Downstairs, the massive, dark crowd of people sprang into action the moment Liu Yutong gave the command.
"Smash it!"
"Take down anyone who dares to stand in our way!"
"Charge!"
"..."
A massive number of men in black donned yellow hard hats they had prepared in advance. Wielding special weapons like large fire axes and demolition hammers, they charged toward the Tianshang Club.
As soon as they reached the club's entrance, a portion of the men in black skillfully used umbrellas to cover the security cameras around the area. Immediately after, a cacophony of crashing and smashing echoed through the air.
The two majestic stone lions at the entrance.
"Smash them!"
The glass front doors.
"Smash them!"
The marble walls and Roman columns.
"Smash them!"
In short, anything that displeased the eye or was within easy reach did not escape its fate and was completely destroyed.
However, despite unleashing a storm of destruction upon the club, they were surprisingly polite. They even dispatched a specific team to evacuate the innocent patrons inside.
"Go! Everyone out! We're suspending business for rectification and renovations!"
"What? When will it reopen? You're asking the wrong person. You have to ask the boss here. We're only responsible for the demolition!"
"..."
Meanwhile.
"Re... Reporting to the boss! Something huge has happened downstairs! Those men in black really forced their way in!" A subordinate wearing a security uniform stumbled and crawled into the office.
A surge of furious anger flared up in Master Jiu's heart. The enemy was already at the fucking gates, did he really need this guy to report it?
"Speak!"
"Down... Downstairs! Those men in black pulled out... pulled out the heavy hardware!"
Heavy hardware?
Could that crazy bitch Liu Yutong actually dare to use guns?
Has she completely lost her mind?!
"What heavy hardware? Are they shotguns?"
"Well, no... but they have hydraulic cutters, sledgehammers, and... and hammer drills!"
Master Jiu: "???"
General Manager: "???"
Wait, what the hell? Are they here to seek revenge or to demolish the building?
Master Jiu hurriedly ran to the exclusive security room on the top floor. The scene of flashing blades and bloody combat he had imagined didn't appear, mainly because his subordinates and security guards couldn't hold the line at all.
The most crucial point was that the other side seemed to have come prepared. Only a sea of black could be seen on the monitors, with nothing else visible. However, through the clanging and buzzing sounds echoing from the stairwell, they could still feel the ferocious destructive power. Combined with the real-time reports from his subordinates over the walkie-talkies, they could vividly picture the scene unfolding downstairs in their minds.
The efficiency of the men in black from the Wanlong Syndicate was extremely high. Not only did everyone wear hard hats, but they were also divided into dozens of small squads.
Some were responsible for evacuating the crowd, some specialized in clearing out and subduing the thugs and security guards inside the club, some set up caution tape to prevent falling debris from hitting anyone, and other teams acted like professional construction crews. Wielding hydraulic shears, sledgehammers, power drills, and other tools, they mercilessly smashed the club's glass doors, marble floors, walls, and gilded decorations.
If it weren't for the black outfits they were wearing, they would genuinely look like a professional demolition team.
Listening to the reports, Master Jiu felt entirely numb. They were actually going to completely tear down his fucking club!
One must know that the renovations for this club alone had cost nearly a hundred million, making it incredibly luxurious. If it was all smashed to pieces, the losses would be disastrous.
"Crazy! This woman is absolutely crazy!" Master Jiu clutched his chest, feeling like he was about to have a heart attack.
But the people downstairs continued their real-time reports.
"Boss, this is bad! They've finished smashing the first floor and are charging up to the second!"
"Boss, the bar counter and the supermarket section on the second floor have been smashed! All the liquor was hosed down with the fire hydrant! The 1982 Lafite! They sprayed it like tap water!"
"Boss, they're on the third floor! The water wall in the Crystal Palace VIP room was smashed through with a sledgehammer, and the water is spilling out! It's flooded! Everything is flooded!"
"Boss, the equipment in the third-floor casino..."
"What happened to the casino equipment?!"
"They actually didn't smash this, but they put official seals on everything, saying something about these being their performance metrics?"
"Performance metrics?"
Before Master Jiu could even react, another bombshell of news arrived, hitting him so hard it made his head spin.
"Boss, they've emptied out the finance office! The safes, the documents, they even packed up our finance staff and carried them away!"
Master Jiu was truly panicking now. He yelled into the walkie-talkie, "Stop them! Hurry! Send people to stop them!"
"We can't stop them, Boss! They have too many people! We can't hold them off at all!"
"Boss, why don't we just surrender? In eighteen years, we'll be reborn as real men again!"
"Boss, I'm injured. Can we still get workers' compensation?"
"Boss, how about you settle this month's wages for us first?"
"Boss? Boss? Are you still there?"
"May the whole family of anyone who withholds wages drop dead!"
"..."
Listening to this, Master Jiu's blood pressure skyrocketed. He smashed the walkie-talkie onto the ground, his vision turning black in waves.
He had been in the underworld for more than half his life; what kind of scenes had he not seen?
