Chapter 102: Five Seconds to Stand Up!

Xie Donglin was notorious for his ruthlessness. On his climb to power, every stumbling block in his path had been crushed by whatever means necessary. That was how, in his thirties, he vaulted straight into the city’s number-two seat.

And now, after hearing from the Zhang family matron and from the sobered Zhang Zizhe that some outsider had somehow wrested White Emperor City from the Chu family, and even wanted to have the name of that dead slut from twenty years ago hung as the owner of White Emperor City—

Was that not an attempt to bring shame upon his Jiang Alliance?

Xie Donglin had only four words for that.

A fool’s dream.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately sent his people to take over White Emperor City, intending to seize that bustling commercial stronghold from Qin Mu and extinguish his hopes once and for all.

Less than half an hour had passed since the incident at the restaurant.

A whole crew of workers had already moved into White Emperor City, driving out everyone still touring the place and publicly declaring that the city’s ownership would be transferred to someone else.

A few minutes later, a stream of corporate representatives also entered White Emperor City to discuss how it would be divided up.

No notice was given to Qin Mu, nor was his consent sought.

It was as if they had already decided Qin Mu would obediently hand White Emperor City over.

Before long, the matter had been pushed onto the news by the media.

“This is interesting. I’ve never seen anyone sitting in a position like his act so arrogantly,” Mu Mu said coldly, watching the noisy crowd making such a spectacle of themselves.

“With the Jiang Alliance backing him, power and influence are both in the Xie family’s hands,” Qin Mu said with a faint shake of his head.

“Go speak with them.”

“Understood.”

Mu Mu parked the car on the outskirts of White Emperor City.

The workers had originally intended to tell Qin Mu to get lost at once, informing him that the interior had been sealed off and no outsiders were allowed in.

But when they saw Qin Mu’s Bugatti Veyron, worth more than twenty million in the market, and knew its owner must be either rich or powerful, none of them dared step forward.

After Qin Mu got out of the car, Mu Mu followed beside him as they headed straight for the highest-level conference room in White Emperor City.

Along the way, they passed hundreds of burly men—thugs sent by Xie Donglin to drive out anyone already inside White Emperor City or anyone preparing to enter.

The moment they saw Qin Mu, they moved to stop him, and their methods were brutal: both hands shaped like pincers, lunging straight for Qin Mu’s neck and wrists.

Judging by the force behind them, they meant at least to break his wrists and cripple his cervical spine.

But before they got within three meters of Qin Mu, Mu Mu behind him suddenly moved. Several sharp punches tore through the air, and all those who tried to close in were sent flying. Their limbs were dislocated, and they howled in agony, writhing on the ground.

“Who else wants to try?” Mu Mu said, flexing his wrists.

Seeing the men lying on the floor, the others exchanged uneasy looks and could only watch as Qin Mu walked into the highest conference room, none of them daring to stop him again.

All the way up to the seventy-eighth floor.

This was White Emperor City’s top conference room.

At present, besides the main seat in the center, only a few seats toward the back were still empty; every other place was already occupied.

And the people gathered there came from all kinds of backgrounds: some were wealthy out-of-town merchants, others were from powerful and influential circles.

Qin Mu lifted his gaze and swept his eyes across the room.

At the lowest seat of all sat Zhang Zizhe, who had undergone emergency bandaging and was still wrapped head to toe in white cloth, with the middle-aged woman seated beside him.

“I was even willing to spare you a way out, and you still didn’t know to treasure it,” Qin Mu said to the Zhang family, as though joking.

At first, Zhang Zizhe panicked. Then he thought better of it: with the Xie family at his back, and Xie family people present in the room, he straightened his spine. Still, he did not dare openly contradict Qin Mu.

“After today, I’m going to sue you until you go bankrupt!”

The middle-aged woman beside him was far less restrained. The instant she saw Qin Mu, she barked out her words in a shrill, abrasive voice that was unpleasant to the ear.

Qin Mu ignored her and instead looked toward a sturdy, deep-voiced man seated nearby.

“So, Xie Donglin is making the move to buy White Emperor City?”

The man was none other than Xu Feng.

And Qin Mu’s words carried a deeper meaning.

After all, Xie Donglin occupied a position in the open. If he suddenly made such a massive purchase of White Emperor City, it would surely invite criticism.

“Don’t misunderstand. Mr. Xie doesn’t possess such grand ambition. Everyone here is a wealthy magnate from the surrounding provinces and cities; they are merely interested in White Emperor City,” Xu Feng said.

“As for me, I am only here in accompaniment.”

With a few simple words, Xu Feng cleaned Xie Donglin’s name of suspicion.

“Who is this brat? Is this a place just anyone can enter? Get him out of here at once! Don’t dirty my eyes in here,” said Xie Tingting, who had just arrived and was looking for a seat when she spotted Qin Mu. With a wave of her hand, she ordered him thrown out.

“Exactly. We’re here to discuss the transfer of White Emperor City’s equity, so why has some irrelevant nobody barged in?”

“Does he have any sense at all? What are the people below doing? Hurry up and throw him out!”

A group of wealthy merchants echoed Xie Tingting’s words, subtly revealing that she was the true center of this meeting.

It seemed this was the spokesperson Xie Donglin had chosen to take White Emperor City.

“Miss Xie, what if he’s here to take a share of the spoils?” one merchant said deliberately.

Xie Tingting appraised Qin Mu from head to toe, then sneered. “Look at that shabby appearance. He’s obviously some pauper raised by a family from the streets. And he wants to sit at the same table with me for a discussion?”

“Tell me, are you even qualified?”

Xie Tingting was outrageously arrogant, nearly pointing a finger in Qin Mu’s face as she tapped the table and questioned him.

Then she folded her arms, chose a seat close to the main chair, and sat down without a care in the world. She looked as though White Emperor City belonged to her own home.

Qin Mu did not answer. He took a document from Mu Mu’s hands and casually tossed it aside.

It fluttered in the wind and landed right in front of Xie Tingting.

When Xie Tingting saw Qin Mu’s dismissive manner, she immediately flared with anger and was about to slam the table and rise.

But when the corner of her eye fell upon the document, she froze. The curse already on the tip of her tongue would not come out.

That document recorded the ownership of White Emperor City.

And the person holding one hundred percent of the equity listed on it was Qin Mu.

“T-This man is really the true owner of White Emperor City?!” Zhang Zizhe said, trembling as he stared at the document.

The others were no exception. Once they saw the document and confirmed Qin Mu’s identity, all of them were struck by shock.