"Young Master, Xu Ling is here," said the bald Black man, Rn, as he brought Xu Ling into Smark's office.

Lace Smark put down the documents in his hand, strode forward, and shook Xu Ling's hand. "Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come."

"Mr. Smark, you flatter me. We are both serving the Dragon Lord; there's no need for thanks," Xu Ling replied with a faint smile.

"Right, let's begin then!" Smark showed no hesitation or pretense, as he felt this was the biggest undertaking of his life, and certainly the boldest. Consequently, he was a little nervous, yet also excited.

"Does the Dragon Lord mean for us to wage a world-shattering war?" Xu Ling asked, observing Smark take some documents from his desk, then instructing Rn to clear the surface entirely before laying out a map.

"Yes. The Dragon Lord has issued an order that we must attack the Italian Mafia headquarters and all their territories stationed in Britain within three days. And the forces gathered for this are precisely the might of your Weeping Blood Assassin Guild and my Lace Family," Smark stated with a grave expression.

"What? This is..." Xu Ling felt there was an issue with this arrangement.

"Mr. Xu, we both serve the same master. To speak frankly, this is not just a challenging and audacious course of action. It is also a critical test of our strength set by the Dragon Lord." Smark seemed fully aware that it was utter folly for his Lace Family and the Weeping Blood Assassin Guild to attempt to eliminate the Mafia. Yet, since Yang Yi had arranged it this way, there was no other reasonable explanation.

"You mean the Dragon Lord is testing us now? Wanting to see if our two factions combined can wipe out the Mafia?" Xu Ling frowned. In his perception, Yang Yi was an unfathomable individual, whose methods were extremely erratic—perhaps the style befitting a legendary rogue monarch.

However, the arrangement right now seemed quite off. After all, the Mafia was a major Italian gang, recognized globally. To expect his world-class assassin guild and a declining British aristocratic family to eradicate them seemed impossible. Yet, the very nature of Yang Yi's arrangement made Xu Ling feel that the matter was far from simple.

"Truthfully, I am just as uncertain as you are about whether the Dragon Lord's arrangement is flawed. But we are merely his subordinates; it is our duty to follow the Master's orders. I believe the Dragon Lord would not push us into a fiery pit!" Smark said.

"Understood," Xu Ling nodded, then continued, "Then let's start strategizing. We must leverage our greatest strengths to plan how to eliminate the Mafia within three days."

"!"

At this moment, the only path for the two of them was this: without knowing Yang Yi's true intent, choosing to attack the enemy using their maximum advantages was undeniably the wisest course of action.

Meanwhile, as the afternoon wore on and the Lace Family and the Weeping Blood Assassin Guild gathered to plot, in China, under the cloak of a dark, windy, and murderous night, the ancestral territories belonging to the Nangong, Ximen, and Tang families in Wuhan, Xiamen, and Tianjin were simultaneously assaulted by an unknown force. Chaos ensued, with smoke rising everywhere, causing widespread panic.

Wuhan: The main territory of the Nangong Family. A middle-aged man looked down at the slaughter of his clan's disciples below, his fists clenched until they were slightly red.

"Quick! Hold the line! Hold the line!" a middle-aged man wielding a greatsword shouted to his men.

But they wielded swords, while the attackers brandished firearms. Crucially, the men holding the guns were far from unskilled, making resistance futile. It was evident that these ancient families remained stubbornly conservative, believing their martial prowess was enough, only to be mowed down by a bullet.

"Third Son, how are you handling this matter?" the former Nangong Family Patriarch asked, his expression silkily controlled as he stared down at the scene below. In truth, he understood far better than Nangong Three who the attackers were—likely the Black God Gang from the Chinese underworld. Perhaps more accurately, he saw the bigger picture clearer than Nangong Three.

"Master, you should retreat first. Our men are about to..." a middle-aged man pleaded with the former Nangong Patriarch.

"No need. You accompany me down there," he replied.

"Master?"

"Enough talk, follow me!" The former Nangong Patriarch muttered with a grave face, "The era is slowly declining; let them fight for what remains!"

Simultaneously, the same scene unfolded in Xiamen and Tianjin. The three former patriarchs arrived before their respective family gates at the exact same moment and shouted with raised hands:

"The Nangong Family swears allegiance!"

