111: Save file for Chapter 111, the beginner's village.

Midtown Manhattan, 432 Park Avenue.

The floor-to-ceiling windows on the 96th floor sliced the clouds in two; the torrential rain was sealed off by the triple-laminated glass, leaving only a dull, rhythmic thudding, as if countless hands were trying to shatter this 22-degree Celsius gilded cage.

Chen Mo swirled a wide-bottomed crystal glass in his hand, the amber liquid clinging to the sides of the glass before slowly flowing back to the bottom.

He didn't look at the glass, his gaze fixed on the city beneath his feet.

Looking down from an altitude of 400 meters, the flashing police lights, the congested traffic, and the ants scurrying about for a living all transformed into a spread-out circuit board.

Electric currents wove through the streets, eventually converging on a few massive nodes.

Now, he was the one holding the switch.

"The capital pool of the Legacy Trust broke through 500 million this afternoon."

Ava Rockefeller stepped barefoot on the carpet, the belt of her silk robe tied loosely.

She walked behind Chen Mo and placed a report that still smelled of fresh ink onto the marble bar counter.

"Jack has managed to suppress the money laundering loss to eight percent. Those vampires on Wall Street are now lining up, trying to stuff money into our offshore accounts."

Ava's voice carried a languor characteristic of someone who had just returned from a battle in the arena of power; she reached out her arms, wrapped them around Chen Mo's waist from behind, and pressed her cheek against the back of his unwrinkled shirt.

"Even my stingy uncle praised the cash flow of Atlas Medical at the family meeting today."

Chen Mo took a sip of the liquor; the spicy alcohol slid down his throat.

"What about Richie?"

"That mad dog?" Ava chuckled softly, her fingers tracing unconscious circles on Chen Mo's abdominal muscles.

"He is now the godfather of Brooklyn and Queens. Last month, he even reached his hand into the New Jersey dockworkers' union.

Following your rules, the monthly tax is wired to our shadow accounts in the Cayman Islands promptly on the 15th, every single cent accounted for."

Chen Mo turned around.

Ava released him, leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window, with the rain and lightning outside serving as her backdrop.

She looked at Chen Mo, her eyes no longer holding the tentative fear from when they first met at the hotel, but rather a fervor mixed with adoration, dependence, and complicity.

In just three short months.

Chen Mo had taken this illegitimate daughter, originally nothing more than an outcast of the family, and turned her into the brightest star of the young generation of the Rockefeller Family.

Of course, the price was that every decision she made within the family had to first get Chen Mo's nod.

"The Mayor's office just called." Ava picked up the golden police badge Chen Mo had casually left on the bar counter, her fingertips tracing the badge number.

"They want to invite the hero of New York, the actual controller of the Anti-Gang Unit, Detective Robert, to attend next week's charity gala. Rumor has it they want to award you the Key to the City."

Chen Mo took the badge back from her hand and casually tossed it into the ice bucket.

"Tell the Mayor I'm busy."

Chen Mo walked over to the massive leather sofa, sat down, and picked up the tablet on the coffee table.

On the screen were nine split-screen feeds.

This was the answer sheet submitted by Nightingale, Elizabeth—a "Raven Squad" composed of retired special forces soldiers, down-and-out hackers, and street informants.

On the screens, the underground casinos in Brooklyn were orderly, with all cash flowing into Legacy Bank; the drug factories in Queens had been converted into legitimate logistics transfer stations; even inside Police Chief Sullivan's private car, there was a bug planted by Nightingale.

This was a web.

A web covering money, violence, intelligence, and power.

Chen Mo lit a cigarette, watching the smoke rise under the cool-toned lighting.

Whether it was the Gambino Family, that self-righteous Siberian Wolf, or even the Mayor who was currently bowing and scraping to him, they were all too weak.

This feeling was like a max-level character bullying noobs in the starter village.

They only had eyes for the little patch of territory, the few votes, and the meager dollars right in front of them.

Chen Mo touched the USB drive in his inner pocket.

That was the complete data on "Lone Star Energy" and the "Unit-734" virus, obtained from the Siberian Wolf.

That coordinate deep in the Texas desert was like a thorn, pricking at his nerves.

That was where the things he wanted were.

Higher authority, stronger entries, and... the true game rules of this world.

"What's wrong?" Ava sensed the change in Chen Mo's mood. She walked over, knelt on the carpet by Chen Mo's legs, and looked up. "Are you unhappy? We won, Chen. All of New York is beneath your feet."

Chen Mo reached out and pinched Ava's chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"New York is not the end, Ava."

His voice was very soft, as if he were speaking of a trivial matter.

"This is just a starter village. What we just did was nothing more than filling our backpacks before leaving the village, and emptying the village chief's treasury while we were at it."

Ava paused. She didn't quite understand the term "starter village," but she understood the chill in Chen Mo's tone.

That chill made her shiver with excitement.

"So..." She pressed her face into Chen Mo's palm, like a docile cat. "Where are we going?"

Chen Mo did not answer.

He turned to look out the window.

A bolt of lightning split the heavy clouds, illuminating Manhattan in a ghastly white.

In that instant, Chen Mo seemed to see the distant southern wilderness across the Hudson River, filled with the scent of blood and oil.