The ambulance sped down the road. It was as cold as a hearse.
Zuo Haoran was like a corpse. He remained stiff for a long time before he said with great sadness, “Uncle, I’m crippled.”
The teaching director’s horse-like face twitched. “It’s my fault for not keeping an eye on you, but you don’t have to be too sad. Current medical technology is much better than when it was on Earth. We can use monster nerve cells and the stimulation of growth hormones from foreign species to help you. Even if you’re paralyzed, you can be cured. You just need some time to recover.”
Zuo Haoran had a dazed look on his face. “Then I won’t be able to attend the national college exam.”
“Yeah. Forget about it this year. Just concentrate on healing. Then, next year or the year after next…”
The teaching director wanted to say that it would be pretty good to get into a decent postsecondary specialized college, but once he thought about it, he swallowed his words.
But Zuo Haoran was able to hear the underlying meaning behind his uncle’s words.
The world around them was turning into hell, and now, he turned from a living corpse to a savage demon from hell.
“Meng Chao…” he said the name partially in fear and partially in anger. Rage burned in his eyes. “I want him dead! Uncle, kill him for me!”
The teaching director smiled wanly. “Haoran, no matter how strong I am, I have the principal above me, and the vice principal is at the same level as me. Yan Dongxin is also a person who will not be influenced by anything.
“I can’t use my power to deceive people. Besides, this is your fault. Sigh… why did you have to use Heart Hammer just to teach that boy a lesson? I wouldn’t care if you used it in secret, but he recorded the entire process of you using that technique. How am I supposed to help you if that’s the case?
“How about this? I’ll make a call to your father, and we can talk about this. There are rules in the school that I must keep, but your dad is working in society. He will definitely have a lot more methods compared to me.”
“That’s right! Have my dad kill him!”
Zuo Haoran’s eyes lit up, and an incredibly sinister smile bloomed on his lips. “Wait. We’ll spare Meng Chao for the time being. We’ll deal with his family first. I want him to see his family suffer pain ten times worse than mine!”
New Binjiang City was the business center of Dragon City. It had rows upon rows of dazzling skyscrapers, and they were like hundreds of sharp swords that pierced the heavens.
There was a building named Heavenmade, and from the thirty-third to the thirty-fifth floor belonged to Great Waves Corporation.
Zuo Qingtian stood in front of a huge French window with a cigar that was meticulously persevered from Earth. He looked at the scenery of half of the city and felt as if he was standing on all of Dragon City. It was an incredible sensation.
Even though Great Waves Corporation only occupied three floors of the office building, Zuo Qingtian had started from nothing. He had worked for thirty years, and the nameless person was now a successful businessman. It was enough to make Zuo Qingtian feel incredibly proud of himself.
Hence, he did not find the chatter from the woman behind him piercing to the ears.
“Chairman Zuo, you can’t just let Old Zhou do whatever he wants! You were best friends who risked your lives together in the past, and he saved your life! Right now, he’s going through qi deviation and lying in the hospital with his fate unknown. Y-You…”
The woman choked up and could not continue speaking.
Zuo Qingtian did not even turn his head around. “Sister-in-law, I owe Zhou Erge my life, and I always remember it. That’s why I said that I will use twenty million to buy all his shares in the company. Everyone is short on money nowadays, and not everyone is able to bring out twenty million to save a life.”
The woman’s voice grew sharp. “Twenty million? My husband worked hard for Great Waves Corporation for thirty years and treated you like his brother. He helped you bring Great Waves Corporation to this state, and you want to kick him out of the company with twenty million? You’re not offering money to save him! You’re just trying to rob him blind while he’s going through a predicament!”
Zuo Qingtian frowned slightly, and his voice turned cold. “Sister-in-law, I have nothing to say if you must twist my words this way. If you want it like this, think about how you will handle Old Zhou’s matter on your own. The company is going to be very busy over the next few days. Once we’re done, I’ll go to the hospital to visit Old Zhou.”
“Y-You…” The woman was so angry that she felt faint.
“I can understand how you feel. That’s why I’m not blaming you for all the words you’re saying in distress. In any case, my door is always open. But if you want that money, you’ll have to act fast. Old Zhou’s illness will not wait for anyone.”
Zuo Qingtian finally turned his head around, but he did not look at the woman. Instead, he pressed on the intercom on his office table. “Madam Zhou is leaving. Send her off.”
Two well-built bodyguards knocked on the door and entered.
The woman stomped on her feet and left in anger.
She slammed the door as she left, but that did not affect Zuo Qingtian’s mood. He continued enjoying the view of the super grand city that had become more prosperous and grander than any of the capitals on Earth after all the trials and tribulations it went through.
After thirty years, he had finally built his own tiny business empire despite having been a person with nothing in his hands.
A few days ago, he had set up his last partner with a small trick and caused his qi to deviate. Now, the man was half dead.
Zuo Qingtian could finally take full control of everything and become a real emperor.
