The higher management of the gangs was in the VIP room.

When they heard Su Lun's words, their faces became as dark as thunderclouds.

One of the gang leaders had an eyepatch over her left eye. There was a burning rose sewn on it. This woman was the gang leader of Rose. “Commander Su, Meng Chao is so cunning that he has exceeded our expectations. You don't need to blame yourself.

“But the lair is facing a life and death crisis. Now, even Mutual Gold Coliseum, the heart of the lair, has been infiltrated, and Meng Chao is wreaking havoc. As the highest commander, you must come up with a solution!”

“Don't worry, everyone. Even if I die, I will die together with that traitor!” Su Lun narrowed his eyes and spoke swiftly. “As for the solution, I have it. First, I suggest that all the gang leaders and higher management of the gangs stay here and not leave this place. After all, Meng Chao is skilled in a.s.sa.s.sination and all sorts of trecherous strategies. Xue Rui, Xiang Wei, and Xiong Ying were all killed by him. If you go out alone, you'll be in danger. We can't give him the chance to kill us one by one.

“Also, we don't know just how many people he and the abnormal beast behind him have dragged to their side. You must understand that it would've been impossible for them to accomplish the task of releasing all the monsters in the coliseum without a mole helping them!”

The gang leaders were stunned, but Su Lun's words made sense.

They looked at each other and became paranoid, thinking that everyone around them was a mole.

“Second, we're in abnormal times right now, so we must use abnormal methods. The lair is in chaos, so we can't let Leprosy Village add fuel to the fire. We must give orders to the army around Leprosy Village that once the villagers show any signs of restlessness and want to charge out, we must act before they do and kill them all without mercy!” Su Lun said murderously.

“That's…” The crowd became hesitant.

“Everyone, this is not the time for petty kindness!” Su Lun gritted his teeth. “I won't deny that there might be some innocent villagers, but we're at war, and this is a brutal war that has rendered us helpless!

“During the zombie crisis, we went through countless tragedies like this. We thought that since the infected showed no signs of turning, they had a chance to be saved. We let infected people mingle together with healthy citizens. It made it difficult for us to split them up, and that's why we lost the best chance to purify them. In the end, hundreds and even thousands of zombies broke out in an instant, and all the people in one building and at times an entire residential area were all eaten!

“I know that all of you don't want to be blamed for killing innocents, but that's fine. For the sake of the lair's safety and Dragon City's brighter future, I'll do it. I'll give the orders. After all, I'm the highest commander right now, so I'll be your scapegoat!”

“Commander Su…”

The crowd was shocked.

The gangs were actually economic ent.i.ties. They had all sorts of companies and clubs under their names, and when their leaders went outside, they were known as chairmen and presidents. They longed to clear their names so that they could become something like the leaders of the nine great mega corporations.

Hence, they knew very clearly that even if purifying all of Leprosy Village was necessary, whoever gave the order would be denounced as a manslaughterer and butcher. His reputation would plummet, and he would never be able to stand tall in the business field and perform any major acts that would stun the world again.

Su Lun was a business genius and had earned the t.i.tle of the G.o.d of Wealth.

This was something all the gangs in the lair were aware of.

It was a waste of his talent for him to stay in the lair. He should have had a greater stage for his talents.

But if he gave out the order to purify Leprosy Village with his name…

“I'm not some major figure with a huge reputation. I only know how to repay all the kindness shown to me. In the past, I came to the lair with nothing, but Mr. Jin took me in. He gave me the chance to use my talents, and all of you trusted me as well. That's why I could try out all sorts of new business management techniques and make good use of my talents fully.

“I've already made up my mind that my future is going to be bound to the lair. We'll die together and live together, so my reputation is nothing,” Su Lun said. “But there's one thing. Right now, communications within the lair are still facing major interference. Even with the nine-specialized large crystal communicators Lu Siya brought over, we can only set up a few point-to-point communication bases. We can't effectively send our orders to the frontlines.

“Meng Chao's brutality and cunning nature have been witnessed by everyone. And his master can only be even more brutal and cunning. I guarantee you that the chaos brought by the beasts under Mutual Gold Coliseum isn't the last part of their plan.

“To be able to gather all the resources in the lair at the fastest speed to handle the enemy's surprise attacks, I need your absolute trust and the tokens from your gangs or a letter you personally wrote so that I can head to the frontlines and command the middle ranked and lower ranked members of your gangs.”

“That's…”

The leaders had full trust in Su Lun, but they were naturally on guard when it came to relinquis.h.i.+ng power, and they became a little hesitant.

However, Su Lun was not in a hurry. Once he finished speaking, he turned slightly and began admiring the flames that were everywhere in the lair. It was a beautiful sight outside.

