Volume 1, Chapter 47: Can I Call You Grandma?

Lu Xiaoman looked as though she had been struck by lightning. She snapped her head up and stammered, "Aunt Lin, what are you saying? Uncle Shang is my legal guardian. I've always called him uncle, and in his heart..."

Deep in his heart, there dwelt a cherished first love named "Manman."

Just as Zhang Yifan and the others had surmised, the Shadow Legion had concentrated its final remaining strength entirely upon the last line of defense.

Ever since recovering from his injury, Zhang Shujie had failed to score a single goal in three consecutive league matches. Although he had netted three in the Champions League, two of those were penalties, leaving him with only one goal from open play—an unacceptable drought for a striker of his caliber.

The reason Ye Fan and his companions had come to the Sato household was to secure business assistance from Vampro.

"Can any of you tell me what crime I've committed?" Luo Hebin planted his foot squarely on the scarred man's thigh. With a sharp, cracking snap, the man's leg instantly warped and deformed. He let out a shriek that pierced the heavens, cold sweat instantly soaking through his clothes.

People who have knocked about society for a few years invariably grow cynical and pragmatic, bending over backward to flatter those who can be of use to them while casting aside those who cannot like worn-out shoes.

If this wasn't deliberately picking a fight, what was it? Wait a minute... He seemed to realize something, as if something wasn't quite right.

Yet regardless of whether it was the legendary God of War or the Aegis Rose, both were elite paragons among defensive bulwarks. And yet, a single grenade from the mechanical ghost crab had whittled away so vast a fraction of their durability—which served as stark testimony to the terrifying magnitude of the mechanical ghost crab's damage output.

Ever since the incident involving Liu Chunming, Zhang Wei had never truly trusted another soul. As for Chen Zhifan's high-sounding rhetoric, he simply responded with a dismissive smile. "Is everyone ready?" Zhang Wei asked, his expression solemn.

At the same time, he realized that just as Yamada Masao had claimed, the bloody feud between the Akiyama and Sato families was being manipulated by a shadowy mastermind pulling the strings from behind the scenes. Now, he perceived with absolute clarity and depth that every word Yamada Masao had uttered was entirely accurate.

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Eriksson raise both hands horizontally. Play resumed, and Bayern regained possession of the ball.

Sitting in his office, Lin Dong pondered deeply throughout the entire afternoon. In striking down Ni Juncai, it was not merely Ni Juncai alone who would suffer losses; countless retail investors would be dragged down as well. When the stock price of Guobang plummeted into a bottomless freefall, those retail investors would have nowhere to run.

Lin Qingxuan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately proceeded down that path. Behind him, the white, fluorescent wisps of mist slowly closed back together once more.

If they could annex the Salt Guild, it would become a powerful asset for plotting grand ambitions. Moreover, the Salt Guild boasted no shortage of martial arts practitioners; they possessed both financial resources and military talent.

Before the assembled officers and soldiers of the First Regiment, Xia Feng announced the roster of meritorious personnel across the various battalions and companies, totaling 226 individuals. He proclaimed the plots of land and monetary bonuses awarded to them, honoring the payouts on the spot.

Xia Feng had never anticipated such a stroke of good fortune today. A surge of wild elation washed over him, bringing with it the surreal sensation of leaping straight from purgatory into paradise. Only moments before, he had been fretting that Diaochan's family might object—an outcome that would have left him with profound regret even if he ultimately succeeded in marrying her.

Men are inherently creatures of vanity. The golden rule she always employed to handle Wang Hai was simply to "flatter" him, so she applied the exact same tactic to Lin Dong today.

As these words faded into silence, the officers cried out in unison, "We are willing to lay down our lives for the Division Commander!" Their voices were firm and resolute, shaking loose a fine layer of dust from the ceiling overhead.

Witnessing this turn of events, the members of the Money Gang and the Dragon and Tiger Hall were overjoyed. A fresh surge of strength suddenly flooded their exhausted bodies, and they hurriedly gritted their teeth, following those disciples of the Minshan Sect as they scrambled into the cave.

"If anyone dares to stir up trouble over the lifting of the maritime ban, we will send troops to deal with them. How can that possibly be called initiating a war?" Ao Bai mused inwardly, thinking that it would be best if the Spaniards made trouble, as that would provide a convenient pretext when the time came to march on Europe and annihilate them.