KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

The office door was tapped lightly.

Gulade stood up from the leather sofa, casually fastening the last button on his suit. "Come in," he said flatly.

The office door was pushed open, and a Caucasian subordinate with a grim expression walked in, his steps hurried.

Seeing his subordinate’s demeanor, Director Pete’s heart sank. That bad feeling he had was now fully realized. He rushed forward, grabbed the man’s arm, and asked, "Fritz, what’s the situation?"

"Sirs, the situation doesn’t look good. Our scouts just sent word that Number 22 Haitian Road is completely surrounded by men from the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall. Weng Xiaolin and Liu Changfeng were already heading to the scene with their people and have likely arrived by now. However, we still have no news of the three Fighters. Our scouts didn’t see them leave Number 22 Haitian Road. I’m afraid..."

The subordinate, Fritz, reported in a low voice.

Hearing this, Director Pete’s heart went cold. It seemed his bad feeling had been confirmed. He took two steps back and collapsed onto the soft leather sofa, his face ghastly.

"What? Not a single one came back? Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"

When Gulade heard the news, the smile vanished from his face, replaced by agitation. He strode forward, grabbed Fritz by the shoulders, and yelled, "How could not one of them make it back?! Your men must have missed something! Send more people! I want to know exactly what happened at Number 22 Haitian Road!"

"Yes, sir."

Fritz acknowledged the order and quickly left the office.

"Impossible! Three elite Cross Level Royal Fighters! How could not a single one have returned?"

This time, the roles were reversed. Gulade paced back and forth anxiously in front of Pete, puffing noisily on his cigar and filling the room with smoke.

He couldn’t accept this news. ’Three Cross Level Royal Fighters joining forces to assassinate the True Inheritance of a local Martial Arts Hall... It’s one thing if they failed, but for not a single one to escape and return?’

’Something must have gone wrong somewhere!’

"Mr. Gulade, it seems we need to consider how we’re going to face the fallout from all sides," Director Pete said with a bitter smile. In his heart, he had already given up hope for the three Fighters.

"Let’s wait. Just a little longer..."

Gulade still refused to believe it. He paced back and forth in the room, waiting for news.

Half an hour later, a definitive report arrived from his subordinates. They had seen the Wind Shadow Hall Master, Zhao Qi, leaving Number 22 Haitian Road under the protection of the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall members. He had multiple injuries but none were life-threatening.

Shortly after, three unidentified bodies were carried out of Number 22 Haitian Road and secretly taken into the custody of the Xiaolin Martial Arts Hall.

BANG!

Upon hearing this intelligence, Gulade finally lost all hope and slumped onto the sofa, his face ashen.

"This time, my judgment was flawed. I will take responsibility and report this to the consulate."

Once the outcome was confirmed, Gulade surprisingly calmed down. After taking a drag from his cigar, he spoke to Director Pete beside him. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Taking responsibility is the least of our worries. If this isn’t handled properly, it will become very troublesome."

Director Pete said, shaking his head.

"We’ll insist the three of them were moonlighting and that this incident was purely their own private doing. We’ll pin all the blame on the dead. We’ll apologize where we must and compensate where we must. I will personally pay double the usual settlement for the three Fighters. I will smooth over the necessary relationships. At this critical juncture, the Giant Spirit Army won’t dare to truly turn on us. It’s just that this time, we’re really going to have to bleed for it."

"Also, we’ll probably have to let go of our business in Celestial Sea Prefecture for now. We can make new plans once the situation becomes chaotic again."

Gulade blew a smoke ring as he spoke to Director Pete.

"I suppose that’s the only way."

Director Pete said helplessly.

...

...

Celestial Sea Prefecture City Defense Army Garrison, Military Officer’s Office.

Inside the office, Hou Rong had been waiting for news of the Jili Empire’s move.

’Wind Shadow Hall’s Zhao Qi? He killed all three Cross Level Fighters by himself? How remarkable...’

After receiving the news, Hou Rong’s slender, cunning phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, his thoughts unreadable.

"Compile a file on Zhao Qi and submit it to the Guangdong Military Department. With this level of strength and potential, he belongs on the Military Department’s watch list."

Hou Rong said to the subordinate beside him.

"Yes, sir."

The subordinate nodded and turned to leave the room.

Hou Rong sat alone behind his desk and slowly closed his eyes. ’I should think about what conditions I’ll demand from those guys this time.’

’As long as I sit still and do nothing, a steady stream of resources and wealth will flow right into my hands.’

’Power... what an intoxicating thing.’

...

...

The next day, news that three Cross Level Royal Fighters had attacked Wind Shadow Hall’s Zhao Qi, only to all be killed by him, spread throughout Celestial Sea Prefecture. While everyone was shocked by the Wind Shadow Hall Master’s terrifying strength, what drew the most attention was the fact that Cross Level Royal Fighters had made a move in the first place.

The three great Martial Arts Halls jointly filed a complaint with the Civil Affairs Department and the City Defense Army. Numerous newspapers reported on the incident, causing a huge uproar. There were even mass protests outside the Jili Empire’s commercial directorate in Celestial Sea Prefecture, though it was unknown if someone was organizing them from behind the scenes.

The Civil Affairs Department and the City Defense Army also pressured the Jili directorate. Director Pete personally came forward to acknowledge the incident, but claimed it was the private action of the three Fighters. He stated that the Jili Empire had already launched an internal investigation into their actions, and he published a public apology in the newspapers, pushing all the blame onto the dead men.

Behind the scenes, the various powers began to exchange benefits.

It is unknown what price Pete and Gulade paid to the Civil Affairs Department and the City Defense Army. As for the three great Martial Arts Halls, the forces under the Jili Empire completely backed down, no longer clashing with them. They also ceded numerous properties and interests, which finally led the three great Martial Arts Halls to drop the matter.

The struggle for influence between the Jili Empire and the three great Martial Arts Halls reached a turning point with this incident, ending in the Jili Empire’s temporary retreat.

And Zhao Xuanqi, who was at the center of the whole affair, also reaped enormous benefits from the distribution of spoils.

Another street block was added to his name, and the properties that originally belonged to the Jingmao Trading Company were also handed over to him. The impact of that battle began to spread, causing Zhao Xuanqi’s prestige within the Celestial Sea Prefecture’s Martial Arts Realm to soar.

Vaguely, within Celestial Sea Prefecture, Zhao Xuanqi was beginning to gain the title of the number one Martial Arts Hall True Inheritance.

As for his injuries, even with the help of top-grade Wound Medicine, it took him nearly half a month to fully heal.

Xiaolin Escort Agency, Mingyu Street Branch.

Inside his study, Zhao Xuanqi had several black wooden boxes laid out on his desk. Opening them revealed they were filled with all sorts of Rare Beast Materials from common species.

This was the harvest from his recent life-and-death struggles.

"I can finally focus on improving my strength in peace. Just trying to live a few quiet days is surprisingly difficult."

Zhao Xuanqi muttered to himself. ’Those three Cross Level Royal Fighters were clearly at a similar cultivation level to me, yet they nearly pushed me to a dead end. If a whole squad had come, wouldn’t I have been completely powerless to resist?’

This filled his heart with a sense of crisis.

’Celestial Sea Prefecture is too small, and this world is vast. I’m still too weak.’

’Now that I have sufficient resources, it’s time to settle down and properly raise my strength.’