At exactly ten o’clock, the conference began. Shi Jin took a thick stack of documents from Fei Yujing and strode to the first seat on the right-hand side of Zhang Zhuoyuan. He pulled out the chair and sat down, then placed the documents on the table with a loud thud.

Coincidentally, sitting right beside him, Lu Shan raised an eyebrow and spoke up, “Deputy Leader Shi, could you please be a bit quieter with your movements? It’s quite noisy.”

“Is it too noisy?” Shi Jin looked at Lu Shan and smiled warmly. “I thought, Auntie, that as you’re getting older, your hearing might decline a bit. Sorry about that, Auntie Lu. I’m young and strong, so my movements might be a bit heavier. Whether it’s setting things down or throwing punches, that’s just how it is. Could you bear with it for a bit?”

Hiss—

The organization leaders watching the scene couldn’t help but shudder inwardly—so fierce! This young man, who looks like a pretty boy, unexpectedly isn’t someone to be trifled with. When he retaliates, he leaves no room for negotiation at all!

Lu Shan was nearly choked by Shi Jin’s remark of “getting older,” and without needing to act, she showed an angry expression and glared fiercely at Shi Jin: You little brat, are you looking for trouble?!

Shi Jin’s eyes looked innocent: Auntie Lu, it’s all part of the act, please bear with it.

“The bones of the last person who dared to be so arrogant in front of me have long since turned to dust,” Lu Shan chuckled coldly.

Shi Jin smiled, “Is that so? My family doctor has always told me since childhood that my bones are harder than those of other children.”

Crackle, crackle. Crackling sounds filled the air, as if there were electric sparks flickering around.

The organization leaders present finally had their first direct encounter with Shi Jin. Watching him lean back in his chair, smiling as he confidently confronted others, they all shared the same thought—anyone sent by Lian Jun to attend this conference wouldn’t be so easy to deal with!

Meng Qing, Qi Yun, and Yuan Peng, who were sitting opposite Lu Shan and Shi Jin, were all quietly observing Shi Jin without showing any signs. They didn’t seem inclined to speak up in support of Lu Shan and just silently watched the scene unfold.

Shi Jin cooperatively closed his mouth and buried himself in the thick stack of documents in front of him, flipping through them diligently.

With a cold expression, Lu Shan also withdrew her gaze.

The gaze of the others couldn’t help but shift to the stack of documents in Shi Jin’s hands, feeling somewhat concerned—what could be in this pile of documents that seems so strange and suspicious?

The conference began to go through its procedures, and the room quieted down.

After the distribution of documents, each organization’s leader received the annual verification information regarding their respective organizations. These materials were tracked and summarized by official units located where the organizations were based at. They outlined the general activities and offenses committed by each organization throughout the year. During the verification process, if a leader disagreed with any part of the report, they could immediately raise objections and provide evidence to refute it. If there were no objections, the standard disciplinary procedures would be followed. Organizations found to have committed serious offenses might face the revocation of their status.

In general, the thicker the stack of documents, the more difficult it would be for an organization during the verification process, as it would indicate that the organization had committed more offenses in the previous year.

The documentation Shi Jin received for Annihilation was very thin, consisting of only four pages total. Excluding the cover and back pages, there were actually only two pages of content in the middle. He casually flipped through it and found that Lian Jun managed the organization extremely “cleanly.” The two pages contained information solely about business adjustments in various regions of Annihilation, without a single point of misconduct mentioned.

He felt both proud and happy in his heart, and at the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief. He casually set aside the dossier and observed the thickness of the documents in the hands of the leaders from other major organizations.

Except for him, the document that Epoch received also looked quite thin, with about five or six pages. The one from Meridian Gate was slightly thicker, with around ten pages, but Meng Qing appeared relaxed, indicating that there shouldn’t be any major issues with it. In comparison, Snake Fang and Tarantula seemed to be in a tougher spot. One had been targeted by the authorities last year, and the other had some internal issues. The dossiers received by the leaders of both organizations were thick, indicating a grim situation for them.

Shi Jin glanced at Lu Shan’s ugly expression and felt a bit worried inwardly, but he didn’t show it on the surface. Instead, he tidied up the documents and promptly leaned over them to take a nap—he had woken up too early today, and he was tired. Besides, the verification process was progressing from small to large organizations, so it wouldn’t be their turn until later in the morning. He didn’t need to stay alert the whole time.

