Chapter 11 It's Going To Cost You

"You leave tomorrow?" a mellow voice came through Li Tian's headphones.

"Yeah," the star answered plainly while furiously pushing the buttons on his controller.

"Then explain to me why you have decided instead to invite me on this quest to conquer another forbidden dungeon when it is most imperative that you organize your possessions for the journey?" the voice asked in an inquisitive tone.

"Uurgh... spare me your fancy speech, Levi," Li Tian snapped at the guy on call. "I needed to get my mind off some things. When are you coming back to Huaxia?"

"Pretty soon, actually. Vestr doesn't need me for the time being. Pardon me asking, since when have you ever been concerned about my whereabouts?" the man known as 'Levi' asked.

"I've got some things I need to do... but I don't have much time left here," Li Tian stated as he cut down another dungeon monster. They were getting quite close to the boss by now.

"Ohoh?" Levi, an elf in his shining white knight armor struck the next three monsters in a single slash of his sword. "Is this you asking me for a favor, Little Sky?"

Li Tian scrunched his eyebrows at the teasing. He almost never asked people for help but this time, his hatred burned brighter than his ego. He grunted a yes in response.

Hearing it, Levi smirked from beyond the screen. "As long as you're willing to accept the consequences..."

The guy was clearly trying to spook him, and it admittedly worked. Levi was among the few people that understood what could get under Li Tian's skin, and thinking of them made the young star shudder. He grit his teeth as he barged into the dungeon boss room. In the center, stood a hairy bear-like creature ten stories tall with shark-like teeth and freakishly long claws roaring at his rude intrusion. He charged at it without hesitation. "Anything to get the job done!"

"Hmmmmm~" Levi hummed amusedly. He walked into the room after Li Tian, who had not even spared a single second to wait for him. The star had already begun to attack the boss in a rampage. "So what is it you require my services for?"

Li Tian's grip on the controller hardened considerably at his fluctuating emotions but he did well in keeping them back in check. He vented his entire emotions on destroying the boss before him, hardly requiring the help of his entertained teammate watching from the sidelines. "I need you to destroy someone."

"Oh? Revenge is it? How quaint of you," the elf knight sat down on the ground and began polishing his sword. At the pace the boss was being hacked at, he believed that his teammate would defeat it soon enough. "Who is the unlucky fellow?"

"Fellows," Li Tian spat between his teeth. "A family of scammers and ungrateful leeches."

He jumped onto the boss creature's hand and ran across its arm. His aim was the head.

"And how would you have me destroy them?"

"I want them beaten and broken!" he reached the head of the boss and shoved his entire sword through its skull. The creature spun around in pain, its health bar decreasing at a rapid rate. Just as it was about to reach zero, Li Tian let go of his sword and dug his hands straight into the creature's flesh. He proceeded to activate his innate ability, which then caused the creature to visibly shrivel down as if being sucked away through those hands.

The health bar reached zero, evoking the creature to collapse onto the ground. As it fell, Li Tian grabbed his sword before somersaulting onto the empty space right in front of the relaxing elf knight. He flicked the blood off his sword and skillfully placed it back into its sheath. The dungeon boss, a shadow of its former self, withered and soon dispersed into ashes behind him. People would think Li Tian was a normal swordsman when he was in fact a warlock main, one that fed on the blood and vitality of the creatures before him. "I want them to be sucked dry... until there is nothing 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 left."

Levi inspected the character standing before him as a sly grin slowly grew onto his handsome face. "No problem... but it's going to cost you."

....

"Rich! Rich, I tell you! Hahahahaha!" Yijun laughed maniacally as he counted the total assets of the entire pile of merchandise before him. It took a while for the stack of goods to arrive but now that it was here, he felt a huge surge of satisfaction. His endeavor was successful!

"You sure the Li family or Li Tian is going to let you get away with taking all this?" a half worried yet have excited voice asked while picking up a diamond-studded handbag.

"Hah! That Li Tian is nothing but a spoilt brat!" Yijun spat in disgust. "I've done my research. His family had had about enough of his antics. They just needed a little push to teach him a lesson. It was finally his last concert for the season. I knew that they were spiteful with his attitude but couldn't do anything less they counter drawbacks from the fans. Thus although it was a little early on my part, just after the final act, I had to strike while the iron was hot. The others were already riled up and ready to go! And this is the reward! Hahahaha!"

He grabbed a few pieces of jewelry and threw them in the air in celebration.

"If they take all this back, they wouldn't be making a point now, would they. He would never learn his lesson, though I highly doubt he even did. If it were any other time, we'd be in for trouble. But now? Hahahaha!" he continued to laugh like a maniac. "Who told him to be a little bitch."

The other person in the room was slowly being swayed by the sure enthusiasm being displayed, but he was still fraught with hesitation. "Maybe this is good for instant wealth but is it really stable in the long run? You know I worked hard to get us at the place we are today, a stable position of power between these behemoths."

Hearing such weak words, Yijun rolled his eyes in displeasure. "Dad, this is no longer the stone age. I don't want to be squeezed in 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 behemoths, I want to 𝘣𝘦 one! Sure you did great and all but your progress is a slow crawl! I don't want to waste my time on that! Money and power are only fun when you're young!"

The dad looked at his son somewhat dissatisfied. Being criticized by one's own spawn was not a pleasant thing for anyone. "My hard work is what abled you to get this far."

