108: Chapter 108 Making a Fortune

The two of them were so terrified their legs were shaking. They stammered, "We... we are willing to hand over all our property!"

"That's more like it! Everyone, transfer all your funds to this account within five minutes. Remember, I said all! I don't care how many bank cards you have, but don't play any tricks. God doesn't like children who lie!" Cao Xiao tossed a slip of paper with an account number onto the table.

Cao Xiao did not make things difficult for the women and children. The men tremblingly took out their phones to transfer money. As for how much their hearts ached or how reluctant they were, it had nothing to do with Cao Xiao. He stared intently at the head of the Angress Family and said, "How much money can you produce now? You heard what I said just now—all your funds! I know your family must have secret accounts, so think carefully before you transfer. You only have one chance!"

"The funds in my personal account, the family account, and other hidden accounts total thirteen billion us dollars and thirty-six billion rand. I will transfer it all to you. This is all the capital our family has accumulated over a century. I hope you will keep your promise and let us go!" the old man sighed, speaking dejectedly. He wasn't lying; this was indeed all the liquid capital their family had accumulated over a hundred years. However, these funds were only a small portion of their family's wealth. The rest consisted of fixed assets, company stocks, collectibles, and so on. The foundation of a century-old family could not be measured by cash alone.

Thirteen billion us dollars and thirty-six billion rand? Cao Xiao had thought the old man would be doing well to produce a few hundred million us dollars and was prepared to bleed him a bit more. He hadn't expected there to be so much. There was thirteen billion in us dollars alone, and thirty-six billion rand was eighteen billion huaxia currency, equivalent to three billion us dollars. Added together, that was sixteen billion us dollars. Converted into huaxia currency, that was... one hundred and five billion! That was almost as much as the market value of Tiandu Company! And this was just cash. If other assets were included, the Angress Family's wealth was at least over ten billion us dollars, possibly even tens of billions. The wealth accumulated by several generations of a family over a century was truly difficult to estimate. Originally, he only planned to get some cash, but such a large, succulent piece of fat was right in front of him; he would be a fool to let someone else have it. While he was waiting earlier, he had scanned the entire castle. Not only did he find the evidence he was looking for, but he also discovered two secret treasure chambers underground. One was built of concrete and steel plates and was still in use; the other had been sealed for many years for unknown reasons and had never been opened. However, the items inside made even someone as well-traveled as him salivate. His goal of coming to Africa to find a diamond for an engagement ring had been achieved—and not just a ring; he could make several sets of diamond jewelry, and not the ordinary kind either.

"Transfer the money first! And the rest of you, report your amounts!" Cao Xiao glanced indifferently at the old man, satisfied with the result, before addressing the others.

"I have three hundred million rand."

"I have seven hundred million."

"I only have fifty million."

...

Cao Xiao silently calculated. The money from these people added up to 6.8 billion rand, which converted to over 520 million us dollars. Combined with the previous 1.6 billion, the total was 2.12 billion us dollars. The account he provided was a Swiss bank account from one of the bank cards he had obtained in Dubai. Swiss banks were major international institutions; as long as funds were wired there, no one could easily track the flow. Afterwards, the Angress Family would not be able to find any information about him through this account, nor would they be able to recover the money.

Now there were only two people left who hadn't transferred money. One of them was the fat man. This fat man loved money as much as his own life; otherwise, he wouldn't have plotted for shares in Tiandu Company. He wouldn't hand over all his money so honestly.

"I only have thirty million rand," the fat man said, his heart aching.

"Thirty million? You are the second in line for the Angress Family, and you only have that much? Are you sure?" Cao Xiao asked, glaring at the fat man.

"I really only have thirty million... cough, cough! Why!" The fat man was about to explain when he coughed up blood. Looking at the long blade buried in his chest, his body began to lose strength, and he asked Cao Xiao with eyes full of disbelief.

