The city was full of volatility. On this night, Phoenicia was very lively. There were twice as many people on the streets than usual. The underground chamber of commerce was taking place ahead of schedule tonight at an ancient building in Phoenicia. It was a theater lobby. It was an ancient theater that had been handed down ages ago. The place had carved beams, red tiles, and lamps hanging everywhere—making it seem extremely lively. At this time, the ancient theater building was heavily guarded both inside and outside. An endless stream of various luxury cars drove in from the gates of the building and stopped on the red carpet in front of the main entrance of the theater. From inside the cars, glamorously dressed prominent figures walked down one after another, accompanied by their female companions. They entered the venue one by one! To the outside world, these people were infamous leaders in their respective areas! Big bosses in their own rights! Tonight, they we
At this moment on both sides of the stage, many big bosses from various districts were stepping out from backstage to the front to take their seats. “Oh, Mr. Wood, long time no see.” “Haha, Mr. Saunders, you’re here too.” Several people who knew each other greeted politely. On the surface, they were courteous like blood brothers. As soon as they sat down, however, their faces became cold. They were each thinking of ways to crush the other party later! Soon, the main guest arrived. “Master Cooke is here!” someone shouted in the crowd. The leaders who were all seated got up and smiled at Ken Cooke who was walking out from backstage. Ken, dressed in a black suit, looked vigorous with a ruddy complexion. He was determined to win the top spot tonight. “Master Ken, please take a seat. I’m afraid you’ll be taking the main seat tonight.” Someone stepped forward at this moment and flattered. Ken waved his hand and said, “Hey, the most important thing is to participate.”
The majestic and elegant Shawn Hane walked out from backstage under everyone’s gaze. His face was ruddy as he politely greeted everyone. Two assistants followed behind him, both middle-aged men who appeared calm and serious with torch-like gazes. They did not look like ordinary people at first glance! They were experts from the Hane family! “There’s no need to be so polite. Please have a seat.” Shawn smiled, giving people a very refined and approachable feeling. “Master Hane.” “Master Hane has traveled a long way. It must’ve been hard on you.” Many people gathered around Shawn at the moment, flattering him. After all, Shawn was the current head of the Hane family in Capital City, one of the eight wealthiest families out there! In terms of strength and financial resources, none of them here could compare to him! In terms of influence, the Hane family had long solidified their status in Capital City! Furthermore, the Hanes was established as a martial arts famil
F*ck! He should take a step back as the conflict would be easier to resolve then. However, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became! The staff at the back also looked helplessly at the scene. Why was he so heavy-handed? The chair was custom-made and very expensive! They had no choice but to replace it quickly. Otherwise, if the boss got angry, blood would flow into a river. Shawn also smacked the armrest and crushed it directly. He stood up and shouted coldly, “Hart! There’s no room for your insolence here! Tonight is the underground chamber of commerce! We’re not at your martial arts arena!” He was already boiling with anger from tolerating earlier. At the moment, the staff backstage was having a massive headache… What the heck?! “Hahaha! Hane, I knew you wouldn't dare, you cowardly tortoise!” Gibson laughed and jeered. Shawn glared at him furiously and retorted, “Hart, you useless coward! You’re nothing but a buffoon who talks big!” “Bleh! You tal
In the ancient theater building, all the local leaders had settled down. The spectators and tourists in the outfield also sat down. Tonight’s underground chamber of commerce was different from the past. There would be an opening dance show at the beginning and various performances such as boxing match later as an initiative to interact with the public and heighten the atmosphere. However, everyone knew that the main event was the underground chamber of commerce at the end. When the underground chamber of commerce commenced, the tourists would not be able to see it as the venue would be closed. Now, everyone was just watching the opening gambit.Wayne Kingsley stood on stage and said to everyone, “A warm welcome to all the people from all walks of life and districts who are here in Phoenicia to participate in this underground chamber of commerce. With an attitude of tolerance and openness, this session of the underground chamber of commerce show is also open to the outside wo
Ken put aside his teacup, glanced at all the regional bosses who had different expressions on their faces, and smiled while saying, “I don’t know either. If Master Bowen really comes to participate, let’s just give him a warm welcome. After all, Master Bowen has treated us generously in the past. We can’t be ungrateful.” What Ken said was very true and no one could find any fault with it. All of them nodded, then smiled. “Ah, yes, Master Ken is right.” Yana, who sat next to Ken, turned sideways and whispered in his ear, “Master Ken, you got the best of both worlds with this speech.” Ken merely smiled and said nothing. However... Suddenly, an uncanny snort came from the side. With his arms crossed, Gibson said, “You’re really capable of talking nonsense without batting an eyelash. When Master Bowen was met with that incident back then, I didn’t see you taking the initiative to help him. I even heard that you stabbed him in the back. Otherwise, Master Bowen wouldn’t have coll
