Shangguan Zhongtang had no idea Su Yang would contact Sakata Chōng, and therefore was not on guard against him.
"Yes, that kid Su Yang said he's also arriving in Sang Country soon. I don't know if it's true, but our timings should be close. I want you to meet me on the coastline."
Upon hearing Shangguan Zhongtang's words, Sakata Chōng immediately agreed, "Understood, Military Commander. I will gather all the forces of the Assassination Hall tomorrow morning and we will all head to the coastline to welcome you. Are you arriving tomorrow?"
"Around sunset tomorrow," Shangguan Zhongtang said, adding, "Don't gather them tomorrow morning. Gather all your forces now. I want no mistakes! You must gather all your forces. If I find out you held anything back, I will not let you off!"
"That is a given, Military Commander. You can put your mind at ease on that account." After speaking, Sakata Chōng added, "Military Commander... about the money..."
Sakata Chōng knew that bringing up money at this moment would likely enrage Shangguan Zhongtang, but he also believed that consistently mentioning money would make Shangguan Zhongtang lower his guard.
"Money, money, money..." Shangguan Zhongtang was clearly exasperated by Sakata Chōng's persistence.
After saying this, he didn't say anything else and added, "It will be deposited immediately. Check your account on time!"
After uttering these words through gritted teeth, Shangguan Zhongtang hung up the phone directly.
One minute after the call ended, ten million appeared in Sakata Chōng's account.
This was ten million Long Country currency, not ten million Sang Country currency.
Sakata Chōng was overjoyed.
Not only would he complete Su Yang's mission perfectly this time, but he also made money from Shangguan Zhongtang.
Shangguan Zhongtang was surely not going to live. With the information Sakata Chōng had given to Su Yang, once Su Yang handed it over to the Long Country authorities, Shangguan Zhongtang wouldn't have enough heads to lose.
Before his death, he gave Sakata Chōng ten million. Sakata Chōng thought of it as doing charity.
After checking his balance, Sakata Chōng called Su Yang.
Although it was the middle of the night, and calling Su Yang might disturb him, it was better to inform Su Yang about Shangguan Zhongtang's situation as soon as possible.
If he delayed, Sakata Chōng worried that Su Yang might suspect him.
"Who?"
Su Yang was sound asleep, his pleasant dream interrupted. His tone when answering the phone was not very good.
"Boss Su, it's me, Sakata Chōng."
Hearing Su Yang's less-than-friendly voice, Sakata Chōng quickly explained, "Boss Su, Shangguan Zhongtang just called me."
Upon hearing this, Su Yang was taken aback. 138 Reading Network.
Su Yang had actually anticipated that Shangguan Zhongtang might call Sakata Chōng for help. However, he hadn't brought it up when he spoke to Sakata Chōng earlier, partly because he had too many things on his mind and forgot, and partly because he felt it was still too early.
Now, with Sakata Chōng calling to say Shangguan Zhongtang had contacted him, Su Yang was instantly wide awake.
Su Yang got out of bed and walked barefoot on the floor. The cold floor made him even more alert.
He went to the window, looking out at the sleeping sea, and asked, "What did he say? Did he ask for your help?"
"Yes," Sakata Chōng replied readily. "He wants me to help him deal with you."
Hearing Sakata Chōng say this, Su Yang felt reassured. Sakata Chōng likely wouldn't betray him.
Otherwise, why would he call Su Yang immediately after ending a call with Shangguan Zhongtang?
Su Yang tapped on the glass window, looking at the underwater world before him, and asked, "What did you tell him?"
"Boss Su, before I said anything, I asked him to trust me. I will definitely be on your side. In this battle, I will be your man. I want you to rest assured about this. I, Sakata Chōng, am a businessman. I help whoever pays me more. The benefits you've given me, Boss Su, make it impossible for me to betray you."
Su Yang hummed in response. He knew this was true.
He also knew that Sakata Chōng was unlikely to betray him, but it was only "unlikely." After all, if Sakata Chōng could betray Shangguan Zhongtang, he could just as easily betray Su Yang.
Su Yang only believed half of what Sakata Chōng said, remaining suspicious of the other half.
Besides himself, Su Yang trusted no one.
Everyone could change.
Su Yang himself sometimes changed, so why should he insist on others not changing?
"Tell me, I'll listen and make a decision."
Sakata Chōng knew Su Yang wouldn't easily trust him, but he also knew that he was doing this for money. As long as Su Yang paid enough, Sakata Chōng would definitely not betray Su Yang.
