A few days later, Mu Lin arranged for Douglas to host a banquet for David Cox to discuss matters and express gratitude for the David family’s longstanding support of the Douglas family. In a five-star hotel, halfway through the banquet, Mu Lin called Douglas. In front of Cox, Douglas answered the phone with utmost respect. Afterwards, Douglas invited Mu Lin to attend a cocktail party he was hosting with his old friends.
When Mu Lin entered the banquet room, Douglas immediately stood up upon seeing him, calling him “young master,” and introduced him to David: “Cox, this is my young master, Daniel Mu, from the Mu family in China. He lives in Salt Lake City and is currently studying at MIT.”
He then turned to Mu Lin and said, “Young master, this is the head of the David family, Cox David. Their family has been our most solid ally over the years, and this time, we owe much to their help.”
Mu Lin quickly stepped forward and shook Cox’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cox. Without your assistance, Uncle Douglas wouldn’t have been able to escape his difficulties.”
Mu Lin had already learned during his earlier manipulations that Cox had also intended to take advantage of the chaos. He had gone to Italy to contact another gang closely allied with his family, planning to wait until the two families were exhausted from fighting, and then deploy an unexpected Italian force to dominate the underground world.
Coming to the banquet today, Cox had been anxious the entire time, thinking his scheme had been discovered by the two families, who had ceased fighting and turned against him. Later, seeing that Douglas had arranged the banquet near his own territory eased his worries somewhat. When he saw Douglas answer a phone call with such respect, he was surprised. Learning that Douglas had a “young master” made him even more uneasy; if this weren’t his own territory, he would have fled immediately.
When Mu Lin entered, Cox was somewhat startled by his appearance. Upon hearing that Mu Lin was from the Mu family in China, he was greatly shocked. Two days ago, while organizing his safe, he had discovered an old portrait. When he showed it to the family members, his four daughters refused to believe that their family had been servants to the Mu family. Therefore, he had the portrait appraised by a professional institution, which confirmed it was over 150 years old. From then on, he firmly believed that his family had been servants to the Mu family. Seeing Mu Lin, who bore an 80% resemblance to the portrait, Cox could no longer contain himself and directly asked, “Mr. Daniel, please forgive my impertinence, but could you tell me which region in China your Mu family is from?”
Seeing this, Mu Lin secretly smiled, realizing that the Mu family’s puppet techniques were indeed effective—Cox had taken the bait. Pretending to be surprised at first, then turning serious, he replied, “Mr. Cox, I’m truly sorry, but this involves a secret between Uncle Douglas and me. Please forgive me for being unable to answer.”
Cox, now as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof, pleaded, “Mr. Douglas, I swear I will never act against your family again. Please let Mr. Daniel tell me!”
Seeing Cox’s plea, Douglas turned to Mu Lin and said, “Young master, since Mr. Cox has spoken like this, please tell him.”
Only then did Mu Lin reveal his birthplace. What followed was no different from what he had planted in their minds. This wasn’t recklessness on Mu Lin’s part, but rather his confidence in the Mu family’s puppet techniques. Using talismans to subdue their spirits, he ensured their loyalty became instinctual. Naturally, the result was satisfying to all parties, and Mu Lin established his first major stronghold in the secular world.
Although Mu Lin had subdued three families in Boston, it was merely to ensure a stable surrounding environment. He could allow himself to plunder their treasures opportunistically, but he would never directly access their funds. After all, who was he? He was the youngest and currently the only known cultivator—and soon-to-be Daoist practitioner—in the history of Xuanqing Palace. How could he possibly use money from his own servants?
Additionally, there was the previously mentioned reason. Considering both these points, Mu Lin would never make large-scale use of the families’ finances. Since he couldn’t use his servants’ money and had vowed never to profit from gambling again, he now needed to find another way to earn money.
Now was the time for Mu Lin to implement his earlier plan. In Country U, the wealthy paid higher taxes. For individuals, income over $152,535 was taxed at 38.6%. For corporations, income exceeding $18,333,333 was taxed at 35%. Other taxes, such as social insurance tax, sales tax, and property tax, meant that the middle and upper classes contributed nearly 90% of the nation’s tax revenue. Therefore, the more one earned, the more one paid. Tax officers were even more powerful than police: the U.S. Internal Revenue Service had branches and subordinate agencies in 55 states, employing a total of 880,000 people.
