52: Chapter 52 The property was suddenly set on fire! Lin Chen panicked on the spot.

The black smoke billowed thicker and thicker, and Lin Chen and Li Wei ran toward the property like madmen.

The wind whipped the black smoke toward them, and the acrid, burnt smell made Lin Chen cover his nose. His steps were unsteady; he staggered every two steps. The agency documents clutched in his hand were crumpled into a ball, and even his breathing had lost its rhythm.

Li Wei was much steadier than him, his strides fast and heavy. From time to time, he would turn his head and shout at the top of his lungs: "Hurry up! If you dawdle any longer, the fire will be out of control!"

In the short hundred-meter distance, Lin Chen felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat. His mind was blank, with only one thought remaining—this property that had just been finalized must not have any accidents.

When the two rushed to the entrance of the building, the scene before them made Lin Chen freeze in place, his blood running cold.

Pale red flames were leaping out from the window of the target property on the first floor. The fire wasn't raging, but it was licking madly up the wooden window frame. The originally clean white wall was blackened by thick smoke, and the wall plaster was curled and peeling from the heat, revealing the yellowish wall underneath. The edges of the wooden door crackled as they burned, and sparks kept falling onto the debris in the hallway, igniting wisps of blue smoke. The smell of burnt wood mixed with the strange odor of burning plastic filled the entire hallway.

A few neighbors stood in the distance watching; no one dared to step forward, only daring to whisper among themselves.

"What are you standing there for!" Li Wei grabbed Lin Chen's arm and pointed to the plastic bucket in the corner of the hallway. "Help splash water, don't let the fire spread to the neighbors' homes, or there will be even bigger trouble!"

Lin Chen finally came back to his senses, his eyes darting around in panic. His hands and feet were shaking uncontrollably, and he even stuttered when he spoke: "Wh-what do we do? Can we put out this fire? Should, should we call the police?"

"Put out the fire first! We'll talk about calling the police later!" Li Wei had no time to waste words with him. He bent down, grabbed the bucket, and ran toward the tap, his movements crisp and decisive without a hint of hesitation.

Lin Chen stood in place, his palms covered in cold sweat. It wasn't that he didn't want to move, but he was terrified from the bottom of his heart. He had run back and forth more than ten times to negotiate this property, and it had met with disaster before it was even listed for rent. If he called the police and they intervened in the investigation, it would inevitably involve the matter of him snatching the property from Marcus earlier. He simply couldn't handle the subsequent trouble.

Thinking of Marcus's sinister and mean face, a chill ran down Lin Chen's back. The words "call the police" that had reached his lips were forcefully swallowed back.

Li Wei filled a bucket with water, rushed to the burning window, and splashed it on with a swing of his hand.

"Sizzle—"

The cold water extinguished the flames, sending up a large cloud of white steam. The fire instantly diminished, but small flames in the corner were still gnawing at the wooden board and could flare up again at any moment.

"Come over and give me a hand! Is it useful for you to just stand there in a daze!" Li Wei roared back, his brows knitted into a knot. He was both angry and anxious at Lin Chen's panicked and cowardly appearance.

Lin Chen shuddered at the roar and finally gritted his teeth and moved over, trembling as he picked up the bucket to fetch water. His hands were unsteady, and water spilled all over the floor. It took him a long time to fill half a small bucket. He stumbled to the window with the bucket and splashed it with force, but the water all hit the black wall, not touching the flames at all.

Li Wei had no time to blame him. He fetched two more buckets of water himself and splashed them on one after another, finally extinguishing the open flames completely. Only wisps of black smoke continued to drift upward, the wall was scorched even blacker, and the burnt smell in the air faded a little.

The two stood there panting heavily, looking at the property that had been burned beyond recognition. Lin Chen's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

"Th-this perfectly fine house, how could it suddenly catch fire?" Lin Chen's voice trembled, his eyes filled with helplessness, and his hands were still shaking uncontrollably.

Just then, an old man carrying groceries nearby leaned over, looked left and right, and lowered his voice: "Young man, this was no accident. I saw it with my own eyes!"

Lin Chen and Li Wei turned their heads at the same time, staring fixedly at the old man.

"Three or four minutes before you arrived, three punks in black clothes ran out of this building. They were all acting like hoodlums, and they even turned back to laugh as they left. It was clear they were up to no good. I had just felt that something was wrong when the house started smoking and caught fire."

"Punks?" Li Wei's eyes darkened, and he immediately pressed, "Sir, did you see their faces clearly? Did any of them look familiar?"

The old man thought for a moment and nodded firmly: "I know one of them. He often hangs around this area. He's a follower under Marcus, surnamed Zhao. He's fought with people before and is very fierce. I can't be wrong!"

As soon as these words came out, Li Wei instantly clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. His tone was as cold as ice: "No need to think about it, it must be Marcus who did this!"

Lin Chen's mind "buzz," and he was stunned on the spot.

Was it really Marcus's people?

He was just afraid that the other party would cause trouble, but he hadn't expected them to be this ruthless, directly setting fire to the property. This was clearly an outright threat!

In the midst of Lin Chen's panic, the cold and clear notification sound of the AI suddenly rang in his mind: 【Arson detected at the property. Perpetrator identity confirmed: Peripheral subordinate under Marcus. Action purpose: Malicious retaliation, pressure, and intimidation.】

The AI's notification completely confirmed Li Wei's guess.

Lin Chen's lips trembled, and he opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word. He stared at the scorched window frame and the charred wooden door. He was both afraid and angry, a wave of frustrated fire surging up, but it was firmly suppressed by the fear deep in his heart.

Call the police? He didn't dare.

Confront Marcus? He dared even less.

He had long heard of Marcus's influence in this area—ruthless and vicious, with sinister methods. As a small agent with no roots or foundation, he simply couldn't afford to provoke him. He had only snatched one property, and the other party had directly resorted to arson. If he really went head-to-head, he didn't know what kind of end he would meet.

Li Wei was so angry he gritted his teeth and kicked the corner of the wall: "That bastard Marcus is really sinister. He doesn't dare to come out in the open, so he plays these low-down tricks! This can't be tolerated; I'm going to find him and demand an explanation right now!"

As he said this, Li Wei was about to walk out, looking like he was ready to risk his life.

Lin Chen was so scared his soul was almost flying away. He quickly reached out and grabbed him tightly, his voice laced with a sob: "D-don't go! Li Wei, don't be impulsive! We can't afford to provoke him. Let it go; it's just a house, at worst we'll just give it up!"

Li Wei violently shook off his hand, his eyes full of disappointment: "Lin Chen, can you have some backbone? He's already riding on our heads and shitting, and you still want to endure it? If we endure it this time, next time he might do something even more excessive!"

Lin Chen's face turned alternately red and white from what was said. He hung his head low, not daring to look into Li Wei's eyes.

He also wanted to be tough, wanted to fight back, and wanted to point at Marcus's nose and curse him back, but he didn't have the guts, didn't have the confidence. He just wanted to make money peacefully and didn't want to have anything to do with these people involved in the underworld.

The flames were completely extinguished, and the black smoke slowly dissipated. The property, burned pitch black, was like an ugly scar that made Lin Chen's eyes ache.

The whispers of the surrounding neighbors and their prying eyes pricked him like needles.

Lin Chen stood in place, his hands clenched into tight fists, his fingernails digging deep into his palms, pinching painfully.

The fire and frustration in his heart were churning like a stormy sea, but all his impulses ultimately turned into silent compromise.

He clenched his fists, but still didn't dare to fight back.