I chose one of four options at the start, and I chose the number one clan in Lingnan.

3:30 a.m.

The general manager's office on the second floor of Longhai Building Materials headquarters.

Mr. Liu's face was swollen and purple on one side. His suit jacket was long gone, and his white shirt was covered in mud and water.

He slumped over the large mahogany desk, his hands trembling as he pressed the buttons on the landline phone.

The beeping sound rang seven or eight times before finally being answered.

"Director Wang, help! Those mad dogs from the Lin family are trying to kill me..."

"General Manager Liu, the provincial inspection team is in the office next to mine investigating Commander Chen's accounts. Are you trying to kill me by calling me now? Don't call me again."

The call was immediately disconnected.

Mr. Liu was so anxious that he slammed his fist on the table and dialed another number.

I tried calling five different city leaders whose phone numbers I had saved in my notebooks. Three of them were switched off, and the other two hung up as soon as I heard their voices.

He grabbed the phone on the table and dialed Leng Qiu's number, but only a mechanical female voice answered that the number was not in service.

Mr. Liu slammed his phone against the wall, shattering the screen into pieces.

All his powerful backers in the city had fallen; Leng Qiu had fled, and Commander Chen had been imprisoned. He had become a complete expendable pawn.

The image of Lin Fei grabbing his hair and throwing him next to the Mercedes outside the seafood market lingered in his mind.

"You have half an hour to get back to your doghouse and prepare for your funeral."

Lin Fei's exact words were still ringing in his mind.

They dared to send the Lin family directly to the city's construction commission's chief commander; killing him would be a piece of cake.

He shakily pulled the key from his pocket, his hand trembling so much he could barely hold it, and the key fell to the solid wood floor with a crisp sound.

Mr. Liu knelt on the ground and fumbled for a long time before picking up the key. He tried three times before finally inserting it into the safe's lock.

Turn the dial, match the password, and the heavy steel door pops open.

Mr. Liu scrambled over and haphazardly stuffed the bundles of US dollars and a few gold bars into the black travel bag.

As long as he escapes Jiangnan Province with this bag of money, he can make a comeback.

boom.

The solid wood office door, frame and all, flew directly into the room and slammed heavily at Mr. Liu's feet.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

Mr. Liu collapsed to the ground, the gold bars in his bag rolling out and hitting the floor with a clatter.

Lin Dabiao walked in shirtless, his chest scar stained with scumbag's blood, and his body reeking of seafood and blood.

He was carrying a black plastic bag, which he threw directly at Mr. Liu's feet.

The plastic bag was opened, and a dozen or so blunt machetes rolled out, along with a Rolex gold watch stained with blood.

Mr. Liu recognized the watch; it was a gift he had given to the bald man.

"General Manager Liu, you're quick on your feet." Lin Dabiao walked over, stepping on the documents scattered on the ground. "The man you sent to the north of the city, my great-grandfather asked me to bring him back to you."

Mr. Liu knelt on the ground, grabbed a handful of US dollars and handed it over. A large wet patch appeared on his crotch, emitting a pungent smell of urine.

"Brother Da Biao, all the money is here, and you can have my villa too. Let me go, and I swear I'll never go back to Jiangnan Province in my life."

Mr. Liu's voice was hoarse, and he kowtowed so hard that the floor thumped loudly.

Lin Dabiao kicked away the US dollars on the ground, then stepped on the back of President Liu's hand with his shoe and crushed it.

Mr. Liu winced in pain, but dared not pull his hand back.

Lin Dabiao bent down and grabbed General Manager Liu by the back of his collar with his left hand.

With his arm muscles taut, he lifted the 200-pound fat man up with one hand.

Mr. Liu's feet were dangling in the air, his hands were clinging tightly to Lin Dabiao's arms, and his legs were kicking wildly in mid-air.

Lin Dabiao carried him to the French windows, raised his right leg high, and kicked the entire glass shattering it.

The night wind rushed into the office, causing documents on the desk to flutter everywhere.

The roar of a heavy-duty diesel engine could be heard from downstairs.

Old Zhao parked his dump truck, loaded with construction waste, swill, and mud, right below the window.

The truck bed reeked of a nauseating stench.

"The Lin family is taking possession of the property. All bystanders, please clear the area." Lin Dabiao loosened his grip.

A scream echoed through the night.

The body, weighing over 200 pounds, plummeted from the second floor with a dull thud.

Mr. Liu accurately smashed into the muddy pile of the dump truck, his entire body splattered with foul-smelling swill.

He twitched twice in the mud, his face covered in rotten vegetable leaves, and then he passed out.

