102: Chapter 102 Shocking Changes and Arrangements

Nineteen against four. These men didn't take Duan Hong and the others seriously at all. They didn't even bother using knives; eight of them carrying baseball bats approached and swung them at the group. At that moment, Duan Hong retreated to stand before Cao Xiao, while Niu Zhen and the other two formed a triangular formation, meeting the attackers with alloy rods in hand.

Niu Zhen and Cheng Xiaodao swung their rods to sweep aside the incoming bats, while Li Quanshuo suddenly crouched down to strike at their lower bodies. Niu Zhen and his team were all from military backgrounds and had received elite special forces combat training; their strength and attacking techniques were far beyond what such a motley crew could compare to. Moreover, their strikes were fast, accurate, and ruthless, aiming to incapacitate the enemy in the shortest time possible.

For a moment, the sound of bones snapping was constant. Li Quanshuo could break several men's shins with a single direct strike. Within a few swings, all of these men were hit, and this was completed in a mere instant. Simultaneously, Niu Zhen and Cheng Xiaodao parried all the incoming bats; some of the attackers even lost their grip, and their baseball bats went flying. Feeling the searing pain in their legs and the shock transmitted through the bats in their hands, they couldn't stand steady and all collapsed to the ground, clutching their feet and howling in pain.

The dozen or so people watching with interest from behind were instantly dumbfounded. Eight against three, and they were taken out in seconds. They had run into some tough characters. The disdain in everyone's eyes vanished, and the atmosphere grew heavy. These people were originally a lawless bunch, so they weren't easily intimidated. They didn't swarm all at once but split into three teams to attack Niu Zhen and the others.

Facing more than ten people attacking with knives, the three didn't dare to be careless. Two of them swung their alloy rods for defense while one moved around to attack. The one responsible for the offensive was Niu Zhen; he was burly and far stronger than the other bodyguards. Every strike of his rod targeted vital points, and a single blow would leave a person unable to get back up. In less than two minutes, not one of the nineteen thugs was left standing, while Niu Zhen and his team were completely unharmed.

The middle-aged man in the suit and the fat man saw the three of them deal with nearly twenty people so cleanly. Although they were somewhat surprised, they didn't panic. The fat man remained motionless, while the middle-aged man slowly reached into his jacket and pulled out a silver pistol, pointing the muzzle slightly downward directly at Cao Xiao.

Cao Xiao's hair stood on end instantly. Before he could react, an open black umbrella appeared before his eyes. Two seconds later, a gunshot rang through the small conference room. The center of the umbrella's canopy in front of Cao Xiao jolted, followed immediately by a sudden, agonizing scream. The black umbrella was retracted less than ten seconds after it appeared. Only then did Cao Xiao snap out of it; the middle-aged man who had been pointing the gun at him was gone. Duan Hong must have seen the man pull the gun and quickly opened the black umbrella to shield them. The middle-aged man had then fired, the bullet hitting the canopy. That scream must have come from the middle-aged man, who had likely been attacked by one of Cao Xiao's bodyguards. At this moment, Li Quanshuo was rapidly closing in on the fat man. The fat man's face was covered in blood, and he no longer had that cynical composure from before; his mouth was wide open, his eyes were nearly bulging out, and his face was filled with horror.

The fat man was kicked off his chair and onto the ground by Li Quanshuo. Li Quanshuo stepped forward, pinned the fat man facedown, and forced his hands behind his back. Only then did the fat man come to his senses, letting out a scream like a slaughtered pig. Niu Zhen and Cheng Xiaodao weren't idle either; they knocked out all those still howling on the ground, regardless of how they begged for mercy or resisted. None escaped a knife-hand strike. Then, they confiscated all the weapons and piled them together; besides the knives and bats, they also found two more pistols.

Looking at the scene, Cao Xiao broke into a cold sweat. He had nearly lost his life today. He had always thought that with the spatial ability of the industrial mother machine, no one could harm him at close range. He hadn't expected to be taught such a harsh lesson today. Even with an invincible "cheat" ability, one needed the corresponding personal strength to master it; his reaction time was simply too slow. If Duan Hong hadn't reacted quickly just now, he might have met his end here today. He also hadn't anticipated that the middle-aged man would actually fire. South Africa was different from other turbulent regions in Africa; there was no war here, and the social environment could be considered one of the best on the continent. Thus, he had subconsciously assumed that a shooting wouldn't occur, at least not in broad daylight. However, even though he hadn't seen any chaos since arriving in South Africa, he had ignored the information he'd looked up online before coming. The data showed that South Africa's public security was continuously deteriorating, with various violent crimes emerging one after another. South Africa was also a country where legal gun ownership was permitted. Combining these two factors, today's events made sense; he could only blame his own carelessness.

