But now, with their weaknesses exposed, they could only quietly exit the stage, just like all the previous competitors who had gone up against Freedom Manufacturing.
...
Su Mo followed the large group back to the shop in silence. He had expected Zhang Bowen to come forward and plead for leniency based on their master-apprentice Sect relationship. However, the boy was indeed quite perceptive. Once he realized that Su Mo hadn't intended to eliminate them completely, but merely took all the shop's shares to seize control, he guessed Su Mo's true intentions. He wasn't trying to drive Zhang County to its death. In this way, they had essentially brought this upon themselves, and there was no one else to blame.
