194: Chapter 194 Su Qingxue

Since he came to Kyoto, Su Qingxue had stayed in Jianghai City, saying there was a sudden emergency at home. After arriving in Kyoto, he had been busy dealing with base construction, and had actually forgotten about her. Moreover, a call at this time of night was definitely not for idle chat.

Lin Fan picked up his phone and slid to answer.

Before he could speak, Su Qingxue's slightly trembling voice came through the earpiece, with what sounded like noisy wind and faint rumbling in the distance in the background.

"Lin Fan... is that you?"

Her voice held a barely suppressed helplessness and anxiety, making Lin Fan's heart tighten slightly.

"It's me, Qing Xue. What happened?"

Lin Fan's voice was steady and powerful; it traveled through the radio waves, seemingly possessing a calming power.

Su Qingxue on the other end of the line took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm her emotions.

"Lin Fan, something has happened at home."

"Grandfather... Grandfather was seriously injured in the center of the Wasteland Zone, and his life is currently hanging in the balance."

Lin Fan's brows furrowed instantly.

Su Zhentian was an old-school powerhouse in Jianghai City. Although he was old, his cultivation was unfathomable. Plus, after Lin Fan helped him detoxify, his strength should have reached a higher level.

Although the center of the Wasteland Zone was dangerous, with Su Zhentian's experience, he shouldn't have ended up in a life-or-death situation.

"Don't panic, tell me slowly. What exactly happened?"

As Lin Fan spoke, he walked quickly out of the storage room to the base's command center, his fingers sliding rapidly across the giant holographic map, locking onto the location of Jianghai City.

"It was a week ago. Grandfather said he sensed an opportunity to break through, so he went deep into the center of the Wasteland Zone alone to find a companion medicinal herb."

Su Qingxue's voice was tearful. "Everything was going smoothly at first, and the family's rescue team had been confirming his status through the life monitor."

"But just last night, the monitor's signal suddenly became extremely weak, and... and our stronghold on the edge of the Wasteland Zone was attacked."

"Attacked?"

Lin Fan keenly captured the keyword. "Was it a beast tide?"

"No, it was people."

Su Qingxue gritted her teeth, her tone filled with hatred. "It was people from the Zhao Family in Jianghai City."

"They took advantage of Grandfather losing contact and the internal panic within the family to suddenly launch an all-out suppression of the Su Family's industries."

"Not only did they cut off our raw material supply lines, but they also colluded with some underground forces to forcibly annex several of our important warehouses in the west of the Jianghai."

"Just now... just now the head of the Zhao Family, Zhao Haokun, even sent someone to deliver an acquisition contract, saying that if I don't sign it, they won't guarantee that the rescue team will come out of the Wasteland Zone alive."

A trace of cold killing intent flashed in Lin Fan's eyes.

The Zhao Family in Jianghai City.

Although this family was considered a first-rate power in Jianghai City, they had always been suppressed by the Su Family and the former Wang Family.

With their courage and strength, they would never dare to launch such a blatant, extermination-style annexation war against the Su Family while Su Zhentian was only out of contact and not confirmed dead.

Unless they had someone backing them up.

Or, they were certain that Su Zhentian would not return.

Faces flashed through Lin Fan's mind, finally settling on the young master of the Kyoto Zhao Family, Zhao Wujing, whom he had forced to scrub toilets at the base.

"Heh, interesting."

A cold sneer curled at the corner of Lin Fan's mouth, but there was no smile in his eyes.

He had just trampled the face of the Zhao Family into the ground in Kyoto, forcing them to bow their heads and pay compensation.

This Kyoto Zhao Family obviously couldn't swallow this anger, but due to the deterrence of the General Ye Canglan and Lin Fan's current military status, they dared not make a move openly in Kyoto.

So, they reached out to Jianghai City.

This was a typical proxy war.

They wanted to cut off his foundation by suppressing his ally in Jianghai City, the Su Family, and even force him to reveal a flaw.

"Lin Fan, I really don't know what to do now."

Su Qingxue's voice interrupted Lin Fan's thoughts. "Several elders in the family are advocating for peace, and even want to push me out for a marriage alliance to appease the anger of the Zhao Family... I..."

"Qing Xue."

Lin Fan interrupted her, his voice not loud, but carrying an unquestionable dominance.

"Wipe away your tears."

The other end of the phone was silent for a second, then came the sound of sniffing.

"I'm here."

"Remember what I said."

Lin Fan looked at the prosperous night view of Kyoto outside the window, his gaze seeming to pass through thousands of mountains and rivers, landing on the girl who was currently helpless.

"As long as I am here, the Su Family will not fall."

"For those clowns who are taking advantage of the fire, I will make them spit out everything they took, with interest."

"What you need to do now is to stabilize the situation and protect yourself."

"As for the Zhao Family... I will go to Jianghai City to help you."

Hearing this, Su Qingxue's long-tensed nerves finally relaxed, and tears streamed down her face, but this time they were tears of relief.

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Fan did not act immediately.

He stood quietly in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window of the command center, watching the dark night outside, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the windowsill.

The Kyoto Zhao Family's move was very insidious.

If he returned to Jianghai immediately, the foundation he had just established in Kyoto would likely be taken advantage of.

After all, the New Martial Arts Special Strategy Department had just been established, and although it had the inscription of the General Ye Canglan to hold the fort, its foundation was not yet stable.

Moreover, he was now a military major general, and leaving his post without permission required reporting. Not only were the procedures cumbersome, but it was also easy to leak information.

However, the Su Family had to be saved.

This was not just because of his relationship with Su Qingxue, but also because the Su Family was his fundamental base in Jianghai City and the root of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

If he couldn't even protect his own allies, who would dare to do business with him, Lin Fan, in the future?

"Want to play the 'besiege Wei to save Zhao' strategy?"

Lin Fan sneered, turned and walked to the desk, picked up a pen and wrote the two words "Zhao Family" heavily on a piece of white paper, then drew a big cross over it.

"Since you want to play, I'll play a big one with you."

His layout in Kyoto was basically complete. Qin Feng, Qian Duoduo, and others were already on his boat. Under the binding of interests, this group of second-generation heirs was the best amulet.

The key now was that he, the "lone commander," lacked people under his command.

He lacked people who could do dirty work, people who could guard his home for him, and even more so, people who could follow him to Jianghai City to kill in all directions.

Relying on that group of pampered rich second-generation heirs definitely wouldn't work. They were okay as laborers or cash machines, but when it came to risking their lives, they would run faster than rabbits.

Lin Fan's gaze fell on the "Recruitment Notice" on the corner of the table that hadn't been sent out yet.

Originally, he just wanted to recruit a few clerks and cleaners to maintain the daily operation of the base.

But now it seemed that the plan had to change.

He needed a real team.

A private armed force that only took orders from him and dared to poke a hole in the sky.

"System, open the exchange list."

Lin Fan awakened the system in his mind.

Although he couldn't create high-level blind boxes right now, he held a massive amount of resources he had scavenged from the military arsenal.

As long as he operated it a little, it wouldn't be difficult to use these resources to create a tiger-wolf army.

"Jianghai Zhao Family, Kyoto Zhao Family..."

Lin Fan's fingers gently rubbed the paper with the words "Zhao Family" written on it, a dangerous light flashing in his eyes.

"Wash your necks and wait."