The slap rang out deafeningly.
The entire restaurant froze.
Iron King stood shocked, his mind completely blank from the blow.
Fyren himself was shocked by his own audacity - his hands behind his back were trembling slightly.
Fyren widened his eyes. "Tell me, what are you doing in Northlandia?"
Iron King's mind went blank. I'm finished! Completely finished! Damn me!
This is clearly the Young Lord!
I'm so dead - I actually harassed the Young Lord's woman!
I'm such an idiot! This girl is stunningly beautiful and sharp-tongued - of course the Young Lord would claim her!
How... how could I offend the Young Lord on my first day in Northlandia? And I even harassed his woman! What should I do? Will the Young Lord have me stewed alive?
Fyren thought to himself: Hurry up and back down! I'm scared to death here!
When Iron King didn't react immediately, Fyren couldn't maintain his cold facade any longer.
Gritting his teeth, Fyren delivered another resounding slap. "Speak! What are you doing in Northlandia?"
Iron King immediately dropped to one knee. "Assisting the Young Lord in unifying—"
Smack! Fyren hit him again. "You actually dare to say it out loud?!"
Iron King was on the verge of tears. "Young Lord, please calm your anger! This subordinate—"
Fyren grabbed him by the collar, teeth clenched as he hissed viciously, "Call me Fyren, you fucking moron!"
"Yes! Fyren! This subordinate... I was wrong..."
As Iron King knelt, his four followers immediately followed suit.
In unison, they pleaded: "Please show mercy, Fyren!"
Fyren barked angrily: "You lot—pack your things and get the hell out of here! You're going to ruin my plans sooner or later!"
Iron King kowtowed desperately. "Fyren, we know we're wrong! Please give us another chance!"
His four men echoed: "Please show mercy and give us another chance!"
Fyren pretended to struggle containing his rage. "Damn it! From now on in Crystalpeak City, you will act civilized and polite! Learn humbly and heed others' teachings! Otherwise I'll tear your bones out and feed them to dogs! Understood?!"
"Yes! This subordinate... we understand!"
Fyren raised his hand as if to strike again, but his palm hurt too much—plus he feared overacting might break the illusion.
He settled for growling: "Fucking behave yourselves from now on!"
Xena, thinking Fyren would hit them again, rushed to hug his arm: "Fyren, don't hit them anymore! I just wanted an apology—this is a small matter, not worth making people kneel!"
Fyren thought: Sister, you finally said something decent.
If you'd stepped in earlier, would I have had to dance with death today?
He pointed at Xena. "Apologize."
Iron King and his four men hurriedly apologized, making Xena feel thoroughly humiliated.
"Aiya, okay okay okay, forget it. Just remember to follow order in public places from now on. Queue manners are still necessary!"
"Yes yes yes, we understand."
"And be polite to girls. Big men should have manners!"
"Yes, yes, we were wrong."
"And you, big guy - Iron... whatking - don't bully girls in the future or you'll face retribution."
Fyren said, "Why don't I just have them kowtow to you a hundred times?"
"No no!"
Xena was now trying to de-escalate the situation.
Five big guys kneeling in a row was too embarrassing! She couldn't stand this kind of scene.
She pushed Fyren: "Okay Fyren, calm down. Let's go, ignore them. Come on, let's go. Big deal... I'll wear that JK uniform for you when we get back."
"You promise?"
"Yes! Let's go!"
Zaring started the car. As he drove, he shook his head in admiration. "Fyren, I really admire you! You're too wild! These guys - I tested them earlier - two of them have martial arts skills not inferior to mine... Such powerful characters, yet they knelt before you repenting and apologizing. Besides 'heaven's pride', I really can't think of any other words to describe your magnificence!..."
While Zaring kept praising from the front seat, Fyren in the back was already shaking.
Xena looked at Fyren: "Fyren, what's wrong? Why... are you sweating so much and shaking?"
Fyren thought to himself: I almost died back there, you know? Iron King! One of the Four Talents of Mighty Syndicate Northlandia - a character known for his tough style and ruthless heart. I just put on an act, like a civet cat pretending to be a tiger. If that bastard had used his brain, my life would've been over.
Xena, noticing Fyren's unusual state, quickly grabbed his wrist to check his pulse.
Fyren wearily pulled his hand back. "I'm fine."
Xena said, "Need a hug?"
Fyren's body swayed slightly as Xena embraced him.
