The ten bosses

Zheng Family Garden, having lost the gang war, undoubtedly attracted the attention of all the local gang leaders.

After all, as a major triad that has risen in the last 20 years, Zheng Family Garden has already replaced Liang Household Garden and become a member of the Autonomous Association.

In other words, Zheng Family Garden itself is the local basic power structure.

For a big boss of this caliber, not winning means losing.

Not to mention, thanks to the efforts of those with ulterior motives, the news that Zheng Qingbo had fainted again that morning due to old injuries from witchcraft quickly spread throughout Java.

The situation suddenly became unpredictable, with people both inside and outside the Zheng Family Garden inquiring about Zheng Qingbo's injuries.

Nanyang witchcraft and black Jiangtou are numerous, and once someone is afflicted by Jiangtou, the mortality rate is extremely high.

As Zheng Qingbo's confidant, his secretary Jiacha directly sealed off the scene, drove away all members of the Zheng family, and invited all the well-known local doctors.

Just when everyone thought the empire was about to collapse, Zheng Qingbo reappeared late at night, his face rosy and seemingly unharmed. He then summoned all his confidants and publicly announced that he had confiscated all the assets of his two sons who had performed the most actively that day, and had them publicly whipped ten times and driven out.

As for those women who scheme against each other, or even foolish enough to publicly declare their intention to divide the inheritance, they should be sent directly to the temple to worship Buddha, without any leniency.

But the spies inside and outside the park were well aware of this; it was yet another of Boss Zheng's signature maneuvers—a feint to one side while secretly advancing another.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, they directly eliminated a wave of unruly elements in Zheng Family Garden.

The Zheng family's expansion has only suffered a slight setback; it's far from collapsing.

Then, among his confidants, Zheng Qingbo selected ten of the most loyal and powerful to be appointed as stewards, responsible for handling all matters, big and small, inside and outside the Zheng Family Garden while he was recuperating, and reporting directly to him.

Soon, with the guidance of certain individuals, the list of the top ten leaders was circulated again.

Nine of the seats were not surprising, but one of them was quite puzzling.

This leader was none other than the Heavenly Blood Python had disappeared for more than half a year but was extremely famous among the lower-level gang members.

But only those in the core power circle knew that this Heavenly Blood Python had never entered Zheng Family Garden's core circle.

However, he was in charge of the most important military force in Zheng Family Garden.

Faced with the questioning from the leaders, Secretary Jiacha summoned the nine leaders and explained the whole story.

"... So that's how it is. With the help of the traitor Sun Hu, Madam Liang took over Mangzai directly and used all sorts of means to persuade him to assassinate the boss. Fortunately, Mangzai was loyal. On the surface, he agreed to the assassination plan, but in reality, he was constantly tipping us off."

"The reason why the gang fight two days ago was called off at the crucial moment was because the Liang Household Garden used 'Sulu Wrapped Coconut Bone String.' The skewers themselves were not dangerous; what was dangerous was that the skewers contained the ghost of the Liang Household's old woman from back then. In order to protect her Lineage, this old woman actually used Secret Method to turn herself into a ghost. The Liang Household's counterattack was just to buy this old woman time to launch an attack."

"Fortunately, we received a tip from the Heavenly Blood Python and were able to defend ourselves in time. Even so, that old ghost was no ordinary ferocious man; he directly killed two high priests and a hall master of the Demonic Machine Hall. If it weren't for Mangzai's timely rescue, our Zheng family would have truly been caught off guard this time."

"That's why Boss Zheng overruled everyone's objections and insisted on putting Mangzai in charge. At this juncture, loyalty is more important than anything else, and—"

Jiacha glanced at the assembled leaders and smiled.

"Having someone with a clean background and few connections manage the internal and external forces of Zheng Family Garden is also a form of protection for everyone. None of you want to be overthrown by ambitious individuals within the organization after only a few days in office, right?"

The guild leader present tensed up.

They have influence, connections, and Lineage in the local area. If they were to actually take the position of the Heavenly Blood Python, regardless of their true intentions, they would probably develop some ambition. The other leaders would likely feel the same way.

If Boss Zheng hadn't just made an appearance, such a large-scale operation would likely have led some to suspect that this foreigner was isolating the inside from the outside world.

"I understand, but I still want to know, is the boss's injury really that serious? He seemed fine before."

The person who said this was Su Wanqiao, the manager of the Black Wave Charitable Inns.

Black Wave Charitable Inns is not a single inn, but a chain of dozens of inns scattered across the islands east of Java. These isolated islands themselves have no supplies and rely entirely on the main island for resources. It is called an inn because staying there is truly free.

However, some say that the travelers at these inns are often pirates, escaped monks, murderers, or deep-sea hunters. These inns often serve as shelters, black market channels, underground trading points, and even prisons and dumping grounds for stolen goods.