"Boss, this man is dead!" Niu Zhen and Cheng Xiaodao used the thugs' own shoelaces or belts to bind their hands. Niu Zhen walked behind the conference table, leaned down, and then spoke to Cao Xiao with a grave expression.

"That man is dead?" Cao Xiao's body jolted as he asked in shock.

He knew Niu Zhen was referring to the middle-aged man who had shot at him. If someone had died, the nature of the situation had changed. This was no longer a small matter; it was a major incident. Moreover, they were not locals; such an event could trigger a diplomatic dispute. It was hard to say how things would develop then, and it wouldn't be good for him or Tiandu Company. He hurried behind the conference table to check; after seeing the man's condition, the last trace of hope in his heart vanished.

The middle-aged man lay on the floor, blood pooling everywhere. A military knife was plunged into his chest. A baseball bat lay not far from the corpse, and the silver pistol was also on the ground. This must have been caused by the successive attacks from Niu Zhen and the others; the bat had knocked away the pistol while the military knife was driven into his heart. Both the knife and the bat were weapons dropped by the thugs, which Niu Zhen and the others had picked up and thrown at the man.

"Mr. Cao, we've caused a huge disaster this time. The dead man was the butler of a local prominent family, and this fat man is the heir to that family. You and Chairman He must book flight tickets and leave South Africa immediately. Close the company for now and give the employees a holiday. I will organize people to move the headquarters to another country." Zhou Zhengkun hadn't had a chance to speak earlier, stunned by what had happened. Hearing that the man was dead, he immediately spoke to Cao Xiao with urgency.

"It's not that serious. We were just acting in self-defense. At most, we've made an enemy of that family; it won't be as dire as you say," Cao Xiao said calmly, slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air. Since things had reached this point, he could only take it one step at a time.

Seeing that Cao Xiao wasn't taking it seriously, Zhou Zhengkun said urgently, "Cao Xiao, this family is no ordinary family. It's not about how much influence they have, but that they are ruthless and lawless. They dare to do anything—drug trafficking, smuggling, and arms dealing are all part of their business. Robbery and murder are even more commonplace for them. They even control a mercenary group of over five hundred well-equipped men abroad. Furthermore, their patriarch is cunning and sinister. The South African government has never been able to find evidence of their crimes and is also wary of their mercenary group, leaving them powerless. They have run rampant in Cape Town for years, and no one dares to resist because those who did never met a good end. That's why this fat man dared to bring a few thugs to extort a large multinational company like ours; he heard we changed bosses and wanted to take the company shares from your hands. Now that this has happened, they will definitely use any means necessary to retaliate against you, Mr. Cao. Our company will also know no peace, and we won't even be able to guarantee the personal safety of our employees. We can only move the headquarters to another country. Mr. Cao, you should leave quickly; if you wait any longer, you won't be able to get away!"

Cao Xiao had thought it was a family with great economic strength or background resources, but he hadn't expected it to be this most troublesome kind. Such people are unscrupulous and have no bottom line when it comes to revenge; they use direct violence and don't play by the rules, making them impossible to guard against. He wasn't afraid for himself—let alone five hundred people, even fifty thousand couldn't harm a hair on his head if he was prepared—but he couldn't just ignore the company's many employees. Otherwise, who would risk their lives to work for Tiandu Company? This time, he had formed a blood feud with that family, a fight to the death with no room for compromise. But he couldn't bring himself to tuck tail and run like a coward. So, he braced himself and said, "Manager Zhou, have someone make a copy of the conference room's surveillance footage and give it to me. Call the police immediately and notify the embassy! You and all the company executives must settle the affairs of the various branches within today. Starting tomorrow, the entire headquarters will be on holiday, returning to work as normal in seven days. All company executives are to return to China to visit relatives, with all expenses covered by the company. Execute this immediately; that's an order. You don't need to worry about anything else. Brother Cheng, you and Niu Zhen take Yueyou to the airport and escort her back home. Call Wu Feng and have him arrange for men to come over. Yueyou, you go back to China first. I'll return once I've handled things here. When you get back, tell your parents not to worry; I'll take care of it."

"Yes, Mr. Cao." Zhou Zhengkun said no more. Cao Xiao must have his reasons for being so confident, and with the police and the embassy involved, those people wouldn't dare to move recklessly for the time being.

