Chapter 128 The Black Crow Consortium Taken Down! Global Protection Fees Clearly Marked

The off-road vehicle stopped in a secluded industrial alley.

At the end of the alley stood an abandoned warehouse. Four bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses stood at the entrance, holding gleaming machetes and scanning their surroundings with fierce eyes.

"This is the place," Su Qinghan said, looking at the location sent by Ghost on her phone. "The Black Crow Consortium's secret stronghold in this city. There are about thirty people inside, along with over a dozen Abyss cubs they've domesticated."

Lin Ye pushed open the car door and flexed his wrists. "Thirty-some people? Not enough to whet my appetite. Let's go, let's go in and see what kind of mischief they're up to."

As soon as the two reached the warehouse entrance, the four bodyguards immediately surrounded them.

The lead bodyguard shoved Lin Ye viciously. "Get lost! This isn't a place you should be! Take one more step forward, and we'll cripple you!"

Lin Ye didn't even dodge, letting him push against his chest.

The bodyguard felt like he had pushed against a steel plate. Not only did he fail to budge Lin Ye, but the impact left his arm numb, forcing him to stumble back several steps.

"You're courting death!"

Seeing this, the other three bodyguards immediately charged forward, waving their machetes.

Lin Ye sneered and snapped his fingers.

Four pale golden energy beams shot out instantly, landing precisely on the four bodyguards.

"Ah!"

The four bodyguards let out a simultaneous scream, and the machetes in their hands clattered to the ground.

Their arms withered at a rate visible to the naked eye, their skin becoming wrinkled like tree bark. They instantly aged decades, collapsing to the ground, unable to even stand up.

"What... what kind of sorcery is this?" The lead bodyguard looked at Lin Ye in terror, his voice trembling.

"Sorcery?" Lin Ye scoffed. "This is your retribution. Colluding with abyssal creatures and harming innocent people—dying ten thousand times wouldn't be enough for you."

He kicked open the warehouse door and walked in, pulling Su Qinghan along.

The warehouse was brightly lit and filled with iron cages, inside of which were over a dozen clawing, snarling Abyss cubs.

A dozen researchers in white lab coats were busy injecting unknown liquids into these cubs.

On a sofa in the center of the warehouse sat a pot-bellied middle-aged man—Wang Kun, the person in charge of the Black Crow Consortium in this city.

He held a glass of red wine, chatting and laughing with someone wearing a black robe.

That black-robed figure radiated dense abyssal energy; clearly, they were from the Abyss Council.

Seeing Lin Ye and Su Qinghan burst in, Wang Kun paused, then burst into laughter. "I wondered who it was; it's the famous Lin Ye. What's the matter? Aren't you busy enough with things in the game? You came all the way here to throw your life away?"

The black-robed figure also turned his head, his crimson eyes fixed intently on Lin Ye. "You're the human who sealed the Lord of the Abyss? Perfect. If I capture you and offer you to the abyss speaker, I can be promoted to an Abyssal Lord!"

"Just the two of you pieces of trash?" Lin Ye crossed his arms, looking disdainful. "Wang Kun, you've colluded with abyssal creatures and caused destruction during the chaos. How many innocent people have died because of you? I'm here today to settle this account."

"Settle the account?" Wang Kun laughed even more arrogantly. "Lin Ye, don't get too cocky! The whole world is in chaos right now; who has time to worry about you? I've already reached an agreement with the abyss speaker. Once they rule the Earth, I'll be the District Chief of China! When that time comes, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

"Is that so? Then I'd like to see if you even have the life to be District Chief."

Lin Ye raised his hand toward Wang Kun, immediately applying a dual debuff of "Financial Fortune Decay" and "Stuttering."

Wang Kun wanted to continue his threats, but suddenly felt his tongue tie up, unable to finish a sentence. "You... you... what... did... you... do to me?"

He subconsciously felt for his pocket, wanting to take out his phone to call for help, but as soon as he pulled it out, it fell to the ground with a "snap," shattering the screen.

