The boardroom was dead silent as my security team dragged a screaming, sobbing Han Lin out by his expensive Italian lapels.
I leaned back in the Chairman's seat, casually swirling the lukewarm coffee in my mug. I looked around the obsidian table. The remaining twenty billionaires and corporate titans were sweating through their bespoke suits, none of them daring to even make eye contact with me.
"Any other objections to my leadership?" I asked, my voice entirely flat.
A collective, frantic shaking of heads rippled through the room.
"Excellent," I said, standing up. I turned to Su Qingran. She was looking at me with an expression that bordered on absolute reverence. The man she had been forced to engage was gone; in his place stood an apex predator who had just conquered the city's financial sector in under ten minutes.
"Qingran," I said, my tone shifting to something slightly warmer, but still undeniably commanding. "I have an airport to get to. You are officially the Acting CEO of the Chu Consortium for the next forty-eight hours. Consolidate the board. Fire anyone loyal to my Uncle. If anyone gives you trouble, Old Chen will break their legs."
Her eyes widened. "You're giving me the reins to the Consortium? Just like that?"
"We're partners, aren't we?" I smirked, adjusting my cuffs. "Besides, your grandfather's little stunt cost the Su family a lot of leverage. Use my company's resources to swallow your family's supply chains. Make them answer to you."
Su Qingran's breath hitched. I wasn't just giving her power; I was giving her the sword to completely subjugate her abusive, patriarchal family.
[Ding!] [Su Qingran's Affection has reached 100 (Max)!] [The Ice CEO's heart has been completely conquered. She will now betray the world before she betrays you!] [Reward: 3000 Villain Points!]
"I won't let you down, Chu Feng," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly with emotion. She reached out and straightened my tie, a gesture so naturally intimate it made a few of the terrified board members blink in shock. "Be careful at the airport."
"I'm always careful," I replied, turning on my heel and walking out the double mahogany doors.
The drive to Jinghai International Airport took exactly forty minutes with Old Chen running every red light in the city.
As we tore down the highway, I pulled up my mental interface. The Dragon Sovereign, Long Chen, was a completely different beast than Lin Tian. Lin Tian was a lone wolf with a medical cheat. Long Chen was a mercenary king who commanded armies, possessed terrifying battlefield martial arts, and had fifty billion dollars in offshore capital.
System, I thought. I have 3000 points. The Dragon Sovereign relies on his overwhelming killing intent, his mercenary bodyguards, and his massive wealth to crush local villains. Give me the perfect counter.
[Ding! Scanning High-Tier Store for targeted counters...]
[Purchase Option 1: 'Emperor's Domain' - Cost: 1500 Points. Effect: A 100-meter absolute suppression zone. Anyone with hostile intent towards the Host will find their killing intent reflected back at them multiplied by ten, inducing severe physical paralysis and psychological terror.]
[Purchase Option 2: 'God-Tier Financial Ghosting (Skill Book)' - Cost: 1500 Points. Effect: Host gains the ability to bypass any encrypted banking firewall on Earth. Can freeze, drain, or redirect untraceable offshore funds with a single keystroke.]
I let out a dark, genuine laugh. The System really was the ultimate VIP cheat code.
Buy both.
[Ding! 3000 Points deducted. Skills permanently bound!]
A massive surge of digital architecture and coding languages flooded my brain, settling instantly into my memory, followed by a terrifying, heavy expansion of my spiritual aura. I could feel the Emperor's Domain hovering just beneath my skin, waiting to be unleashed.
When the Maybach pulled onto the private VIP tarmac of Jinghai International, the sky was overcast, a light drizzle slicking the concrete.
I didn't bring an army of security guards. I just had Old Chen pull up a folding chair from the trunk, pop open a large black umbrella, and set it down right in the middle of Runway 4.
I sat down, crossed my legs, and pulled out my smartphone, quickly typing lines of code into a terminal app using my new God-Tier hacking skill.
Ten minutes later, the roaring whine of jet engines pierced the clouds.
A massive, custom-painted Gulfstream G650 broke through the mist, touching down smoothly on the wet concrete. It taxied to a halt exactly fifty yards from where I was sitting.
The heavy cabin door opened, and the boarding stairs unfolded.
Out stepped Long Chen.
The author really didn't pull any punches with his design. The Dragon Sovereign was a hulking mass of muscle. He wore dark combat cargo pants, a tight black t-shirt that showed off a network of bullet scars, and heavy combat boots. A lit cigar was clamped between his teeth, and his eyes were cold, dead, and arrogant.
Flanking him were six elite mercenaries, all carrying suppressed submachine guns openly on the tarmac.
Long Chen walked down the stairs, expecting to see a welcoming committee of terrified local elites, or his proxy, Han Lin, kneeling in apology.
Instead, he saw a single billionaire in a tailored suit, sitting in a folding chair under an umbrella, tapping on a smartphone.
Long Chen stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He took the cigar out of his mouth, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"You must be Chu Feng," the mercenary king rumbled, his voice carrying easily over the wet tarmac. "I told Han Lin I was going to rip your empire apart. It seems you came to beg for mercy instead. Kneel, and I might just break your limbs instead of your neck."
I didn't look up from my phone. I hit 'Enter' on the final line of code.
"I'm busy, Long Chen. Give me a second," I said casually.
The sheer, unadulterated disrespect made the veins on Long Chen's neck bulge. In the underground world, his name made warlords tremble. And this local rich kid wasn't even looking at him?
"Kill him," Long Chen ordered coldly, snapping his fingers.
The six elite mercenaries raised their submachine guns, aiming directly at my chest.
I smiled.
Emperor's Domain. Active.
BOOM.
An invisible, crushing weight slammed down on the tarmac. It wasn't physical; it was pure, concentrated killing intent. The air instantly turned freezing cold.
The six hardened mercenaries, men who had fought in active warzones, suddenly felt as though a primordial leviathan had just opened its jaws right behind them. Their eyes rolled back into their heads.
Clatter. All six of them dropped their weapons and violently collapsed to their knees, gasping for air, clutching their chests as their nervous systems completely short-circuited from the psychological terror.
Long Chen stumbled backward, his cigar falling from his lips and splashing into a puddle. His eyes widened in absolute shock. He tried to project his own Dragon Sovereign aura, but it was like a candle trying to fight a hurricane.
He was paralyzed, his boots glued to the concrete.
I finally locked my phone and stood up. I walked slowly across the wet tarmac, stopping just a few feet from the trembling, sweating mercenary king.
"You talk a lot for a guy who lives in the mud," I said softly, slipping my phone into my pocket.
"Who... what are you?!" Long Chen gritted his teeth, his muscles bulging as he desperately tried to break free from the invisible suppression. "It doesn't matter! My Dragon Temple has fifty billion in offshore capital! I will buy this city and bury you in it!"
I reached out and patted his scarred cheek twice. A universally humiliating gesture.
"About that," I whispered, leaning in close. "I just hacked the Dragon Temple's master ledger in the Cayman Islands. I drained the accounts, bounced the funds through thirty different crypto-mixers, and donated all fifty billion to a dog rescue charity in Geneva."
Long Chen stopped struggling. The blood entirely drained from his face, leaving him looking like a ghost.
"Welcome to Jinghai, Sovereign," I smiled, a cold, ruthless curve of my lips. "I hear you're broke."