[HOST INTEGRITY: 8%]
[LOCATION: THE YE CLAN ESTATE - HALL OF FROZEN BREATH]
[TIME: 12:35 PM]
The phone in Ren's hand buzzed like an angry hornet.
The Hall of Frozen Breath was silent. The three Ye Clan Elders were still staring at their hands, feeling the newfound warmth of their corrected circulation. Ye Gucheng, the dying Patriarch, sat in his wheelchair, clutching the clan seal.
Ren didn't answer the phone immediately.
He looked at the screen.
Caller ID: Nether-Core Legal Dept.
He looked up at the Clan Head.
"Patriarch Ye," Ren said, his voice raspy but steady. "Before I answer this, we need to clarify the organizational chart."
Ye Gucheng narrowed his eyes. "You have the seal. You have my word. Is that not enough?"
"In business, words are wind," Ren replied. "And in the Administration, seals are just ink."
Ren placed the buzzing phone on the table.
"I am about to put the Nether-Core Sector 9 Branch Manager on speaker. When I do, you will not speak as the Head of the Ye Clan."
Ren leaned forward on his umbrella-cane.
"You will speak as the Vice-Chairman of the Ministry Union."
One of the Elders bristled. "Vice-Chairman? Who is the Chairman?"
Ren didn't answer. He just tapped his own chest.
The audacity was suffocating. A crippled boy with 8% life force claiming chairmanship over a centuries-old cultivation family.
But nobody argued.
Because five minutes ago, that boy had fixed a 300-year-old genetic defect with a red marker.
Ren swiped [Answer] and hit [Speaker].
"Mr. Crow," a slick, digitized voice filled the hall. It was the Nether-Core Legal Representative. "We received a notification that our courier was unable to serve you the asset freeze papers. We also noticed you are currently at the Ye Estate."
The voice dropped an octave.
"We advise you to surrender. If you are using the Ye Clan as a hostage shield, the sentencing will be severe. Judge Mortis is not a patient man."
Ren looked at Ye Gucheng.
The old man took a rattling breath. He looked at the corrected scroll on his lap. He looked at his granddaughter, Ye Lingshan, whose aura was already stabilizing.
Then, Ye Gucheng leaned toward the phone.
"This is Ye Gucheng," the Patriarch croaked.
"Ah, Patriarch Ye," the Nether-Core rep said, instantly polite. "We apologize for the disturbance. If this criminal is bothering you, our enforcement team is waiting at your gate—"
"Mr. Ren Wu is not a criminal," Ye Gucheng interrupted. His voice was weak, but it carried the weight of fifty years of killing.
"He is the newly appointed Strategic Consultant and Board Member of the Ye Clan."
Silence on the line. Static hiss.
"I... beg your pardon?" the Rep stammered. "Patriarch, Mr. Crow is under Administrative investigation. Associating with him—"
"We have formed a Union," Ye Gucheng continued, reading the script Ren had slid across the table. "The Ministry Union. Any legal action taken against Mr. Ren will be considered a hostile action against the Ye Clan's heritage foundation."
Ye Gucheng paused, then added his own flair.
"If you want him, come get him. But bring an army."
Click.
Ren hung up.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[POLITICAL SHIELD: ACTIVE]
[ADMINISTRATIVE THREAT LEVEL: RECALCULATING...]
[ASSET FREEZE: CONTESTED]
Ren exhaled. He felt a wave of dizziness.
"Efficient," Ren muttered.
The Gate Crash
BOOM.
The heavy oak doors of the Main Hall shuddered.
A servant rushed in, pale and trembling.
"Patriarch! It's the Wang Family! Wang Long is at the gate! He brought the Iron-Scale Guards!"
The Elders stood up instantly. The atmosphere in the room shifted from triumph to panic.
"Wang Long?" an Elder gasped. "The Dragon Patriarch? He must be here for revenge!"
Ren stayed seated. "Revenge for what?"
"For Wang Bo!" Ye Lingshan said, stepping forward. Her hand hovered over her sword hilt. "You stripped his son of his cultivation and seized his assets yesterday. Wang Long is a Core Formation expert. He claims to have the blood of a Flood Dragon."
"Flood Dragon?" Ren scoffed.
He picked up his teacup. It was empty, but he held it anyway.
"In my era, the Qin Clan raised real dragons. They used them to pull carts. This 'Wang Family' found a shed snake skin in a sewer and built a religion around it."