Zhang Zhuoyuan: “……” Bastard! You’re here to preside over the conference! Why are you sleeping?!

The sound of flipping through documents in the conference room momentarily stopped, and all the leaders turned their heads towards Shi Jin, who was sleeping on the table.

“Deputy Leader Shi is really carefree.” Qi Yun smiled, his tone mocking.

Zhang Zhuoyuan forced a smile and said, “Yes, indeed. After all, he’s a young man, not very mature yet… Well, have you all finished reviewing the documents? Let’s begin the official verification.” With that, he gestured for his assistants to start moving, and he himself picked up the documents, starting to call out the names of small organizations according to their numbers, without any intention of waking Shi Jin up.

Qi Yun observed the situation and exchanged a brief glance with Meng Qing and Lu Shan, who were also looking over, then averted his eyes.

The morning meeting passed quickly as Zhang Zhuoyuan and his assistants swiftly carried out the verifications of the smaller organizations. Shi Jin woke up right on time when the meeting ended, rubbed the marks left on his face, gathered the documents on the table into his arms, and strolled away.

Leaders: “……” This guy is really damn leisurely.

After a brief lunch break, Shi Jin entered the meeting room punctually. He placed the documents on the table, pulled out a chair, sat down, and then slumped over to resume sleeping.

Zhang Zhuoyuan: “……” Are you a pig? All you know is how to sleep!

The conference proceeded as usual. The inspection of the smaller organizations was quickly concluded, and after a brief summary by Zhang Zhuoyuan, the verification of the medium-sized organizations’ activities began.

It was well past four o’clock when the inspection of the medium-sized organizations finally finished, and the inspection of the quasi-first-tier organizations began.

Suddenly sitting up like a corpse, Shi Jin delicately wiped his face with a wet tissue, rinsed his mouth with mineral water, straightened his clothes, and then sat up properly. From the stack of thick documents that resembled bricks, he pulled out a file, flipped it open, and glanced at the information. He then cast a suspicious look at the leader of the quasi-first-tier organization, Tiger Roar, who was being inspected.

Everyone’s attention shifted to follow his gaze. They cast a glance at the leader of Tiger Roar and then at the documents in his hand. Various speculations arose in their minds—what was Shi Jin up to again? What exactly was the document he held? Was he planning to supervise the inspection of other organizations?

From a regulatory perspective, organizations can indeed oversee each other’s verifications, but generally, no leader of an organization would foolishly meddle in someone else’s affairs at this stage. Everyone is subject to inspection, so unless you can guarantee that you won’t have any issues year after year, it’s best to keep quiet and not unnecessarily make enemies of others.

In previous years, Lian Jun was completely hands-off during the verification process. Unless something directly concerned him, he could go through the entire day of meetings without saying a word. Everyone had assumed that Shi Jin, based on how soundly he slept earlier, had also adopted Lian Jun’s style, ready to be completely disengaged. However, it seemed that wasn’t quite the case now.

What exactly was Shi Jin planning to do?

Everyone was observing Shi Jin, and even the Tiger Roar leader who was being watched by Shi Jin was secretly wary and apprehensive. Even Zhang Zhuoyuan himself was a bit doubtful and was speculating if Shi Jin was preparing to do something.

The atmosphere tensed involuntary as everyone stared at Shi Jin, both hoping he’ll say something and fearing what he might say.

Then, amidst everyone’s subtle expectations and vigilance, the inspection of Tiger Roar concluded smoothly. Tiger Roar hadn’t committed any major infractions this year. Zhang Zhuoyuan merely asked the leader of Tiger Roar a few questions based on the documents, pointed out a few irregularities, and issued a warning according to regulations before setting aside the materials related to Tiger Roar.

At the end of the verification, Shi Jin also set down the information he had been holding onto and placed that particular file aside.

Everyone became more and more concerned—what did it mean? What was the significance of him not speaking? And after not speaking, what was the meaning of setting aside that document? What was written on it? Was it related to Tiger Roar? Has there been an investigation into Tiger Roar by Annihilation?

Curiosity and suspicion swelled in their hearts infinitely, and everyone looked at Shi Jin, almost wishing to rush over and snatch the documents from his hands to see what was written on them.

