52: Chapter 52 Legal Robbery

The Skywave Commercial Street is a place where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold.

This is the economic artery of Jianghai Jianghai; what flows here isn't blood, but money.

A three-story Glazed Pavilion stood prominently at the most eye-catching corner of the street. It was built entirely of translucent azure crystal, reflecting a dazzling halo under the sunlight.

This was the flagship store of the Wang Clan Trading House, and also the golden signboard that the Wang family had maintained in Jianghai Jianghai for a hundred years.

At this moment, this signboard was being stared at.

“Brother Fan, are we really going this big?”

This was the Wang family's prestige.

Once this seal was broken, it wouldn't just be about snatching business; it would be a resounding slap across Wang Tianba's old face, with a spit thrown in for good measure.

“Big?”

Lin Fan held the flimsy A4 paper in his hand. It was an asset transfer order personally signed by Jianghai Lord Li Zhen.

He narrowed his eyes, his gaze piercing through the glazed walls, as if he could already see the shelves laden with goods inside. “I think it's just right. If Myriad Treasures Pavilion wants to make a splash, there's no faster shortcut than stepping on the corpse of an old giant.”

Business competition has always been cutthroat.

Since the Wang family wanted to play monopoly, he would teach them a lesson about what 'dimensional reduction attack' meant.

“Let's go, to the Asset Management Department.”

Lin Fan turned, his clothes stirring a breeze. “To collect our spoils of war.”

...

The Asset Management Department was at the end of the commercial street.

The air conditioning in the service hall was set quite high, but it couldn't suppress the nauseating bureaucratic stench.

“Slap.”

A greasy form was slapped onto the counter.

The person in charge of reception was a pot-bellied man with a receding hairline, named Qian Defa. He had his legs crossed, holding a zisha teapot, and didn't even lift his eyelids. “Fill out the form. Go back and wait for notification. You'll get a result within three months.”

The standard delaying tactic.

Three months?

By then, the day lilies would have withered.

Lin Fan didn't touch the form. He directly slapped the Jianghai Lord's order next to the zisha teapot. “Director Qian, right? I'm in a hurry. I want this shop transferred now.”

Qian Defa was startled, and the tea he was about to drink scalded his tongue.

He angrily raised his head, about to curse, but then he saw the red seal on the order.

A Jianghai Lord's Order.

But the panic in his eyes lasted only a second, quickly replaced by a cunning shrewdness. He recognized Lin Fan. The student who had crippled the Wang family's young master in the arena.

The Wang family had already given instructions.

“Oh, it's Student Lin Fan.”

Qian Defa pushed the order back with a fake smile.

“This matter is a bit tricky. You see, although this Glazed Pavilion has been sealed, its ownership is still disputed. The Wang family is applying for administrative reconsideration. According to procedure, assets under dispute cannot be transferred during the freeze period.”

He spouted nonsense without batting an eye.

Assets personally ordered to be sealed by the Jianghai Lord—who would dare to reconsider?

“Dispute?”

Lin Fan smiled. He leaned forward, resting his hands on the counter, his clear, black-and-white eyes fixed on Qian Defa.

“Director Qian, do you think the Jianghai Lord's seal is useless, or do you think the Wang family's prestige is more valuable than the Jianghai Lord's order?”

Qian Defa's face stiffened.

But this old fox had been in officialdom for many years and had long developed a thick skin.

“Student Lin, you can eat anything, but you can't say anything.”

Qian Defa put down his zisha teapot, his tone carrying a hint of threat.

“I'm just following regulations. If you're not satisfied, you can complain. But... young people nowadays should know when to advance and when to retreat. You can forget about that plot in the Jianghai center. There's an abandoned warehouse next to the garbage dump in the west of the Jianghai; if you're willing to take it, I can process it for you now.”

Opening Myriad Treasures Pavilion next to a garbage dump?

This was blatant humiliation.

Zhang Hao trembled with anger, about to rush forward to argue, but Lin Fan stopped him with a hand.

“Understood.”

Lin Fan nodded, not only without anger on his face but instead revealing a brilliant smile. “Director Qian is teaching me how to behave. I'm enlightened.”

He took out his phone.

He didn't dial the complaint hotline; that process was too slow.

He directly dialed a number.

“Hello, Captain Zhao?”

Lin Fan's voice was soft, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet hall. “I'm at the Asset Management Department. Someone named Qian Defa said the Jianghai Lord's order is just a piece of waste paper to him. Uh, yes, he also told me to open a shop at the garbage dump. Okay, I'll wait for you.”

He hung up.

Qian Defa was stunned.

He looked at Lin Fan's calm demeanor, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Captain Zhao?

Which Captain Zhao?

“Kid, who are you trying to scare?” Qian Defa tried to remain calm. “Just making a random call and you think...”

“Boom!”

Before he could finish speaking.

The glass door of the Asset Management Department was violently kicked open by a large foot wearing a tactical boot.

The thick tempered glass shattered instantly, shards scattering across the floor.

“Which bastard said the Jianghai Lord's order is waste paper?!”

A furious roar, like rolling thunder.

Iron Pillar Zhao rushed in with a squad of fully armed City Guard. An alloy battle saber was immediately pressed against Wang Defa's neck.

That intense aura of killing intent instantly dropped the temperature in the hall to freezing point.

“Zhao... Zhao Yanluo?!”

Qian Defa's zisha teapot clattered to the ground, smashing into pieces. He felt as if his bones had been removed, slumping onto the chair, his pants instantly wet.