Holding Fyren, Xena suddenly grew shy. Two red hues flew to her cheeks as she smiled and patted Fyren. "There there, Fyren baby, good boy, don't be scared. Big sister Xena's got you..."
Fyren sighed.
This time I might have gone too far. When Iron King figures out I fooled him - plus those slaps I gave him - he'll definitely come looking for payback.
...
Iron King received several slaps to the face. Standing in front of the restaurant, he watched the limousine drive away, his brows furrowed. Then he ruthlessly slapped himself.
"Damn it! On my first day here I managed to offend the Young Lord. I'm such an idiot!"
"Boss, was that person really the Young Lord?"
"How could it be fake? Look at his suave, uninhibited, and dashing appearance; then look at his heroic demeanor when he strikes with thunderous force like rolling thunder; then consider his perfect act of pretending to be weak while maintaining an unforgiving stance. Besides the Young Lord, who else in this world could possess such an aura?"
"Should we count this as merit? At the very least, we helped the Young Lord maintain his disguise."
"Mmm." Iron King nodded. "These slaps have established a close connection between me and the Young Lord. I think this is a good start. What do you all think?"
...
Fyren was furious.
Xena, that troublemaker, was practically digging her own grave. Without her, today's mess could have been avoided.
Yet without her, he might not have known Iron King had arrived in Northlandia.
Well, one step at a time.
Fyren didn't know that while Eliza was determined to follow him on the shantytown renovation project, Otto kept pushing the amusement city project to Elton Leng.
However, Fyren took the payoff money meant to help Eliza and directly deposited ten billion into her personal account. Eliza absolutely refused to touch this money, keeping it locked as personal funds.
Meanwhile, the group mobilized billions in cash and secured over a billion in loans, assembling a total of 499 billion. With lightning speed, they signed the deal with Maggie and transferred the funds directly into Dasheng Group's account.
This infuriated Elton Leng, but there was nothing he could do.
Otto felt he was in trouble.
For some reason, while the first half of his life had been smooth sailing with divine favor, ever since arriving in Crystalpeak City, he'd been stumbling at every step.
According to his plans, everything should have proceeded logically, everything should have flowed smoothly, everything should have developed exactly as he envisioned!
His ideals were grand, but reality struck like lightning.
There was only one Leng family, and he couldn't even handle that!
Otto had no choice but to send a distress call to his own organization - the "Big" organization.
Why was it called the "Big" organization? Probably because the author was a huge Naruto fan.
In any case, the Northlandia branch of the Mighty Syndicate dispatched Iron King, one of their Four Talents, with five billion dollars in cash to assist him.
Everything revolved around that piece of land.
Without securing that land, all efforts would be wasted.
Only by obtaining the land and turning a profit could he prove to Elton Leng and Eliza that he possessed both business vision and maneuvering skills.
Then he could logically take control of Qingfeng Group.
Money wasn't much of an issue for Otto. Once the four major families were dealt with, their money would become his money - withdrawing whatever amount he wanted would be just a matter of speaking.
Those girls would be lining up, begging me to use their money. Besides, if I didn't use anyone's money, who would still feel anxious and afraid of losing my favor?
Otto smiled at the thought.
He indulged in fantasies about his bright future.
Everything was ready now - all that remained was the startup capital being sent by Iron King.
...
Fyren's private villa.
As per his request, a new villa had been purchased. The decoration was all pre-made with only minor modifications.
I have to say, money is amazing - the construction team worked incredibly fast.
The decoration style was exactly the kind of artsy yet rustic look he preferred - showcasing luxury while maintaining low-key simplicity.
Lying on the bed, Fyren stared breathlessly at the ceiling.
His path seemed to be coming to an end.
What if he had offended Iron King? Forget Iron King himself - any one of his assassins could kill him as easily as twisting open a bottle.
Zaring had clearly been terrified today, hadn't he?
That kid thought he was a good fighter, but he'd probably never suffered such a crushing defeat in his life.
The fact that those four killers could instantly make Zaring change his expression and want to flee showed just how terrifying their strength was.
Fyren suddenly sat up. "I should just escape this city! What can they do to stop me?"
Just as Fyren had this thought and jumped up, the door opened and a girl walked in.
Xena entered wearing a JK uniform.
Fyren froze. "What are you doing?"
Xena smiled. "Wearing a uniform for you. Don't you like seeing girls in uniform, you big pervert?"
As she spoke, Xena spun around, deliberately showing off her figure.
It had to be said that Xena looked absolutely stunning in uniform.
Or rather, it wasn't just good-looking - it was downright... seductive.