Chapter 140: Family Meeting (Part 1)

Reijah looked at Xiao Tianci, thinking he intended to eliminate his brothers and uncle all at once. "Ah, that's not a problem. The meeting to elect the family head is being held in the next couple of days, though my vote count certainly isn't as high as theirs. Humph... this time, getting rid of all of them at once..."

Right, he truly was the heir to a criminal syndicate—ruthless enough. He could talk about murdering his own brothers without a hint of hesitation or sorrow. Being brothers with such a man required extreme caution; he could be utilized, but never trusted. Still, one could safely assume his brothers were no better.

Looking at Reijah, Xiao Tianci shook his head. "No, we shouldn't kill all of these people. Murder is far too much trouble. Besides, these individuals are the elite of your family. What a terrible waste if they were all killed!"

"Then... what do you mean?" Reijah asked, staring at him in confusion.

Xiao Tianci smiled. "It's very simple. Your brothers are fighting you for this position solely for money. How much can your family head earn in a year?"

By this point, Reijah had no need for concealment. "Well, combining all the revenues, it's roughly four billion or so. However, at least half of that has to be distributed downward. The family head typically gets forty to fifty percent, plus various other allowances and fees. A family head's annual income generally amounts to about one and a half billion. This includes all the businesses operated by the family over the past century—revenues from both the underworld and the legitimate side."

Listening from the side, the Fatty inwardly gasped in astonishment. A centuries-old influential family like this was indeed beyond anything he could compare to, even though he now controlled a third of the territory alongside them. His own annual income barely reached one billion. It seemed they still had numerous operations he knew nothing about.

Money was mere numbers to Xiao Tianci nowadays, holding very little actual significance. Hearing this, he merely nodded. "Now, what if I were to give each of them ten billion to step aside and endorse you as the family head? Do you think they would do it?"

"Ah..." Reijah froze.

The Fatty was stunned for a moment, then blurted out anxiously, "Damn it, Lao Wu, is your money burning a hole in your pocket? If you're going to give it to them, you might as well give it to me! Give me five billion, and I'll fucking bulldoze the lot of them! I swear, you must have gone from rags to riches overnight. No wonder everyone calls you a lunatic and a prodigal son."

Once the Fatty got emotional, he spoke his mind without reservation. Knowing his personality, Xiao Tianci wouldn't take his words to heart. After recovering from his shock, Reijah also anxiously intervened, "Boss Xiao, it's completely not worth it! Those bastards aren't worth that kind of money. What I mentioned earlier was the best-case scenario. Sometimes incidents happen, or like now, when there's an ongoing war and various unpredictable situations arise... this is completely unnecessary..."

Reijah thought to himself: if you have tens of billions to hand out, you might as well give it to me! Ten billion? Even if you beat these bastards to death, ground their bones to powder, and pressed them for oil, they wouldn't be worth a fraction of that zero.

Xiao Tianci sneered inwardly. Not a hundred of them combined were even worth one billion. However, to accelerate his plans, he couldn't afford to waste too much time here and needed a swift resolution. "Don't worry, I haven't finished yet. If I step forward—and with that amount of money—the probability of them agreeing is, I believe, extremely high. After that, you can throw your full weight behind joining forces with the Tang Gang to deal with the Sakura Group. In the name of the family head, summon all their subordinates and order them to charge into battle. Won't that save us a vast amount of trouble without wasting resources? Just imagine—once they have lost everything, do you really think they'll be able to keep holding onto that money?"

Hearing that it wasn't a genuine giveaway, both of them breathed a sigh of relief. The Fatty said, "Damn it, you should've said so earlier! You almost scared the breath out of me. I really thought something was wrong with your head."

Reijah also nodded. "Ah, that works. Absolutely it can work. Haha, Boss Xiao, you are truly brilliant."

*Oh, I'm brilliant? Sweat. How come I didn't know that myself?*

The motorcade drove back to the Fatty's private mansion, and Reijah set about arranging the family meeting scheduled for the following night.

Cheng, unlike Vajra, had successfully achieved fame within the military, which meant many people in Beidu had no idea such a person existed. After that day, Tang Bing found a new pastime: sticking to Cheng like glue.

"Boss Cheng, I heard that you and Boss Vajra are a match for each other."

"Yeah."