Time was on his side, and he waited patiently.

Boom!

A deafening explosion rang out in the distance again.

A large fireball rose in the sky like a sun and lit up the smoke-shrouded lair.

The shockwave was like a tidal wave that instantly swept through several kilometers. It crashed violently into the wide French window of the VIP room.

Even if the French window was made of the st.u.r.diest anti-explosion gla.s.s, there was a loud creaking sound, and countless intersecting cracks spread out.

Through the cracks, Su Lun could see the lair torn apart by the flames. The land below looked as brutal as h.e.l.l on earth.

“Which place exploded?!”

A few managers of the gangs jumped up.

“It looks like Rose's territory, but the color of the flames is off!”

Rose's gang leader had an expression so sour that she looked like someone who had been dead for three days in water. She gritted her teeth and said, “Rose invested more than seventy million yuan to build a monster bone powder processing factory. Could it be?”

“Monster bone powder contains a lot of pota.s.sium, calcium, sodium, and other substances. Their processing also produces a lot of inflammable and explosive substances. If that powder was spread around and someone lit a fire, an explosion could happen at any moment.” Su Lun frowned. “If a large monster bone powder processing factory had indeed exploded, Rose won't be able to get rid of the fire and provide disaster relief on its own. We must gather all the strength of the gangs to help them!”

“Commander Su, from now on until the end of the crisis, you can mobilize all the forces of Rose. Your voice is my will!”

Rose's gang leader hesitated for three seconds, then removed a ring with the picture of a rose embedded on it from her thumb. She placed it on Su Lun's palm.

With someone taking the lead, things became easier.

The other gang leaders were also worried that no one would help them when similar tragedies happened in their territories if they did not join.

Besides, Red Brows Su Lun was a helpless scholar. Even if he really commanded their forces for the time being, when they personally came forward to take back their authority, would they really need to worry that the people who had been working for them for decades would refuse to acknowledge them?

With that thought in mind, they removed the tokens of their gangs or the letters they personally wrote and signed before they handed them to Su Lun.

“Thank you for your trust. Even if my bones get crushed and my ashes scatter into the wind, I will fight against Meng Chao and his companions!”

Su Lun was very grateful, and he pointed skyward to swear his oath.

At that moment, a Golden Tooth gang member suddenly appeared outside the VIP room and peeked in through the door. He seemed like he had something to say.

Su Lun's expression did not change. He apologized to the group and went out of the room so that he could bring the trusted follower from Golden Tooth into a corner.

“What's going on?” he asked calmly.

His trusted follower said, “Three fighters from other gangs ran into Meng Chao in the underground. They escaped and now want to meet their gang leaders. Should I bring them in?”

“They ran into Meng Chao?” Su Lun blinked. “They weren't attacked by him, and he didn't kill them?”

“No,” the trusted follower said with puzzlement. “When they ran into Meng Chao, they were attacked by a berserk Demonic Black Mountain Bull, and they didn't have time to attack him.

“But for some reason, based on what they said, not only did Meng Chao not attack them he actually helped them and saved their lives. After that, he didn't attack them either and said that he's innocent. He also said…”

“What else did he say?”

“He also said that you're the real traitor.”

Su Lun scoffed. “Only three-year-old children would believe such bad lies.”

“Then, should I bring the three of them inside?” the trusted follower asked.

“Wait,” Su Lun said. “The gang leaders are discussing a plan to handle the situation now. It's best that we don't interrupt their train of thought with such trivial matters.

“Besides, are you sure that those three people are absolutely safe? Are you sure that they weren't lured to the monsters' side by Meng Chao? Are you sure they don't have zombie viruses, Blood Flower spores, Deification Capsules, or other things like that? Are you sure they won't launch suicidal attacks?”

“That's…” The trusted follower was slightly stunned. “It's possible. Then, how should we deal with them?”

“We can never go overboard about being careful when we handle Meng Chao's tricks. Take them away first and investigate fully before interrogating them. Of course, make sure that you don't hurt them. Once you're certain that they're fine, bring them up,” Su Lun said.

“Got it,” the trusted follower said. “But when these three people ran up, they were creating a ruckus. Many people would have heard them while they were coming here. Besides, they belong to different gangs and have plenty of friends, so I don't think we can control them for long.”

“I'm aware of this. Go do what I asked!” Su Lun waved his hand and had the trusted follower leave.

Then, he rubbed his face fiercely in the direction of a dark corner.

“Meng Chao…” With a voice that seemed to have come from h.e.l.l, Su Lun hissed at a volume that only he could hear. “You're really a pain in the b.u.t.t!”