27 Expulsion

Qiao Yuyan and An Chen removed their tactical masks and, under the cover of night, returned to the urban village.

At 3:00 AM, most residents of the village were still fast asleep. They stepped carefully onto the wooden stairs of the inn, moving with light, silent footsteps.

Upon entering the room, Lin Shiyue and Aorui were busy packing monitors into crates.

Seeing Qiao Yuyan enter, Lin Shiyue looked up. "Everything is back to normal."

Qiao Yuyan nodded, tossing the toy gun she had tucked behind her waist to An Chen.

The gun had minimal lethality, which was why she had specifically aimed at Gu Tingzheng’s earlobe; had she struck any other part of his body, it would have resulted in nothing more than a scratch.

An Chen stowed the gun away and hurried over to help Aorui organize the remaining items. Qiao Yuyan sat cross-legged on the floor to rest.

Before long, the team had everything packed, and the room was restored to its original state, leaving no trace of their presence.

Suddenly, her phone screen lit up with an encrypted message. She tapped it open: "Final payment received."

Qiao Yuyan smirked. If they had been this obedient from the start, they wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble.

She opened her anonymous account, gazed at the newly deposited 600,000 dollars, and tucked her phone away with satisfaction.

Commissions for GSC gold-hunters were not fixed, but as the chief gold-hunter, she always enjoyed the highest percentage. For this team mission, for instance, she took 20% of the total, the other three split 30%, and the remaining 50% went toward the base's operational costs.

Qiao Yuyan stood up and changed back into her own clothes. "I'm heading back. Contact me if anything comes up."

Exiting the chaotic, narrow urban village and walking onto the wide, clean sidewalk, she opened the newly updated document in her mind, multitasking as she walked.

Today’s content was entirely about Huo Lingchen forcing his love upon her sister in various repetitive ways. With the same tropes playing out over and over, she seriously suspected the author was just filling space.

Glancing over the meaningless text, she closed the document.

Judging by the snippets revealed in the plot, she would have to remain by her sister's side to stir up trouble for the next few years; it was unlikely she would be returning to headquarters anytime soon.

Thinking of headquarters, she pulled out her phone and composed a message: "Revoke Rongsheng Group's network access credentials."

It was 1:00 PM at headquarters in the Lin Kingdom. The head of the operations department replied promptly: "Received."

Qiao Yuyan smiled faintly. They thought they could offend GSC and walk away unscathed? They were in for a world of hurt.

She continued her leisurely stroll toward the Huo residence, knowing the operations department would coordinate with the dark web, leaving her with no further concerns.

...

The Wang family's old mansion in Chenxing City.

An inconspicuous black sedan drove into the courtyard. Before the car had fully stopped, a man clutched a briefcase and scrambled out in a panic, stumbling and nearly falling.

A servant waiting by the car rushed to steady him. "Careful, Mr. Li."

The man steadied himself, too flustered to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and urged breathlessly, "Quick, go ask Chairman Wang for an audience. I have something urgent to discuss with him."

The man was Li Xiang, the special assistant to Rongsheng Group's Chairman, Wang Chengmao. The servant dared not delay, replied "Please wait, Mr. Li," and hurried toward the mansion.

Li Xiang stood where he was, catching his breath before heading toward the study to wait.

Not long after, an elderly man with greying hair entered the room. He was in his sixties, short but pot-bellied, exuding an air of wealth. He draped a dark brown coat over his shoulders and sat behind the desk. "What is so urgent that you couldn't even call and had to come rushing over like this?"

Li Xiang stood up, closed the study door firmly, walked over to the old man, and lowered his voice. "Chairman, the dark web just sent a notice. After GSC completed the commission, we refused to pay the final installment. Now, we've been blacklisted; no one under the Rongsheng Group can access the dark web anymore."

"What?" Wang Chengmao couldn't believe it. "How could I have defaulted on a payment? What on earth is going on!"

Li Xiang pulled a prepared document from his briefcase and handed it to Wang Chengmao with both hands. "Chairman, based on the IP address and the nature of the task, it is highly likely that your eldest son is behind this."

Wang Chengmao took the report. As he read the detailed record of the mission, his cheek twitched uncontrollably.

Just a few days ago, those old foxes with dark web access had been whispering about which reckless fool dared to break the rules by using the dark web to steal trade secrets. If that person were caught, Gu Zhixu’s ruthless methods would surely ensure they were stripped of everything.

He never imagined the culprit was his own good-for-nothing son!

The more Wang Chengmao thought about it, the angrier and more resentful he became.

Not to mention the connections, money, and resources Rongsheng had poured in just to gain access to the dark web—all of it now gone to waste. Even worse, if Gu Zhixu discovered his own son had meddled in this, he couldn't imagine how the Gu family would dismantle Rongsheng.

Moreover, such a breach of rules meant no one would offer help; they would only kick them while they were down, leaving Rongsheng Group in a desperate position.

Wang Chengmao suppressed his fury and spat through gritted teeth, "Go, bring that wretch back here immediately! I want to see exactly what he thinks he's doing!"

"Yes, Chairman." Li Xiang hurried out of the study to make the call.

Wang Chengmao sat alone behind his desk, brows furrowed, weighing the pros and cons. Ultimately, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and beg a few old acquaintances to put in a good word with GSC.

After hanging up, he sat stiffly in his chair, a whirlwind of emotions in his heart.

Li Xiang returned, saw Wang Chengmao’s gloomy expression, and approached cautiously. "Chairman, the eldest son isn't answering his phone."

Wang Chengmao’s rage surged. He grabbed his phone from the desk and hurled it at the bookshelf. With a loud crash, glass shattered across the floor, and the phone screen was completely destroyed.

"If you can't reach him, go find him! Check all the places those low-life friends of his frequent!"

Li Xiang nodded submissively and hurried out of the study.

Only Wang Chengmao remained, facing the wreckage. The servants outside heard the commotion and were too terrified to move, standing far off and daring not to enter.

Wang Chengmao’s chest heaved. That damned wretch!

If he had just paid the final installment, the dark web’s rules would have kept the client's information confidential. Even if he had stolen the Gu family's data, they wouldn't have had to worry about being traced.

But now that they were barred from the dark web, it meant Rongsheng’s own secrets could be bought and sold by anyone. He had just spent a fortune to buy out the information on Rongsheng from GSC—it was an entirely unprovoked disaster.

It was all the fault of that useless, destructive fool!

...

Park Villa District.

Gu Tingzheng and Wang Hongzhi had treated their wounds, heads wrapped in gauze, and changed into clean clothes. They sat in the second-floor study with grim expressions.

Opposite them stood a row of burly bodyguards, all with their heads bowed. This was a grave dereliction of duty; despite so many guards at the door, they had been completely routed, allowing someone to infiltrate the villa and injure the employers.

"A bunch of losers!" Wang Hongzhi grabbed his phone and threw it at the lead bodyguard. It hit the floor and shattered into pieces. The bodyguards remained silent, silently enduring the employers' wrath.

Gu Tingzheng sat to the side, watching expressionlessly as Wang Hongzhi vented his anger, then waved his hand to dismiss the bodyguards.

The guards' failure would be handled by someone else; they had more important matters to attend to.

Gu Tingzheng stood up and walked to a large bookshelf on one side of the room. He opened a safe hidden within and pulled out a file folder stamped with the Gu Group logo.

He took out the documents and tossed them in front of Wang Hongzhi. "You said last time you found someone who could handle this project. Who is it?"

"Xinqi Technology Co., Ltd. Huo Lingchen."