Shen Qiaoqiao did not waste a single second. She slammed the heavy lid of her scanner shut.
In less than ten minutes, ten leather dossiers were packed into two plastic laundry crates. She slung a canvas tote bag crammed with stamp pads and tax statutes over her shoulder. Her yellow pencil remained perched behind her ear.
“Uncle Gao,” Shen Qiaoqiao called out to the corridor. “Go home and buy your grandson that down jacket. Tomorrow morning, meet me at the District Commercial Court at eight-thirty sharp.”
Uncle Gao wiped his eyes with his sleeve and nodded vigorously. The eighty bricklayers cleared a path down the narrow hallway, bowing with deep respect as Lin Mo walked past.
Upstairs, the rain had tapered off into a cool autumn mist. Three black-and-gold executive vans sat idling by the curb.
Tie Niu stood by the open passenger door of the lead van. His massive arms were crossed over his chest. “Chairman Lin, Scarface Hu and his debt collectors are still loafing outside our logistics depot. They brought folding chairs and barbecue skewers.”
“Let them eat,” Lin Mo said, stepping into the van. “It is important for a condemned man to have a full stomach.”
Shen Qiaoqiao slid onto the leather bench seat opposite Lin Mo. She ran her fingers across the polished burl-wood trim with wide, curious eyes.
“This van costs more than my entire law school tuition,” she murmured. “And you smell like expensive white sandalwood. Are we really heading to the International Law Tower?”
“We are,” Lin Mo replied. “Su Wan, did the property management firm confirm the closing?”
Su Wan looked up from her tablet. “The receiver for the bankrupt Dacheng Real Estate Group agreed to our terms thirty minutes ago. The top three floors of the Jiangcheng International Law Tower—floors forty-six, forty-seven, and forty-eight—are fully vacated. Total purchase price: thirty million yuan.”
“Thirty million for prime skyscraper real estate,” Lin Mo remarked. “Real estate fire-sales are truly the only ethical reason to deal with banks.”
He looked across at Shen Qiaoqiao. “How many associates do you need to crush Scarface Hu and the Zhao shell companies?”
Shen Qiaoqiao pushed her round glasses up the bridge of her nose. Her smile became frighteningly sharp.
“To handle forty shell companies, seven thousand fraudulent supply invoices, and two hundred unconscionable scooter leases? I need forty certified forensic accountants and trial attorneys,” she stated. “People who can tear through balance sheets at three in the morning without asking for bribes.”
“Do you know where to find forty honest jurists on two hours of notice?” Su Wan asked.
“Of course I do,” Shen Qiaoqiao said, pulling a worn address book from her canvas tote. “Jiangcheng has dozens of top-tier legal talents who were fired this year because they refused to fabricate evidence for the Zhao Consortium. They are currently washing dishes, driving night-shift taxis, or tutoring high school math in cheap suburbs.”
She tapped a page in her notebook. “Fang Liang, former chief forensic auditor at Tianyu Accounting. Fired for refusing to hide twenty million in illegal construction kickbacks.”
“Lu Tao, former top commercial litigator at Zhongxin Law. Fired for winning an overtime settlement for sanitation workers. They are starving for a fight.”
“Call them all,” Lin Mo said. “Tell them Taichu Benevolence Group offers triple their previous salaries, full health coverage at Taichu Hospital, and complete immunity from commercial pressure.”
Shen Qiaoqiao stared at him. “Triple salary? Chairman Lin, some of them would work for steamed buns just for the chance to sue the Zhao family into the stone age.”
“We do not pay our soldiers in steamed buns,” Lin Mo said deadpan. “An underpaid lawyer is an audited liability. A well-paid righteous lawyer is an artillery battery.”
Besides, Lin Mo thought, the more I pay righteous professionals, the faster my personal vault inflates. Exploiting cheap labor is for amateurs who do not understand compound multiplication.
The black vans glided smoothly through the central financial district. The International Law Tower soared forty-eight stories into the evening sky. Its glass curtain wall reflected the bright neon glow of Jiangcheng’s riverfront.
When the express elevator opened onto the forty-eighth floor, the space was breathtaking. High ceilings, panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the entire city, and rows of pristine mahogany workstations stood completely empty.
Within forty minutes, the elevator chimed repeatedly.
Men and women began stepping out into the lobby. Some wore faded suits that smelled of mothballs. Others wore cheap windbreakers over delivery uniforms. Every single one carried battered leather briefcases or laptops held together with electrical tape.