"By the way, Boss Cheng, when you get the chance, can you teach me that martial art you used the other day? You punched right through the opponent, and there wasn't a single drop of blood on your hand. It looked so damn cool."

"Practiced casually."

Their sweeping raid had also deeply shocked the Sakura Group. They weren't particularly surprised by Tong Cong and his men's counterattack; rather, it was the execution—at a glance, anyone could tell it was the work of top-tier experts.

They immediately began to act with caution. Although both sides had previously dispatched experts for duels, those encounters had been mere brushes, never involving such a massive deployment of formidable fighters in actual combat.

While the Sakura Group grew cautious, Xiao Tianci and the Fatty leisurely drank and chatted, whereas Reijah continuously busied himself with coordinating the family meeting.

A fine horse galloped across the plains while sheep and cattle grazed on the grass. Xiao Tianci had not expected their family headquarters to be located in such a place. Noticing the look in Xiao Tianci's eyes as he gazed outside, Reijah explained from the side, "My father liked this place very much, so..."

"Mm," Xiao Tianci nodded. "This place is quite nice. By the way, are they all willing to come?"

Reijah replied, "Boss Xiao, rest assured, they will definitely come. After all, it's already the final stage leading up to the scheduled meeting and vote."

Looking at the natural, beautiful, and soothing scenery outside, Xiao Tianci remarked, "Make thorough preparations, and success is already half-achieved."

They arrived at noon. By around five o'clock in the afternoon, the very last person had arrived, and the family meeting officially commenced. In such turbulent times, the participants came with entourages ranging from thirty to forty people on the low end to over a hundred on the high end, as everyone lived in fear of being swallowed up by their rivals. Only Reijah's faction appeared somewhat thinly manned.

Everyone knew the Fatty, so he did not show his face, listening instead from an adjoining room. Since none of them knew Xiao Tianci and Vajra, the two men appeared inside the hall, trailing behind Reijah just like ordinary subordinates—though Fire Phoenix and the Chief Steward still managed to draw considerable attention from the crowd.

The originally spacious conference room was now extremely chaotic, with each person bringing at least a dozen guards trailing behind them, resembling nothing so much as a bustling country produce market. The central seat remained empty, and people's gazes drifted toward it from time to time. Seated on either side were four elderly individuals whom Reijah had identified as the elders. Beyond them sat his three brothers, an uncle, and a dozen other family members.

Everyone chatted amongst themselves, each clique forming its own little circle. Reijah conversed in low tones with the two close confidants beside him, while Xiao Tianci stood quietly in the rear. It was his first time attending an underworld gathering of this scale. Perhaps he had experienced too much lately, as it all felt rather unremarkable.

At that moment, one of the elders stood up. "Everyone, please quiet down. The meeting is now officially in session."

The noise gradually subsided from loud to soft, and from soft to a murmur, though it never completely died away—whispers could still be heard, but they no longer hindered the proceedings.

Waiting for the silence to hold, the elder spoke, "Following the proposal of Young Master Reijah, this family meeting has been convened ahead of schedule. As everyone is well aware, the Sakura Group is aggressively swallowing up our family's territories. If we do not launch a swift counterattack, I fear none of us will have anything left to fight over very soon."

The moment he finished speaking, the room instantly reverted to a vegetable market, with everyone voicing different opinions and several individuals already starting to argue fiercely.

"Fight over what? If they had elected me as family head earlier, I would have wiped out that so-called Sakura Group ages ago."

"Ha... Second Brother, you talk about wiping out the Sakura Group, but I reckon you'd only be good at wiping out Sakura blossoms."

"Humph! Aside from yours truly, which of you brats is even qualified?"

Then followed mutual insults between their respective factions. Reijah turned his head to look at Xiao Tianci and shrugged with an expression that said he was entirely unphased; clearly, this kind of scene was a regular occurrence.

*Humph,* Xiao Tianci sneered inwardly. Initially, he had wanted to see if there were any capable individuals among them, but now it appeared that apart from Reijah, the rest were completely useless. None of them were superior to the others, yet all of them craved the top position. They didn't know how to achieve greatness, lacked the daring to make a move, and didn't possess the ruthlessness—not a single one of them was cut out for dominance.