Immediately after, his wallet slipped out of his pocket, and the cash and bank cards inside scattered everywhere.

Even worse, he slipped, face-planted, knocked out two front teeth, and his mouth was full of blood. Everyone else in the warehouse stared, stunned and at a loss for what to do.

The black-robed figure roared, "Human, you're courting death!"

He suddenly drew an Abyss scythe and slashed toward Lin Ye.

The scythe was wrapped in black abyssal energy, and wherever it passed, the air hissed with corrosive sounds.

Su Qinghan immediately raised her healing staff, ready to put a shield on Lin Ye.

"No need." Lin Ye stopped her, stepped forward, and made a grabbing motion in the void toward the black-robed figure.

"Crack!"

The black-robed figure's Abyss scythe instantly shattered into countless pieces.

Immediately after, countless threads of Decay energy wrapped around his body.

"No! Impossible! How can my abyssal energy be suppressed?" The black-robed figure screamed in terror.

"In my Decay Domain, no matter what kind of energy it is, it has to behave," Lin Ye said calmly. "Didn't you want to capture me and offer me to the abyss speaker? Why are you acting like a coward now?"

He applied a little force with his fingers, and the black-robed figure's body began to wither rapidly.

A few seconds later, this emissary of the Abyss Council turned into a withered corpse, collapsed to the ground, and turned to ash.

Seeing this, the researchers and bodyguards in the warehouse were completely terrified, throwing down their things and kneeling to beg for mercy:

"Lord Lin Ye, spare us! We were all forced!"

"It was Wang Kun who forced us to do the experiments, it has nothing to do with us!"

"Please, let us go, we won't dare to do it again!"

Lin Ye glanced at them. "Now you know how to beg for mercy? When you were helping the Black Crow Consortium harm innocent people, why didn't you think about today?"

He turned to Su Qinghan and said, "Tie these people up and hand them over to the Guardian Alliance to handle. And these Abyss cubs, clear them all out; not a single one can be left behind."

"Okay." Su Qinghan nodded and immediately messaged Sister Chen, telling her to bring people over to take over.

Lin Ye walked over to Wang Kun, crouched down, and looked at him. "Wang Kun, where is the headquarters of the Black Crow Consortium? How many secret strongholds are there? Confess honestly, and I can give you a quick death."

Wang Kun was shaking all over, stuttering, "The... the headquarters is in... in Washington D.C. ... and... and there are over a dozen strongholds... distributed across... various countries around the world... I... I will give you all the addresses... I beg you... spare me..."

Trembling, he pulled a USB drive from his chest pocket and handed it to Lin Ye.

Lin Ye took the USB drive and tossed it to Su Qinghan. "Have Ghost check it and see if it's real."

Then he stood up and applied another "Lifelong Misfortune" debuff to Wang Kun. "I won't kill you. But for the rest of your life, you will be utterly unlucky. You'll get food stuck in your teeth when drinking water, trip while walking, choke while eating—living will be more painful than dying. This is your retribution for colluding with the Abyss."

Upon hearing this, Wang Kun passed out from fear.

Not long after, Sister Chen arrived with members of the Guardian Alliance.

Seeing the scene in the warehouse, Sister Chen couldn't help but click her tongue. "My God! Mr. Lin Ye, you are too amazing! You wiped out the Black Crow Consortium's stronghold so quickly?"

"Small matter." Lin Ye waved his hand. "These people are yours, and here is this USB drive; it contains the addresses of the Black Crow Consortium's global strongholds. Have Ghost crack it quickly and notify the Guardian Alliance in every country so they can wipe them all out."

"Understood! I'll get right on it!" Sister Chen immediately arranged for team members to clear the scene and took away all the prisoners.

Just then, Lin Ye's phone rang—an unfamiliar international number.

He answered the phone, and a voice with a heavy accent spoke in Chinese: "Is this Mr. Lin Ye? I am Tom, assistant to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. We have received your proposal for cross-reality Abyss protection fees and would like to discuss the specific details with you."