The leader of Tiger Roar was also staring at the document in Shi Jin’s hands, his brows furrowed tightly. Unable to discern anything from it, he couldn’t help but look towards Qi Yun. Qi Yun was the superior of Tiger Roar, and upon receiving the glance from the leader of Tiger Roar, he raised his hand to signal him to be patient, then also looked at the document Shi Jin had put down, once again scrutinizing Shi Jin deeply.

Zhang Zhuoyuan noticed the change in everyone’s expressions and glanced at Shi Jin. He moved his finger slightly and continued to call on the name of the next quasi-first-tier  organization on the list.

Shi Jin took out another document from the pile of information and looked towards the called out leader while flipping through the papers.

The leader of the organization: “……”

Meng Qing, the superior of the leader of the organization: “……”

A strange atmosphere pervaded the room as Shi Jin remained silent, simply exchanging documents as Zhang Zhuoyuan called out names while observing the leaders of the named organizations. Everyone felt increasingly uneasy, unable to understand what Shi Jin was up to. While reason told them that Shi Jin might simply be playing games, their suspicious nature led them to speculate on the deeper motives behind his actions.

Finally, the verification of the last quasi-first-tier organization has been completed. Now, only a few major organizations remain to be reviewed, and there were exactly four documents left in Shi Jin’s hands, neither too many nor too few.

Meng Qing and the others all looked at the documents in Shi Jin’s hands, even Lu Shan couldn’t help but feel curious. She wanted to ask what Shi Jin was up to, but due to the situation, she couldn’t speak up. Instead, she had to suppress her curiosity and suspicion, forcing herself to wear a hesitant and doubtful expression as she watched Shi Jin. As a result, the discomfort in her heat doubled, making her almost want to gnaw on the table.

“Annihilation. Mr. Shi Jin, it’s your turn for verification.” Zhang Zhuoyuan suddenly called out Shi Jin’s name.

Shi Jin turned his head and politely replied, “Please go ahead.”

Zhang Zhuoyuan was a little uncomfortable by his normal speaking style. He picked up the documents for Annihilation and flipped through them. He said, “The situation with Annihilation remains the same as in previous years. There’s nothing noteworthy to mention. Please continue to main—”

“Wait a moment,” Lu Shan interjected, interrupting the spiel that Zhang Zhuoyuan would usually follow when addressing Annihilation every year. She questioned, “Are you sure there are no issues? As far as I know, Annihilation suddenly transferred a large amount of assets overseas last year, which seems to be against the regulations. Normal business adjustments don’t involve such extensive…”

“Great Auntie Lu,” Shi Jin interrupted her, saying, “What do you mean by transferring assets? If Lian Jun gives me some pocket money to spend, is that also considered transferring assets? Is your family’s assets that insignificant?”

Great Au-Auntie… Lu Shan looked at him in disbelief, appearing almost suffocated with anger.

“Cough.”

A suppressed laugh sounded from somewhere, and seeing this, Lu Shan’s face turned black. She slammed the table and stood up, demanding: “Who’s laughing?”

The leaders of major organizations were still not to be trifled with. After her demand, the conference room fell into a pin-drop silence. Wherever Lu Shan’s gaze landed, everyone pretended to be busy and avoided making eye contact with her.

Zhang Zhuoyuan felt a bit of a headache and tried to calm the situation: “Ms. Lu Shan, Mr. Lian’s allocation of assets overseas did indeed follow legal procedures, so there is no issue with that part.” Although he himself was quite startled when he first saw the allocation of those assets.

Lu Shan withdrew her gaze and sat down, frowning as she said, “Not just the assets, but also the sudden business adjustments by Annihilation. From what I know, Annihilation began making significant business adjustments in the latter half of last year, with many assets flowing into undisclosed locations.”

“You’re talking about business adjustments. How could all these commercial secrets be made clear to outsiders? Lu Shan, you failed to tie me down once and ended up suffering losses yourself. So now you’re coming to pick a fight with me because you’re not feeling happy? Is that all you’re capable of? I thought someone like you, a leader of a major organization, would be smarter in handling things.”

