three Golden Core cultivators, as well as a large number of modified cultivators. If this matter is not resolved, they will not provide us with the stipulated number of modified cultivators as agreed in the contract."

"The second thing is Mandala Islet, where that old hag lived. They are uncivilized, unlike civilized uncivilized. Civilized uncivilized can be appeased with money, but few uncivilized can even speak their own language. Moreover, they are cannibals. If they find out that we cannot hand over the person who killed that old hag after their leader's death, they might come and carry out a so-called 'blood sacrifice'."

"Can't I just give it to anyone?"

"No, those barbarians use Jiangtou rituals to verify whether someone is a murderer. They have a high success rate, and without the barbarians' control, the little ghosts they raise would probably be eating people all over Zheng Family Garden."

"This is indeed a problem," Hu Mang, fiddling with an inkstone on the table as he fell into deep thought.

The ghosts and monsters of Nanyang are different from those of Heavenly Gate. They are more like evil creatures, extremely resilient to death, and once they are no longer controlled, they will start to eat people randomly, making them very ferocious.

The reason for paying tens of millions in compensation to the tribe of the "civilized barbarians," namely Elder Moheda, was not only to pay money, but more importantly, to ask the other tribe to send people again to collect things like "Salty Smoke Worm" from Liang Household Garden.

However, the indigenous people are more troublesome. Money can't defeat them at all unless they hand them over, that is, they themselves.

"How about we ask the Old Third for some Yin food and see if we can change their taste?"

"Boss, what are your thoughts on Zheng Family Garden?"

Seeing that Hu Mang remained silent for a long time, Jiacha hesitated for a while before finally asking.

Whether the other party intends to annex Liang Household Garden, abscond with donated funds, or that the Heavenly Blood Python itself represents a powerful force, these correspond to three different styles of operation.

Jiacha prefers the third option.

Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why this Heavenly Blood Python would become so powerful and bizarre in just six months.

Hu Mang understood what the other party meant and immediately said righteously:

"I'm the one who helped Boss Zheng build his empire. Now that Boss Zheng is critically ill, it's only natural that I must return to the fold and restore order to the nation."

"I understand now."

Hu Mang suddenly had an idea and smiled, "It seems my guest has arrived. You go and greet him for me."

In Zheng Qingbo's study, a mysterious hooded figure soon arrived; judging from the curves of her body, she was undoubtedly a woman.

The woman's expression changed instantly upon seeing Zheng Qingbo working in the study. She instinctively pressed her hand to her wrist bracelet and blurted out...

Zheng Qingbo! You're not dead!

Zheng Qingbo laughed and said, "Why do you think I'm dead, Yanqiu?"

"What kind of mind-manipulation trick is this?" Liang Yanqiu's voice changed, as if she had been stepped on by a cat.

"I can't tell you. If I do, you'll control me instead," Zheng Qingbo paused, skillfully toying with his teacup, and said with a smile:

"You caused quite a stir during the day, and I haven't settled that score with you yet."

As her ex-husband's former bedmate, Liang Yanqiu was well aware of all his habits. If she were truly being manipulated, how could she act so convincingly?!

"Alright, you've scared your sister-in-law. You'd better act a little more unfamiliar, otherwise she might think we're putting on an act."

The door to the study's hidden room was pushed open, and the real "Boss Zheng" walked out, smiling at the three of them.

Liang Yanqiu had already retreated to the doorway, guessing that if "Zheng Qingbo" said a few more words, he would run away on the spot.

Compared to the Devil Cultivation Method of the Azure Mysterious Realm, these overseas Devil Cultivation Method are not only less imaginative, but Devil Cultivation Method effects are also worlds apart.