Instantly, the great hall fell into pin-drop silence! Everyone turned their gaze to the door. How could this be possible? Had Theo and Mr. Clarke not met with an accident? Among them, the most astounded person was Wallace Phoenix! At this moment, his eyes widened as he stared at the door in fear of missing something! At the same time, a hint of suspicion flashed across his face! This was absolutely impossible! However, in the next second... Everyone saw that at the door, Theo was taking the lead and stepped in. Then, he stood respectfully on one side while bending over and waiting for something. Following that, Philip Clarke, a tall and handsome man in a blue suit, walked in through the door. Behind him, a group of bodyguards in black suits all rushed into the hall and completely filled the exit of the entire hall! Looking around, a swarm of bodyguards in black suits had surrounded the ancient theater hall. Everyone felt a hint of fluster as they watched the e
Branson sneered, his eyes full of grim coldness, “Young man, you’re the first person who dares to say this to me. I want to see what’s going to happen to me!” As his voice fell, Philip had already taken out his mobile phone. At this scene, people looked at him incredulously. Everyone sneered. This so-called Mr. Clarke of Riverdale was not going to call for help, right? If he wanted to fight with the number of people, no one here would fall short. However, Philip continued to dial a number and said indifferently, “How are things going?” On the phone, a respectful male voice replied, “Young Master Clarke, everything is ready.” “Branson Wood of Sunnyglen, deal with this first. In five minutes, make all his properties go bankrupt. In ten minutes, make him collapse. Anyone standing behind him, dig out all their information and hand it over to the relevant units!” Philip ordered before hanging up the phone. Branson laughed sarcastically, looked at Philip, and shouted, “Boy,
The other party simply looked at Loony indifferently without responding. Suddenly, Philip’s ear wiggled. He heard something. “Eat this. Someone's coming.” Philip stuffed a pill into Loony's mouth and pulled him into a corner to hide. He heard someone coming from the depths of the cellar. The man who spoke to them heard the movement and shut his mouth. The other prisoners remained silent as well. At this time, a familiar person appeared in front of Philip. It was none other than Brett. This Brett was different from the Brett Philip knew. This one looked sinister and cunning. Philip recalled the Brett he met yesterday. He was elegant and seemed like a trustworthy man at a glance. He was shocked to see this difference in just one day. “I’m ready to create my second human puppet. Does anyone want to volunteer your body?” Brett said with a vicious smile. In everyone’s eyes, he looked no different from the devil. “I have a special preference for humans. In that case, I’ll
“That must be it. Let’s take a look.” Philip pointed to the entrance of the cellar, and Loony shook his head in fear. “I have some knowledge of geomancy, and my gut is telling me that we should avoid that place. We may easily lose our lives there.” The cellar entrance looked very scary, so he refused to step inside. Philip could not be bothered. They were very close to finding the truth. They might miss the opportunity forever if they gave up right now. Hence, Philip dragged Loony into the cellar. Before Loony knew what was going on, he felt his vision go black, and he appeared in the cellar in the next second. He shook his head at Philip’s manhandling, shocked that Philip refused to listen to him. “It’ll be a disaster if we rush in recklessly.” Loony glanced at Philip helplessly. Although disappointed about Philip's distrust in him, it was useless to say anymore now that they were in the cellar. They should figure out how to leave. “With the gusts of cold wind, this
“Let’s go right now. I can’t wait to figure out the situation.” Loony forgot all about breakfast and pulled Philip out of the room. He shuddered when he walked past Hercules. He was afraid of this puppet from the bottom of his heart. Philip simply moved along without a word. He was afraid that Loony would let the cat out of the bag. Philip felt that Loony had exposed them because of his fear. “Philip, where are you going? Can you take me with you?” Aslan said in fear. He trembled all over at the thought of Hercules’ spooky gaze. He just wanted to follow Philip and leave this scary place. “Just stay here for now. If anything happens later, I'll inform you to take care of it.” It was the best time to leave them alone together. Philip would never take Aslan with him. Aslan was in despair to hear that he had to stay behind. As Philip marched away, Aslan gritted his teeth and went into Lyle's room as if he wanted to chat with him, but he was actually seeking refuge. Herc
