249: Chapter 250 Even the richest man dares to renege on his debts? I can make him kneel down with just one sentence.

The Xiao Family was located in the Yunlu Villa, a wealthy district in the eastern part of Tianhai City.

Unlike the Li Family, a century-old clan rooted in Jingdu with overwhelming power, the Xiao Family was a pure commercial giant that started in energy and minerals, possessing wealth that could rival a nation.

When Zhang Wei parked his heavily modified heavy truck, which had armor thicker than a tank's, at the main gate of the Xiao Family's elegant estate, the security guards' faces turned pale.

"May... may I ask what the matter is?" the security captain asked with a trembling voice from behind the bulletproof sentry box.

Zhang Wei rolled down the window, pulled out a crumpled copy of a debt note from his pocket, and waved it in front of the man.

"Collecting a debt."

Two words, concise and to the point.

The security captain looked at the astronomical figure on the note, then at the calm and handsome youth in the truck's driver's seat; his legs went weak, and he almost fell to his knees.

He was here.

The man who had silenced the entire Black Market had really come to collect the debt.

"Quick! Go notify the Head of the Family!"

The estate was instantly thrown into a state of chaos.

Zhang Wei rolled up the window and looked back at Lin Qi, who was resting with his eyes closed.

"Brother Qi, do you think the Xiao Family will pay? I heard that the Xiao Family head, Xiao Zhenguo, fled to Jingdu overnight two days ago. He's likely gone to form an Alliance with Li Qingcang."

"He will pay," Lin Qi said without even opening his eyes.

"So certain?"

"Because he doesn't have the qualifications to flip the table," Lin Qi said indifferently. "Li Qingcang dared to bet his life against mine because the Li Family is a powerful clan. Even if they go bankrupt, a centipede dies but never falls—his political Foundation in Jingdu remains. If he flips the table, the worst-case scenario is losing his wealth."

"But the Xiao Family is different."

"The Xiao Family are pure businessmen. Everything they have is built upon 'rules.' Their wealth, status, and connections were all accumulated under the existing rules. Asking them to flip the table is equivalent to asking them to dig their own graves."

Lin Qi's voice paused.

"Li Qingcang is a gambler; Xiao Zhenguo is a businessman. Businessmen know best how to seek profit and avoid harm. Between paying a sum of money to save his life and betting the entire Family's future on a nebulous 'Alliance,' he knows which to choose."

Just as he finished speaking, the estate's gates slowly opened.

An elderly man wearing a Tang Suit, with white hair but a spirited appearance, walked out quickly, surrounded by a crowd of high-level Family members.

It was the current head of the Xiao Family, Xiao Zhenguo.

A smile that looked more painful than crying was squeezed onto his face, and he cupped his hands from a distance.

"Mr. Lin... Mr. Lin's arrival is a great honor. Please forgive me for not welcoming you sooner!"

He didn't even dare to look Lin Qi directly in the eye; his gaze merely flickered over before landing on Zhang Wei nearby.

Zhang Wei cleared his throat, pushed the door open to get out of the truck, and acting all professional, he pulled out a folder.

"Family Head Xiao, according to the agreement, today is the deadline for your side to pay the first installment of resources. The list is here, so do you want to..."

"Give it! We'll give it immediately!" Xiao Zhenguo nodded repeatedly and waved at the butler behind him. "Quick, bring everything to Mr. Lin!"

A moment later, over a dozen hover-trucks drove out from the depths of the estate, loaded with various rare Ore, medicinal herbs, and packaged energy blocks.

Zhang Wei checked them one by one against the list, his chubby face filled with professional seriousness.

Lin Qi never got out of the truck from start to finish; he just watched the scene quietly through the window.

His gaze swept over those priceless resources and finally landed on Xiao Zhenguo's face.

This old man, who was a formidable figure in the Federation's business world, was now covered in cold sweat, and the Tang Suit on his back was already soaked.

He was afraid.

But Lin Qi keenly perceived that beneath this fear, there was a hidden, almost imperceptible... sense of luck and a wait-and-see attitude.

He was stalling for time.

Lin Qi understood.

It seemed that Li Qingcang's side had already given him certain "promises."

It made sense.

If one could default on this debt unscathed, who would be willing to truly bleed out such wealth?

"Fatty," Lin Qi suddenly spoke.

"Huh? Brother Qi, what's wrong? Everything matches the list," Zhang Wei replied, looking back.