The others were all secretly stirred up in excitement—calling names directly, and even bringing up old grudges. Is Annihilation planning to have a showdown with Tarantula right here and now? Mr. Lian conducts his affairs with utmost discretion. Every time there’s a provocation from other organizations, he’s able to defuse it with just a few words, never initiating trouble himself. They thought they’d never see a direct confrontation between Annihilation and other organizations in their lifetime, but they never expected that Mr. Lian would actually send such a “frank” young deputy leader this year. This is going to be interesting!

Tear it up, let the fight begin!

Lu Shan’s face darkened and she asked: “What do you mean?”

“The literal meaning,” Shi Jin replied, shaking the documents belonging to Annihilation with a smile, his expression somewhat ambiguous. His gaze lingered on Meng Qing, Qi Yun, and Yuan Peng respectively before he continued, “I advise you not to try to find fault with Annihilation. You all know very well about Lian Jun’s capabilities. He prefers to keep a low profile, allowing you to be outspoken and arrogant every year. But I’m not someone who enjoys being pushed around. Curious about Annihilation business adjustments? Wondering what Lian Jun is up to? Actually, there’s nothing much to tell you. Lian Jun really wants to marry me. To please my family, he allocated a lot of business to Ruixing, gaining the approval of my eldest brother and earning the right to present me with this ring. Do you understand now? Your speculations about business adjustments, it’s just a prenuptial preparation between Lian Jun and me. But even if I tell you the truth, would you believe it? Seniors, let’s live simpler lives, shall we? Overthinking things will only lead you astray.”

Damn, he’s really laying it on thick! That’s some serious grudge!

The atmosphere in the room froze instantly. Everyone looked at Shi Jin, some were stunned by his attitude, others were overwhelmed by the implications in his words. For a moment, no one spoke.

Eldest brother, Ruixing, marriage, prenuptial preparation, and Shi Jin’s previous mention about frequently sitting here in the future… What do these words mean? Could it be that Lian Jun brought Shi Jin out to inform everyone that there will be a change in the way things are handled in the future? And Shi Jin’s threat to Lu Shan, could it be that Annihilation still hasn’t given up the idea of moving against Tarantula?

Many questions arose, but there was one thing that everyone finally confirmed—Shi Jin was indeed related to Ruixing, and Annihilation and Ruixing had already established a connection, indicating they would cooperate in the long-term in the future.

This information was definitely not good news for the other major organizations.

Zhang Zhuoyuan’s gaze swept over the faces of the leaders of the major organizations, then glanced at Shi Jin. For the first time, he didn’t feel overwhelmed by his antics. Instead, he vaguely realized something—Annihilation and Ruixing…

“Director Zhang, is Annihilation’s inspection over?” Shi Jin suddenly turned his head towards Zhang Zhuoyuan and then resumed his previous lazy and relaxed demeanor.

Zhang Zhuoyuan met his gaze, feeling a sudden shock in his heart. After regaining his composure, he averted his eyes, and his brows furrowed slightly. This Shi Jin seemed different from what he had initially assumed.

The second major organization to undergo inspection after Annihilation was Epoch. From this, it can be inferred that the verification order should be arranged from simple to complex.

While undergoing the inspection, Qi Yun kept a close eye on Shi Jin. Upon noticing that Zhang Zhuoyuan indeed called out the Epoch’s name, Shi Jin picked up another document and started flipping through it while occasionally glancing in Qi Yun’s direction, his mind clearly calculating something.

The inspection of Epoch also concluded smoothly, and Shi Jin still showed no intentions of speaking. Next was Meridian Gate, and as usual, Shi Jin picked up a document and flipped through it without saying a word.

After Meridian Gate was Tarantula’s turn, and everyone secretly tensed up—considering how pointedly Lu Shan had been targeting Shi Jin earlier, Shi Jin should surely speak up and retaliate against Tarantula this time. They were all simply dying of curiosity about the contents of the document in Shi Jin’s hands.

Lu Shan also put on a wary look towards Shi Jin, guarding against potential criticism from him. However, unexpectedly, when Tarantula was being inspected, Shi Jin still didn’t speak up. Instead, he just occasionally picked up a pen and seemed to be jotting down notes or sketches on the documents, as if he was recording something.

The atmosphere in the meeting was extremely weird. Finally, just as Lu Shan was about to start arguing with Zhang Zhuoyuan like she did last year, Tarantula’s inspection concluded. Last was Snake Fang, and to everyone’s surprise, Yuan Peng was easily dealt with. He practically agreed with whatever Zhang Zhuoyuan said without any argument, as if he didn’t want to expose too much about the organization’s internal affairs.

