The sound a man makes when he screams from an unbearable, sudden agony is truly earth-shattering, a sound that chills the listener to the bone and makes the hair stand on end.

Especially in the pitch dark, where sight is useless, the impact of the sound is magnified tenfold. Everyone felt a collective dread, fearing they would be the next to suffer an unseen attack, letting out a shriek as if life itself was about to be extinguished.

Fortunately, this period of intense suffering did not last long. Those destined to fall went down quickly; those meant to remain standing were still upright, not a single strand of hair disturbed.

Light flooded back into the luxurious private room, revealing the floor was already a wreck. The worst off was Wang Yi. Wang Zhuo had seen him treating the seven young men like punching bags the moment he arrived at BB Karaoke, so Wang Zhuo had hit him the hardest—that single Lushan Shenglongba had shattered the biting hook of his jawbone.

It was likely the poor fellow wouldn't be able to use his teeth to open a beer bottle for the rest of his life, and eating anything slightly hard would require waiting at least half a year.

The other leader, Dong Shu, wasn't faring much better. He was missing a tooth and a half from his upper row, his right knee was dislocated, and he’d accidentally swallowed the broken bits—no chance of getting those put back in.

“Shall we go?” Geng Bin leaned in and whispered.

“Need to wait a little longer,” Wang Zhuo shook his head slightly.

In the past, after a fight, he would have vanished immediately, never waiting around for retaliation. But things were different now. With his status and strength, he needed to ensure their defeat was total, leaving them too cowed even to consider revenge.

Besides, there was one critical matter he needed to pursue: by what right did these men dare to brazenly bully and harass women?

“Boss, quick, answer the phone!” Lü Tiefeng suddenly rushed over holding a mobile.

Wang Zhuo took the phone and managed a quick "Hello," only to be met with a frantic voice on the other end: “Is this Wang Zhuo? It’s Xia Zhi, Xiao Bai is still with them, hurry up and ask them!”

Wang Zhuo froze, whipping his head around to peer through the partition wall into the next room. A cluster of girls was huddled together. Xia Zhi stood in the middle, holding a small phone, her expression distressed.

One, two, three... eleven, twelve, thirteen...

There were only thirteen girls in total, short by exactly one: Bai Lu.

“Damn it all!” Wang Zhuo couldn't bother asking Xia Zhi where she got a phone. He strode over, slammed his foot down onto Dong Shu’s shoulder, and demanded fiercely, “The missing girl, where did you take her?”

As he spoke, he activated his Tōshigan (X-ray Vision), sweeping his gaze across the other adjacent rooms.

“...I dunno wot u say,” Dong Shu managed to reply with his lisp, all the while viciously cursing Wang Zhuo’s ancestors a hundred times in his mind.

“Big guy!” Wang Zhuo called back to Geng Bin. “Come here, time for revenge!”

Geng Bin grabbed a bottle of beer and walked over, his eyes locked on Dong Shu’s head, clearly intending to crack that bottle open right there on his skull.

Seeing Geng Bin’s arm, which was thicker than his leg, Dong Shu dared not respond further. He hastily stammered, “Upstairs, in the manager’s resting room.”

“Son of a bitch, the manager’s lounge!” Zhou Huai'an cursed. “Good thing I can interpret his broken speech, or we’d be beating him again.”

Zhou Huai’an came from a family of dentists and had dealt with countless patients missing teeth. Even if Dong Shu was missing one and a half front teeth causing a lisp, or if all eight front teeth were gone, he could still translate it.

“There are a few security guards outside,” Geng Bin tilted his head toward the door, looking at Wang Zhuo.

“Just a few security guards with dislocated arms,” Wang Zhuo sneered, then turned to the other boys. “You guys stay here and guard the girls from next door; bring them over. I’m heading upstairs.”

“Let me go with you,” Geng Bin quickly offered.

Wang Zhuo looked up and mused, “No need. I can manage on my own.”

Seeing his insistence, Geng Bin couldn't argue and nodded. “Alright, just be careful.”

Several boys stepped forward to shove the wardrobe blocking the door aside. Wang Zhuo stepped out and let out a shout that scared the few guards posted in the hallway into submission, forcing them to approach meekly.

“Get inside and stay put!”

These guards and thugs were all birds of a feather. Wang Zhuo naturally showed no mercy to those who acted as willing henchmen; only disabling their arms was considered lenient. With a glare, the guards scurried shamefacedly back into the room.

After going upstairs earlier, he had quickly dealt with the security team in a few moves, then pushed open the door to the girls’ room to tell them reinforcements had arrived and to wait calmly. Later, after Wang Zhuo finished beating Dong Shu and others and turned on the lights, Zhou Huai’an and the others immediately retrieved their cell phones from the table, intending to call the girls, only then remembering the girls’ phones were also on the table.

The small phone Xia Zhi was holding was actually one she had secretly tucked into her bra when things looked bad, before the guards could search them. Her chest was full, and a tiny phone hidden beneath the lower curve of her bust was completely invisible. She had fooled the guards by claiming her phone was lost and she hadn't bought a new one yet.

After the girls were detained, she had repeatedly called Wang Zhuo’s phone, but Lü Tiefeng had coincidentally connected first. Most of the missed calls and texts on Wang Zhuo’s phone were from her. Only when Zhou Huai’an called her with the good news was she finally able to relay that Bai Lu had been taken away.