"Ask Family Head Xiao," Lin Qi's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone outside. "Has he been feeling like his health hasn't been very good lately?"

Xiao Zhenguo's heart skipped a beat, and the smile on his face instantly froze.

"Mr. Lin... what do you mean by this?"

"It's nothing." Lin Qi's gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, landing on a certain spot inside Xiao Zhenguo's body. "I just see a mass of black Qi swirling under your third rib on the left. It should be a hidden injury left from a fight in your early years, where your internal organs were damaged by a kind of yin-cold energy. It's usually not a problem, but every time it rains, it aches slightly and makes your breathing difficult, right?"

Xiao Zhenguo felt like he had been struck by lightning, and his whole body froze in place.

This matter was his greatest secret.

It was the root of an illness left behind when he was injured by an Evil Path expert while fighting for an Ore vein in his youth. He had consulted many famous doctors and spent countless Heaven And Earth Treasures, but it could not be eradicated. Besides himself and his long-deceased wife, no third person knew!

How did Lin Qi know? And he described it without the slightest error!

"That hidden injury will completely invade your heart vessels in three years. By then, even an immortal won't be able to save you." Lin Qi's tone was as flat as if he were talking about a trivial matter. "Originally, if you paid on time and I was in a good mood, I might have helped you wipe it out. But now..."

He shook his head and said no more.

But the unspoken meaning was like a heavy hammer, smashing hard against Xiao Zhenguo's heart.

This was a threat!

A blatant threat!

But it was also a temptation he could not refuse!

On one side was Li Qingcang's "ultimate plan," which sounded incredible but was unknown when it would be fulfilled.

On the other side was Lin Qi's god-like method of being able to point out his hidden ailment with a casual remark and "wipe it out" just as easily!

Which was true and which was false, which was near and which was far—it was clear at a glance!

The cold sweat on Xiao Zhenguo's face instantly turned into a waterfall.

The shrewdness of a businessman and the gambler's hope for luck fought frantically in his mind for only three seconds.

"Mr. Lin!" He suddenly gritted his teeth, his attitude doing a 180-degree turn, his face filled with unprecedented flattery and trepidation. "A misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

He walked quickly to the truck and bowed almost ninety degrees.

"The money! We'll give it! Not only will we give it, but my Xiao Family is willing to add another thirty percent in resources, only asking for Mr. Lin to be magnanimous and save my old life!"

As he spoke, he actually looked like he was about to kneel down.

Zhang Wei was dumbfounded.

Brother Qi's maneuver was faster than an outright robbery!

Lin Qi finally opened his eyes, looking at the business tycoon outside who was as humble as dust, a nearly imperceptible curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

He want to achieve exactly this effect.

To crush his last bit of hope for luck.

However, at the very moment he was about to speak, an unprecedented shudder that went deep into his marrow surged from the depths of his Soul without any warning!

It wasn't a danger warning.

It wasn't a Killing Intent lock-on.

It was a... terrifying feeling that the world was "modifying" itself!

Lin Qi suddenly looked up at the sky.

The sky was still blue, and the white clouds were still drifting.

But in his "Martial Intent" perception, the entire world seemed to have turned into a massive library of program code.

And now, an invisible "Administrator" was rapidly typing out line after line of commands.

[Illegal unit detected: ID.L-7]

[Unit characteristics: No data panel, does not conform to the world's basic Laws]

[Judgment: Foreign object/Virus]

[Executing command: Rejection]

[Phase One: Law Stripping]

Boom!

It was as if billions of thunderclaps exploded simultaneously in Lin Qi's mind.

He felt that some invisible "thing" that had always been covering the surface of his body was being forcibly pulled away!

It wasn't Protective Aura, and it wasn't Internal Energy.

It was... a layer of "camouflage" his body had instinctively put on to adapt to the environment after he Transmigrated to this world.

It was the Laws of physics!

It was gravity! It was inertia! It was friction!

It was all the self-evident, basic rules that supported the existence of his "Ancient Martial Arts" system!

They... were leaving him!

Inside the truck, Zhang Wei only saw Lin Qi's face instantly turn deathly pale, with large beads of sweat rolling down from his forehead.

"Brother Qi! What's wrong with you?!"

Lin Qi didn't answer.

He suddenly reached out his hand, trying to grab the handle of the car door.

But his hand "passed" directly through the handle.

There was no physical collision.

No contact.

In his perception, the hard alloy handle had turned into a void phantom.

He was being "deleted" by this world.