Chapter 154: Developments Unfold

"Xiao Ye!"

A cold sweat broke out all over Old Yang's body, scaring him so much that he almost tumbled to the ground!

This was the very man who had turned the entire underground world upside down. How could he possibly appear here?

In an instant, Old Yang was so terrified that he lost his voice entirely, collapsing limply into his chair. Fear and horror were etched deeply across his features.

What on earth was going on?

Seeing how terrified the man in front of him was, Xiao Ye put away his sunglasses and waved a hand at him.

"No need to be so nervous. I came here today to talk to you, not to scare you."

Even if Old Yang lacked common sense, he understood the situation by now.

Rat had aligned himself with Xiao Ye, and all the turmoil in the underground world was undoubtedly orchestrated by these two!

"What do you want?"

Old Yang forced a show of composure, but his rapid pulse and labored breathing completely betrayed him.

"It's very simple. Today, I just want you to do me a favor and help Rat get a foothold in the underground world."

Xiao Ye said with a calm smile, looking directly at the man before him.

"To be honest with you, it's not that I don't want to do this, but the operation is far too difficult. Frankly speaking, besides him, there are many others eyeing that position with covetous eyes."

What Old Yang said was indeed the truth. Given Rat's background, taking that position was simply out of the question.

No matter how hard he tried, there was no way he could turn black into white.

Hearing what Old Yang had to say, Xiao Ye nodded, a nonchalant expression crossing his face.

"In that case, you might as well just drop dead!"

With those words, Xiao Ye stood up abruptly, making a move to finish him off on the spot!

"Wait, wait! I still have a way!"

Hearing this, Old Yang leaped to his feet, waving his hands frantically as he stammered in absolute panic!

"What way?"

Xiao Ye paused in his tracks and asked further.

"As long as you two provide some funding, I can definitely make this happen for you!"

Seeing that Xiao Ye meant business, Old Yang blurted out loudly!

"Don't forget, your life is in my hands, and you're still asking for benefits? It seems you really aren't afraid of dying!"

Xiao Ye let out a furious roar, throwing a punch forward with blinding speed!

Just an inch away from Old Yang's face, the man's legs turned to jelly, and a warm stream began to trickle down his trousers.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! It's not that I want the money, but the people above me demand it!"

Old Yang looked utterly pathetic. Facing Xiao Ye, he had literally pissed his pants out of fear!

Xiao Ye frowned, looked at the man before him, and shook his head.

He hadn't intended to kill the man anyway; all of this was merely a tactic for intimidation.

At that moment, Rat stepped forward again and patted Old Yang on the shoulder.

"Old Yang, things have come to this today. I didn't really want it to turn out like this either. You should know what to do next, right?"

"Understood! Understood! I completely understand!"

Old Yang nodded his head furiously like a pounding pestle, offering a direct guarantee to Rat!

"Good. You can go now. I'll arrange the rest of the matters myself."

Rat chuckled and said to Old Yang.

Old Yang scrambled to his feet, running blindly without a single care for the mess he was in, and bolted out of the bar.

...

In the Jiangnan District, within the Cheng Family Manor.

Cheng Jiangshan was methodically organizing his next moves when he suddenly received a phone call from Scorpion.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. I know what you're trying to do. Now I have a request: assign me to infiltrate the Xiao family's company."

Cheng Jiangshan couldn't help but furrow his brow. He wasn't surprised that Scorpion knew about his plan, but somehow, it didn't feel quite right to him.

"What made you want to handle this personally?"

"Nothing much. It's just that I find this quite interesting, so I was wondering if I could uncover something useful."

Scorpion's reason sounded seamless. Cheng Jiangshan nodded, agreed to her request, and then hung up the phone.

Upon hearing that Scorpion wanted to test Xiao Ye firsthand, Cheng Jiangshan had been less than enthusiastic.

"It's too dangerous! If you just walk right in like that, I simply can't put my mind at ease!"

Cheng Jiangshan had told Scorpion that they still lacked concrete intelligence on Xiao Ye, so even if she went, victory was far from guaranteed.

Besides, nobody could tell whether this operation would yield any results at all.

Yet, Scorpion was headstrong about this endeavor.

She always tried to reap the greatest rewards by resorting to the most dangerous methods.

Cheng Jiangshan had always admired Scorpion's audacity and meticulousness, but the risks involved this time were simply enormous!

However, once she set her mind on something, there was never any turning back.

Even Cheng Jiangshan was powerless to stop her.

The plan they had discussed earlier involved planting their own informants within the Xiao Family Corporation.

Although such a tactic carried immense risk, the potential returns would be even greater if successful.

Now that Scorpion wanted to be part of it, the situation would only grow more complicated.

He could only hope that everything would unfold according to his plans.

...

Meanwhile, Scorpion was chatting amiably with Qin Xue'er inside the Xiao Family Corporation.

"So you're saying the Xiao Family Corporation was only established recently?"

Scorpion put on an expression of surprise and said to Qin Xue'er.

"Yes, it's only been getting back on track recently. That's why your prospects here are vast—you must seize the opportunity."

Qin Xue'er took a bite of her food and said to the people gathered around her.

Qin Xue'er had not raised her guard against these newly recruited employees; instead, she had laid bare her own foundation to encourage them.

Hearing this, a trace of suspicion inevitably arose in Scorpion's heart.

The intelligence files she had gathered stated that Xiao Ye had only returned a few months ago.

This timeline matched perfectly with what Qin Xue'er had just said.

If that was the case, where had Xiao Ye been during the time he was away from Jianghai City?

Everything remained shrouded in mystery, hanging heavily over the minds of everyone in the Jiangnan District.

Just then, Qin Xue'er packed away her lunchbox and spoke to the group.

"Finish eating quickly. We have a meeting to attend shortly, and make sure you take good notes."

With that, she stood up and left the room.

...

Emerging from the bar, Xiao Ye exchanged a few words with Rat and decided to head directly to the company to check on Qin Xue'er's situation.

At that moment, his phone rang—it was a call from Elder Liu.

Elder Liu's slightly aged voice came through the receiver, sounding much more weathered than it had over the past few days.

"Elder Liu, what happened?"

"I heard that people in the Jiangnan District are about to make a move against you. Do you know about this?"

Xiao Ye nodded. Although Elder Liu resided in Jianghai City, his information network regarding these movements was naturally exceptionally well-informed.