When I went home for Chinese New Year, I spent a million times more money on my foreign wife.

The agents didn't hold out for long.

Lei Zi's method was simple, but very effective. He didn't hit, scold, or use torture devices.

It involves strapping a person to a chair, pouring a glass of ice water over their face every thirty minutes, then turning off the lights, turning on white noise at a volume that causes eardrum pain.

Even an iron man couldn't withstand this kind of torture.

The first one to speak was the one who registered in the computer science department.

He revealed the true identity of his contact, "Old Zhou"—a retired intelligence officer who infiltrated China six years ago under the guise of academic exchange and settled down at Harbin Institute of Technology.

The second one held out a little longer, but he also broke down after Lei played the recording of the neighbor's confession for him.

He revealed a crucial piece of information.

"The Dragon Slaying Society..."

"Where?"

"High seas. A cruise ship, permanently anchored in international waters, never docking at any port. It has satellite communications, an armory, and a small data center. All operational orders targeting your boss originate from that ship."

After Lei Zi finished giving his statement, he dialed Chen Yang's number.

"Boss, I've got the address."

"explain."

"High seas in the Pacific Ocean, coordinates 157 degrees east longitude, 28 degrees north latitude. A converted luxury cruise ship of 10,000 tons, named 'Moby-Whale,' registered in Panama, and actually controlled by an offshore shell company of the Gray family."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

How many people are on board?

"According to the testimonies, there are about thirty to forty permanent security personnel, equipped with light weapons. The core members are not fixed, but there is a meeting of all personnel at the beginning of each month."

What's the date today?

September 30th.

Chen Yang hung up the phone.

He dialed Chen Yue's number.

"Check the satellite trajectory of the Beluga over the last 48 hours to confirm whether it is still at that coordinate."

The sound of keyboard clicks echoed on Chen Yue's end for about ten seconds.

"It's confirmed. The ship is still in place and hasn't moved. And bro, I intercepted a set of encrypted communications from that ship, sent two hours ago. The content is undecipherable, but the recipients are located in three countries, all of whom are on the Dragon Slayer Society's list of members."

"Meeting at the beginning of the month."

"Most likely."

Chen Yang stood up and walked to the window.

Where is the overseas task force now?

Chen Yue glanced at the dispatch sheet. "The Guam standby point is about 900 nautical miles from the target coordinates. If we set off now, with a speedboat and helicopter relay, we can get there in six hours."

"Let them go."

"Brother, we've taken action in international waters, what's the follow-up?"

"There was no follow-up. The ship sank, everyone died, nothing ever happened."

Chen Yue didn't ask any more questions and directly dialed the encrypted channel of the Guam standby point.

-

Pacific Ocean, international waters.

The Beluga was anchored on a dark sea, its deck brightly lit.

This ship was originally a decommissioned Scandinavian cruise ship, which was refitted by the Gray family for $80 million.

The hull was reinforced, communications were upgraded, and the lower deck was converted into an armory and server room.

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary private yacht, but the interior is equipped enough to fight a small war.

In the banquet hall on the top floor, seven people sat around a long table.

Vincent Gray sat in the head seat, holding a glass of champagne.

"Although the operation in Bingcheng failed, we obtained some layout data of his laboratory. Next, we'll try a different approach."

Howard, sitting to his left, chimed in: "My people have already set up a new line in Southeast Asia that can cut off his drone parts supply chain."

"Too slow," Vincent shook his head. "I need a fatal blow."

Before he could finish speaking, the lights in the banquet hall went out.

The entire ship's electrical system went out in the same second.

In the darkness, someone cursed.

Three seconds later, the emergency lights came on, casting a red glow on everyone's faces.

Vincent picked up the walkie-talkie on the table. "Control room, what's going on?"

no respond.

He pressed the button again. "Control Room!"

An unfamiliar voice came through the walkie-talkie, speaking English with an accent.

"Everyone in the control room is asleep."

Vincent's hand froze.

The banquet hall door was kicked open from the outside.

Six men filed in, all dressed in black combat uniforms, their faces covered by masks, and their weapons fitted with silencers. The leader was tall, wearing white gloves, and had a black kite-shaped armband strapped to his left arm.

Lei Zi.

He glanced at the seven people at the table, walked over to Vincent, and slammed a photograph on the table.

The photo shows the foundation of the Harbin Institute of Technology's experimental building, with four C4 sheets neatly affixed to the load-bearing columns.

Do you know him?

Vincent didn't say anything.

Lei Zi put the photos away.

"My boss asked me to pass on a message—he said, if all you do is spend money to hire people to plant bombs, then don't blame him for retaliating in the same way."

Howard stood up from his chair, his voice trembling. "I can offer ten billion dollars, ten billion! Just let me go—"

Lei Zi raised his foot and stepped on Howard's knee. The sound of bones cracking was particularly clear in the quiet banquet hall.

Howard screamed and fell to the ground.

"My boss is not short of money."

The commandos cleared the entire ship in less than three minutes. Security personnel were concentrated in the hold, while key members remained in the banquet hall.

Lei Zi took one last look at Vincent.

"Mr. Gray, the Dragon Slayer Society will be destroyed tonight."

When the assault team withdrew from the White Whale, two speedboats were already waiting 300 meters away.

Lei Zi stood at the bow of the speedboat and pressed the remote control.

The high explosives in the lower deck of the Beluga Whale were detonated simultaneously.

The ship broke in half, flames shot into the sky, and debris was thrown hundreds of meters into the air, creating huge water columns as it fell into the sea.

The burning wreckage floated on the sea for less than two minutes before being swallowed by the black water.

Lei Zi dialed Chen Yang's number.

"Boss, it's been cleared out."

"What about the dark web?"

"Chen Yue has taken action simultaneously. All of the Dragon Slayer Society's nodes, communication relay stations, and funding pools on the dark web have been wiped out. The bounty page is no longer accessible."

Is it clean?

"Clean. Unclaimed waters of the high seas, no witnesses, and the satellite transit window is ours. This incident does not exist."

Chen Yang hung up the phone.

He dialed Chen Yue's number.

"Keep an eye on what happens next. Take over all of the Gray family's businesses in North America within three months."

"It's already underway." Chen Yue's voice was calm. "Grey's military industrial group has a bond that matures at the end of the year, totaling 4.7 billion US dollars. I've already had Snow Palace Fund quietly acquire 60% of the shares on the secondary market. Once their family falls into chaos, I'll activate the debt acceleration clause."

"What about the other six families?"

"Howard is finished. Carlson and Webber's assets were cleared out last time. The remaining three are not very big. I made a list and will deal with them one by one."

"Hurry up. I don't want to hear these names again before the Snow Palace opens in mid-October."

"clear."

Chen Yang put down his phone and walked out of the study.

At the end of the corridor, Katyusha came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of blueberry jam.

"Are you done with your work?"

"I'm done with work."

"Try it, it's freshly made today."

Chen Yang took the spoon and took a bite.

Katyusha stared at him. "Is it sweet?"

"sweet."

Katyusha shoved the bowl into his hands and turned to go back to the kitchen.

"Then the whole bowl is yours, and I'll make another one."