Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

On a winter night in 1983, inside the Ni family mansion in Tsim Sha Tsui, the ample heating kept out the outside chill. The study was dimly lit, and the air was filled with the rich aroma of Cuban cigars.

Ni Yongxiao sat behind a large mahogany desk, a gold pen in his hand, signing his name on a document concerning the transfer of the Ni family's overseas assets. His movements remained elegant and composed. His third uncle's imprisonment and the police's days-long crackdown had indeed severely damaged the Ni family, but with the arrival of that batch of top-tier "Number Four" assets, Ni Yongxiao felt that the opportunity to turn things around was just around the corner.

However, at that moment, the black landline phone on the table, a symbol of power, suddenly started beating violently, its shrill ring echoing unsettlingly in the empty room.

Ni Yongxiao put down his pen and answered the phone slowly.

"Feed".

"Boss Ni, you intercepted my goods. Have you been sleeping soundly these past two days?"

A hoarse, deep voice, with a sickly, viscous quality, came from the other end of the phone. It was Lin Kun, the old fox who had always lurked in the shadows. His voice now lacked its usual feigned timidity; instead, it carried a ruthless edge, revealing his true intentions.

Ni Yongxiao sneered, leaning back slightly, his tone as calm as if speaking to an old friend: "Likewise. Mr. Lin, those stabs you gave me in the back still feel faintly echoing in my ears. Wasn't your method a bit too underhanded to steal my business?"

"In business, everyone relies on their own abilities." Lin Kun coughed violently a few times on the other end of the phone. "How about this, you return that batch of 'US dollars' to me, and we'll call it even. I, Lin Kun, keep my word. From now on, I'll still recognize your Ni family as the dominant force in this Tsim Sha Tsui area."

"Lin Kun, are you out of your mind, or are you hallucinating because you injected yourself with opium like insulin?" Ni Yongxiao took a cigar from the silver box on the table and slowly cut it open. "Why should I return the goods that I, Ni Yongxiao, took with my own abilities? Besides, thanks to you, my third uncle is still in jail. In addition, considering the losses in our assets during this period, we have a lot to settle."

"Ni Yongxiao, I knew you wouldn't give in so easily. So I've prepared a 'little gift' for you, which I think you'll find very interesting."

Lin Kun's voice suddenly turned extremely cold. Immediately afterward, Ni Yongxiao heard a jumble of background noise on the other end of the line; Lin Kun seemed to have turned on the landline's speakerphone. Then, Lin Kun used another mobile phone to dial a long-distance number.

"Daddy...Daddy, I'm scared..."

A child's cry, filled with extreme terror, shattered Ni Yongxiao's composure instantly, traveling along the cold telephone line. It was his youngest daughter in Hawaii, followed by the suppressed sobs of his older sisters and the shouts and curses of several men.

Ni Yongxiao's hand gripping the microphone suddenly slammed down. Due to the excessive force, the veins on the back of his hand bulged out, like writhing blue venomous snakes. His usually calm eyes were now filled with a fury powerful enough to incinerate the entire island of Hong Kong.

"Lin Kun... if you dare touch them, I'll make sure your whole family is finished."

"My whole family?" Lin Kun let out a cold, indifferent laugh on the other end. "Ni Yongxiao, if you don't get that shipment, you won't even need to lift a finger; General Jinsha and those creditors will skin me alive! I'm doomed now, do you think I'd be afraid of your threats? My conditions are simple: return the goods to me, and I'll have my guys in Hawaii back off. Otherwise, you'll never see your children again in this lifetime."

Ni Yongxiao gripped the phone tightly; the air in the study seemed to vanish in that instant. He remained silent for a full three minutes. Finally, he closed his eyes, a hoarse sound escaping his throat:

"Okay, I agree. But I have one condition: I want you to come to the warehouse in person to pick up the goods. I need to hear you give the order to your men to release the people, otherwise, I'll twist your head off and feed it to the dogs on the spot."

Given Lin Kun's consistently cautious nature, someone like him, suffering from illness and surrounded by enemies, would never personally get involved, especially with the recent tense atmosphere.

However, Ni Yongxiao insisted on this condition, stating that if he couldn't see Lin Kun in person, he would rather burn all the goods worth hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars to ashes right now. Lin Kun was too eager to get the goods to report to General Jinsha and too eager to reverse the downward trend. He remained silent for a long time on the other end of the phone, and finally gritted his teeth and agreed.

Both parties agreed to meet at Ni Yongxiao's new warehouse in Kwun Tong one day later, and the specific location would be sent to him at that time.

The following evening, two black vans sped along the intricate network of industrial lanes in Kwun Tong, one after the other. To avoid the police's pervasive "Digital Operations" surveillance, Ni Yongxiao was extremely cautious this time. He had streamlined his personnel to the extreme, taking only ten of his most elite and daring henchmen with him, including his driver, Ah Lai.

Of course, the same was true for Lin Kun's side; both sides streamlined their personnel.

