“So, not only are we dealing with a bunch of lawyers and politicians in Yide, there is a secret organization that has a network of trained assassins? The only good thing going for us is that they are short of money?” Fatty Fang asked in the Shennong’s meeting room.
“They could be short of money, but going all that length just to reduce the property value seemed a bit excessive,” said Bufu.
“Short of money was a relative term. Here is the data Rouxi sent me on startup companies that bought real estate in Angao City and Qinbei," Li Yun pulled the files over the project screen. "There had also been reports of gang activities around the country in six other mid-size cities. All of the cities are known to have weak local government intervention. The crime rates had been increasing for the past 3-5 years. The value had either stagnated or decreased, many below the estimated projection. If we compare the prices now and what it would be in 5 to 10 years, they are saving up to 300 million yuan (50 million usd).”
Fatty Fang let out a whistle. “If you think about it that way, that is a lot of money,” said Fatty Fang.
“So this organization has power, but they are hoping to increase their bankroll by 10 times as much?” Bufu asked. It seemed like a very deep strategy, but a bit too complicated to pull. However, maybe they were planning to hide behind all the smoke and mirrors.
“It’s a huge investment, but they simply have to hire local thugs to cause havoc,” Li Yun replied. “Not only that, there are greenhouses and factories planned in the rural areas for growing illegal crops. They use the drugs to control the thugs that they hire."
The woman Esther had also promised Shudi that Wing Bo would assist him in dealing with the authorities. Once drugs, gambling, and prostitution increased, the city would be littered with homeless people.
“I don’t think it will be easy to deal with them,” said Ju De. “It sounds like it’s deeply rooted in the country, and not recent either. An organization with a very long history.”
“But I don’t understand one thing,” said Bufu. “Why would an organization go to such lengths to train assassins, and then start gathering real estate?”
“What if the organization was created because of something else? Maybe in the beginning, it was purely to act as the hidden knife of a now-defunct government?” Ju De speculated.
It was very chaotic early on after the first chairman passed away. There were many factions that wanted to take power. If Li Yun was a criminal mastermind, a secret organization to assassinate and do the dirty work was needed. If the head of the group was taken out, it was possible for someone on the next chain of command to take over. If the organization ran as an organic group, there was no need for a head.
“So it possible for the organization to be originally a part of the government operation?” Bufu asked. “Like a group that was shut down once they saw it as a liability. But instead of disappearing completely, the group switched to an operation that makes money?”
“I can see an assassin organization training orphans,” said Bufu. “I bet the trainers were also taught the same way and groomed the next generation to carry on with the same tradition.”
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“Exactly, they are looking to train assassins, and where better to look than in orphanages?” Ju De replied.
There were many orphanages that operated out of kindness, but there were also people who start it as an opportunity to gain government grants and donations from the wealthy. Rather than using the money for the kids, the managers pocketed the money.
“Then it is also possible for the organization to be originally a part of the government operation, but with the new administration, the funding was cut?” Bufu asked. “If that is so, the director in charge of that operation must be pissed. And instead of shutting down the entire operation, they decided to switch their target and make money?”
“That is another possibility,” said Li Yun.
“We can’t really investigate based on conjecture,” said Bufu. “You’re going to need more information.”
"More importantly, what are you naming your secret organization?" Ju De asked Li Yun.
The Blue Moon had deep roots, and it wasn’t something simple that could be dealt with overnight. If there was police and government’s involvement, the only way to find the answer was to deal with the organization straight on. They couldn't do it openly either as they all have families and people they wanted to protect, so they had to create their own secret organization.
"My organization? I don't really want to run one," Li Yun already had enough to deal with.
"What’s a good name?" asked Fatty Fang to the others, ignoring Li Yun's objection.
"Just call it Abyss and call it a day," said Li Yun.
“Abyss is plain, but I guess it's fine as long as we don't say it so often,” Bufu thought the point of a secret organization was to keep the name as secretive as possible. "So, who's second in command?"
“Why are you making it sound like I should run this operation?” Li Yun planned to create a fake secret organization to deal with the Blue Moon, and since it was fake, it didn’t really need a figurehead. He looked at Ju De. “Couldn’t you run this? You’re basically playing video games all day.”
Ju De lifted his eyes up from his screen to look at Li Yun. “What do you mean? I’m alpha testing.” Ruling the underground gang sounded like fun, but the problem was, no matter how good he was with reading others, there was a certain leadership quality required in an underground gang that he lacked. Even when dealing with the Shennong’s employees, most people preferred Fatty Fang. “Boss Fang, you’re also gaming all day.”
“Don’t look at me, I don’t have time with my new baby boy on the way,” said Fatty Fang.
“It’s a pointless meeting, Li Yun, you should take the mantle,” said Bufu.
“You’re not going to try?”
“Do you think a bunch of hooligans are going to listen to a pretty boy like me?” Bufu took out his glasses and wiped out the dust.
“There are many precedents in webnovels,” said Fatty Fang.
“Yeah, but I don’t really want to boss around a bunch of guys.”
“You do that already in your office.”
“I can’t help it if there aren’t a lot of female programmers.”
"No, we can't use Fatty or Bufu," Li Yun stated. He thought the only people who could take charge were either Ju De or himself.
The problem with creating a secret organization was that it was less of a secret if there were more members. However, Li Yun never intended the Abyss Organization to be completely hidden. If his identity was revealed, he hoped that his connection to Song Taiji and Ju De's family name may make others weary. As for everyone else, the less involved they were, the safer it would be. Fatty and Bufu had regular family members who would be endangered if everything was exposed.
Li Yun also thought about the five clans' potential involvement and the possibility of Song Taiji running such an organization. However, Song Taiji had enough resources that it would be odd for him to be interested in some properties from mid-size cities. He had other means which were more efficient.
During the middle of their discussion, Li Yun's alternate phone dinged.
Fenki: We have invited the guest.