Lin Mo stood by the glass railing, activating his [Pure-Heart Eye].
A brilliant field of emerald and soft green numerals illuminated the floor:
[Target: Fang Liang, Age 29 — Moral Integrity Score: 88/100 (Unyielding Forensic Auditor).]
[Target: Lu Tao, Age 32 — Moral Integrity Score: 87/100 (Righteous Commercial Litigator).]
[Target: Tang Xin, Age 27 — Moral Integrity Score: 85/100 (Contract Law Specialist).]
[Target: Group Assessment: 40 Blacklisted Specialists — Average Goodness: 86.4/100.]
Lin Mo smiled inwardly. Every single person in the room was a verified righteous asset. Not a single parasite or corporate snitch lingered among them.
Shen Qiaoqiao stood on a mahogany desk in the center of the trading floor. She held her canvas bag in one hand and her yellow pencil in the other.
“Listen up, everyone!” Shen Qiaoqiao shouted, her voice ringing clearly across the open hall. “Six months ago, the big firms told us our careers were over because we would not forge documents for billionaires! Tonight, we have three floors in the best tower in Jiangcheng, fiber-optic servers, and unlimited coffee!”
A tall young man in a worn wool sweater stepped forward. It was Fang Liang. He adjusted his bent wire glasses.
“Qiaoqiao,” Fang Liang said, his voice hesitant. “Is this a temporary gig? Who is backing us? The Zhao Consortium has three hundred lawyers on retainer. If this is another fly-by-night firm, we will be crushed by injunctions before breakfast.”
“I am backing you,” Lin Mo said, stepping forward.
The room fell quiet. The forty lawyers turned their eyes toward the twenty-two-year-old chairman.
“My name is Lin Mo,” he said calmly. “I am Chairman of Taichu Benevolence Group. As of five minutes ago, Shen Qiaoqiao is our Chief Legal and Audit General Counsel.”
He pulled out his emerald-green [Benevolence Charity Card] and placed it on the front desk.
“Su Wan,” Lin Mo commanded. “Execute the acquisitions and the operational endowment immediately.”
Su Wan stepped forward, tapping the screen of her tablet with rhythmic speed.
“First,” Su Wan announced, her voice crisp and clear. “Thirty million yuan disbursed for the outright purchase of floors forty-six through forty-eight. An additional twenty million yuan allocated for high-speed forensic servers, secure telecommunications, and signing bonuses for all forty legal associates.”
Across the conference table, three young legal-aid attorneys dropped their fountain pens onto their notepads. Fang Liang gripped his briefcase so tightly his knuckles turned white.
“Second,” Su Wan continued, her eyes fixed on the display. “Chairman Lin is establishing the Taichu Legal Benevolence War-Chest. An independent endowment of fifty million yuan, deposited into an irrevocable judicial trust. This fund exists solely to pay filing fees, expert witness retainers, and damages deposits for vulnerable citizens fighting corporate predators.”
“Total initial expenditure: one hundred million yuan,” Su Wan concluded.
Shen Qiaoqiao clutched her sweater. Her jaw dropped. “One... one hundred million yuan in cash?”
“Cash,” Lin Mo confirmed. “No loan pledges. No offshore promissory notes.”
Swiping one hundred million on righteous lawyers feels much better than buying sports cars, Lin Mo reflected. A sports car only depreciates. Forty vengeful litigators with infinite funding create glorious chaos.
He pressed his thumb against the biometric reader on Su Wan’s tablet.
The system panel in Lin Mo’s mind flared with blinding golden radiance.
[DING! Major Pure-Heart Benevolence Expenditure Confirmed!]
[Recipient 1: Shen Qiaoqiao & 40 Righteous Jurists (Avg Goodness: 86.4/100) — Received: ¥50,000,000.00 Facilities & Signing Package.]
[Recipient 2: Taichu Legal Benevolence War-Chest (Dedicated to Goodness 80+ Citizens) — Received: ¥50,000,000.00 Litigation Trust.]
[Calculation: Total Spent: ¥100,000,000.00 RMB | Multiplier: 100x Pure-Heart Return.]
[Refund Amount: +¥10,000,000,000.00 RMB Transferred to Personal Vault!]
[Benevolence Merit Points: +10,000,000 BMP Awarded!]
[Personal Vault Current Balance: ¥68,513,180,000.50 RMB!]