In the driver's seat of the first car, Ah Lai's expression remained calm, but his right hand was unconsciously turning a string of dark red Buddhist prayer beads. Ever since his trip to that "underworld," Ah Lai had completely changed. He not only began to deeply believe in karma and retribution, but every night when he closed his eyes, he could see Ox-Head and Horse-Face beckoning to him.

Ah Lai had made up his mind to become a tainted witness and send Ni Yongxiao to the dungeon in exchange for his "good karma." But after following Ni Yongxiao for so many years, he was still afraid when the time came. The fear that came from the bottom of his heart and the premonition of the traitor's fate made the cold sweat on his palms almost soak through his Buddhist prayer beads.

Fortunately, Ni Yongxiao was focused on the safety of his family and did not notice the little trick of his most trusted driver.

"Ah Lai, is there a tail behind us?" Ni Yongxiao looked at the rearview mirror with a cold gaze.

"Boss, we've circled around three times already. Lu Qichang's guys have all been left in Mong Kok. It's safe here." Ah Lai gripped the steering wheel steadily, his voice so calm it was impossible to detect any flaws.

He did indeed shake off the police's routine surveillance. But what he didn't say was that half an hour earlier, he had already transmitted the final coordinates through a specially made radio transmitter on a frequency known only to Raymond Lin.

By this time, the area around the warehouse was already filled with unseen shadows.

When they arrived at the agreed location, neither of them was late.

Looking at the Ni family's new warehouse, even Lin Kun, who was only interested in making money, had to admire Ni Yongxiao's cunning and shrewdness after getting off the vehicle.

This isn't a traditional basement or warehouse, but the rooftop of an old-style tenement building. The area is filled with densely packed, almost touching old-style buildings, with less than two meters of space between the rooftops. For these martial arts practitioners, they can easily jump from one rooftop to another and escape through the maze-like complex.

Moreover, the surrounding rooftops are filled with industrial chimneys of all sizes, constantly emitting pungent fumes. These fumes not only mask the strange chemical smells from the production and sorting of drugs, but also act as a natural barrier.

Lin Kun, along with Captain Kabang and several grim-looking Shan State soldiers, climbed the creaking wooden stairs to the rooftop.

"Ni Yongxiao, we've truly been friends for a long time." Lin Kun, wrapped in a thick black trench coat, coughed incessantly in the cold wind, his sallow complexion appearing extremely eerie in the dim light.

Ni Yongxiao stood with his hands behind his back, six huge waterproof woven bags at his feet. He sneered, his tone revealing both the shrewdness of a businessman and the ruthlessness of a godfather.

"Enough with the nonsense, Mr. Lin. Since we're going to hand over the goods, let's be efficient!" Ni Yongxiao's voice carried a sarcastic sneer. "I've even exchanged all of this 'US dollars' for 'Hong Kong dollars' for you. You're lucky; I not only returned the goods to you, but I also gave you a processing fee for free."

Lin Kun stared at the several packages of top-quality goods, already repackaged and even waterproofed, his eyes gleaming with greed. With this shipment, his status in Hong Kong would instantly surpass that of Ni Kun at his peak.

"The goods are right here." Ni Yongxiao stepped forward, blocking the bag, his eyes fixed on Lin Kun like knives. "Release them. I want to hear my family's voices with my own ears."

Lin Kun didn't waste any words; all he wanted to do was take the goods and leave. In front of Ni Yongxiao, he dialed a number in Hawaii and coldly said to the person on the other end, "Stop. Let them go."

Two minutes later, Ni Yongxiao's personal cell phone rang.

"Yongxiao, it's us...we're on our way to the airport." The second sister's trembling voice came from the other end of the phone. "Those people just left. We're safe now, and we plan to go straight to buy tickets back to Hong Kong."

Ni Yongxiao's heart finally settled down at this moment. He knew very well that as long as his family entered the airport, they would be 100% safe. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, even General Jinsha's henchmen would not dare to easily carry out a transnational terrorist attack on American territory.

"Okay, just come back directly, I'll send someone to pick you up."

After hanging up the phone, Ni Yongxiao's previously tense shoulders relaxed slightly. He gestured for one of his men to carry two bags of goods forward and hand them to Lin Kun.

"Release the person, and you can have the goods."

Lin Kun looked at the two heavy packages and was about to have Captain Kabang take them. However, at this very moment of handover, when both sides' guard was at its lowest due to the imminent completion of the mission—

"Bang!"

A piercing whistle broke the night sky over Kwun Tong.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of bright lights, as bright as day, suddenly lit up the previously silent rooftop.

"Police! Everyone stay still! Hands up!"

Lin Leimon's majestic roar blared from the loudspeaker, making the entire rooftop vibrate.

From the shadows on the rooftop, fully armed Flying Tigers members, wearing bulletproof helmets, descended like divine warriors, gliding directly into the battle via zipline.

This is like catching a turtle in a jar.