Otherworldly Affairs Office

Faced with Yirou's accusation, Su Xiang chuckled lightly: "Don't elevate yourself, whore. Any girl we pick from a high-class club won't be worse than you. You're just a weak spot I keep in plain sight, bait for those foolish enough to think they can take a bite." Saying this, Su Xiang pointed to Han Lihu's body beside him: "See, someone took the bait, so as bait, do your job properly. If you don't like them climbing into your bed, I'll find some others. Plenty of lonely people in that backwater."

"Su Xiang, you bastard! The thing I regret most in this life is meeting you! I..."

Smack! A sharp slap cut off the woman's bitter curse before she could finish. She wanted to keep talking, but another slap followed, then another. After a dozen or so slaps, the anger and unwillingness on Yirou's face gradually disappeared, replaced only by terror. She curled up on the ground, sobbing continuously, not daring to utter another word.

Seeing her quiet down, Su Xiang stood up, rubbed his stiff neck, and turned away, saying: "Shanhe, take her back and find a place to heal her wounds."

Shanhe responded quickly, walked over to Yirou, helped her up, and dragged her away. Zhi Rou approached, pointing at Han Lihu's two remaining family members, asking: "Boss, what about these two?"

"Zhi Rou, if you ask questions like that again, don't bother coming out with me." Sitting back in his chair, Su Xiang picked up the hookah and spoke languidly.

Zhi Rou understood and nodded quickly, saying "Got it!" Then she started to pull the grandparent and granddaughter duo out.

"Hold on!" Du Guangyuan, who hadn't moved at all, raised a hand to stop them. Zhi Rou paused, puzzled, looking at the old man.

Du Guangyuan ignored him and turned towards Su Xiang, smiling: "Xiaosu, how about letting me handle these two and the others?"

"Of course, if Mr. Du is willing to take over, it saves me a lot of trouble." Saying this, Su Xiang waved at Zhi Rou, while Du Guangyuan's attendants hurriedly stepped forward and took the pair from Zhi Rou.

Just as they were being handed off, the old woman managed to break free, spitting out the mouthpiece blocking her voice and shouted, "If I die, I die, but spare my granddaughter, please! She's one of you, like you! I beg of you to let her go!"

Hearing this, everyone was stunned and immediately intrigued. Wang Xishu quickly walked over to Han Lihu's daughter, looked her up and down, judging she was around fifteen or sixteen, the age of development. Ignoring the girl's struggle, he squatted and rolled up her sleeve, indeed finding devices like confinement rings on her arms.

"Family awakening at the same time, huh, rare indeed. Didn't you notice during capture? Old Han wanted to keep his daughter out of our affairs with such gear. I'll take this girl," Wang Xishu said, fondling the girl greedily.

Du Guangyuan placed his thermal mug lightly on the table and, with dissatisfaction, said: "That's not right. Things should be in order, right!!"

"Even if you take her, she'll end up as a dry corpse. I'll trade you something for her." Wang Xishu pushed the girl aside, stood up, and negotiated mockingly with Du Guangyuan.

At this moment, Wang Yiyi removed the Jade Pendant he had won from Liang Guangsheng and said: "I want this person!" Then he tossed it directly to Du Guangyuan.

Du Guangyuan caught the Jade Pendant with one hand, examined it leisurely, smiled and nodded, saying "Deal!"

"Wang Yiyi, how dare you give my stuff away!"

"You filthy woman, dare steal!"

Ignoring the roaring Liang Guangsheng, Wang Xishu turned and instructed his subordinates: "Yihua, take her to our car."

After everything was settled, the venue finally returned to peace. Mr. Mu cleared his throat and said: "Everyone quiet down! Let's get back on topic. Oh, Su Xiang, what do you plan to do with Han Lihu's men?"

"These guys are already on the Investigation Hall's blacklist. Han Lihu thinks he did something big but doesn't realize that for a bit of cash, he's shifted their focus from interdimensional invasions to us. After the meeting, I'll set a trap to let Investigation Hall make a blunder, having Han Lihu gift them this gang, trying not to affect our upcoming plan." Saying this, Su Xiang snapped his fingers at the fallen Han Lihu, who then got up wobbly, his throat making gurgling noises as he walked to stand behind Su Xiang.

Mr. Mu nodded with satisfaction at the scene and said with a smile: "Great, that's exactly what the higher-ups want. I have confidence in your handling; let's discuss the next plan."

The next day, leaving the small town in an SUV, the front row still had Zhi Rou and Shanhe driving, but the back was occupied by a pale-faced young man in a baseball cap, looking gloomy instead of yesterday's fierce youth. Beside him, Han Lihu leaned against the window, gazing blankly outside.

Shanhe drove while glancing at Su Xiang through the rearview mirror, probing: "Boss, are we really sticking to last night's plan? This plan sounds like it'll kill a lot of people. Doing it like that, it's basically waging war against the government, isn't it."

Staring out of the window too, Su Xiang didn't give an answer. Zhi Rou continued: "Boss, even though Han Lihu talked nonsense last night, he said one thing that made sense. Why fight the government when we can calmly make money?"

Su Xiang exhaled deeply and asked: "Han Lihu's mistake was misunderstanding the essence. Tell me, what's our essence?"

Zhi Rou and Shanhe exchanged glances, not understanding Su Xiang's question. Seeing their confusion, Su Xiang said wistfully: "Our essence is our supernatural ability. Before gaining your powers, Zhi Rou, you were just a poor security guard who couldn't even touch a woman's hand. Shanhe, what about you?"

Listening, both Zhi Rou and Shanhe fell silent, reminiscing their miserable past lives.

"I was better off than you guys, a nine-to-five programmer, but such a life was numbing. The moment I realized I had powers, I knew the world was about to change drastically, and I'd be part of it."

At this point, Su Xiang's gaze outside gradually became feverish: "As I truly felt the rapid enhancement from the organization's aid, I was certain I chose the right path. Don't you understand yet? Money is fleeting; only stronger abilities can gain more power, until even the nation bows to us."