521: Chapter 516 is not business, but suicide.

He picked up the glass of whiskey on the table and downed it in one gulp.

The spicy liquid burned his throat.

"What do you want to know?"

"Tell me about the distribution of power in City of Jade first," Shen Yan said lightly.

Paci's eyes flickered.

He began to recount information that everyone in City of Jade already knew.

For example, General Taka, who controlled the northern mining areas; the 'Vulture' Group, which controlled the southern transport lines; and several major families entrenched in the City of Jade that controlled the businesses of gambling and drugs.

He spoke in great detail, but it was all intelligence that was out in the open.

He was testing the waters.

Shen Yan just listened quietly, without interrupting or showing any emotion.

Only after Paci finished speaking did Shen Yan open his mouth.

"The Sadao Consortium—who is backing them in City of Jade?"

This question made Paci confirm once again that Shen Yan truly knew nothing about the situation here.

He sighed.

It seemed the other party was genuinely an outsider trying to break into the game.

He completely gave up on testing.

"It's General Taka."

"Thirty percent of the Sadao Consortium's annual income goes into Taka's pocket."

"Behind Sadao is Japan's 'Sakura Chamber of Commerce'; they need City of Jade's jade resources. And Taka needs the weapons and funds provided by the Sadao Consortium to expand his army and deal with the other warlord in the north, General Kunsai."

"They are a community of shared interests."

"What about you? Whose path did you block?" Shen Yan asked.

A trace of hatred ignited in Paci's eyes.

"I blocked all of their paths."

"My mining area produces the best quality raw stones. I bypassed Taka's transport lines and opened my own channels directly with the neighboring country's officials. I don't touch any of their businesses, but I never bow down to them either."

"In their eyes, I am a piece of fat meat rooted in City of Jade that doesn't belong to any one of them."

"So, they want to eat me."

Paci's voice began to carry a slight tremor.

It was extreme anger and unwillingness.

"A year ago, Sadao Takeshi, the head of the Sadao Consortium, came to me with a forged contract, saying he wanted to fully acquire my mining group. Of course, I refused."

"The next day, Taka's army rushed into my mining area and found an entire crate of munitions in my largest warehouse."

"I had never even seen those things!"

"With eyewitnesses and physical evidence, I couldn't defend myself no matter how much I spoke. My assets were seized, my subordinates were arrested, and several core managers are still locked up in Taka's black jail to this day."

"I spent my last connections just to barely escape."

"Sadao took my most valuable Black Dragon Vein Mining Area through a so-called 'legal auction' at the lowest price."

"He even wanted to take my life."

"For this past year, I've been hiding everywhere, living like a dog. If it weren't for these few brothers around me, I would have died long ago."

The more Paci spoke, the heavier the sense of powerlessness in his voice became.

The former 'Jade King of City of Jade' was now just a homeless stray.

Shen Yan listened silently, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the sofa armrest.

Just as Paci mentioned the 'forged contract' and the 'munitions in the warehouse,' a cold system prompt sounded in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Key information detected, triggering a random mission: Revenge of the Jade King.]

[Mission Description: The Host has become involved in the predicament of the legendary mine owner, Paci. The power structure of City of Jade is intricate; it is a crisis, but also an opportunity. Please help Paci complete his revenge, reclaim everything that belongs to him, and use this as a springboard to establish the Host's foundation in the A-Continent's jade industry.]

[Mission Difficulty: A-Rank]

[Mission Reward: One copy of the advanced wealth intelligence 'Mineral Prospecting' Technology Blueprint.]

[Option One: The Royal Road (Capital Flow)].

[Strategy Details: Utilize the Host's vast capital advantage to directly approach General Taka. Purchase the mining rights for the Black Dragon Vein Mining Area at a price far exceeding that of the Sadao Consortium, and ransom Paci's core subordinates. Simultaneously, support Paci in establishing a new mining company to crush the Sadao Consortium's power in City of Jade commercially.]

[Risk Assessment: Huge capital investment required; may incite the greed of General Taka, posing risks to future cooperation.]

[Option Two: The Deceptive Maneuver (Intelligence War)].

[Strategy Details: Purchase high-level system intelligence to obtain the complete chain of evidence (including recordings, videos, and financial flows) showing Sadao Takeshi colluding with General Taka to frame Paci with fabricated evidence. Deliver the evidence to General Taka's nemesis, General Kunsai. Use a borrowed knife to kill, incite a warlord conflict, and reap the fisherman's profit.]

[Risk Assessment: The reliability of General Kunsai is unknown; the conflict process might implicate the Host; the situation in City of Jade will fall into prolonged chaos.]

[Option Three: The Overlord's Absolute Kill (Violent Liquidation)].

[Strategy Details: Mobilize system resources to hire the international top mercenary group 'Ghosts.' Use thunderous means to conduct targeted elimination of Sadao Takeshi and General Taka's core forces, seizing the Black Dragon Vein by force. Establish a new order in City of Jade through absolute violence.]

[Risk Assessment: Extremely High. Will become a public enemy of all forces in A-Continent; subsequent development will be extremely difficult and may invite international intervention.]

The system's light screen scrolled past Shen Yan's retina one by one.

His expression remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, Paci had finished telling his story.

The entire suite fell into a deathly silence.

Paci gasped for breath, staring at Shen Yan with bloodshot eyes, like a drowning man looking at the only piece of driftwood on the water's surface.

He had revealed all his trump cards and his despair.

Now, it was up to the mysterious young man before him to pronounce his fate.

"Are you done?"

Shen Yan spoke, his voice still calm.

Paci nodded, his throat dry, unable to make a sound.

Shen Yan stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the night view of this sinful capital.

After a long pause.

He turned around and looked at Paci.

"One hundred and fifty million US dollars, take it first."

"Tomorrow, I will give you another three hundred million."

"I want you to use my money to turn the entire City of Jade upside down for me."

Shen Yan's words were like a depth charge thrown into stagnant water.

The air in the entire presidential suite buzzed with the shockwave.

Turn the entire City of Jade upside down for me.

Paci's pupils contracted to pinpricks in an instant.

His lips moved, and a few broken syllables squeezed out of his dry throat.

"You... what do you mean by that?"

The four bodyguards behind him gripped their guns, their veins bulging.

They even suspected that the young man before them had gone mad.

Using four hundred and fifty million US dollars to disrupt a sinful capital controlled by warlords?

This was not business.

This was suicide.

Paci's heart pounded wildly. He forced himself to calm down and asked hoarsely,

"Mr. Shen, I... I don't understand. I am just a gambler who lost all his chips, a homeless stray. Why are you betting so heavily on me?"