Old Zhao stepped on the gas, and the dump truck spewed out a plume of black smoke, pulling General Manager Liu out of the Longhai Building Materials gate.

Outside the building, dozens of men from Zhongtang carried large iron hammers and took turns smashing the gilded signboard of Longhai Building Materials.

The four large characters were shattered into pieces, fell to the ground, and were trampled to pieces.

The last stumbling block in the county town has been completely removed.

Tazhai, the Lin family's century-old ancestral hall.

The large red candles illuminated the ancestral tablets throughout the hall.

Lin Ting leaned back in his armchair, twirling two reddish walnuts in his hands. The ancestral hall was quiet, save for the clicking sound of the walnuts.

He brought up the First Clan System of All Time in his mind.

[Family prosperity assessment in progress.]

[Successfully defeated the Jiangnan conglomerate, regained control of the municipal project, and gained 10,000 prosperity points.]

[Completely eliminate the hostile force, Longhai Building Materials, in the county town, seize control of the county town's commercial lifeline, and gain 5,000 prosperity points.]

[Current available prosperity level: 44,000 points.]

[Level 3 National Oligopoly Black Technology Database Access Progress: 30%]

Lin Fu stood at the lower end, checking the accounts with a calculator.

Heavy footsteps came from outside the door.

Lin Dabiao strode into the ancestral hall, picked up the teapot on the table, and took a big gulp of water, which flowed down his chin and into his chest.

"Grandpa, Longhai Building Materials has been cleaned up. General Manager Liu was taken to the garbage disposal plant outside the city by Old Zhao."

"All twelve streets in the county town are now flying our Lin family's flags." Lin Dabiao wiped the water from his mouth and reported loudly.

Lin Ting stopped fiddling with the walnuts in his hands.

He stood up, walked to the entrance of the ancestral hall, and looked at the rolling mountains outside.

"A mere county town is enough to satisfy you?" Lin Ting raised his eyelids and glanced at the two men.

Lin Fu and Lin Dabiao exchanged a glance, their smiles vanished, and they stood ramrod straight.

"The pond in the county town is too shallow to support 100,000 Lin family members." Lin Ting turned around and looked directly at Lin Fu. "How much money can be used in the account right now?"

"The pre-sale proceeds from Jiangjing Mansion, the advance payment for the municipal square project, plus the revenue from our supermarket and Golden Fruit, if the whole family pools together, we can free up one billion yuan," Lin Fu quickly reported the figures.

Lin Ting tapped on the armrest of the armchair.

"Hand over the business in the county to the brothers below to manage, and prepare this 1 billion yuan in public funds."

"We want to enter prefecture-level cities, acquire land, and build the Lin's Heavy Industry base," Lin Ting said resolutely.

"Grandpa, our special cement plant has just gotten on track. Is it too big of a step to go into heavy industry in the city now?" Lin Dabiao scratched his head.

"Relying solely on selling cement means you'll only be able to pick up scraps from other people's leftovers."

The Lin family wants to establish their own heavy machinery production line, manufacturing excavators, bulldozers, and special transport vehicles.

Only by controlling heavy industry can the Lin family truly monopolize the infrastructure lifeline of Jiangnan Province. Lin Ting looked at the ancestral tablets of the Lin family.

Lin Fu pulled a thick file folder from his briefcase and handed it to Lin Ting with both hands.

"Grandpa, we've had our eye on a piece of land in the city for a long time."

The Hongtu Machinery Factory on the outskirts of the city covers 500 acres and has existing factory buildings and a dedicated railway line. It can be purchased and directly converted into a heavy industry base.

Lin Ting took the file folder, pulled out the photos inside, and looked at them.

"Get to the point." Lin Ting threw the photo on the table.

"The water is too deep." Lin Fu frowned.

"There's an old chamber of commerce in the city called the Sanyi Society. They've controlled the old industrial area for thirty years, employing thousands of unemployed vagrants and laid-off workers. They have connections in both the legal and illegal worlds."

Lin Dabiao snorted.

"In terms of sheer numbers, our 100,000 Lin family members in Tazhai could drown them with a single spit from each of us." Lin Dabiao clenched his fist.

"The city isn't a county town. We can't just drive 20,000 people into the city center openly. The city bureau won't stand idly by. They're in the shadows, we're in the open." Lin Fu shook his head.

Lin Fu looked at Lin Ting again.

"The leader of the Sanyi Society, Master Qiao, has declared that Hongtu Machinery Factory is a target for them. Anyone who dares to bring money to acquire the factory will be removed from the city's list of criminals."