"There's nothing to discuss." Lin Ye leaned against the wall, his tone casual. "My prices are clearly listed; not a cent less. The basic package for friendly countries is 1 billion USD, covering one year of Abyss clearing and rift sealing. For the US, South Korea, and Japan—those countries that caused trouble in the game—double it to 2 billion USD. Pay first, service later; no credit."

Tom on the other end of the line was silent for a few seconds, his tone sounding a bit troubled. "Mr. Lin Ye, isn't 2 billion USD a bit too high? And if they pay first, they are worried..."

"Worried that I'll take the money and not do the work?" Lin Ye interrupted him. "Then they don't have to pay. It's not my country being occupied by abyssal creatures anyway. I don't care. At worst, I'll just stay in China; I can guarantee China's safety. The survival of other countries has nothing to do with me, right?"

Tom quickly said, "No, no, no! Mr. Lin Ye, please don't be angry! That's not what we meant! It's just... they can't come up with so much cash all at once. Can it be paid in installments?"

"No." Lin Ye said decisively. "Money in one hand, service in the other. If you don't have money, wait to be destroyed by the Abyss. By the way, I'll only wait 24 hours. For countries that haven't paid within 24 hours, even if they give me 10 billion later, I won't lift a finger to help."

After saying this, he hung up the phone directly.

Su Qinghan couldn't help but laugh on the side. "You're too ruthless, 20 billion USD, and you won't even allow installments."

"Ruthless?" Lin Ye snorted. "How did these countries target us in the game before? Now that something happened, they know to beg me? 20 billion is already cheap for them. Besides, doesn't fighting the Abyss cost money? Doesn't raising the BOSS Legion cost money? I can't exactly pay out of my own pocket to help them, can I?"

Just then, Ghost's call came through, his tone excited. "Brother Ye! Big news! The United Nations just held a global emergency meeting to discuss the protection fees. South Korea and Japan were the first to cave; they've already wired the 2 billion USD! The US is still squabbling, saying it's too expensive and wanting to haggle down to 1.5 billion. Also, over a dozen European countries have agreed to the basic package and are currently transferring the money!"

"The US still wants to haggle?" Lin Ye sneered. "Fine, let them haggle slowly. Tell them that in another hour, the price will go up to 2.5 billion. In two more hours, it will go up to 3 billion. And so on, until they agree."

"Alright! I'll go notify them right away!" Ghost hung up the phone excitedly.

Su Qinghan shook her head helplessly. "You really don't take any losses."

"Of course not." Lin Ye said proudly. "Who told them to need my help? By the way, the money from South Korea and Japan has arrived. Which country should we go to first?"

"Let's go to South Korea first." Su Qinghan thought for a moment and said, "Sister Chen just said that the situation in Seoul, South Korea, is the most severe. The Abyss Rift has expanded into the city center, and the entire city is about to be occupied by abyssal creatures. The South Korean president is almost crying and has been urging the United Nations to get us over there immediately."

"Fine, let's go to South Korea first." Lin Ye nodded. "Perfect. Last time we fleeced them in the game, this time we'll fleece them again in reality. Let them know that offending me, Lin Ye, comes with a price."

He took out his phone and booked two of the fastest tickets to Seoul, South Korea.

Just then, Ghost called again, his tone carrying a bit of schadenfreude. "Brother Ye! The US has caved! They just wired the 2.5 billion USD! They're also asking us to send people to support them as soon as possible; their capital, Washington D.C., is about to fall!"

Lin Ye laughed heartily. "Wouldn't it have been easier if they'd done this earlier? They had to haggle with me and ended up spending an extra 500 million USD—they totally deserved it. Tell them that once I finish handling things in South Korea and Japan, I'll head to the US. Tell them to wait."

Hanging up the phone, Lin Ye held Su Qinghan's hand and walked toward the airport. Under the sunset, their shadows were stretched long.

The global hegemon in the game was now taking his unscrupulous business to every country in reality.

Those countries that once looked down on China and bullied Chinese players now had to obediently deliver money to his door, begging for Lin Ye's help.

And this was just the beginning of Lin Ye's journey of causing trouble in reality.