Cheng Xiaodao and Niu Zhen merely nodded to Cao Xiao and then silently walked over to stand beside He Yueyou.

"It's too dangerous to stay here. Come back with me! You can't solve the problem by yourself here. Let's go back and let my parents think of something. If it really doesn't work, we can move the company to another country. There's no need to take risks. Don't be stubborn, or I'll stay here with you," He Yueyou advised worriedly.

"Don't worry, I've already thought of a solution. I have to try. If I can't solve it, I'll go to the embassy; it's absolutely safe there," Cao Xiao said, taking He Yueyou's hand to comfort her.

"Alright, I won't distract you then. I'll call my mom right now and have her talk to the embassy so you can stay there. Otherwise, I won't be at ease." He Yueyou had been with Cao Xiao for over a year and knew his temper; once he made a decision, he wouldn't change it easily.

"Don't alarm your mother and the others for now. When the embassy people arrive later, I'll discuss it with them. I'm not a criminal; they'll surely agree. The police will be here soon, so you should leave with Niu Zhen and the others first." Cao Xiao didn't want to alarm his friends and family back home, nor did he intend to stay at the embassy. He was just coaxing He Yueyou to leave now so he could fight without any lingering concerns.

"Then I'm going. Be careful and don't try to be a hero!" He Yueyou pulled her hand from Cao Xiao's, gave him a light kiss on the cheek, and turned to walk out of the conference room.

Cao Xiao watched He Yueyou's departing figure and touched the spot she had just kissed, the furrow in his brow softening.

"You bastard, let me go right now! You actually dared to kill the butler of our Angress Family. I'm going to mince you into meat to feed the wild dogs. Just you wait, none of you will escape." The fat man pinned to the floor by Li Quanshuo couldn't move; he twisted his head and glared at Cao Xiao, speaking in English.

Hearing the fat man's threats, Cao Xiao finally took notice of the mastermind. Looking at that comical fat face, he felt such disgust that he didn't want to say a single word to him. At this point, Cao Xiao wasn't afraid of his threats. He really wanted to give the fat man a good beating right now, but the police would arrive soon, so he didn't want to cause further complications. Once the police were done, the next time he saw him would be the time the fat man met his end.

"Brother Li, knock him out," Cao Xiao said, casting a cold glance at the fat man.

Li Quanshuo swung his hand in a hard chop toward the fat man's neck, but he hadn't expected the man's fat to completely submerge his neck. After one knife-hand strike, the fat man didn't pass out; instead, he screamed in pain. Li Quanshuo felt a bit embarrassed and chopped again with more force, but the result was the same. Cao Xiao clicked his tongue at the sight. Seeing Li Quanshuo stubbornly preparing to strike again and not wanting to hear any more ear-piercing screams, he interrupted, "Brother Li, stop it. It's useless; the nerves are buried in the fat. Just gag him. You guys go put the weapons you're carrying into the car; the police will definitely search us when they arrive."

Li Quanshuo and Duan Hong went downstairs. Cao Xiao pulled up a chair and sat by the door, pondering how to face the police and wondering if they could withstand the pressure. If the police compromised with the Angress Family, he would have no choice but to ask the embassy to urge the police to handle the matter fairly. However, this was the last thing he wanted to see; involving the embassy would make it a diplomatic incident, and diplomatic matters were never small. He didn't want to trouble the country unless it was the absolute last resort.

As for the solution he had mentioned to He Yueyou, there wasn't one at all. He could only go head-to-head with the Angress Family, and he couldn't do it openly; otherwise, the police would come for him first instead of the Angress Family. Therefore, once the police were done with this, he would have to hide well or sneak back in after leaving the country.

He had no advantage in a confrontation with the Angress Family. He was short-staffed; even if Wu Feng and the others all came over, there would only be a dozen or so of them. Special forces soldiers were still human and couldn't withstand being swarmed by an enemy dozens of times their number. Their weapons were also limited to cold steel. Even with h1s alloy body armor, it wasn't foolproof; the others had not only automatic firearms but also high-powered weapons. While h1s alloy armor could stop bullets and grenade fragments, the kinetic energy and explosive impact of a rocket could still kill a person through the armor. Therefore, he couldn't fight them head-on. As long as he took care of the people in the Angress Family, those mercenaries wouldn't risk their lives for dead men. Besides, that mercenary group wasn't even within South Africa's borders, so the enemies they faced wouldn't be many.