[Good People Network Expanded: 1,722 Verified Righteous Allies!]
A tremendous, roaring torrent of golden benevolence qi erupted inside Lin Mo’s dantian.
The pure energy cascaded through his twelve primary meridians like liquid sunlight. His bones hummed with resonant power. The marrow in his spine grew dense, crystal-clear, and indestructible.
His Rank 1 Peak Martial cultivation reached absolute saturation. The physical force sleeping within his arms now surpassed five thousand pounds of pure hydraulic pressure. His vision sharpened to the point where he could see individual dust motes floating under the ceiling fixtures fifty yards away.
Across the room, forty cell phones chimed in frantic succession.
“Ping!” “Ping!” “Notification: Bank of China deposit alert. Account credited: five hundred thousand yuan signing bonus!” “My account credited five hundred thousand!” “Look at the trust account! Fifty million yuan cleared in the commercial registry!”
Lu Tao dropped his battered leather briefcase onto the floor. Tears welled in the corners of his tired eyes. He had spent the last four months driving a night-shift taxi to pay for his mother’s insulin.
“Fifty million in court deposits...” Lu Tao choked out, his voice shaking. “We don’t have to settle. We never have to settle for pennies again.”
Fang Liang ripped off his faded windbreaker, revealing a crisp white shirt underneath. He marched toward the nearest workstation and powered on the high-end desktop monitor.
“Qiaoqiao,” Fang Liang said, his voice trembling with manic excitement. “Where are the Zhao shell company ledgers? Give them to me right now!”
“Right here!” Shen Qiaoqiao shouted, dumping the two plastic crates onto the central conference table.
Files spilled across the mahogany surface. Bank statements, shipping bills, forged leasing contracts, and tax receipts formed a massive paper fortress.
The forty associates swarmed the table like starving wolves descending upon a banquet.
“Division of labor!” Shen Qiaoqiao barked, her dimples vanished, replaced by the terrifying aura of a supreme commander. “Fang Liang, take team one! Audit the forty dummy leasing companies connected to Scarface Hu! Trace every single transfer to the Macao gaming accounts!”
“Consider it done!” Fang Liang shouted, his fingers flying across his keyboard like a machine gun.
“Lu Tao, take team two!” Shen Qiaoqiao continued. “Draft emergency asset-freeze petitions for every commercial bank account registered to Hu Tianbiao and his three deputies! Prepare the statutory triple-damages claim under the Anti-Usury Protection Law!”
“Drafting now!” Lu Tao replied, slamming open a fresh ream of judicial paper. “I will have sixty pages filed before the court clerk unlocks the front door!”
“Team three!” Shen Qiaoqiao called out. “Prepare the tax evasion whistleblower reports for the State Taxation Administration! Attach the forensic invoice cross-references!”
“We are not just suing them in civil court. We are burying them under the criminal penal code!”
“Yes, General Counsel!” the room roared in unison.
Printers roared to life, spitting out hundreds of verified balance sheets every minute. Coffee machines hissed in the breakroom. The quiet skyscraper floor transformed into a high-powered legal war room that hummed with pure, righteous fury.
Lin Mo stood by the glass window, watching the city lights shimmer far below.
Su Wan walked up beside him, holding two cups of hot green tea. She offered one to Lin Mo with a faint, admiring smile.
“I have seen billionaires spend fortunes on private jets and vintage Burgundy,” Su Wan said softly. “I have never seen anyone weaponize forty underemployed lawyers with fifty million yuan in cash.”
“Jets only burn fuel,” Lin Mo said, taking a sip of the warm tea. “Righteous lawyers burn criminals. Dollar for dollar, it is the best investment in Jiangcheng.”
Shen Qiaoqiao jogged over, holding a thick sheaf of freshly stamped court summonses. A red judicial stamp gleamed wetly on the top page.
“Chairman Lin,” Shen Qiaoqiao said. Her eyes sparkled behind her gold-rimmed glasses, and her dimples reappeared with radiant menace. “The emergency filings are logged into the court’s digital system. The bailiffs have already dispatched the electronic summons.”
“What time is the hearing?” Lin Mo asked.
Shen Qiaoqiao cracked her knuckles with a series of sharp, satisfying pops.
“Tomorrow morning at nine o’clock sharp,” Shen Qiaoqiao said with a sweet, lethal smile. “Scarface Hu will beg the judge to send him to prison.”