"Since you want money more than your life, I won't bother talking to you. I'll just take your life!" Cao Xiao pulled out his bloodless Tang blade and spoke helplessly. Then, as the fat man was about to collapse, he leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Fatty, we meet again! As you wished, the Angress Family is removed from existence starting now!"

"You, you are... gurgle..." Blood overflowed from the fat man's mouth and nose, leaving him unable to speak. He stared at Cao Xiao in horror, his body suddenly convulsing as he spat out a large mouthful of blood and fell straight back onto the ground.

Seeing another person die, everyone was as silent as cicadas in winter. Several small children burst into loud wails that their parents couldn't stop no matter what they did. Hearing the crying, Cao Xiao's body shook. The satisfaction of a successful revenge vanished instantly, replaced by a sudden, heart-wrenching pain. It was as if he had been possessed today, killing so many people cold-bloodedly without feeling anything unusual. But he had never killed anyone before! How could he have become so bloody and cruel? Even for revenge, there was no need for it to be this gruesome. Although it intimidated the enemy, there were innocent people here! Such a bloody scene would leave a huge shadow on these children's hearts, yet he had been unaware and even felt a hint of pleasure. When did he start completely ignoring the feelings of others? For a moment, Cao Xiao stood frozen on the spot.

Bang!

A gunshot broke the silence in the hall. Cao Xiao looked at the bullet head that had fallen to the ground and looked up at the person who had fired. It wasn't the family head, nor any of the other men, but a girl about fifteen or sixteen years old, holding a black pistol with both hands and pointing it at him. Fortunately, he had never canceled the command given to the industrial mother machine; any object rapidly approaching him would be taken into the space to eliminate its kinetic energy before appearing back in its original position. Otherwise, he would have been shot while he was dazed.

"Please, I beg you, don't hurt her! She doesn't know any better. I'm willing to take her place to let you vent your anger!" A middle-aged noblewoman shielded the girl in her arms, pleading with Cao Xiao through her tears.

"Within three days, transfer all the Angress Family's stocks, companies, and real estate to a new company. This person will be the owner of that new company. Those of you who should surrender to the police, go to the police station tomorrow. Clean up all the dirty industries. The Angress Family should not appear in Africa again. Don't make me come looking for you!" Cao Xiao's heart felt heavy, and he didn't want to entangle with them any longer. He had changed his mind; the main culprit, the fat man, was dead. After this blow, the Angress Family would only leave Africa dejectedly and live with their tails between their legs, never daring to be arrogant again. They were no longer a threat to him or Tiandu Company. He would leave them to the police for judgment. He just wanted to go back and have a good sleep; not only was his body exhausted, but his heart was weary too. After speaking, he took a photo of himself from his pocket and handed it to the old family head. The photo had his new local mobile number on it; they would contact him once things were settled.

"Excellency, the Angress Family is willing to follow you for eternity! We will never betray you!"

Cao Xiao was walking out when the family head's powerful voice came from behind him. He couldn't help but stop, turn around, and ask curiously, "Oh? I killed your relatives and took your property, yet you don't hate me and want to follow me?"

"It is our honor to follow someone as powerful as you! Those who died surely had reasons to die; otherwise, Geluna, who just shot at you, would be dead by now. As long as you can accept the Angress Family, everything belonging to our family is yours, as are our lives." The old man knelt on one knee and spoke piously.

Cao Xiao didn't understand why this family head, rumored to be as cunning as a fox, would make such a decision—offering the entire family to him to do with as he pleased. However, he was instantly tempted. If the Angress Family truly followed him wholeheartedly, the benefits would be far greater than a windfall of cash. Although the Angress Family had a bad reputation, they were a major family rooted in South Africa for over a hundred years. Their vast network and influence would be very helpful to him. Moreover, he was short-handed, and the Angress Family had many members—the ones here today weren't even all of them. He could also use their connections to find suitable talent and perform covert tasks. There were too many benefits to sort through at once, but the downsides were also obvious: the Angress Family had many enemies, and accepting them meant sharing their foes. However, since he stayed in the shadows, even if something happened to the Angress Family, it wouldn't affect him. He quickly formulated a strategy and said, "Dapu, once you've decided, don't regret it! Tomorrow, go find the person in the photo; he will tell you what to do. The plan to form a new company and transfer assets remains unchanged. You don't need to go to the police station to surrender. Keep what happened today a secret; you know how to handle it. You may call me Shura. You can contact me through that person in the future, but don't bother me with trivial matters, or I will regret this! Also, I took some things from your secret chamber. I'm leaving; I hope you don't disappoint me!"

