Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong rapped his gold-headed ebony cane against the marble floor of the Jiangcheng City Hall auditorium, drawing the lenses of twenty broadcast cameras as three hundred property moguls and commercial bankers took their velvet seats.
The sixty-year-old patriarch wore a tailored Italian silk suit. Beside him near the podium, Zhao Kai puffed his chest out, sneering at every passing business rival.
“Our Zhao Consortium is here to secure Jiangcheng’s industrial future,” Zhao Tianxiong declared into a cluster of microphones. “Today, we are acquiring Lots Seven, Eight, and Nine—the three blocks encircling the riverfront district. We have already arranged an eight-hundred-million-yuan credit line with State Commercial Bank. No small-time developer in this province has the liquidity to match us.”
A reporter held up a recorder. “Patriarch Zhao, those three blocks directly surround the new Taichu Sky-Tower site. What does Zhao Real Estate plan to build there?”
Zhao Kai leaned in, a nasty smirk spreading across his lips. “We plan to build a municipal solid-waste transfer depot, a heavy concrete-crushing plant, and a chemical recycling terminal. Let us see how many luxury tenants Lin Mo attracts when twenty garbage trucks idle outside his lobby every morning! We will choke Taichu with dust and diesel exhaust until they beg us to buy their eighty-eight-story carcass!”
Several reporters frowned in deep disgust, but no one dared to openly challenge the Zhao family’s power.
The double doors at the back of the auditorium swung open.
Lin Mo walked down the central carpeted aisle, flanked by Su Wan, Chief Counsel Shen Qiaoqiao, and Commander Tie Niu. Lin Mo wore a plain black turtleneck sweater beneath his wool coat, his hands resting casually in his pockets.
Zhao Kai let out a loud scoff. “Here comes the street beggar who struck lucky! Lin Mo, you might have bought a few tower cranes, but City Hall auctions are for real oligarchs! If you cannot produce eight hundred million in cold credit, don’t even bother raising your paddle!”
Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong tapped his cane against the marble floor, his eyes cold and disdainful. “Young man, Jiangcheng has belonged to the Zhao family for forty years. A wild pup who just learned to bark has no place at this table. Take your little girl and run back to your soup stalls.”
Lin Mo did not even glance at Zhao Kai. He took his seat in the third row, unscrewed his thermos, and poured a small cup of hot tea.
Threatening to build a garbage dump in the center of a city just to spite a neighbor is why corrupt families collapse, Lin Mo thought deadpan. A man who leverages bank credit to build spite projects forgets that banks only love you when you are not a felon. Watching an empire collapse under its own stupidity is free education.
At nine o’clock sharp, Auction Committee Director Yan took the stage and tapped his wooden gavel.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,” Director Yan announced. “We open the bidding for Parcels Seven, Eight, and Nine: sixty-two acres of mixed-use riverfront land. The opening bid begins at six hundred million yuan.”
Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong raised his golden paddle without hesitation.
“Eight hundred million yuan!” Zhao Tianxiong shouted, his voice echoing across the auditorium. “Zhao Real Estate bids eight hundred million in a single strike! Backed by our pre-approved credit line from State Commercial Bank!”
Three mid-tier land developers in the second row lowered their bidding paddles onto their laps, exchanging grim looks.
Eight hundred million was a massive premium over market value. Several smaller developers shook their heads and put their paddles away.
Zhao Kai turned in his seat, gloating at Lin Mo. “Go ahead, Lin Mo! Bid! Let us see if your little pocket change can touch eight hundred million!”
Director Yan raised the wooden gavel. “Eight hundred million yuan once to Zhao Real Estate. Eight hundred million yuan twice—”
“Point of order, Director Yan,” a crisp, razor-sharp voice rang out.
Chief Counsel Shen Qiaoqiao stood up.
She carried an aluminum briefcase and walked with calm, measured steps straight to the main stage.
Director Yan frowned. “Counselor Shen, this is an active bidding period. If you wish to bid, raise your paddle.”
“We do intend to bid, Director Yan,” Shen Qiaoqiao said smoothly. “However, before the city accepts an eight-hundred-million-yuan bid backed by State Commercial Bank credit, the Auction Committee and the bank’s risk officers must examine the criminal eligibility of the bidder.”
