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nKlaus was already out cold when Jiang Shuxuan intervened. Upon waking up, he was greeted by the scene where the thugs who beat him up were all sprawled out on the floor as if they had all received a painful thrashing.

nThe only ones who remained standing were a man and a young woman. He turned towards the latter and of course, he recognized that she was the person who was here to his rescue. He let out a bitter laugh and muttered to Gu Xiqiao, “Thanks.”

n“Don’t mention it,” she replied with a smile.

n“I don’t have a lot on me, but you should take this.” Klaus turned away and coughed before producing a gold watch from his pocket and presenting it to Gu Xiqiao. “You two better leave soon, before Claude realizes what happened. Knowing him, he’d never let you two go.”

nClaude was a nasty fellow indeed. These two would never be spared if he found out that they had interfered with his plans.

n“No, I don’t need this.” Gu Xiqiao pushed away his gold watch. With a serious expression, she asked the boy, “Listen here Klaus, I’m only going to ask this once. Would you like to take back your power over the Dickens family?”

nKlaus glared at Gu Xiqiao out of surprise. For a moment, he remained frozen there, followed by a painful chuckle. What a hilarious question. She’s asking him if he would like to retake his power? Of course! Who wouldn’t wish to?!

nBut, is removing Claude from the throne that easy of a task?

nHe thought Gu Xiqiao was just pulling his leg, and so his tone became much more casual. “You guys should leave now.”

n‘Does he think I was joking around?’ Gu Xiqiao rubbed her nose. This was the first person who did not take her words seriously!

nGu Xiqiao recalculated her plans and with the same, dead-serious expression, she told him, “I am serious. I can help you take back your power and overthrow Claude. I’ll give you five minutes to think things over.”

nPerhaps Gu Xiqiao’s expression was overly serious, or perhaps it was something else, but it made Klaus sheepishly nod in agreement.

nHe could not believe his ears upon doing that!

nWith the snap of her fingers, Gu Xiqiao announced, “If that’s so, then I hereby announce the start of our cooperation!”

n“Why would you want to do that?” Klaus asked curiously.

n“Well, the answer is simple. Claude pissed me off.” Gu Xiqiao turned towards Jiang Shuxuan right after responding to his question. “Brother Jiang, have you called the police?”

nJiang Shuxuan nodded. “They’ll be here in ten.”

nKlaus stared in disbelief. They had beaten these thugs up and as if that wasn’t enough, they had even called the police? Had they knowingly walked into a trap that they themselves created? Ignoring the fact that this was a ghetto neighborhood, where the police couldn’t bother to step foot in, these were all Claude’s goons. No policeman in the entirety of the United States dared to stand in the way of the Dickens family!

nWere these two playing a huge, morbid prank on him?!

n“These are Claude’s men. The police won’t be coming, not in ten minutes, nor in half an hour. They won’t be here at all.” Klaus seemed rather sure of himself when he reminded the pair of the futility of their actions.

nIt wouldn’t be long before he would be proven wrong!

nWell, because the police really did arrive!

n“These folks are no good. It wouldn’t hurt to lock ’em up for a couple more years,” said Gu Xiqiao while pointing at the black thugs.

nThe policeman nodded while noting things down on his palm-sized booklet. “Are there any other requests, Miss Gu, Mr. Jiang?”

n“No, thanks for dropping by,” replied Gu Xiqiao with a smile.

nThe policeman nodded before ordering his squad to round up the thugs. Silently, he vowed to himself that he would give these bastards a vicious beating.

nKlaus was stunned by what he saw.

nJiji rolled up and patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s go, lucky one.”

nWith the same stunned expression, it looked over at Jiji.

n***

nAt the Dickens family headquarters.

nClaude raised a Cuban cigar and automatically, the man next to him stepped up and lit it up for him. Drawing in a mouthful of smoke, he asked, “You’re saying they got apprehended by the police? Don’t those assholes know that they’re our men?”

n“The police have sufficient evidence on their hands to lawfully place them under detention,” replied the person next to him.

n“What a bunch of good-for-nothings. It’s already bad enough that they can’t kill that boy, but to get caught by the police? Now that’s a whole other level of stupid.” But, it didn’t seem like someone had deliberately tipped the police off about his men, so Claude decided to let the matter rest for now. Another question popped up in his mind. “Has Ah Jin taken over the Bai gang?”

n“No, not to my knowledge sir.” There was a brief pause before the man answered.

nClaude’s brows were scrunched up. “Why haven’t they done it then? It’s just a petty little bunch of gangsters, no?”

n“There’s something strange going on in the Bai gang recently,” answered the man. His mouth was awkwardly stiff when he spoke. “They should be aware of their imminent doom, but the way they’re reacting to this is bizarre. Yesterday, they went on to… hold a celebratory party.”

n“There’s nothing strange about men celebrating before their own deaths.” Claude flipped through a bunch of documents and grunted coldly. “This Klaus kid, it’s fine if he avoids me like a plague. But to hatch plots in the dark?! He’s literally marching towards his own death under my watchful eyes!”

nThe man next to him bowed respectfully and praised Claude for his decisiveness, which to his surprise, only earned him a scornful look.

