Bennett’s hands and feet felt cold. Even though he was in a warm room, his back was soaked with cold sweat.

  He had risen from the slums, and his status in Chaos City’s underworld depended on these gambling dens and brothels, but they were all shut down by Gray Temple overnight. Furthermore, all their people were arrested.

  This obviously wasn’t a surprise raid which they could get out of. With the relationships that he maintained with money, he used to be able to make everything look law-abiding before the raids.

  However, this time was different. The gambling dens and brothels were all sealed, and the news only reached him by morning. If they were doing things to such an extent, it meant that this was a huge Gray Temple-led operation that targeted him specifically.

  Bennett couldn’t help thinking about Mag, the restaurant boss who threatened him casually in the teahouse that day.

  In order to thrive in the underworld and get along with the authorities all these years, he had indeed made many enemies.

  However, even his big brother who was the head of the Marquises and wanted him dead couldn’t lay a finger on him. Hence, he didn’t even bother with the other small fries.

  If it was Mag, how did he have the influence to make Gray Temple act against him as an insignificant restaurant owner? Moreover, it was such a big operation.

  Bennett was feeling his heart and head ache now. Although he had been trying to whitewash his identity, getting himself out of those illegal activities and turning himself into a successful legal businessman for the past few years, maintaining this fake identity needed a lot of money, for example like that teahouse. Even though it was known as the number one teahouse in Chaos City, and received a lot of customers every day, it was still operating at a loss currently.

  All this money came from the gambling dens and brothels.

  Although he was trying to draw a clear boundary between the two of them, he had to admit that these things were what he deemed the most important to him.

  Losing these two meant losing his source of income, which in turn meant losing everything.

  “Are the casinos and the brothels clearly disconnected from me?” Bennett asked the manager.

  “Yes. Apart from a few trusted ones, no one knew that these gambling dens and brothels belonged to you.” That manager swiftly nodded.

  “They were all caught too?” Bennett frowned.

  “Please rest assured. They are the most tight-lipped, and they know what would happen to them if they told them about you,” that manager promised with a pat on his chest.

  Bennett heaved a breath of relief. As long as he wasn’t implicated, then there would be enough room for him to maneuver. He gravely said, “Go and find out what’s the situation now. Be careful, don’t get yourself implicated.”


  “Yes.” That manager quickly left.

  “So what if the casinos are gone, I’m still a member of the Marquises. As long as the hot pot restaurant can successfully open, I will get the position as the head of the Marquis Family from Bowen one day. I should be the one to inherit the Marquis Family,” Bennett murmured to himself in a low voice.

  ***

  In a cold and eerie dungeon, all kinds of torture instruments hung on the walls.

  Screams could be heard from the cells all around, accompanied by the crisp and loud sounds of whipping.

  “Boss, the tight-lipped ones have all confessed. The secret boss behind these gambling dens and brothels is Bennett Marquis. Over 50 bodies were dug out from the gambling dens’ backyards, and most of them belong to the gamblers who caused trouble at the gambling dens or had made a killing at them.

  “A huge amount of illegal magical drugs was confiscated from the brothels. We followed the trail last night. We busted their drug manufacturing base, and arrested a bunch of drug-making magic casters. Their secret boss is also Bennett.” A member of the Gray Temple’s intelligence department strode into Borg’s office and placed the testimonies on his table. With a proud expression, he reported, “There’s no one that could hide secrets from us, the intelligence department. This is really a big fish.”


  “We really wouldn’t have found out that such a formidable figure was hiding in Chaos City if we hadn’t investigated. Moreover, he has almost completely whitewashed himself.” Borg picked up those testimonies, and casually flipped through them with amazement too before looking up at that subordinate. “Do a thorough investigation to find out who is covering for them within the Gray Temple and the city lord’s castle. I want to see who is so formidable to rear a wolf right under our noses.”


  “Yes.” That subordinate left and closed the door.

  Borg pondered for a while as he stared at those testimonies. He then proceeded to the lord of the Gray Temple’s office with the testimonies. This was a huge case, and it wasn’t just simply threatening Mag. He needed to ask the lord’s permission. This involved many parties’ interests, and the decision was above his pay grade.

  However, he could be sure of one thing. That Marquis Family’s bastard was going to be so dead.

  ***

  In the patrol department’s office, a middle-aged man punched the wall with a dark expression as he said, “Damn, I have no idea where the intelligence department got the high-level permission from, and why they bypassed me completely to raid Bennett’s gambling dens and brothels. I still don’t know what they are investigating now. The intelligence department is not saying anything. They claim that it’s above my pay grade!”


  “Captain, what do we do now? Will they find out about us?” two men in the patrol department’s uniforms nervously said as they wiped the cold sweat off their foreheads.

  The man that they called “captain” put down his fist and swiftly calmed down. He shook his head. “Don’t panic. Not many people knew about this, and the talks are always conducted in Bennett’s teahouse. As long as Bennett is not being investigated, we will be fine. Furthermore, we have only received a very tiny portion of that money……”


  The two heaved a breath of relief after hearing that. Their eyes even lit up when they heard the last sentence.

  The middle-aged man continued, “However, we need to find out what caused this surprise raid first. Even if we don’t help get them released, we will be able to handle the situation better if we know what is going on.”


  “Alright. We will go and try to find out more from the intelligence department now.” The two of them swiftly strode off after hearing that.

  The middle-aged man paced around in the room with a serious expression, and mumbled to himself, “I have to report to that lord about this situation. We have to suppress this. I wonder how many people would get exposed otherwise……”


  ***

  Mag woke up early as usual. He turned off the alarm clock on the bedside table, and just as he prepared to get up, the two little ones jumped onto his bed.

  “Meow~”


  “The evil dragon roars!!!”


  Mag looked at the two little ones lying on either of his sides while seriously pretending to be fierce. He couldn’t help but smile.

  Grooowl~

  Right then, the sound of a stomach’s rumbling could be clearly heard.

  “It should be the hungry dragon roars, right? I’ve heard the sounds of a stomach rumbling.” Mag smiled at Amy.

  “Aiyah. Stupid stomach, it rumbles without my permission.” Amy’s expression fell. She went under the blanket and snuggled into Mag’s arms. She closed her eyes comfortably, and said, “Hmm~ It’s so warm and comfortable~”


  “Meow~”


  Ugly Duckling also went under the blanket, and lay on Mag’s stomach like a soft and warm quilt.

  Mag lowered his head to look at the little one’s cute face as he smilingly asked, “Say it, what do you want to have for breakfast? Father will make it for you.”