Wang Zhuo went upstairs alone in the elevator. On the surface, the BB Karaoke lounge appeared peaceful, but beneath it, chaos reigned. In the surveillance room, after the security manager saw Wang Zhuo assaulting people and then entering the boss's private room, he immediately dispatched security guards via intercom to investigate. To his surprise, the door was barricaded from the inside and couldn't be budged.

After thinking it over, he reported the situation to Young Master Cao. Unexpectedly, before the conversation finished, a new development appeared on the monitor: the young man who went into the room after beating the guards had emerged alone, and those students outside were peeking around the door, even calling the lookouts back inside.

Not only the manager, but even Cao Zihao, after hearing updates on the situation, couldn’t make sense of what was happening. Seeing Wang Zhuo ride the elevator straight toward the fifth floor left both men stunned.

“Boss, maybe we should call Director Yuan to come take a look?” a sharp-featured, weasel-like youth beside Cao Zihao suggested quietly.

Cao Zihao was a civil servant, though currently holding a nominal position to gain seniority; thus, his associates called him Boss Cao out of respect, and the lackeys depending on him called him Boss too.

“Hey? Damn it—”

Another lackey, who had just pushed the door open to keep watch outside, yelled out in shock and was dragged away.

A thud echoed in the corridor, and then the door burst open. Cao Zihao and the weasel-youth saw the lookout lying motionless on the floor as a tall, handsome young man calmly stepped over him and strode into the manager’s lounge.

This room, called a lounge, was more like the living room of a private residence; it was fully furnished and even included a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.

In terms of height, Cao Zihao was half a head taller than Wang Zhuo, and their builds were comparable. But the moment Wang Zhuo entered, his sheer presence completely overwhelmed Cao Zihao. Wang Zhuo’s expression was calm and detached, while Cao Zihao felt a suffocating pressure.

“Director Yuan? You mean Yuan Ye, right?” Wang Zhuo pointed at the monkey-like youth and sneered, “Give him a call. Tell him Wang Zhuo is at BB Karaoke and invite him over for a chat.”

The weasel dared not reply, looking toward Cao Zihao instead.

“Who are you?” Cao Zihao frowned and asked Wang Zhuo.

He responded to a question with another question. Wang Zhuo assessed him briefly and returned the tactic: “You won’t talk? Fine. I’ll talk first.”

Saying this, he pulled out his phone, casually sat on the sofa opposite Cao Zihao, and began dialing.

The atmosphere in the room became instantly bizarre: a fainted man lay by the door, Wang Zhuo and Cao Zihao sat facing each other, and the weasel stood awkwardly nearby, unsure what to do.

“Young Master Yuan? I have a question for you.”

“Hehe, since you’re being so polite, I’ll be direct,” Wang Zhuo began.

“……”

On the other end of the line, Yuan Ye sank into deep trouble after listening to Wang Zhuo’s brief explanation.

Wang Zhuo wasn't asking about anyone else but Cao Zihao, the Young Master Cao whom he had spent ages trying to curry favor with. He thought linking up with this person meant an assured rise to prominence, never imagining this important figure was actually antagonizing a great figure like Wang Zhuo.

Why involve me, a nobody, in this high-level turf war? Yuan Ye felt like crying; he truly didn't know how to respond.

Take a side? Yuan Ye dismissed the thought instantly. If he sided with Wang Zhuo, Young Master Cao could ruin him later. If he sided with Cao Zihao, Wang Zhuo could cripple him in an instant. These two major figures weren't even in the same governing system; if they escalated things, neither could protect Yuan Ye if things turned sour.

A flash of desperate ingenuity struck him: I can’t afford to offend him, but I can’t hide either. I’ll just play dumb!

“Hehe, Chairman Wang, what you must be referring to is Young Master Cao Zihao. He is the only son of Director Huang of the Huangjiang District Discipline Inspection Commission—a future full of promise!”

Yuan Ye intentionally spoke loudly, not caring that his colleagues at the precinct were glancing over. “You two are both rising talents in Jiangzhou; meeting sooner or later was inevitable. Unfortunately, I have a case I need to work overtime on today, so I must beg your pardon for not coming over to toast you.”

“Then we’ll leave it at that? Hehe, goodbye, Chairman Wang.”

Hanging up, Yuan Ye was drenched in a cold sweat. Without a second thought, he pried off the back cover of his phone and yanked out the battery. Grabbing his car keys from the desk, he headed out. “Hey, Xiao Zhang, if anyone calls the office line looking for me, tell them I’m out on business.”

Yuan Ye had successfully dodged the confrontation, but that didn't stop Wang Zhuo and Cao Zihao from gaining crucial information.

For Wang Zhuo, the information was sufficient; knowing the opponent's identity fulfilled the purpose of calling Yuan Ye. Cao Zihao had also heard Yuan Ye’s words; from his deferential tone, Cao Zihao could deduce that this uninvited guest was at least someone Yuan Ye feared offending more than himself. Furthermore, being called "Chairman Wang" at such a young age meant his backing was certainly substantial.

Just as Cao Zihao was about to probe further, Wang Zhuo casually dropped a sentence that made him break out in a cold sweat: “If I had known you were such a big fish, I would have waited another half hour to walk in and catch you red-handed in bed.”