n***

nAt the rendezvous of the gang, the mid-sized gangs, who survived the onslaught watched as the members of the Bai gang stroll out with smiles on their faces, as they had done in the past.

n“How can you still be in such a great mood?” asked one of the leaders of the gang who had once worked together with the Bai gang. “No wonder you guys are falling apart. If I were you, I wouldn’t dare walk around in public when the Dickens family is after my ass.”

n“No, fall apart we won’t,” responded the leader of the Bai gang. “That is because our boss has arrived. She’s well, pretty strong.”

n“Boss, looks like this buffoon’s gone mad,” mocked another one of the goons.

nIt was pretty obvious that the Bai gang leader had gone mad. Apart from him, there was no other boss. Perhaps the source of his madness was the Qing triad!

nAnd so, news of the Bai gang leader going mad hit the streets!

nThe leader of the Bai gang laughed when he caught wind of his own madness. Silently, he thought to himself, ‘In a matter of days, I’ll be seeing you on your knees, calling our Miss Gu boss!’

nThe odd reaction of the Bai gang was certainly noticed by the Qing triad. They did not believe their leader’s statement that they had another boss, but recent events that unfolded were indeed, too odd to not notice.

nA human figure stood next to the window in the headquarters of the Qing triad. “Are there any updates from Claude’s side?” her voice sounded cold and mysterious.

nThey were only one step away from taking down the Bai gang; what’s left was for the Dickens family to deal the final lethal blow. But why at this specific point in time, were their men all rounded up and sent behind bars?! What was happening?!

n“Mr. Claude has replied, saying that they had an important task to deal with first. He had created a task force to deal with the issue, and he told us to wait for two more days.” The middle-aged man standing behind her said in a respectful tone.

nThe woman slowly turned around. “Fine, tell Claude that I’ll only wait for two more days. Not more than that.”

nThe man bowed before leaving her office.

n“Gu Xiqiao, I haven’t even started looking for you and yet, here you are, marching towards the guillotine.” The woman laughed quietly to herself after her subordinate left. Still, the look in her eyes was dark and hollow.

nIf Gu Xiqiao was here, she’d definitely recognize who this person was. This woman was none other than Gu Xijin, whom the Gu family had sent into exile years ago!

n***

nThe powers that ruled the capital of the United States were slowly shifting in the dark. The only person who was aware of this, however, was Klaus.

n“Miss Gu, Young Master Jiang, why didn’t you tell me that you guys were coming to America?!” asked Cecily.

nGu Xiqiao pushed a cup of tea towards her. “Well, now you know we’re here. Is that not enough?” she asked calmly.

n“Fine, let’s leave that topic aside.” A glow appeared in Cecily’s eyes. “Have you discovered something fun? Do bring me on board your little mission this time!”

n“Relax, there will be one in the near future.” Gu Xiqiao peered back at her. “You’re definitely in on it this time.”

nCecily’s eyes widened the moment her ears picked up the phrase ‘near future’. How exciting!

n“Hm? Who’s this?” Cecily looked over at the teen who walked through the door with Jiji. Her mouth paused for a moment and a skeptical look appeared on her face. She only continued talking after making sure that she sensed no aura coming forth from this boy.

n“He’s just a regular human being,” replied Gu Xiqiao. “I feel that the person running the Dickens family needs to be changed.”

n“Dickens?” Cecily narrowed her eyes upon hearing that name. “Which one of them pissed you off? I’ll report it to the president, and we’ll have them eliminated instantly.”

n“Where’s the fun in that?” asked Gu Xiqiao while waving her palm back and forth. “Just watch the show unveil in the coming days.”

nCecily nodded in excitement following that statement.

nKlaus, who overheard every bit of their conversation, did not think that they were madmen talking. Instead, he looked at Cecily with shock in his eyes.

nBack when he was still considered the heir of his family, he had met Cecily once, but that moment alone was enough for him to burn her name into his memory. It was the moment when he saw their nation’s commander-in-chief bow down at her respectfully!

nThat moment would probably be carried with him to the grave. Just who was this Cecily girl and what did she achieve for even their president to show so much respect for her?!

nWait a minute. Why on earth was Cecily that respectful towards Gu Xiqiao. It’s as if she’s her biggest fan?!

nWho on earth was this Gu Xiqiao then?!

nKlaus tried to suppress his bewilderment when he looked at Gu Xiqiao.

nEverything that happened in the past two days could only be described as a dream-like experience.

nGu Xiqiao had laid a trap in front of his eyes for the Dickens family, turning it into a lesson of sorts. He had never seen such a perfect trap before, so perfect that Claude stepped right into it immediately.

nKlaus inhaled deeply. He was elated and relieved that he had made the right call two days ago. Thank god, he did not insist that Gu Xiqiao was only joking when she made her offer to him.

nKlaus started to chuckle under his breath, out of pity for Claude.

nHe wondered what sort of expression would he make when he is told that all his elaborate planning was about to explode in his face, thanks to Gu Xiqiao’s work.

nHe wondered if Claude would start contemplating suicide if he was told that the only reason for Gu Xiqiao working against him was because of his ties to the Qing triad.

nPerhaps.

nKlaus looked forward to the future.

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