"The Ximen Family swears allegiance!"

"The Tang Family swears allegiance!"

These three patriarchs, having weathered much history and nearing old age, acted like shrewd foxes. Yet, in handing over their power so readily, their actions created a contradiction.

Shrewd, they believed, as this not only preserved the honor of their great families but also allowed the clans themselves to survive. Though they lost worldly assets, and might even end up subservient to the Black God Gang, in that moment, it all seemed unimportant to them.

What they failed to realize was that in Yang Yi’s design, the actions of Fatty Lin and Ye Xiaohou were aimed only at Nangong Three, Ximen Ling, and Tang Shen. Yang Yi did not see himself as Qin Shi Huang, one who would eliminate anyone he disliked. Undoubtedly, this counterattack was intended as a show of deterrence toward the Eight Great Families.

The Eight Great Families of China were not supposed to associate with the underworld. Thus, the Black God Gang’s current approach was meant to utilize killing, violence, and imposing authority to shock and awe everything, ensuring the Eight Families would never dare move against the Black God Gang again. Would anyone then believe Yang Yi was merely after their wealth?

"Brother Nangong, Brother Nangong!" Ximen Ling rushed in frantically from outside, calling out.

"What is it? Have they attacked?" Nangong Three asked.

"No, they are still waiting outside, not attacking. But... but..."

"But what? Brother Ximen, this is a critical juncture, please don't hesitate!" Tang Shen asked, looking extremely agitated.

Ximen Ling glanced at Tang Shen, then at Nangong Three. His anxious expression showed that both of them were deeply tense. Ximen Ling took a deep breath and said, "We have been utterly defeated. Our family territory has surrendered. My father called just now, telling us to lay down our arms and surrender!"

"What?" Nangong Three and Tang Shen's expressions shifted instantly. They slumped onto the sofa in silence, utterly disheartened.

At the same time, outside the secret villa, over a thousand Black God Guards deployed by the Black God Gang had surrounded the premises completely. The Black God Guards were not only highly skilled but also excellently equipped; those inside simply stood no chance of resistance.

To put it hyperbolically, perhaps only the bodyguards from Zhongnanhai in the capital, and those considered top-tier experts, could stand a chance against the Black God Gang’s Black God Guards.

"Second Brother, what do you think? Attack, or hold back?" Ye Xiaohou said with deep meaning, his eyes smiling as he stared at the villa.

"Men!" Fatty Lin did not answer Ye Xiaohou directly, but instead called out to the Black God Guards nearby.

"We are here!" a Black God Guard responded.

"Immediately send someone to notify those inside: 'Surrender within ten minutes, or face execution without mercy!'"

"Yes, Dragon General!" The Black God Guard accepted the order and rushed off to make the arrangements.

Ye Xiaohou nodded knowingly. At some point, he too had taken up smoking. He pulled out a hard pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and offered one to Fatty Lin.

"Damn, when did you learn to smoke?" Fatty Lin asked as he took the cigarette.

"Tch, don't think only you and the Boss smoke. Back when we were in the third grade, I was a chain-smoker!" Ye Xiaohou retorted dismissively, lighting his own cigarette, then lighting Fatty Lin's. "You better enjoy this, kid. I stole this pack from the Boss."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Fatty Lin nearly coughed up his internal organs after taking one drag and hearing Ye Xiaohou’s statement. He cursed loudly, "Fourth Brother, you bastard, shameless! Why did you have to steal Yi Ge's cigarettes?"

"Hmph, you don't know anything, kid. The Boss's cigarettes are authentic Beijing stock, produced by the proper factory. Are you going to smoke it or not? Don't waste it if you won't." Ye Xiaohou complained irritably.

"Heh heh, if it's already in my mouth, you expect me not to smoke? No way!"

"Second Brother, are we really going to do exactly as the Boss said? If these three don't surrender, execute them without mercy?"

"What choice do we have? Since we didn't utterly destroy their families, it counts as treating them fairly. Besides, the state can't do anything to us, since we didn't directly wipe out their clans!" Fatty Lin said while puffing on the cigarette.

Strangely, as he smoked, the memory of when he and Yang Yi used to steal tobacco rolls from fields to smoke—a taste that was agonizingly harsh—flashed through his mind.

.......