Oh, there was his son too. Zuo Haoran was his greatest pride and joy.
“I’ve fought hard my entire life, but in the end, I’m only a three-star superhuman. But judging by Young Hao’s pace, he will definitely be able to get into a famous university. He may even surpass my level before he graduates. He has a bright future ahead of him.
“At that time, we will work together to fight against the world, and we will definitely…”
Zuo Qingtian narrowed his eyes. He cast his gaze on the skyscrapers not too far into the distance with a gaze as sharp as a falcon’s.
Many of the buildings were occupied by major businesses. They were unlike Great Waves Corporation, which only occupied three levels.
But that was fine. One of these days…
Zuo Qingtian was completely immersed in the future of him and his son enjoying all the riches in the world when his phone rang.
“What? Big Brother, speak to me clearer! What happened to Young Hao? You said he’s crippled?”
Zuo Qingtian sat up in his chair—the one for bosses—and it creaked.
“What’s going on? He was hit? Who would dare to bully my son? Meng Chao? A poor student who lives in a public renting house?!”
Zuo Qingtian listened to the speech, which left him stunned for a long while. He was angry for an equally long time afterwards.
Suddenly, a loud crack rang, and his phone was crushed.
“Meng Chao, you ruined my son’s future, so I will ruin your entire family! I’ll make it so that you suffer a fate worse than death!”
The three-star superhuman was so angry that he felt like exploding. The documents that were originally on the table made rustling sounds as they flew all over the place. They were then cut to incredibly thin strips by Zuo Qingtian’s qi. It looked as if they had landed in an invisible shredder.
“Chairman Zuo, this is bad!”
Suddenly, the public relations manager rushed in without knocking on the door.
Zuo Qingtian grabbed the ashtray on the table and threw it. “What’s going on?! Why are you panicking?!”
“A lot of defamatory posts about Great Waves Corporation appeared online. They said that our empowered nutritional fluid wasn’t created by us, but is an unbranded product bought from an unlicensed workshop in the underworld on which we stuck our label. They say that our company doesn’t have our own research lab and production line, and all the money we took from the investors was used for promotions and advertisements!” the public relations manager said with a long face.
“Trash!” Zuo Qingtian slammed his fist on the table. “It’s definitely some competitor being jealous of us. They bought ghostwriters to make it trend, enter the headlines, and take control of public opinion. You’ve done this hundreds of times before, so why do you need me to teach it to you now?!”
The public relations manager looked at him anxiously. “N-No, Chairman Zuo, this time, it’s really different. I was prepared to use our old method to perform damage control, but many of the media outlets refused to help, and many of the accounts that we often use have been banned. Also, even Dragon Online is sharing the defamatory posts about us, and you know that they can be considered somewhat part of the government.”
“What?!”
This time, even Zuo Qingtian was shocked.
Before he could handle the matter of the public opinions online, beeping sounds rose, and the security manager called through the intercom. “Chairman Zuo, a large group of people from the food sanitation department and the special medicine supervision department came over, and they’re really unyielding about it. Did you know about this?”
“The special medicine supervision department?” Zuo Qingtian’s face turned pale. “H-Hold out for a while. I’ll make a few calls!”
Before his voice could fade, the finance manager rushed in. “Chairman Zuo, three of our main banks have sent notices saying that there’s a problem with our pledged item and the procedures we did when we signed our loan with them. They’re doing the examination procedures once more right now, and they might immediately withdraw our loan!”
Zuo Qingtian jumped up from his chair and crushed the cigar in his hands. “How could this be? How could this happen?”
“Chairman Zuo, this is bad. Check the news. The special medicine supervision department just destroyed two unlicensed workshops in the underworld, and they broadcasted it on one of the live programs! They say that these workshops specialize in selling inferior products at the price of top-grade products. They claim that they add all sorts of hormones and forbidden medicine to rotting and spoiled monster blood to pass it off as superbeast blood before they sell it.
“One of them was a supplier of our company. We bought the raw ingredients from this workshop to process our hit product Dragon Blood-13! Right now, the clues leading to us have been revealed. All the records of our dealings, the forms of them supplying materials to us, and liaisons are in the hands of the higher-ups!” the production manager shouted out as he ran into the office.
“The reporters are here!” The security manager was still crying out in shock through the intercom. “Chairman Zuo, a large number of reporters came over. There are even some from major media outlets. My subordinates can’t hold them back anymore! What should we do?”
Every new speech was like a bullet that shot Zuo Qingtian full of holes. He swayed on his feet.
“Cough!”
He coughed up a mouthful of blood and took two steps backwards, where he fell on his chair.
Crack!
The chair was unable to bear such a powerful impact and shattered to pieces.
Zuo Qingtian fell on the floor with his limbs bouncing upward before they touched the floor. He looked like a turtle who could not flip over no matter how hard it struggled. Extreme rage and confusion was on his face.
“Who’s doing this to me? Just who is doing this to me?! Why?!”