"You dare insult them?" An Elder hissed. "They are the strongest military clan in Sector 9! If they breach the gate, we are finished! The Ye Clan is in no condition to fight!"
"We don't need to fight," Ren said. "We have a Board."
"Patriarch Ye!" A booming voice echoed from the courtyard outside, amplified by Qi. "Hand over the cripple! And hand over the Ice Heart Manual as compensation for my son's humiliation! Or I will level this estate!"
The Ye Elders looked at each other. They were weak. They were recovering. Fear was in their eyes.
"Maybe..." one Elder whispered. "Maybe we hand him over? The manual is safe now. We don't need him anymore."
Ye Lingshan froze. She looked at the Elder with disgust.
Ren tapped the table.
"Before you vote," Ren said softly, "remember the bylaws of the Union. In a State of Emergency, the Heir holds tie-breaking authority."
The Elder glared at him but turned to the group. "We vote. All in favor of handing over Ren Wu to avoid war?"
Two Elders raised their hands instantly.
"All against?"
Ye Gucheng raised his hand.
It was a tie. The third Elder was hesitating, looking at the door.
"I vote," Ye Lingshan said.
"You are a junior—" the Elder started.
"She is the tie-breaker," Ren reminded him, checking his fingernails.
The room went silent.
Ye Lingshan looked at Wang Long's aura flaring outside the window.
She looked at Ren, the broken boy in the cheap suit.
She knew he was a monster. She knew he would use her family as a weapon.
But she also knew that without him, they were already dead.
"We keep him," Ye Lingshan said calmly.
Her voice didn't tremble. Her hands did.
"You will doom us!" the Elder screamed.
"Open the doors," Ren commanded.
The Lizard in the Suit
The courtyard gates swung open.
Wang Long stood there. He was a mountain of a man, wearing golden armor that shimmered with scales. Behind him stood twenty elites.
"Finally," Wang Long sneered, spotting Ren limping out of the hall, flanked by the Ye Clan. "The little Auditor. I will peel the skin from your—"
"You have a blockage in your liver," Ren interrupted.
Wang Long blinked. "What?"
Ren stood on the steps of the hall. He looked down at the 'Dragon' Patriarch.
"Your technique is aquatic," Ren shouted, his voice amplified by the acoustics of the courtyard. "You don't have gills."
Wang Long stiffened. "How do you..."
"That yellow skin isn't gold," Ren said, pointing with his umbrella. "It's liver failure."
The twenty elite guards behind Wang Long hesitated. They looked at their Patriarch. He was very yellow.
"Shut up!" Wang Long roared. "I am a Descendant of Dragons!"
"You are a descendant of a typo," Ren sighed. "The Wang Family is a subsidiary of a mistranslation. I can fix it."
Wang Long's aura faltered. "Fix it?"
"I fixed the Ye Clan in ten minutes," Ren lied (it had been five). "I can fix your jaundice. But you have to submit a formal application to the Ministry Union."
Wang Long stood there, confused. He came for war. He was getting a consultation offer.
"You... you stripped my son..."
"Your son was incompetent," Ren dismissed. "I am offering you a path to competence. Go home. Consult your doctors about your liver. Then call my secretary."
Ren pointed at Ye Lingshan.
Ye Lingshan blinked, but she kept her face stone cold.
"You have 24 hours," Ren said. "Before I sell the corrected manual to your rivals."
Wang Long ground his teeth. He looked at the Ye Clan, standing united (and glowing with new power). He looked at Ren's absolute confidence.
He lowered his weapon.
"If you are lying," Wang Long hissed, "I will burn this city."
"Get in line," Ren replied.
The Wang Family retreated.
The Aftermath
The courtyard was silent.
Ye Lingshan turned to Ren. Her legs were shaking, but she hid it well.
"Secretary?" she whispered, her voice dangerous.
"Temporary title," Ren muttered, turning back to the hall. "We survived the physical threat. Now comes the hard part."
"Harder than an army?" Ye Gucheng asked, impressed despite himself.
"Yes," Ren said, clutching his chest as a spasm of pain hit him.
[HOST INTEGRITY: 7%]
He looked at the darkening sky.
"Now we have to fight the Bank."
[NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW: The Asset Unfreeze. Ren sues the government.]
[END OF CHAPTER 41]