The next day, the situation in Xijing City suddenly became tense. Although ordinary citizens didn’t know what was happening, it didn’t mean the privileged elite were unaware. After all, each of these powerful families had survived for hundreds of years for a reason. Each had spies embedded in rival families, so nothing could truly remain hidden forever.
The families were speculating among themselves about which family had carried out the attack, and each was secretly worried about the hidden strength of the perpetrator. After all, the target was the true number one family in Xijing, a fact evident from the territory it controlled. Which family dared to attack the top family? Who could dare to easily guess at the true extent of such a challenger’s strength?
Even the visible strength of the Nakajima clan, represented by Nakajima Kang, was enough to make others envious. When had the Nakajima family appeared domestically? Could it be…each family secretly began investigating. Although it was said that the top experts from the first family were not present at the time, who among the guards permitted to enter the ancestral mansion of the first family was anything less than formidable? While secretly celebrating the loss of so many experts from the first family, these families also began mobilizing forces and strengthening their defenses, not wanting to be caught off guard by rivals.
These covert actions alarmed the Hejin family as well. In fact, it was the Hejin family who had deliberately leaked news of the attack on their ancestral mansion, hoping to observe which family would secretly increase its vigilance upon hearing the news, thus revealing the guilty party preparing for retaliation. However, now every family was on alert, making it hard for Hejin to determine the culprit. Facing the possibility of confronting so many families at once, even the Hejin, as the top family in Xijing, didn’t have such a large appetite. They could only strengthen their own defenses in secret. Xijing was on the brink of war!
“Hey, Claire, have you missed me? How’s little Laili doing?” Mulin was leisurely chatting with Claire.
“Darling, of course I’ve missed you! It’s been so long. You originally said you’d only be gone a month or so, but now it’s been four months. Aren’t you coming back soon?” Claire asked softly.
“Probably soon. I still haven’t gathered all the materials I need. The local market prices are all artificially inflated now, but I think they’ll drop soon. Once I collect the remaining materials, I’ll come home. You know, good materials are really hard to find these days, and we don’t have that kind of resources yet. So baby, just wait patiently a little longer, and I’ll be back!” Mulin comforted her gently.
Mulin and Claire were both experienced and worldly-wise. They used coded language during the call because they knew that in such sensitive times, every international call might be under surveillance. A careless word could become a future headache.
During the day, Mulin strolled around the city and noticed fewer pedestrians than usual. The police and self-defense forces had also heightened their alert levels. If he continued working during daylight, he would be quickly discovered. Therefore, he decided to act only at night.
It was now deep into the night, and Mulin jumped out of his room. This time, he had chosen to target the smallest and weakest family in Xijing. During the day, he had deliberately checked into a nearby hotel to facilitate his nighttime operation.
The history of this nation was short, so they desperately tried to emulate foreign civilizations, especially their close neighbor China, which became their primary model. The influence of a powerful ancient China was deeply imprinted in their culture. From language to clothing, food, housing, and transportation, one could easily find traces of Chinese civilization in every aspect.
This was even more evident among the yakuza families. The larger and more powerful families, especially those in the bustling metropolis of Xijing, would always try to show off their sophistication by purchasing land, building villas, constructing artificial hills, and cultivating gardens, all to display their supposed cultural refinement.
The Sanlang Association, which Mulin had chosen to eliminate, was not strong enough to afford such luxury. Instead, they had built a twelve-story building as their headquarters, centralizing their personnel and management. This was precisely why Mulin had selected them as his first target.
Silently reaching the top of the building, Mulin concealed himself in the shadows. He noticed that the Sanlang Association was indeed on high alert—there were even sentries on the rooftop, including multiple overt and hidden outposts. Crushing the invisibility talisman in his hand, Mulin stealthily advanced toward the center, planning to neutralize them from within.
Soon, Mulin had taken out all the sentries and began descending floor by floor from the top. In this age of rapid information, he couldn’t risk starting from the bottom. If someone noticed something was wrong and managed to send out a message, revealing that he was acting alone, it would greatly hinder his future operations.
After eliminating everyone in the building, Mu Lin extracted more information from the mind of the Sanlang leader, which shocked him. However, since the job was done, he felt it only fair to take a little compensation for himself. While looting the basement, halfway through his search, he suddenly heard police sirens outside. He was puzzled—how could the police have arrived so quickly? He had already completed the operation, and there was no way any message could have been sent out.
Before the police could search the basement, Mulin had already finished looting everything inside, leaving nothing behind. Then, he instantly teleported back to his hotel room.
Looking out the hotel window, he saw self-defense force helicopters circling overhead. Mulin shook his head, impressed by how fast they had responded. If he hadn’t had teleportation abilities, he might have been trapped inside. He couldn’t help but wonder how they had managed to arrive so quickly. A sense of curiosity stirred within him—he had to find out.
The following morning, news of the Sanlang Association’s complete eradication spread throughout the families. Although other families might have possessed the capability to destroy Sanlang, it would have come at a tremendous cost. Only the most powerful families in Xijing, such as Hejin and Mitsui, could have executed such a flawless and thorough operation without leaving any evidence behind. Nevertheless, both families publicly denied any involvement, insisting they had no disputes with Sanlang and had themselves sustained no losses.
Of course, no one believed these explanations. For the sake of their own survival, the other families needed to resist. The war had finally begun.
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