He never dreamed that a single phone call from Lin Fan would actually summon this formidable deity.

“Qian Defa.”

“You've grown quite bold, haven't you? Daring to obstruct even military supply points? Do you want to fill trenches on the front line, or pick up soap in prison?”

“Mis... misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!”

Qian Defa was so scared that tears and snot streamed down his face, and he desperately kowtowed. “I didn't know it was a military supply point; if I had known, I wouldn't have dared even with ten times the courage! Captain Zhao, please spare my life, spare my life!”

Military supply point.

This was a clause in the agreement between Lin Fan and the Jianghai Lord's Mansion. Myriad Treasures Pavilion, as a special supply channel for the military, enjoyed military-level protection.

Obstructing military affairs, in this era, could result in immediate execution.

“Too late.”

Iron Pillar Zhao glanced at the urine stain on the ground with disgust, then waved his hand. “Take him away. Check his accounts; a parasite like this definitely has dirty dealings.”

Two ferocious soldiers rushed forward and dragged Qian Defa out like a dead dog.

The screams faded into the distance.

The hall was deathly silent.

The other staff members all hunched their shoulders, wishing they could bury their heads in their computer screens, fearing they would get into trouble.

“Mr. Lin.”

Iron Pillar Zhao turned to look at Lin Fan, the fierce expression on his face instantly vanishing. “It's handled. These civil officials just need a good lesson; if you don't use some tactics on them, they'll never know their place.”

“Thank you for your trouble, Captain Zhao.”

Lin Fan smiled and offered a cigarette. “No choice, it's easier to deal with the King of Hell than with little devils. I'll have to trouble Captain Zhao to keep things in order in the future.”

“No problem.”

Iron Pillar Zhao took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear. “As for the transfer...”

His gaze swept over the trembling young female clerk behind the counter.

“I... I'll handle it! Immediately!”

The female clerk was so scared her voice trembled, and she frantically typed on the keyboard. “Th-that, how is the price calculated? The system shows an appraised value of one hundred million...”

One hundred million.

This was the market price.

For a flagship store in such a prime location, it was actually an undervaluation.

Lin Fan didn't speak.

He just quietly watched the female clerk, his fingers lightly tapping the counter.

“Thirty percent.”

Iron Pillar Zhao suddenly spoke.

He said sternly and seriously, “This shop is suspected of aiding the enemy and is considered a black market asset. According to wartime special regulations, it will be auctioned to a military partner, enjoying a seventy percent discount. Any problem?”

The female clerk swallowed.

Seventy percent discount?

Buying a building king worth over a hundred million for thirty million?

This wasn't a discount; this was blatant robbery!

But looking at the still-warm pistol on Iron Pillar Zhao's waist, how dared she utter a single word of dissent?

“No... no problem, it complies with regulations!”

The female clerk quickly printed the contract, stamped it, and signed it. Her movements were so practiced it was heartbreaking.

Three minutes later.

Lin Fan walked out the door, holding the still-ink-scented property deed.

“Brother Fan...”

The fat man, who had been playing dumb the whole time, finally came to his senses. He looked at the small red book in Lin Fan's hand and then at the thirty million deducted from his card, feeling as if the whole world had become surreal.

“It... it's ours just like that?”

The fat man's voice was a bit shaky. “Thirty million? That's the Glazed Pavilion! Just tearing down and selling the building materials alone would be worth more than that! Brother Fan, what's the difference between this and robbery?”

Too dark.

It was really too dark.

He used to think Lin Fan selling blind boxes made him a Shrewd Merchant, but now, he seemed like a philanthropist.

“Difference?”

Lin Fan stopped.

“What's the difference? Robbery doesn't make this much money, does it?”

Lin Fan waved the red book in his hand. “And we are legal.”

This was the taste of power.

If it were the old Lin Fan, let alone buying this building, even setting up a stall at the entrance would have him chased away by Jianghai management.

But now.

He was a champion, a genius, a military partner.

The rules began to serve him.

“Let's go.”

Lin Fan tossed the property deed to the fat man. “Find a renovation team. Take down the Wang family's signboard. I want this building to become Jianghai Jianghai's biggest money sink.”

“Got it!”

The fat man hugged the property deed as if it were his own son. The fear in his eyes vanished, replaced by an almost fanatical excitement.

Following Brother Fan means there's meat to eat!

...

Wang Family Mansion.

“Crash!”

A priceless Song Dynasty Ru Ware Teacup was violently smashed to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces.

“Too much! This is too much!”

Wang Tianba's hair was disheveled, like a mad tiger. His chest heaved violently, his originally pampered face now swollen to a purplish-red.

“Thirty million... is it just about thirty million?!”

Wang Tianba pointed at the kneeling butler, spittle flying everywhere. “That's the Wang family's ancestral property! It was built brick by brick by the Old Master back then, it's the face of our Wang family.”

The Glazed Pavilion was stolen.

This was no longer just a slap in the face.

This was tearing off the Wang family's face, throwing it on the ground and stomping on it, then spitting on it afterward.

“Patriarch, calm down...”

The butler trembled with fear. “That Lin Fan now has the Jianghai Lord's Mansion backing him, and a military background. We... we can't touch him for now.”

“Can't touch him?”

Wang Tianba was so angry that he laughed.

He suddenly stopped roaring, his eyes becoming extremely sinister. "Doesn't he want to do business? A country bumpkin, just because of good luck, wants to compete with my Wang family. Does he know how to do business? Heh, can he even do it right?"