Zhou Ba was thoroughly scared tonight.
He only fully recovered after returning to the company with his subordinates.
As for Brother Shan, he was still in shock—he had to bear Zhou Ba's wrath.
"Boss, I'm sorry. It's my incompetence that nearly implicated you and the brothers!"
In the office, Brother Shan knelt on the ground, confessing his mistakes to Zhou Ba with a look of panic.
Although Jiang Wuming had not done anything to Zhou Ba tonight, Zhou Ba kneeling before Jiang Wuming to admit his mistakes was a complete humiliation!
"I really want to shoot you dead!" Zhou Ba stared at Brother Shan, furious.
"Boss, for all the years I've diligently worked for you, spare me this once!"
Upon hearing this, Brother Shan immediately kowtowed and begged for mercy. Seeing no response from Zhou Ba, he explained,
"I never imagined that the woman named He Fang would be connected to Master Zhao and Jiang Wuming! Otherwise, even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare to collect the money, nor would I have brought you here!"
Hearing Brother Shan's words, Zhou Ba's anger subsided somewhat.
On one hand, Brother Shan was his confidant and had genuinely worked hard for him over the years, contributing both effort and merit.
On the other hand, what Brother Shan said was also true—who could have imagined that someone connected to Jiang Wuming and Zhao Shanhe would resort to loan sharking?
"Do you know that because of your stupidity, I almost lost my life tonight?"
Although Zhou Ba's anger had lessened, he still used the opportunity to reprimand Brother Shan.
"I'm sorry, Boss!"
Brother Shan knelt on the ground, his face pressed against the floor, continuing to admit his fault.
"Next time you do something, use your brain. For things that seem suspicious, think more about why, figure it out, and then report to me!" Zhou Ba lectured.
"Yes, yes, yes, Boss!"
Hearing this, Brother Shan rejoiced, knowing his life was saved. However, he then remembered something, looked up, and stared uneasily at Zhou Ba, asking, "Boss, do you think this matter is over? Will that Jiang Wuming cause trouble for us later? Or will Master Zhao, because of Jiang Wuming, seek retribution from us afterwards?"
"Looking at Jiang Wuming's intentions, he probably won't bother us anymore. Because, according to his legendary modus operandi, if he wanted to settle scores, we wouldn't have survived to return!"
A thought struck Zhou Ba, and after careful consideration, he said, "As for Master Zhao, it's really hard to say. You've reminded me of something. I need to report this to Master Zheng! Let Master Zheng put in a word with Master Zhao!"
This time, Brother Shan was discerning enough not to speak. He had successfully shifted Zhou Ba's attention. To say anything more would be gilding the lily.
Just as Brother Shan had expected, Zhou Ba's mind was no longer on how to deal with Brother Shan. After a few seconds of thought, he dismissed Brother Shan and then dialed the phone of Zheng Tianyuan, the godfather of the underground world in Nangang.
"Apologies, Mr. Zheng, for disturbing your rest so late."
When the call was connected, Zhou Ba spoke first, addressing Zheng Tianyuan as Mr. Zheng.
This was because Zheng Tianyuan disliked being called "Boss."
In his opinion, that was the underground world of decades ago.
The current underground world had long evolved from an era of loyalty and the lawless to a monetary era. Harmony was paramount, and profit came first—fighting was for street punks. Making money was the hard truth, and they needed to embrace mainstream society!
"Zhou Ba, if you weren't calling me tonight, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep." Zheng Tianyuan said.
Hmm?
Hearing Zheng Tianyuan's words in surprise, Zhou Ba's heart stirred. He understood that Zheng Tianyuan already knew about tonight's events.
And there were three ways Zheng Tianyuan could have learned about tonight's events.
First, Zhao Shanhe had called Zheng Tianyuan.
Second, Zheng Tianyuan had learned about it through Nangguang's intelligence network.
Third, the brothers A Wu and A Lai had reported the matter to Zheng Tianyuan.
Zhou Ba leaned towards the third option.
Because when Zheng Tianyuan arranged for the brothers A Wu and A Lai to go to Nangguang to help Zhou Ba, Zhou Ba's first thought was: superficial help, secret supervision!
"I'm sorry, Mr. Zheng, for causing you trouble!" Zhou Ba quickly admitted his mistake.
"Tell me everything that happened tonight, especially regarding that Jiang Wuming and Zhao Shanhe, including every word they said and every expression!" Zheng Tianyuan said in a deep voice.
"Mr. Zheng, it was like this..."
Zhou Ba quickly reported the night's events in detail as per Zheng Tianyuan's request, then asked, "Mr. Zheng, do you think we should call Mr. Zhao and mention this matter again?"
"Let me think."
Zheng Tianyuan hung up the phone as he spoke, then rubbed his temples.
For him, losing over twenty million was nothing.
Moreover, the principal Zhou Ba had lent out was only a few million, the rest being interest.
What he truly cared about was whether this matter would have any follow-up!
Or rather, would Jiang Wuming and Zhao Shanhe do anything to him because of this matter!
"According to Zhou Ba's account, this matter should end here."
Zheng Tianyuan recalled Zhou Ba's words carefully and made this judgment, muttering to himself.
"This matter isn't over yet!"
However—
As soon as Zheng Tianyuan finished speaking, a voice suddenly rang out!
"Who?!"
Zheng Tianyuan was so startled that he immediately stood up and saw a man in black, as if appearing out of thin air, standing at the entrance of his study!
...
Yanjing, Xishan.
The secret base of the Zhanlong Special Forces.
After a night training session, Ye Feng led his team directly to an office in the base.
In the office, a man in a military uniform, with gold stars embroidered on his shoulders, sat at his desk, exuding an imposing aura.
He was the helmsman of the Zhanlong Special Forces and one of the most decorated generals in the Longguo Military!
"Commander, you sent for me."
Ye Feng entered the office and saluted the middle-aged man, showing great respect.
This was not only because the middle-aged man was his direct superior but also because the middle-aged man was the strongest War God in the military!
"Ye Feng, are you about to break through?"
The middle-aged man glanced at Ye Feng and asked.
"Reporting, Commander, I can break through to the War God realm at any time if I wish!"
Ye Feng replied loudly, "However, I want to wait until I've thoroughly surpassed the limits of a nine-star martial artist before attempting the breakthrough!"
"Very good. You surpass limits in every realm. This way, after breaking through to the War God realm, you will be far superior to ordinary one-star War Gods. Not only will it give you invincible combat power in the same realm, but it will also allow your martial arts path to go further!"
The middle-aged man nodded with satisfaction, then said, "I sent for you because I just received an order from higher up. According to intelligence, members of foreign forces have infiltrated Nangang these past two days. After discussion between the Military and the Martial Ministry, it has been decided that you will covertly infiltrate first to investigate, which will prevent alerting them!"
"Yes, Commander!"
Ye Feng respectfully accepted the order, then withdrew from the office, thinking to himself:
I heard that Jiang Wuming is in Nangguang. Should I go to Nangguang first to meet him?