"Yes, I will keep Lord Shura's words in mind! Farewell, My Lord!" Dapu still didn't stand up. Hearing that Cao Xiao was willing to accept the Angress Family, he prostrated himself excitedly on the ground to bid farewell to Cao Xiao's departing figure.

Cao Xiao walked out of the castle, looked back at the lights behind him, and drove away from the manor with a heavy heart.

...

"Family Head, why do this? That man killed so many of our people. Third Brother and Eldest Cousin died miserably by his hand. We can't just let it go! I don't believe he can withstand..." In the castle hall, a middle-aged man dropped his previous pathetic state and asked Dapu through gritted teeth.

Slap!

"Idiot! That is power on another level, a taboo of the gods. If thermal weapons could kill him, would I have knelt to him? If you dare to act recklessly, I'll send you to see God first! By following him, we might have the chance to touch that level of power. If we can master that power, our Angress Family can rival those ancient families with thousand-year legacies and stand at the very top of this world! You'd better put away your thoughts of revenge. No one is to mention a word of today's events again. If you want to die, I'll fulfill your wish myself—don't drag the family to hell with you!" Dapu slapped the man hard and spoke decisively to everyone present.

"Yes, Family Head!" A chill rose in everyone's hearts. No one knew better than they how ruthless their family head could be. Moreover, this concerned the family's interests; if anyone disobeyed, the family head would absolutely show no mercy to his own kin.

Dapu was getting on in years and looked haggard now, but he forced himself to make arrangements for the others: "Have someone clean up the bodies outside. Those who went out tonight probably won't be coming back. Shura definitely has a deep connection with the person we were going to take revenge on. Belian, you go deal with the police; don't let them catch our tail. Our family's fate is already in that man's hands. This Huaxia youth in the photo might be his spokesperson. Prepare a gift for me according to the highest standards. At dawn, go and apologize to that Huaxia person."

In the hall, people returned to their rooms or went to work. Dapu was also assisted back to his bedroom. After locking the door, Dapu hurriedly opened an old-fashioned small safe in the corner of the room. Seeing that the safe was empty, with the documents originally inside gone, his face paled. Those documents recorded the secrets of the Angress Family—information that could never see the light of day. If those documents fell into the hands of the police, the Angress Family would definitely be crippled. Only then did he understand why that Shura had said he took his things. His expression shifted between light and dark for a long time before he finally let out a heavy sigh. It was probably for the best that these documents were in Shura's hands; at least Shura wouldn't give them to the police. Furthermore, with the lifeblood of the Angress Family in Shura's hands, Shura would trust them more. But thinking of Shura's eerie methods sent shivers down his spine. He had clearly never moved from the hall, yet he could make items vanish into thin air. If such methods were used to deal with enemies in secret... he didn't dare think further.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. Since the items in the safe were gone, what about the treasures in the secret chamber? Thinking this, he still held a sliver of hope; with so many things in the treasure room, Shura couldn't possibly have taken them all. Taking a few pieces wouldn't hurt. But when he saw the situation in the secret chamber, his face turned as white as paper, as if all the blood had drained from it. The vast chamber, the accumulation of two generations of the family, the dazzling array of treasures—now all that remained were empty shelves! Where were the dozens of tons of gold? Where were the countless gemstones? Where were the thousands of cultural relics?