Patriarch Zhao’s face darkened. “Nonsense! Slander! Expel this woman from the hall!”
Shen Qiaoqiao ignored him completely. She plugged a high-speed flash drive into the auditorium’s master media console and pressed a button.
The giant cinema screen behind the stage flickered to life.
In crystal-clear 4K resolution, video footage taken at two-fifteen that morning played across the entire auditorium.
Every banker, developer, and journalist watched in stunned silence as twelve armed mercenaries thrashed inside Master Lu’s steel bear-traps. The screen showed close-ups of twelve blocks of military-grade thermite, complete with serial numbers and high-explosive markings.
Then, a clear, unencrypted audio recording filled the auditorium’s surround-sound speakers.
Viper’s voice: “Boss Lei Bao paid us three million cash. Once we melt the crane bases, the collapse will crush the foundation and shut this site down for twelve months.”
The dispatcher’s voice: “Confirmed. Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong signed the three-million-yuan payment authorization from the Zhao Real Estate slush account at Commercial Bank. Burn it to the ground.”
Shen Qiaoqiao tapped the podium console. The screen displayed a complete forensic financial trace:
“The three-million-yuan bounty was wired at midnight under the label ‘Geotechnical Survey Advance,’” Shen Qiaoqiao explained coldly. “Our forensic audit team traced the authorizing digital key directly to Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong’s private token, transmitted from Zhao Kai’s penthouse IP address.”
The entire auditorium erupted into total pandemonium.
“Thermite sabotage?!” “Patriarch Zhao hired underground mercenaries to blow up a high-rise foundation?!”
In the VIP box, Director Song, Chief Risk Officer of State Commercial Bank, turned white as chalk. He leaped to his feet and snatched the microphone from the auction podium.
“In accordance with national anti-terrorism covenants and financial crime statutes,” Director Song shouted, his voice trembling with fury, “State Commercial Bank immediately terminates all credit facilities to Zhao Real Estate! All eight hundred million in credit lines are frozen effective this second! We are recalling all outstanding corporate debt immediately!”
Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong staggered backward, his hand clutching his chest.
“Director Song! You can’t do this!” Zhao Tianxiong wheezed, his face turning an unhealthy purplish-gray. “We have a twenty-year relationship! My brother is on the municipal board!”
“Your relationship is with the state prosecutor now, Zhao Tianxiong!” Director Song barked.
Director Yan slammed the wooden gavel down three times with furious force.
“In light of clear evidence of Category-One Public Endangerment,” Director Yan declared, “the bid from Zhao Real Estate is declared null and void! Zhao Real Estate is permanently disqualified from all municipal land tenders!”
Zhao Kai collapsed into his chair, his eyes glazed with sheer terror.
Lin Mo stood up calmly from the third row.
He adjusted his coat and walked up the carpeted steps to the podium. Beside him, Su Wan handed an official sealed envelope to Director Yan.
“Director Yan,” Lin Mo said, his voice calm and resonant. “Taichu Group submits the Taichu Public-Welfare Sanctuary District Bid.”
The hall fell dead silent as everyone watched the young billionaire.
“Taichu Group bids the baseline value of six hundred million yuan in pure, unencumbered liquid cash,” Lin Mo announced. “Furthermore, Taichu Group establishes a dedicated ten-million-yuan Municipal Civic Benevolence Endowment.”
Lin Mo turned toward the rows of invited civic delegates sitting in the gallery: ninety teachers, municipal sanitation supervisors, and veteran firefighters.
“On these three blocks, Taichu will not build waste dumps or luxury commercial prisons,” Lin Mo said. “We will build a forty-acre public riverside park, a twenty-four-hour free municipal library, and five hundred subsidized sanctuary apartments for Jiangcheng’s teachers, sanitation workers, and firefighters at zero profit.”
A gray-haired veteran teacher stood up, wiping tears from her cheeks. Beside her, a fire lieutenant and three sanitation workers joined in, their eyes bright with emotion.