Aslan felt that he was going nuts. He never thought he would meet someone so scary. That guy was torturing him mentally. “Your eyebags are really heavy,” Philip suddenly commented. Aslan was certainly scared out of his wits. Something was definitely up with that human puppet, but Philip did not intend to tell Aslan the truth yet. “I’ve decided not to sleep. Let’s see what that guy is up to!” Practitioners could go without sleeping for a long time but as humans, they had the habit of resting at fixed times. Philip shook his head at Aslan’s reaction. He could tell that Aslan would suffer immensely, but he had to sacrifice this poor guy to get to the bottom of this. “I’m off.” Aslan tossed the quilt to one side and walked out. The moment he opened the door, Philip heard him gasp. He looked out of the door curiously and saw Hercules standing outside, staring at Aslan oddly. “Dude, what’s your problem? Will you die if you don't peek at others?” Aslan said in annoyance. He
Aslan saw Hercules' face in the window. He was very angry and was about to curse when he realized that it was an illusion. Hercules was not around, and his window was tightly shut. “What the heck is wrong with me? Are my eyes playing tricks on me because I peeked at beautiful women one time too many?” Aslan was worried that something was wrong with his eyes. “This is weird. Did that guy do something to me to make me keep seeing his nasty face all the time?” Aslan shook his head helplessly and turned his head away. Since he saw that face in the window, he would choose to avoid looking at it. When Aslan turned to his bed, he saw Hercules’ face next to his bed again. This was getting ridiculous. Aslan reached out and grabbed the image, but it was just another illusion. Aslan suffered such a great blow that he hugged his quilt and ran to Philip’s room in a panic. He swore that he had never felt so embarrassed all his life. Hercules’ weird appearance was so terrifying that Asl
Some people were so powerful that someone would turn them into puppets after they died and continue to use them, and the abilities they possessed before they died would be increased by several times. Although human puppets were powerful, they were difficult to produce and required the sacrifice of innocent people, so many people saw it as a twisted and forbidden technique. Every once in a while, human puppets had to kill some powerful practitioners to renew their skin or the skin would disintegrate until it became unusable. Although Philip had met Brett, it was just a brief contact. He was not clear about the Spade family. Philip believed that the human puppet must have been produced by the Spade family because the puppet needed practitioners to renew its skin on a long-term basis or the secret would be exposed in no time. A newly formed puppet had no thoughts of its own. It would gradually think like normal people as time passed, but the most important advantage of a human pup
“I’ve known Hercules a long time ago. He’s very powerful and a top fighter of the Spade family. I didn't expect them to assign him to us. I feel a little flattered now,” Loony said. Philip noticed his reaction. Now that he was rational, they could continue the conversation. “Did he look like this when you saw him back then?” Philip thought that Hercules' mechanical reaction was strange. No normal person should act like that. “He seemed stiffer before, just like a robot, and he almost couldn’t think for himself. “Anyway, he just has to execute the orders given to him by his master without thinking too much. I quite envy him sometimes. His master always speaks his mind without beating about the bush. If I can find such a master… “Bah, I’m an independent individual. Why should I follow a master?” As Loony described his earlier encounter with Hercules, Philip found a clue. “You're right. I finally know what's wrong.” Philip smacked his thigh. He felt that Hercules was too m
“To tell you the truth, we’ve always wanted to take action against the Swift family, but our identity makes it inconvenient for us. We've always hoped that an individual force could take action on our behalf. “The Swift family has other families to support them, but you don’t have to worry about them. We can take care of them. You just need to confront the main family.” Brett clapped his hands together, and a man walked in the door. The man was burly and looked like a strong fighter. “He’s a guard of the Spade family and a force to be reckoned with. To show you my support and gratitude, I’ll lend this guard to you for the time being. His name is Hercules, and he’s no different from the Hercules in our mythology. I gave him this name to make him stronger.” Philip smiled. Sure enough, only humans would appreciate such things. “Hercules, you’ll be their point of contact. You need to do your best to help them if they need help and hold nothing back.” Philip felt Hercules’ power
“We’ll be meeting a young heir of the Spade family. He holds the highest status in the family apart from the head of the family. “I’m sure we can solve the problem as long as we reach an agreement with him. I’m just afraid…” Philip was puzzled by Loony’s hesitation. “What are you worried about? Are you worried that the Spade family won't help you?” Philip was curious. He did not know the Spade family, so he could not predict their reaction. “I’m just afraid that they may be concerned about how this incident will impact them. Although the Spade family resented the Swift family, they've never taken action against them over the years, which proves their caution. Now that things have escalated, I’m not sure if the Spade family will agree to our proposition.” Philip nodded. It was certainly worth consideration, but they could only find out after a talk with them. Philip was not worried about it. If they were willing to cooperate, both parties could form a strong alliance, but it