Zhang Zhuoyuan glanced at him, instructed his assistant to collect the papers submitted by Snake Fang, and then announced the adjournment of the meeting.

Shi Jin was the first to pick up his documents and leave the conference room. He found Fei Yujing waiting outside the door, handed the documents to him, and exclaimed loudly, “Thank you Second Brother, for helping me with this investigation. Let’s go and have dinner!”

Fei Yujing glanced at the leaders of the organizations inside the conference room after hearing Shi Jin’s words. Then, he turned and followed behind Shi Jin, and with a slight smirk, he lowered his voice and asked, “Is it my part next?”

“Yeah, the information dug up by the eminent Lawyer Fei, who specializes in economic cases, is enough to keep those organization leaders guessing.” Shi Jin also lowered his voice in response. Seeing Xiang Aoting walking onto the deck, he quickly walked over and greeted him, “Fourth Brother, would you like to have dinner together tonight?”

Xiang Aoting nodded and as he approached, he subtly positioned himself to shield Shi Jin, blocking him from view. He glanced towards the other organization leaders emerging from behind them one by one, his expression less than pleased.

Feeling the particularly “attentive” gaze from Xiang Aoting, Lu Shan almost couldn’t stop herself from letting out a string of curses. She felt unfairly treated today. First, she took Meng Qing’s advice to confront Shi Jin and probe into his background information. Then she was confronted by Shi Jin and got laughed at by others. Now she was being given a freezing glare by Xiang Aoting. The word “miserable’’ couldn’t even begin to describe her experience throughout the day.

What a troublesome brat, why does he have so many relatives!

She ignored Xiang Aoting’s gaze with a black face and turned around, leaving with her people.

When the other organization leaders saw this situation, they had a delicate mix of feelings and felt a bit depressed.

In the past, everyone’s position with the officials were the same. Even if Annihilation was slightly closer to the authorities, in principle, it was still viewed as a violent organization that the authorities feared. But now, Annihilation has promoted a deputy leader who was clearly being supported by government officials. The implications of this were really not good for the other organizations.

If Annihilation really used this opportunity to establish a solid and intimate relationship with the authorities through this… even worse, if Lian Jun brought Shi Jin out with the intention of turning Annihilation into a legitimate department on the official side, similar to the Public Security Bureau… then everyone would truly be finished!

And thinking about the documents Shi Jin looked at today… With that in mind, their gaze couldn’t help but fall on Fei Yujing, who was currently talking to Xiang Aoting—who is this man again?

That night, the leaders of various major organizations tacitly sent people to investigate Fei Yujing. However, they were left speechless when they saw Fei Yujing’s long and extensive resume.

A lawyer specializing in economic cases… that was nothing unusual. There were plenty of excellent lawyers in the world. But this person turned out to be the genius lawyer who orchestrated the incarceration of all the high-level members of Phantom last year as a form of “protection” and ensured they were all smoothly sent to prison without any trouble!

Why did Shi Jin bring this lawyer to the conference? What does he want to do? What is his purpose?

It was only at this moment did everyone truly realize one thing— this year, Annihilation has indeed sent out a new deputy leader to attend the conference, not just a person serving as a mouthpiece for Lian Jun! This leader wielded real power, had made preparations in advance, and harbored thoughts and intentions completely different from Lian Jun’s! The new leader represented new decisions, a new style of handling things, a new direction, and a new team! And everything new symbolized a changing future.

At this critical juncture, Lian Jun suddenly introduced such a major variable like Shi Jin. What does he want to accomplish? What game is he playing?

The new deputy leader who acts boldly and isn’t afraid of trouble, the newly emerged Xiang commander, Ruixing, and the lawyer who had been involved in major events on the street…

Both parties on the phone, Meng Qing and Qi Yun, took a moment to sort out the information and began to contemplate silently with lowered heads.

{In a circle that was already stable, introducing so many unstable factors at once, what does Lian Jun really want to do?} Qi Yun pondered aloud.

Meng Qing leaned back in his chair and looked at the calm sea outside: “Who knows? We’ve never guessed his thoughts correctly before.”