As the head of the entire Java Island intelligence network, Su Wanqiao was naturally extremely loyal. It is said that he was originally a refugee that Boss Zheng rescued from the waves and promoted to his current position.

Jiacha a moment's thought, Jiacha said, "It's hard to say. The Liang Household's witchcraft is somewhat strange, so the boss's condition fluctuates. But don't worry, everyone, the boss is already finding someone to treat his injuries. Once he's fully recovered, he will definitely return to take charge. In the meantime, we'll have to trouble you all."

"However, if anyone has anything they want to report to the boss privately, that's certainly possible; the boss has the energy for that."

Upon hearing this, most of the restaurant owners breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the boss wasn't completely unconscious, there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Should we arrest a few Liang Household first and force Liang Yanqiu to hand over the antidote to the witchcraft?"

The speaker was Liu Axiang, one of the largest incense sellers in Java and even Nanyang. Incense sellers sell incense, including Buddhist incense, sandalwood, women's perfume, and even aphrodisiacs and poison incense.

But behind the scenes, he was the manager of the brothel, responsible for receiving merchants from overseas, heads of various halls, and passing monks.

Jiacha could speak, the other curator retorted:

"Liu Axiang, are you trying to force them to kill the hostage?"

The one who said this was Su Tiya, one of only two female owners present. She was blonde with golden eyes and of mixed Chinese and Western descent. She was also in charge of the brothel, but secretly she managed the business of redemption contracts and sorcery.

Zheng Qingbo's "Human-Body Buddha" ritual methods were discovered by the other party after nearly ten years of investigation. She was also in charge of human trafficking.

These two women were rivals because they worked in the same industry and their businesses overlapped, so they often fought each other.

Apart from these two, the other masters didn't say much, their expressions ranging from joy to worry. But regardless, no one cared about Hu Mang's position as the master anymore.

Jiacha secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After another busy day, the secretary came to the study once again, but Hu Mang was not in the dark room, but standing at the window.

The light from the window shone in from his front, outlining his silhouette clearly, while his face was completely hidden in the shadows, making his expression impossible to discern.

Jiacha Gacha was about to report the news, a terrifying aura stopped him in his tracks. Like an indescribable darkness, it pressed down on Jiacha's shoulders, making his legs feel as heavy as lead, unable to take another step forward. His breathing became shallow and rapid involuntarily, his heart raced, and fine beads of cold sweat began to seep from his forehead, as if taking just half a step forward would expose him to some indescribable danger.

But in Hu Mang's view, he was now transformed into a ghost ship, frolicking and sailing in the deep sea.

He steered the ghost ship, sometimes diving into the deep sea, passing through sunken underwater ruins whose walls were covered with thick barnacles and seaweed, casting distorted shadows under the ship's lamplight; sometimes bursting out of the water, leaping high, drawing a graceful arc in the air, and then crashing heavily into the sea, stirring up huge waves tens of feet high, scattering the surrounding fish, like a giant whale returning to the depths of the ocean, releasing its long-suppressed nature.

I feel happy after getting a scrub in the bath.

Finally, after the ghost ship had finished its revelry, Hu Mang turned around and chuckled.

"Okay, what do you want to say?"

Soon, Jiacha summarized the contents of the meeting for the new boss.

"In short, no one opposes it, but no one openly supports it either. A lone minister, huh?" Hu Mang said, stroking his chin.

"It's interesting for me to be my own loyal subject."

"By the way, while you were away, Hong Tiebiao, Feng Haixiao, and Wei Kaishan all secretly visited Boss Zheng Qingbo, saying they could provide him with personal protection."

"Three Golden Core cultivators: one runs a martial arts school, one runs a smuggling fleet, and one runs a dock in town. The key point is that none of them are from Java, and I've never even seen them before."

"Zheng Qingbo is quite interesting. He sends his most capable subordinates out to expand territory and protect himself, but he uses outsiders. Why do you think that is?"

Jiacha cautiously asked, "Isn't it mostly for safety?"

"For safety's sake," Hu Mang said with a half-smile, "He doesn't seem to be in much safety right now."

Jiacha said, "It's not for his own safety, but to give others a sense of security. If the local gangsters knew that Boss Zheng not only had deep connections but also a large number of henchmen, they might unite to take Boss Zheng down. Therefore, Boss Zheng adopts a strategy of being outwardly powerful but inwardly weak."

"That's true," Hu Mang nodded.

While Hong Tiebiao ran a martial arts school in Luzon, he was also responsible for monitoring the rebel warlord. Feng Haixiao operated more around the shipping routes near Sumatra and rarely Java goods in Java. Wei Kaishan also ran a dock in Sumatra and was responsible for transporting seafood for Zheng Qingbo.

"Do you have a problem?" Hu Mang asked without turning his head.

"You want to know, since I have the means to manipulate Zheng Qingbo, why don't I do the same for everyone?"