Chapter 54: Tianhao Mansion

After hanging up the phone, the smile on the Black Eagle King's face vanished instantly, making him look like a demon rising from the depths of hell. He pulled out a blood-stained dagger and several contracts covered in thumbprints, laying them out before the tycoons of Jiangcheng standing before him.

Upon seeing the contracts, the complexions of the group shifted drastically, their legs trembling uncontrollably with sheer terror.

Swallowing hard, one of them forced a nervous smile and said, "Lord Black, you... you really don't need to go this far! It's just a few hundred million; why bother making such a long trip yourself? A simple word from you would have sufficed!"

Encouraged by this remark, the others quickly chimed in with ingratiating grins.

"Indeed, Lord Black! The contracts are right here, and we have no intention of defaulting on our debts. There's no need to resort to violence and make such a fuss over this!"

"Lord Black, if there's nothing else, I should be taking my leave now. I have an important board meeting to attend at the corporation."

"Lord Black, if you would consider..."

"Hmph!" A single cold sneer from the Black Eagle King instantly suffocated the air in the room, crushing it with a heavy pressure.

In a split second, these top-tier magnates of the Jiangcheng business world felt their nerves contract violently, not daring to draw even a full breath.

The Black Eagle King's voice was frigid. "Do you think you can push your luck with me? You haven't paid a cent, yet you want to walk away? What do you take me for? According to the rules, each of you must leave behind a hand today."

Swish!

Their eyes widened in mortal dread.

"However..." The Black Eagle King's tone shifted abruptly. "You happen to be in luck. A very important figure requires me to secure a commercial building for him."

"I recall that several of you own some rather luxurious properties under your names. I won't extort you—just pick one building to hand over, and your debts will be completely wiped clean."

"Otherwise..." Before he could finish, the Black Eagle King flicked his wrist, hurling the dagger straight down into the floor.

*Clang!*

The blade embedded itself deeply into the solid ground, its icy glare piercingly sharp.

Daring not to hesitate any longer, the men immediately broke into a frantic discussion. Barely a minute later, they reached a unanimous decision.

Stepping forward with cupped hands, one of the tycoons stammered, "Lord Black, we choose to use Tianhao Mansion as collateral!"

The Black Eagle King nodded slightly. "Very well. Call your managers and get the transfer sorted immediately!"

***

Not long after, Guan Sheng received the details of the office building arranged by the Black Eagle King.

With the information in hand, he immediately led Li Yuyan away from the hotel and headed toward the property to inspect it.

As for the security guards who had just resigned, they faithfully followed along behind them.

Half an hour later, they arrived before a towering skyscraper situated in the most prosperous and bustling heart of the downtown district.

Soaring nearly two hundred meters into the sky with over sixty floors, each level boasted a ceiling height exceeding three meters. Both the architectural design and the construction materials were undeniably of the absolute highest caliber.

Crucially—

The completion date of this magnificent skyscraper was a mere week ago!

Standing at the foot of the magnificent tower, all the security guards dropped their jaws in sheer awe, looking like country bumpkins who had never seen the world. Wasn't this infinitely more grandiose and prestigious than the Li family's corporation?

"Chief Guan, will we really be working here from now on?"

"Good lord, isn't this the kind of place where people earning seventy or eighty thousand a month work? If I could have a job in a place like this, I'd die a happy man."

"Yeah, I never even dreamed I'd get to work in such a prosperous district."

Not just the guards, but even Li Yuyan looked up at the skyscraper with eyes full of longing.

Although Jiangcheng could not compare with top-tier metropolises like Longdu or Capital City, it was still a major international hub. If her new company could operate out of a place like this, it would be an immense boon to her future business ventures.

Yet—

This was merely a pipe dream.

She could never afford the rent here!

Moreover, having just been expelled from the Li family, she lacked even the basic qualifications to step foot into this building.

She was well aware of the background of this skyscraper. Word had it that it was jointly constructed by several elusive tycoons, each possessing an identity of profound mystery and supreme status. They only leased space to top-tier financial consortiums of the upper crust.

She probably didn't even qualify to walk through the front doors.

At this thought, Li Yuyan could not help feeling a pang of inferiority. "Guan Sheng, let's go!"

"It's far too expensive here. This isn't a place for people like us."

"Stop joking around."

Li Yuyan simply could not believe that a single phone call from Guan Sheng would allow her to rent an office space here.

Even if she somehow qualified, she didn't have the money to pay for it anyway.

To her surprise, Guan Sheng frowned and asked, "Who said anything about money?"

"Huh?" Li Yuyan froze. Could it possibly be free?

Did such wonderful things actually exist in this world?

Yet, recalling how Wang Sihai's attitude toward Guan Sheng had undergone such an instantaneous and drastic shift, she suddenly wondered if this might not be entirely impossible after all.

Before she could process it, Guan Sheng had already strode forward into the building, with all the security guards trailing closely behind.

Upon entering the lavish ground-floor lobby, a female receptionist hurried over, wearing a practiced smile as she offered a greeting.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

Hesitating for a moment, Li Yuyan replied, "We are here to look into renting office space. Is the building manager available?"

Hearing this, the receptionist let out a dismissive, mocking chuckle. "I'm sorry, miss. We only receive clients with prior appointments here. We do not entertain casual visitors."

"Do you have an appointment?"

An appointment?

Where on earth would Li Yuyan get something like that? Instantly, anxiety gripped her, and the urge to turn around and leave surged within her.

Noticing her reaction, the receptionist's gaze grew even more disdainful. She knew full well that this was the most luxurious office building in all of Jiangcheng, and it had just finished remodeling. While plenty of people came to gawk every day, they always turned out to be broke freeloaders who couldn't even afford the deposit.

Doubtless, this woman was just another one of those pathetic dreamers.

If you want to start a company, you should at least measure your own worth first. Who do they think they are, trying to rent a place like this?

Showing up without an appointment and expecting to walk right in?

What a joke!

At that exact moment, the phone in the receptionist's hand trilled with a sharp beep.

She turned and hurried away to answer it.

After she left, Li Yuyan sighed and turned to Guan Sheng. "Should we just leave?"

"They require appointments here."

Meanwhile, Guan Sheng was busy examining the lobby's interior decoration, deciding it looked reasonably grand.

He hadn't paid much attention to what the receptionist had just said, but upon hearing Li Yuyan's words, he paused in confusion.

Did one need an appointment to enter his own property?

Frowning deeply, he pulled out his phone, dialed the Black Eagle King's number, and demanded, "What is the meaning of this? Why are the receptionists here claiming an appointment is required?"

The Black Eagle King offered a bitter laugh. "Lord Guan, my men only just finished processing all the paperwork. The ownership title of this entire building has already been registered under your name."

"Someone is notifying the management right now. Someone will be down to attend to you immediately."

Guan Sheng nodded. "In other words, I am free to go pick out my office now?"

"Yes, Lord Guan."

*Snap!* Guan Sheng hung up, turned back to Li Yuyan, and said, "No appointment needed. Let's go!"

"We're going straight up to pick our offices."

"Every single floor in this building is yours to choose from."

Li Yuyan's eyelid twitched. "Really?"

At that moment, a security guard pointed toward the entrance gates and said, "Boss, you need a keycard to go through!"

Instantly displeased, Guan Sheng strode right over and delivered a swift, powerful kick directly to the plastic turnstile gate, shattering it open!

Why on earth would anyone need a card to enter their own property?

Whose damn rules were these anyway?!