Gua Two appeared before lunch. He was noticeably thinner and dark from sun, wore a battered camouflage uniform, and had stubble on his face. When he arrived, he went to report to Lian Jun right away, without stopping to even take a sip of water. “As per your order, I’m cooperating with Phantom. Last night, my team and I destroyed three subordinate organizations to Gunfire, robbing some very valuable goods and catching their bosses. Old Ghost didn’t sit on his hands either—he attacked all of Nine Eagles’ businesses he could reach. Zuo Yang probably won’t be able to sit still.”

“Good job,” Lian Jun nodded. He motioned for him to sit down and asked, “Where’s Old Ghost now?”

Shi Jin poured a glass of water and set it in front of Gua Two.

The man thanked him and drank it in one gulp. He wiped his mouth then replied, “He didn’t come, he’s busy tying up some loose ends. He’s going to cut off all the businesses belonging to Phantom he can cut off at present and give up all their interests in the Southeast. He’s about to declare all-out war with Nine Eagles.”

Shi Jin’s mood became complicated.

It seemed the death of his deputy was an enormous blow to Old Ghost—he had been avoiding the two organizations’ relations turning openly hostile, but now, he was determined to get rid of Nine Eagles or die trying.

Lian Jun lightly thumbed the corner of a file. “Have you compiled a list of the organizations under Gunfire?”

“I have.” Gua Two took out a USB flash drive and handed it to him. “However, it’s not complete. The obvious incongruencies in several organizations’ actions point to the existence of a secret one giving them a hand. Unfortunately, time was too short and I didn’t manage to find it.”

“This is enough,” Lian Jun appeased. He plugged the flash drive in his laptop, skimmed through the list, then tapped on the table with his fingers and said, “Call everyone here.”

Gua Two was about to stand but Shi Jin stopped him. He told him to sit and have a rest, and went himself instead.

After informing Gua One, Three, and Five about the meeting, he grabbed some food and brought it back for Gua Two.

Gua Two enthusiastically praised him for being considerate and wanted to slap him on the shoulder. However, as he was raising his hand, he noticed a small red mark similar to a mosquito bite on the young man’s neck and froze. He shot a quick glance at Lian Jun, sitting behind the desk and talking with Gua One, and touched his chin instead. He bumped Shi Jin with his shoulder and asked, lowering his voice, “Little JinJin, so Jun-shao got some, huh?”

Shi Jin looked at him, confused.

Gua Two pointedly glanced at his ass, the expression on his face full of meaning.

Shi Jin’s eyebrows jumped. Without hesitation, he raised a hand and tried to jab two fingers in his eyes.

Gua Two hastily leaned away, chuckling quietly and wretchedly. He made people’s hands itch to beat him.

With Gua Two’s antics, the atmosphere, gloomy since Old Ghost’s deputy’s death, finally lightened. Once Lian Jun and Gua One had looked through the information he brought back, Lian Jun knocked on the desk, drawing everyone’s attention, and said, “Gunfire is like a rabid dog. There’s practically no chance of getting the missing people back peacefully, so after a discussion, Old Ghost and I have decided to pay Gunfire back blow for blow.”

Shi Jin immediately realized the significance of the list Gua Two compiled.

“The reason Gunfire and Nine Eagles dare to be so fearless is because they have Phantom members in their hands and know Old Ghost won’t dare to fight back in fear for their lives. Such being the case, we’ll also grab their people and turn the situation around.” Lian Jun turned the laptop to show them the screen. “This is some of Gunfire’s subordinate organizations; four of them are very important, almost vital to Gunfire due to their business operations. What we need to do next is get rid of these four small organizations and capture their leaders alive.”

As expected!

Shi Jin’s pulse began to race with excitement. He also thought Lian Jun, who said this as if it was nothing, was unbelievably cool!

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, blood for blood. Annihilation tended to be low key, but when there was a need to fight, Lian Jun’s reaction was always resolute and to the point, extremely satisfying!

Gua One and the others became excited too. Gua Two rubbed his stubbly chin and sneered, “Nine Eagles began to target Phantom because it felt its interests in the Southeast were threatened, so it wanted to warn the rival off; later, Gunfire and Nine Eagles captured Phantom members probably because they were eyeing Phantom’s businesses here. If at that point they contacted Old Ghost and gave him more or less reasonable terms, he would’ve definitely yielded and cut off meat for them. It’s just that they’re too greedy—they didn’t want just a cut but to devour Old Ghost alive. Well, now the man is about to get rid of his businesses just to tear out their throats. Should I say serves them right or should I say they fucking deserve it?”

“That it fucking serves them right,” Gua One said, playing along with Gua Two for once. His expression, though, wasn’t mocking but icy.

Shi Jin glanced at Gua One, silently agreeing with him.

Lian Jun waited for them to finish speaking then knocked on the desk again. He continued, “Four organizations—the four of you will each be responsible for one. Gua One and Five’s current duties will be temporarily handed over to Gua Nine. Go make preparations.”

The four men answered in unison, got up, and walked out of the study.

Shi Jin watched them leave, a little confused. He turned to Lian Jun, who was busying himself with the laptop, and asked, pointing at himself, “Jun-shao, what about me? Don’t I get a task?” Since he’d been a member of Annihilation for quite some time already, he thought he’d also get something to do. However, it turned out that even Gua Nine, who wasn’t here, was entrusted with a job, yet Shi Jin was still passed over.

Moreover, he seemed to have been idle for a long time—he hadn’t received an assignment since Pockmarked Yuan.

Lian Jun raised his head and looked at him, apparently dumbstruck.

Seeing his expression, Shi Jin made a guess. He said carefully, “You haven’t… You couldn’t have possibly forgotten I’m your subordinate too, could you?”

“…Your task is to protect me.” Lian Jun quickly regained his composure. Face calm, he closed the laptop and continued, “You will assist Gua Nine and are responsible for watching Long Shi.”

Shi Jin was silent. He felt he had struck upon the truth: Lian Jun had completely stopped considering him as a subordinate.