Tax officers in Country U were strict and authoritative, even more so than police. For those who owed taxes, they could freeze bank accounts, seize cars, confiscate houses, and force children to drop out of school. They would stop at nothing to collect the owed taxes, even if it meant bankrupting the taxpayer. If tax officers suspected someone of hiding income or falsifying tax returns, they had the authority not only to tap phones and read mail but also to conduct forced searches until evidence of tax evasion was found.
Of course, if taxpayers believed the IRS had acted unfairly, unreasonably, or impolitely, they could sue in court, but chances of winning were slim. After learning this, Mu Lin was furious. “Damn it! I haven’t even enjoyed your stupid welfare system, yet I have to support your government with my hard-earned money. It’s completely unjust!”
An economics teacher from Mu Lin’s childhood had told him that as the world’s population grew, there would always be opportunities to profit from necessities like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. But the most fundamental of these was shelter. Once people’s economic conditions improved, their first concern was housing. With increasing population, the real estate industry would become increasingly prosperous, even turning into a highly profitable sector.
Originally, Mu Lin had planned to make a little extra cash casually. Later, he decided to establish a company and make a fortune, since the burden would ultimately fall on others anyway. He registered a real estate company under Claire’s name and started visiting bankruptcy law firms and courts to register bankrupt properties, which he referred to as “liquidation.”
This time, instead of using the two-person team from the New York-based Berse Law Firm, he directly enlisted lawyers from the Douglas Law Firm to accompany him. Naturally, he paid the legal fees as usual. Mu Lin insisted that if he was going to play the game, he would do it by the book. Although the law firm was technically his, he hadn’t managed it directly. Therefore, if he needed lawyers, he would pay them normally. He wanted to see if he could make money independently.
Upon learning that Mu Lin intended to start a business, Douglas immediately contacted him, offering the Mu family’s financial resources for Mu Lin’s use whenever needed and providing him with three bank cards. Later, Gibbs and Cox also found out, mistakenly thinking Mu Lin was short on funds. They quickly apologized and presented him with bank cards as well. Mu Lin accepted the cards but told them, “I’m going to earn my own money for fun. I don’t need your help. If anyone dares to interfere, I’ll cut them off. And don’t get jealous when you see me making money and try to jump in!” Naturally, the three quickly agreed.
After initiating the liquidation process here, Mu Lin discovered that in this very city alone, over 200 properties had been seized by courts or bankruptcy law firms for liquidation.
He first asked his lawyers to accompany him to these locations to negotiate prices. Seeing that Mu Lin had his own dedicated lawyers, these institutions engaged in formal negotiations rather than ignoring him due to his age. After difficult negotiations, Mu Lin managed to acquire nearly all the properties at prices 40–50% lower than their original values. He paid the handling fees upfront, while the property payments would be made after completing the necessary procedures, such as property transfers.
Thus, these properties were nominally under Mu Lin’s ownership. He categorized them based on type—large villas, medium and small villas for the middle class, and apartments for ordinary people. Then, he placed advertisements in newspapers under the law firm’s name, announcing the availability of these properties for sale. After the ads were published, phone inquiries poured in, and many people came to view the properties and proceeded to purchase them.
During this time, he entrusted the lawyers with showing the properties and handling the sales, a process rarely marred by fraud here. Now preoccupied with Boston, Mu Lin saw a tremendous business opportunity and fully utilized all branches of the law firm. Claire now exclusively managed this operation.
Since the basic legal systems of Europe and America belonged to the common law tradition, and their civil service systems were largely similar, their legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms were also broadly comparable. Based on the situation in Boston, Mu Lin quickly envisioned the entire European and American continent. With a global law firm at his disposal, he promptly began implementing his strategy in these regions.
With low down payments, the funds from the first batch of property sales were sufficient to support his next move. Therefore, his remaining $350 million was essentially enough. He transferred these funds to the real estate company, where Claire recruited personnel to form a formal real estate company. This marked the establishment of Mu Lin’s first secular enterprise, one he had built with his own hands. Thus began Mu Lin’s property liquidation operations across Europe and America.
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