But this bandit-style demolition and smashing, and even kidnapping the finance personnel, was truly a first for him.
Was this Liu Yutong a devil?!
The general manager still had a bit of reason left and suddenly shouted, "Boss! Hurry! We need to escape through the secret passage we left! As long as we make it out alive, we can always make a comeback!"
Because their club was involved in some illegal businesses, they had specially built a secret passage to make it easier for guests to flee during police raids for gambling or prostitution.
Master Jiu jolted. That's right!
The club had specifically built an emergency passage. After going down to the basement, a quick turn would lead to a relatively narrow alley behind the club.
Unable to spare another moment to mourn the loss of the club, the few of them hurriedly packed up the important documents, gold, and other valuables in the office. They called a few reliable confidants to follow them and made their escape.
He had never been this wretched in his entire life. As he ran, he cursed all eighteen generations of Liu Yutong's ancestors in his heart.
Fortunately, this passage in the club was hidden well enough, and they didn't run into anyone from the Wanlong Syndicate on their way down.
Just as they were about to reach the final hidden door leading to the alley, Master Jiu couldn't help but stop in his tracks. He looked back at the club that was about to be reduced to ruins, a flash of absolute resolve crossing his eyes.
"Liu Yutong, you forced my hand. Worst comes to worst, we'll die together!"
Liu Yutong bringing so many people to smash up the club had cost him tens of millions at the very least. As long as he spent a massive amount of money to expose this incident to the public, that woman would definitely be in deep trouble.
Once such an extremely egregious incident created public uproar, it wouldn't be something that could be suppressed just because someone wanted it to be.
In short, as long as it could be exposed, no leader, no matter how powerful, would be able to protect that Liu Yutong.
"Let's go!"
Having made his decision, Master Jiu forcefully pushed open the small exit door that was camouflaged as a trash can. But the moment he poked his head out, the group of men instantly froze.
The rain was still falling.
In front of the secret passage's exit, a row of Wanlong Syndicate members stood neatly in formation, holding black umbrellas.
Leading them was a gentle-looking young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He held no weapons in his hands, only a single file folder.
"Master Jiu, sorry to keep you waiting. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Zhao Tianyi, the chief attorney of Tianyi Law Firm. Regarding the demolition of your club, we need your cooperation to sign off and confirm that our demolition work has been thoroughly executed, and that there was no stalling on our part."
"Agreement? What agreement? I never signed any damn thing!" Master Jiu roared as he finally snapped back to his senses.
"Look at you. If your memory is failing with age, you really should take some supplements. How could you forget something so important? Why don't you think back carefully? A while ago, you had dinner with Richest Man Huang and our Young Lady. Didn't you sign an agreement then? It was made in duplicate, so you should have a copy yourself."
"Think hard."
Prompted by Zhao Tianyi's reminder, Master Jiu's eyes suddenly widened. He did remember it now.
Some time ago, he had indeed signed a contracting agreement regarding renovation and demolition. At the time, he couldn't fathom why Liu Yutong wanted him to sign such a thing. He merely assumed she knew about the real estate project he and Richest Man Huang were working on and wanted a piece of the pie from the renovation contracts, so he signed it.
Of course, he didn't have much of a choice. If he hadn't signed, Liu Yutong would never have agreed to a truce.
Looking back on it now, this was entirely premeditated!
That woman was far too vicious and calculating!
Seeing him fall silent, Zhao Tianyi added, "Of course, taking into account the emotional distress the demolition process may have caused you, and in accordance with the supplementary clauses of the agreement you signed, we are willing to pay the compensation in full."
With that, he pulled a check from his folder and handed it over.
Master Jiu took the check. Glancing at it, he saw the amount glaring back at him: One Yuan.
They smashed a club he had spent nearly a hundred million to renovate, and the compensation was a single yuan?
He looked up at Attorney Zhao's thoroughly detestable smile. Suddenly, a sweet metallic taste coated his throat as a surge of blood rushed up.
"You... all of you... Pfft!"
Master Jiu pointed a trembling finger at Attorney Zhao before violently spewing a mouthful of blood. His vision went black, and he fell stiffly backward, losing consciousness.
Zhao Tianyi stared expressionlessly at the collapsed Master Jiu and waved a hand at the men in black behind him. "Master Jiu got a little too emotional and fainted. Take him back and properly 'treat his illness.' Remember, we are law-abiding citizens; we must demonstrate humanitarian care."
"Understood!"
Two men in black stepped forward. Grabbing one ankle each, they roughly dragged Master Jiu out of the alley like a dead dog.
It wasn't that they were doing it on purpose; they simply weren't strong enough to carry him.
Zhao Tianyi then took out his phone and dialed a number, his tone turning respectful.
"Young Lady, everything is taken care of on my end. It is all strictly legal and compliant. You can give a proper account to whoever comes asking."
"Good!"
Amidst the pouring rain.
Following a tremendous crash from within, the signboard of the Tianshang Club finally gave way under the strain and plummeted to the ground with a resounding boom!