Yijun's lips twitched in annoyance but he humored his dad anyway. "Of course, dad! Without you coddling up to mum, I would never have even been born. But the times have changed. Hard work now isn't enough. We have to be smart about our moves. If I continued to bootlick that Li Tian any longer... I'd go insane before I managed to get into his pants. There are times he's in a mood where he chooses to not say much, making it more bearable," he narrowed his eyes at the thought. "But even by saying nothing, once he gets angry... you have to kind of ignore and bend his mood so that it doesn't terrify you. But when he 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 open his mouth, urgh he just spouts the most spiteful shit. It made turning the rest against him 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺. Even if he does somehow end up claiming the title of the Li Clan family head, with his shitty attitude I don't think it'll last long anyway so there really is no point."

The father still thought it was unnecessary to completely cut off all ties the way he did but it was already a done deal. He hoped that his son was right and that the Li Family wasn't going to come after them. Even more, he hoped that Li Tian stayed the way he was and never became more than a spoilt rich kid or celebrity party animal. That way he wouldn't have any regrets about Yijun squandering the chance he got for him. He didn't think his son was interested in marrying any of Li Tian's older sisters either.

"Finished!" the younger one exclaimed. "You're gonna love me now, dad, after you see these numbers."

"How much is it?" the father looked over curiously. When he saw the number of figures written on the paper, his eyes bulged in their sockets.

It rounded up to $18,000,000.

"Any complaints now, Dad?" Yijun asked sarcastically.

The father ignored his son's tone and smiled in glee. "With this kind of money, we can start our OWN empire!"

"Hahahahahaha! Now we're talking!"

The father and son began discussing their future and the many possibilities one could do with the amount of money they had obtained. They were already well off, rich even, but not to a point where they could buy million-dollar mansions and a collection of sports cars.

If only they actually understood that the 'crazy amount of money' they scammed out of a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 from as big of a clan like the Li Family, was only a drop in the vast depths of their pockets.

The discussion went on for many hours when they finally decided to continue it the next day.

"We'd better call your mother before she suspects anything," the older of the two said.

"Relax, dad. She's at grandpa's for the weekend. I'm sure grandma and grandpa are treating her to a great time. I'd be there having fun too if you didn't make me go to that funeral. We both know it was just an excuse to handle these packages," Yijun disclosed the truth while picking out what to keep from the pile. "We didn't have to spend 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 long there you know. As long as people know we showed up."

Wrinkling his nose at the words, he thought about his deceased mother. Did he really feel nothing about her death? It felt more like a burden being lifted.

Ding dong. The doorbell rang loudly.

The two looked at each other in confusion. It was already well into the evening, with the sun about to set and they lived in quite the rich neighborhood. Who would dare bother them at such a time and place?

They checked the intercom video which revealed a couple of policemen standing outside their door. Alarmed by the sudden unannounced visit, the father motioned his son to stay put.

He headed towards the front door while Yijun peeked from behind a wall not too far away. Opening the door, he was met eye to eye with a large man wearing a stern expression on his face.

"May I help you officer?" he asked in a controlled mannerly voice. If one didn't know him, you'd get the illusion of a sophisticated family man.

"Mr. Kong Wanhui?" the burly policeman asked.

The father furrowed his eyebrows but answered curtly, "Originally, yes. I'm 𝘓𝘶𝘰 Wanhui now."

Obviously, he was hoping the Luo surname would have an effect on the officer but all he received was a raised eyebrow.

"Alright Mr. 𝘓𝘶𝘰 Wanhui," the officer lifted a document in his hand. "I have a warrant for your arrest and kindly ask for you to follow us to the station."

"What!? Why??" shocked and panicked, Wanhui was unsure of why this was happening so suddenly.

The other policeman also came forward to help with the arrest. "You have the right to remain silent. Any words you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."

"Wait just a minute here! I demand to know the reason for my arrest!" he tried to wriggle some info as the two officers spun him around to cuff him down.

"You are being held due to suspicion on tax fraud, money laundering and forgery of documents," a young and clear voice resounded not too far behind them.

Wanhui was already pushed against the wall by his front door when he heard the voice. Every accusation made caused his palms to sweat and heart to beat faster but he tried keeping a believable clueless front. When he turned to look where the voice came from, contrary to his expectations, it was from a young man that hardly looked any older than his son. He had extremely dark blue eyes with strawberry blonde hair and remarkably handsome features that were a distinct indication of his mixed race.

"We also have an arrest warrant for your son, Yijun. May I know if he's around?" his smile was polite and gentle, and the aura he gave off was that of a well-bred gentleman. But the deep look in his eyes, caused Wanhui to shudder.

Witnessing everything in the background, Yijun's heart skipped a beat when he heard his name being mentioned. He couldn't see the man calling the shots, but his instincts were telling him to run. Hearing his name was the trigger that he hide immediately.

Without wasting time, he tiptoed to the secret room his father had installed in his study.

Without missing a beat, Wanhui immediately responded to the young man. "No. My son went to his grandparent's place with his mother."

"I see..." the young man's expression barely changed; he still had on that unassuming gentle smile. Without even bothering to take a look inside the house, he spoke. "Pity then. We'll have to come back for him later."

Motioning the officers to follow him, he turned around and headed back towards the vehicle they came in.

"Who are you?" as he was being shoved forward, Wanhui inquired after much thought. He needed to understand who his enemy was. Not just anyone could command the police force at such a young age.

The young man looked at him with another bright smile. "Oh my. Excuse my bad manners. Please refer to me as Levi, a representative from Ivon Telecommunications and Technology."

The name struck Wanhui like lightning, and he felt his soul quickly leaving his body. If he had any desire to fight before, it was but a minuscule spark now.

Ivon Telecommunications and Technology...

It was a company from Vestr, one of the most powerful countries to date. The Ivon Clan was a monstrous entity, and the Ivon company itself... was the top information and technology company to ever exist in the whole world!

.....