The elders were evidently suffering from splitting headaches. A powerful underworld family had turned into a total mess. Judging the timing to be ripe, Xiao Tianci nodded at Reijah, signaling that it was time for him to step forward.

*Bang!* Reijah slammed his palm down onto the table hard enough to rattle the teacups. The effect was immediate; in an instant, the room experienced what true, absolute silence felt like.

Reijah had always maintained the lowest profile within the family. Throughout the current competition, he had failed to display any formidable strength, and if not for the inexplicable backing of the Tang Gang's leader, he wouldn't have possessed even the slightest qualification to contend.

His eldest brother immediately chimed in with displeasure, "Reijah, what are you slamming things for? Everyone here is either your elder or your brother—where do you get off acting so imposing? Sit down."

Unfortunately, the Reijah of today was no longer the one who concealed his capabilities. Backed by Xiao Tianci and the Fatty from behind, Reijah glared at him with eyes full of killing intent. The moment their gazes met, the eldest brother's psychological defenses crumbled; he lacked the courage to look Reijah in the eye.

Everyone caught the look in Reijah's eyes and felt a jolt in their hearts. Coldly eyeing the crowd, Reijah struck the table again with a loud *thud*. This time the sound was even sharper, and devoid of the background chatter, everyone's heart skipped a beat in unison. Yet this time, no one dared to pipe up.

"Just look at yourselves—what do you look like? You've dragged the reputation of the Grimaldo family completely through the mud! At a time like this, instead of knowing how to unite against an outside threat, you're here bickering and fighting amongst yourselves. Go on, keep fighting! By the time you win, I reckon they'll have already chopped off your heads."

Xiao Tianci inwardly gave him a mental thumbs-up. *He certainly knows how to put on a show,* putting up a façade of prioritizing the collective over the personal. Moreover, when they had previously discussed eliminating his own brothers and family members, he had remained utterly cold and indifferent. It seemed that if he had the power, he would have slaughtered everyone present without hesitation. He would definitely have to remind the Fatty to make good use of someone like this in the future.

A person like this, provided you could suppress and control him, made the absolute best sort of subordinate. But the moment your own strength faltered, he would likely be the very first person to stab you in the back.

Such things happened all the time, though Xiao Tianci wasn't worried; neither he nor the Fatty would have any trouble keeping Reijah in check.

If the Fatty ever intended to let his own son inherit power down the line, this problem could be resolved in advance. These weren't idle thoughts; whenever that day arrived, these very issues were bound to arise. Every nation, every gang, and every commercial empire had to go through this mandatory crucible.

No one had ever witnessed Reijah shouting at everyone with such force, and few dared to meet his murderous gaze. Consequently, despite his harsh words, so many hardened men actually sat there obediently and listened.

"Humph! Do you honestly think that with this pathetic attitude you can stand against the Sakura Group?"

Although he dared not meet Reijah's gaze, the eldest brother still spoke coldly, "You're trying to imply that only *you* can do it, is that it?"

Hearing him speak, the second brother chimed in as well, "Third Brother, don't pretend you're so selfless here. If you've got the guts, say right now that you don't want to be the family head."

Reijah let out two cold laughs. "The family head? Today, I'm telling you all—this position of family head, I am taking it." As he spoke, Reijah advanced step by step. Seeing him approach, everyone except those loyal to him leaped to their feet.

The eldest brother ordered his subordinates to block Reijah's advance. However, right as they moved to intercept him, the air in the room seemingly congealed. Those bodyguards—who were hardly ordinary men—instantly sensed two terrifying auras of killing intent locked onto the entire room. Anyone who made a move would instantly become a target.

Even those who understood nothing of martial arts could distinctly feel the suffocating pressure in the air. Everyone watched helplessly as Reijah strode forward and seated himself firmly in the center chair. Deep down, Reijah's heart was hammering wildly, though he managed to suppress the frantic pounding threatening to burst through his chest.

Yet, at that moment, their attention was no longer fixed on Reijah; all eyes turned toward Xiao Tianci and his companions. Seeing everyone looking over, Xiao Tianci offered them a faint smile, stepped forward, and casually tossed four bank cards onto the table, producing a crisp, clear clatter.

The moment Reijah took his seat, the oppressive killing intent vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. Everyone's gaze shifted back to the table, utterly baffled as to what this meant.