“Thank you, Chairman Lin!” the teacher called out. “Our families have lived in leaky basement flats for twenty years! You gave our children a real home!”
Within three seconds, the entire auditorium joined them in a thunderous standing ovation.
Director Yan wiped a tear from his eye. He raised the wooden gavel high.
“Six hundred million cash plus a ten-million-yuan civic sanctuary endowment!” Director Yan shouted. “Going once! Going twice! Sold to Chairman Lin Mo and Taichu Group!”
BANG!
The wooden gavel struck the brass block.
Lin Mo swiped the Black-Gold Benevolence Card on the municipal payment reader: ¥10,000,000.00.
BEEP.
A radiant bell chimed deep inside Lin Mo’s consciousness:
[Ding! Detected spending of ¥10,000,000.00 RMB on Municipal Civic Benevolence Endowment & 90 Upright Public Servants (Goodness: 82–92/100)!]
[Target Integrity Verified: Expanding urban public welfare, green spaces, and worker sanctuary.]
[Triggered 100x Pure Benevolence System Refund!]
[Received Cash Refund: +¥1,000,000,000.00 RMB!]
[Funds deposited directly into Host Personal Liquid Vault!]
[Personal Liquid Vault: ¥33,854,180,000.50 RMB!]
[Benevolence Merit Points: +1,000,000 BMP!]
[Good People Network Expanded: 7,150 verified righteous allies (+90: public school teachers, civic engineers, sanitation leaders)!]
One billion cash refund, Lin Mo thought, watching the numbers settle cleanly into his vault. Nearly thirty-three point nine billion liquid balance. Spending ten million on public parks and teacher apartments to lock down sixty acres of prime riverfront land. Doing good is simply the most efficient land-acquisition strategy ever invented.
At the side doors of the auditorium, twenty armed police officers marched into the room.
Handcuffs clicked onto Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong and Zhao Kai’s wrists.
“Patriarch Zhao Tianxiong, Zhao Kai,” the lead police captain announced. “You are under arrest for commercial terrorism, attempted arson, and economic fraud. Come with us.”
As the officers dragged the screaming, cursing Zhao pair away through the flashing media cameras, Lin Mo quietly walked out the side exit with Su Wan and Tie Niu.
***
Dusk descended over the Yangtze River.
Cold rain began to fall, slicking the asphalt of the Jiangcheng Riverfront Bridge into black glass. The river below churned with dark, swollen currents under a leaden sky.
Lin Mo sat in the back of the Maybach, watching the rain wash down the tinted window.
Tie Niu glanced at the rearview mirror, his brow furrowing slightly. “Chairman, the municipal police issued a Level-One Red Notice twenty minutes ago. When the SWAT teams raided Black-Sand Cartel headquarters, Lei Bao had already fled. He killed two undercover officers and stole a thirty-ton gravel dump truck.”
“A trapped wolf is at its most dangerous,” Lin Mo said quietly. “Keep your eyes on the road, Tie Niu.”
Suddenly, Tie Niu slammed both feet onto the brakes!
SCREEECH!
The heavy Maybach slid sideways on the wet asphalt, stopping five yards short of a massive obstacle.
Across all four lanes of the suspension bridge, a thirty-ton heavy gravel dump truck had smashed through the concrete center divider, blocking both directions completely.
The headlights of the Maybach illuminated the rain pouring over the crushed hood of the truck.
Standing on top of the crushed steel cab was a towering, wild figure.
Black-Sand Cartel Boss Lei Bao stood in the freezing downpour, stripped to a blood-stained tank top. His eyes were completely bloodshot with crazed, feral madness. Around his thick forearms, veins bulged like black iron ropes, radiating a dark, suffocating martial aura: a ruthless Half-Step Rank-2 Martial Artist pushed to the brink of death!
“Lin Mo!” Lei Bao’s roar tore through the thunder like a wounded beast. “You destroyed my cartel! You put my brothers in chains! Even if I rot in hell, I will cave your chest in with my Iron-Sand Palm today!”
With a deafening boom that cracked the steel truck cab beneath his feet, Lei Bao leaped forty feet through the rain, his blackened, iron-hard palm whistling straight toward the windshield of Lin Mo’s car!