"That's why it's safe. Neither the Mohe Longyue nor the Chiyou Miao King would ever think we'd be hiding in a place like this," the fox spirit chuckled.
We drove downhill, passing through ruins that looked like artillery emplacements, riddled with holes. Perhaps it was a battlefield from decades ago.
Upon reaching the second ruin, the convoy began ascending, driving directly into a massive, dilapidated structure resembling a palace. It was a two-story building, stripped of its windows, leaving only bare, gaping holes. The natural light, however, was excellent. The walls were extremely broken down, but the opposite side was surprisingly smooth, as if it had been refilled with cement. The five vehicles drove in one by one and parked haphazardly inside.
Got it. A parking lot.
Everyone got out of the cars. I no longer needed assistance. The spirits retrieved numerous bulging plastic shopping bags from the car trunks, looking as if they had just completed a major shopping spree. I saw food, clothing, shoes, and hats inside. I followed them, laughing, through a doorway without a door in the wall, then through two corridors, and suddenly, a semi-subterranean concrete building appeared before us. Built into the mountainside, most of its structure was embedded within. It was a three-story, Russian-style building. I called it three stories because each floor was very high, nearly double the height of a standard residential floor.
Stepping through the entrance, the interior opened up dramatically. It was a grand hall the size of a basketball court. Unlike the historical and weathered feel of the outside, the hall was utterly opulent and classical in style. The walls were adorned with exquisitely decorated pilasters, and between every two pilasters hung a massive portrait of a Caucasian person I didn't recognize. In the center of the hall, a gigantic crystal chandelier hung, directly spanning three stories. The ceiling was twenty meters high, and the chandelier itself was about ten meters tall, circular in shape, with a complex structure divided into seven or eight layers, each one incredibly beautiful.
"This thing must be worth hundreds of thousands, right?" I exclaimed in awe.
"Hundreds of thousands? Add another zero!" Yao Yao laughed.
"What exactly is this place?" I asked.
"It was originally a war fortress. Later, a local rich man bought it and renovated it into a large classical-style villa."
"Is it Chen Lu's family's?" I asked.
"Do you only know Chen Lu as a rich person?" Chen Ke chuckled. "It belongs to a wealthy friend of Lü Shun's, whom you don't know yet. He's a competitor of the Cangjing Group, in the building materials business. After we drove the Cangjing Group back to Sakura Country, this friend contacted us through Arabia and, as a token of gratitude, gifted us this villa."
"...A businessman? Can they be trusted?" I asked suspiciously.
"They can be trusted," Diana said, speaking for the first time among the crowd. "I've known this person for decades. I saved his life, so we're close friends."
So he was an old acquaintance of the Whale God. That should be fine. A rich man who knew the Whale God would likely be aware of his fearsome power. And from what they said earlier, the Cangjing Group had already been defeated and retreated to Sakura Country. Even if this businessman had some dealings with the Cangjing Group before, he would probably know when to be pragmatic.
We passed through the palace-like hall. Two staircases wound upwards, leading to the second floor. From the second floor, another staircase led to the third. It was entirely European in style, with a luxurious crimson carpet laid in the middle of the stairs.
However, we didn't go to the second floor. Instead, we went around the staircase and entered a room on the first floor at the back.
It was a super-large conference room, also luxuriously decorated. In the center was an oval table, surrounded by thirty chairs.
"Are we going to have a meeting?" I asked.
"Of course," Yao Yao grinned. "You, the boss, have been 'on standby' for so long, we need to report to you about what's been happening during this time!"
"First, tell me, how many of those thirty experts with Purple Qi from the Cangjing Group were eliminated?" I asked.
Yao Yao turned to Diana, clearly indicating she was the main force.
Diana held up two fingers.
I frowned. "You only took care of two?"
Yao Yao smiled smugly and hugged Diana's slender waist from behind. "With our Diana in charge, how could she only have dealt with two? It's true, only two escaped..."