"Shangguan Zhongtang called me and asked me to gather all the forces of the Assassination Hall to help him. I agreed, but Boss Su, I didn't truly agree. Otherwise, I wouldn't be calling you about this."
Indeed, Su Yang hummed and said, "Continue."
"Originally, I didn't want to agree to Shangguan Zhongtang. But then I thought, if I pretend to agree to Shangguan Zhongtang and then give you his information, wouldn't this mission be completed to your satisfaction? After all," Sakata Chōng chuckled, "knowing Shangguan Zhongtang's plans would be very beneficial for you to deal with him later."
Su Yang had actually anticipated Shangguan Zhongtang contacting Sakata Chōng, but he hadn't considered Sakata Chōng's actions.
He hadn't expected Sakata Chōng to be so… unprincipled.
Facing a partner he had collaborated with for over twenty years, he so easily sold out Shangguan Zhongtang for money.
However… Su Yang could understand. After all, Su Yang knew that the money he offered was indeed a lot.
In the face of money, what was friendship worth?
Reality was not a romance novel; no one would betray money for friendship.
"This is a good way of thinking."
Su Yang said with a faint smile.
"Very good. From now on, maintain contact with Shangguan Zhongtang, and report anything directly to me. Also, Long Country might send people to apprehend Shangguan Zhongtang. You are a Sang Country national, so you need to distance yourself from this. I don't need to spell it out for you, do I?"
Sakata Chōng understood Su Yang's meaning almost immediately and replied, "I understand, Boss Su. Please don't worry. Shangguan Zhongtang said he'll arrive around sunset tomorrow. When will you arrive? Should I meet him first or meet you first?"
Su Yang thought for a moment and said, "I'll also arrive around sunset tomorrow. I'm not sure about the exact timing, but I'll have a sort of 'god's eye view.' You meet him first, see what his intentions are, and then I'll take a slightly longer route and land on another side of Sang Country. We can contact each other then."
Hearing Su Yang's words, Sakata Chōng agreed, "Alright, Boss Su. Don't worry, I will not betray you."
Whether Sakata Chōng betrayed him or not, Su Yang was somewhat concerned, but not overly so, because Su Yang had already made contact with the other six major assassination organizations.
He would arrive in Sang Country tomorrow, just in time to meet with the leaders of the other six assassination organizations.
Sakata Chōng was definitely going to be killed, and Su Yang also intended to kill Shangguan Zhongtang.
However, Su Yang was not sure if he would be the one to personally kill Shangguan Zhongtang.
Two hours before Sakata Chōng's call, a message came from the capital: the Dragon Association was taking action.
This operation was highly classified, and Su Yang's people couldn't get specific details. However, Su Yang knew one thing: this matter seemed to be quite significant.
There were other operations going on, but Su Yang didn't know what they were and couldn't get any information.
But Su Yang didn't care much.
He was just traveling to Sang Country and happened to see the nefarious Shangguan Zhongtang. Helping with his apprehension was acceptable, wasn't it?
Su Yang didn't know what the Dragon Association people knew, nor who was coming. Everything was an unknown, but Su Yang was not afraid.
At ten o'clock the next morning, Su Yang woke up.
He walked out of the house, and Jiang Hei came over with a laptop to report to Su Yang, "Boss, it has now been confirmed who the people from Long Country are."
Yesterday evening, after Su Yang learned that people from Long Country were coming to Sang Country, he had asked Jiang Hei to investigate. He hadn't expected to find anything, but to his surprise, Jiang Hei had actually found out.
Su Yang looked at Jiang Hei's laptop. A surveillance video was playing on the screen.
"What is this?"
"It's a top-secret program from Long Country. I cracked it for several hours. After getting in, I couldn't find any information about this operation. So, I'm certain that this operation wasn't logged into the system at all, precisely to prevent it from being discovered. However, since they are coming to Sang Country, they would either come by air or by sea. This operation is somewhat clandestine, so I believe they wouldn't choose the conspicuous air route; it must be by sea. Therefore, I investigated all the coastal surveillance and found this."
Saying this, Jiang Hei turned the laptop towards Su Yang and opened the surveillance video.
In the video, there were over a dozen large ships on the sea, more than ten times the size of the Yangwei Hao. Each ship carried thousands of elite personnel from Long Country.
At the forefront of the fleet, the leader was imposing and heroic, a woman in a black special training suit with an excellent physique.
"This person is..."
Su Yang asked, looking at the frozen image of the woman.
"The President of the Dragon Association, Li Yue, and also one of the Three Thrones of Long Country, the daughter of Li Feng!"