At this moment, the Duke felt no greed, only terror.
He had actually been cautious enough, waiting until the very end before entering Villa Number One, yet he had still fallen into a trap.
Of course, he didn't know that even if he hadn't entered, the outcome would have been the same.
"Who, exactly, are you?"
The Duke asked hoarsely.
"Me?"
Chen Fan smiled and said, "I have many identities. I don't know which one you're asking about, so let's go with one you know. In the underworld, I have a name: Lord of the Night!"
The Duke's expression shook violently, cold sweat instantly beading on his forehead.
There were too many legends about the Lord of the Night throughout the global underworld.
Fifth on the Dark List, mysterious and powerful, he had single-handedly annihilated several notorious evil organizations. Legends of him existed in both Europe and the Americas.
Each legend had sent shockwaves through the global underworld.
Until three years ago, the Lord of the Night had vanished completely, reportedly choosing to retire.
There were rumors that the Lord of the Night was a great Chinese man, but it was unconfirmed. Now, it seemed it was true.
The Dark Night organization he had personally founded had also dominated the globe, causing countless countries a headache.
And this owner of Villa Number One, Chen Fan, rumored to be a live-in son-in-law, was actually the Lord of the Night?
"You don't believe it?"
Chen Fan asked with a smile.
As they spoke, a shadow quietly appeared and entered the study, saying respectfully, "My King, the intruders have all been dealt with!"
This person had an ordinary face and a small build; it was the one who had led the Duke and his men in earlier.
Chen Fan nodded. "Shadow, well done!"
The Duke felt Shadow looked somewhat familiar. Upon closer thought, he realized he had seen him several times during the past two days while monitoring Villa Number One.
However, at that time, Shadow had appeared as a security guard.
And although Shadow was Caucasian, his disguise made him indistinguishable from an ordinary East Asian.
Realizing this, the Duke had no further doubts.
The name Shadow also held considerable renown in the global underworld.
"Thank you for your praise, my King!" Shadow said excitedly.
"Go interrogate the people from the Satan Mercenary Group and the Yakuza," Chen Fan instructed further. "Also, notify the Prophet to drive in. We need to handle the bodies and restore everything to its original state!"
"Your will be done, my King!"
Shadow bowed in response, then his figure vanished like a wisp of smoke.
Cold sweat soaked the Duke's back.
Whether it was the Lord of the Night, the Prophet, or Shadow, they were all figures who had once commanded the world and with whom he was utterly outmatched.
So, the question arose: did he still have a chance to live?
"I'll ask you only once: does the Crimson Wings have any Dragon Scale Compass fragments, or are they hired by someone?"
Chen Fan said to the Duke.
"Your answer will determine the fate of yourself and the Crimson Wings."
"No."
After his expression changed several times, the Duke finally chose to cooperate. "The employer for this mission is from North America. Their contact name is 'Rōnin.' We know nothing else."
Chen Fan nodded and said, "You've earned yourself a swift end, and the Crimson Wings will not be implicated because of this."
The Duke gave a bitter laugh and said nothing more.
Having confirmed that the man before him was the Lord of the Night, he knew these were not empty words.
Though the Dark Night organization had been dormant for a long time, destroying an organization like Crimson Wings, which was merely second-rate, was not difficult.
Furthermore, ever since he had joined the underworld and entered this line of work, he hadn't been particularly surprised by such a sudden death.
Without such a realization, he wouldn't have lived to see this day.
Chen Fan nodded and flicked his finger.
A surge of internal energy, like a bullet, pierced the Duke's forehead with clean efficiency.
Viper struggled to get up, attempting to escape, but Chen Fan merely waved his hand, and a surge of internal energy severed its neck.
Rubbing the Dragon Scale Compass in his hand, he walked out of the study.
Shadow was in the midst of interrogation; compared to Chen Fan, he was far less polite, eliciting screams from those he questioned.
A figure emerged from the basement; slender and voluptuous, it was Meiji.
"Is it over, my King?"
Meiji asked, looking at the scene within the room.
"Yes."
Chen Fan nodded and asked, "They haven't woken up, have they?"
"No!"
Meiji smiled. "They definitely won't wake up before dawn."
"Then you can start your work," Chen Fan said. "Clean up the blood and the mess, so that no one can tell anything happened here."
Meiji's face immediately fell. She hadn't gotten to fight, but she was stuck with this menial task?
"My King, should we bring some people to help clean?" Meiji asked.
"Do you want me to do it myself?" Chen Fan said.
Meiji offered a helpless, bitter smile and began to get busy.
Outside the main entrance, a truck driven by the Prophet and others had pulled in and stopped at the gate.
Corpses were being loaded onto the truck.
Of course, there were also those who were not dead, but Shadow would not be merciful; after interrogation, he would break their necks and throw them onto the vehicle.
Sand Knight and Snow Knight had not been brought along; they had been taken away by the Magician.
"My King, the Satan Mercenary Group was hired. They were contracted through the dark web, and they don't know who the employer is!"
"The Yakuza were also acting on orders. Their command came from Mitsui Yutaka of the Mitsui Consortium in Japan; he is the head of the consortium!"
Shadow reported.
The Mitsui Consortium, huh?
Chen Fan was not surprised by this.
While the specifics were unknown, it was highly likely that another Dragon Scale Compass fragment had fallen into Japan.
He now possessed three fragments, and with the one from the Bloody Church, that made four.
The remaining ones were one with the Mitsui Consortium, one with the Xu family's Millennium Royal Clan, and one with the mysterious "Rōnin" from North America.
The whereabouts of seven Dragon Scales were basically confirmed.
However, two more remained unaccounted for.
"What about the other people?" Chen Fan asked.
"The remaining individuals simply accepted tasks on the dark web for some excitement; they are not worth mentioning!" Shadow replied respectfully.
It was almost enough; he couldn't ask for too much.
Chen Fan smiled silently and said, "You go help with cleaning the house too. Don't leave any bloodstains, and open the doors to let in some air!"
Shadow, with a tearful face, went to help Meiji.
Titan drove the truck laden with bodies away; Chen Fan didn't need to inquire about its disposal.
"My King, we've obtained the Priest's Dragon Scale Compass fragment!"
The Prophet, while on the phone, walked over and said.
Chen Fan nodded and said, "Have Constantine send it over."
"We only captured three official members of the Bloody Church; there are still quite a few who escaped," the Prophet added.
Chen Fan waved his hand. "It's alright, my goal was the compass fragments."
"Then, My King, will you be returning?"
Taking a deep breath, the Prophet asked.
Chen Fan waved his hand. "I still have matters to attend to here. You can leave once you're finished."
The Prophet fell silent and said, "Every member of Dark Night awaits your return."
Chen Fan also paused for a moment and said, "Prophet, you have done exceptionally well. In Dark Night, you are actually more important than I am."
"Continue to do well. If you encounter any unsolvable troubles, you can contact me."
He didn't say more, but a wise man like the Prophet understood the answer.
He knew that the Lord of the Night didn't explicitly say he wouldn't return out of fear of disheartening his brothers and causing Dark Night to disintegrate.
After all, this man was the soul of Dark Night!