The Rogue Villager Chen Erbao

Chen Erbao was very confident in Bai Xiaoqing's abilities. After all, she was the future CEO of his group.

While in the car, Chen Erbao took the opportunity to call Chen Dabao again, wanting to ask about the Bailong Mountain Planting Base.

"Er Bao, I've had someone plow the plot of land on the mountainside, and we've put up a fence around it and built a couple of small houses. Also, I've installed cameras all over the mountain. On top of that, I had a friend get us a large pack of Tibetan Mastiffs from the grasslands—they'll be excellent guard dogs. Shouldn't we hire some security guards, too? Otherwise, a mountain this big... the two of us probably can't handle it all by ourselves!"

Chen Dabao was quite thorough in his thinking.

"Don't worry, Brother Da Bao. I'll handle the security issue myself when I get back. It won't be a problem at all!"

Chen Erbao hung up and pinched the bridge of his nose, gathering his thoughts.

The stretch Hummer soon arrived at the Vienna Hotel.

Unlike the Vienna Hotels in Changbai Mountain and Binhai, the Viana Hotel in the Lijiang City District was nestled within a dense forest. The surrounding area was lush with vegetation, and the air carried the faint, fresh scent of grass and trees.

With its clean air and pleasant climate, it was truly a perfect spot for a vacation or to escape the summer heat.

Led by Wang Mian, Chen Erbao dropped his luggage in his room and headed out, carrying only the long sword wrapped in black cloth slung across his back.

"Manager Wang, I came to Dian Nan this time mainly to check out stone gambling. Do you have any recommendations?"

Chen Erbao got straight to the point.

Wang Mian hesitated for a moment before replying, "Mr. Chen, as for places for stone gambling, there aren't many in Lijiang itself. They're mostly concentrated in the Banna region. There are, however, a few in the suburbs of Lijiang. If you'd like to go, I can take you... But this stone gambling business is incredibly volatile. I hope you're prepared for that, Mr. Chen."

That last sentence was meant as a warning.

As the manager of the Vienna in Dian Nan, Wang Mian had seen far too many wealthy businessmen like Chen Erbao come from the mainland seeking novelty and thrills. Ninety-nine percent of them ended up losing a fortune at the Gambling Stone Factories and going home with their tails between their legs.

People like that were a factory owner's favorite kind of customer.

They had no eye for it and no real knowledge, but they sure were quick to throw their money around!

Splurging millions at a time... who wouldn't be tempted by that?

Forget just waiting on them hand and foot. If tens of millions were on the table, the owners wouldn't hesitate to bend over and take it.

Chen Erbao knew Wang Mian meant well and just nodded. "Take me there. I'll just look around."

Wang Mian said no more and dutifully went to the garage to get the car.

He would, of course, satisfy his boss's request.

...

「Binhai. Inside a high-walled estate.」

Pairs of stern-faced Patrols walked back and forth. Shadowy sentries were crouched in hidden corners, their faces obscured. Cameras panned 360 degrees, monitoring every inch of the grounds, both inside and out.

Inside a room, three young people in casual clothes—two men and a woman—were slouched in their chairs, looking utterly bored.

Compared to the heavily fortified environment around them, the trio was remarkably calm, fiddling with their phones as if no one else was there.

One of the young men, who had red-and-blue-dyed hair and a flippant grin, was playing a game on his phone, cursing under his breath.

"Fuck, if you don't know how to play, then just quit, you fucking idiot..."

"Push the tower! Push the tower! FUCK!"

Sitting across from the trio was a square-jawed, middle-aged man in a military-green uniform with two bars on his shoulder.

"We've finished our investigation," he said to the three of them. "The target is named Charles, an assassin from the Triangle Zone. He arrived in Binhai a few days ago under the protection of the Dingsheng Group's Ma Family. It seems he's looking for someone, but as for who, we're still looking into it."

The woman leading the trio had short-cropped hair, a cold gaze, and a completely expressionless face. "He's not the one we're looking for. He's just an assassin, so ignore him. The person we want is named Chen Erbao. I need you to find his whereabouts for me."

The square-jawed man nodded, picked up his phone, and started typing.

"His name sounds rather common. I wonder what's so special about him?" he asked, his eyes shifting slightly.

The woman shot him a cold glance. "Don't ask what you shouldn't."

The expressions of the surrounding Patrols immediately changed. A young man standing behind the square-jawed man stepped forward and glared at her. "How dare you speak to Director Chen like that?"

The woman sneered. "A bunch of incompetents. How exactly would you like me to speak?"

"You—"

The young man slammed his hand on the table, his other hand dropping to his waist as if to draw his gun.

The surrounding Patrols also turned their gaze on them, each man placing a hand on his hip, ready to rush forward at a moment's notice.

The atmosphere crackled with tension.

But there wasn't a flicker of emotion on the woman's face. Even the two young men beside her remained impassive. The gamer kept gaming, and the other one continued to flick through his phone, apparently reading a novel.

'How arrogant!'

The square-jawed man frowned, waved his hand, and said in a low voice, "Sit down!"

The young man looked defiant, but after receiving a sharp glare from the man, he could only let out a frustrated huff and return to his seat.

The square-jawed man's name was Zhang Zhi, and he was the director of the Binhai National Security Bureau. He was normally responsible for handling incidents like riots and foreign espionage.

One could say that in Binhai, Zhang Zhi's word was law. Even the city's Governor, Dongfang Zhen, had to tread carefully around him.

"Your men seem a little on edge, Director Zhang..." the woman said with a small smile, leaning back in her chair after a sip of tea. "Relax. We aren't in the same department. You just need to cooperate by providing us with intelligence. That's all. Stay out of the rest."

Zhang Zhi remained silent. After a long moment, his phone chimed with a notification, and his expression returned to normal.

"Found him. Chen Erbao, a native of Jiangnan Province. He's a partner of the Medicine King Hall and also has close ties with the Jiangnan Zhao Family. The Dream Fantasia mud mask registered under his name has completely upended the current cosmetics market..."

Zhang Zhi read on for some time, reciting a dossier that seemed to have dug up every detail of Chen Erbao's life from childhood to the present day. It was so thorough it even specified the age he stopped wetting the bed.

If Chen Erbao had been there, he would have been floored. Besides himself, absolutely no one knew him in such detail.

And yet, with just a few words, Zhang Zhi had uncovered everything.

'He has a partnership with Medicine King Hall? And he's close with the Jiangnan Zhao Family?'

Upon hearing Zhang Zhi's report, the woman's expression grew hesitant.

'She could ignore the Zhao Family. They were just a local power, and no matter how influential, they couldn't compare to her organization. Medicine King Hall, however, was another matter entirely...'

'After all, Medicine King Hall was a multinational mega-corporation with backers at the very highest levels. Even her group couldn't afford to casually make a move against one of their people.'

'If a conflict arose and got out of hand, the fallout would be immense.'

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