Chapter 561 - 561: 561. Return to Gold City

Gold City

Sammy's expression grew darker with every word from his subordinate's report, his face settling into a deep scowl.

"President Sammy, we still don't know where they got their information. Since yesterday, every shop we run in the city has come under attack, and any of our people who leave the city get jumped and go missing."

Sammy's brow furrowed into a hard line as he turned toward the window and fell silent.

Since the day before, the heads of every gray-market operation in Golden City outside of Paradise Group had somehow gotten wind that Paradise Group was preparing to swallow up the entire underworld trade in the city. True or not, the rumor was enough to send the other factions into open conflict with Paradise Group. As the saying goes, cutting off a man's livelihood is as good as killing his own parents — especially when the stakes were this high. Paradise Group's shops and properties had been under assault since yesterday, and even the Hospital hadn't been spared, its front doors and windows smashed in.

Sammy rose to his feet, drew a slow breath, and spoke with icy calm. "Who else could it be? Only three parties knew this information — us, the Xie family, and Som. We'd hardly cause ourselves this kind of trouble, so it's either the Xie family or Som behind it."

"They're sending us a message. They've thrown a few pawns forward to test the waters, to see where our limits are."

Sammy had read the situation at a glance.

It was plain enough that both Wynne and Som resented Giovanni's uncompromising stance, but with his terrifying strength looming over them, neither had dared to challenge him openly. All they could do was work in the shadows, leaking information through their people to stir up trouble for Paradise Group instead.

"When does Edwin get back?" Sammy asked.

What mattered most right now was having someone strong enough to steady the situation before any counterattack could begin.

"Tomorrow."

"Good. Understood..." Sammy nodded.

Bang!

Just then, with a sharp crack, the window in front of him shattered under the force of a fireball, glass exploding outward in every direction. Several shards tore into Sammy's face, opening a deep, bleeding gash.

"President Sammy!"

"I'm fine." The wound burned, but Sammy bore it without a flicker of expression.

He walked to the broken window in silence and looked out into the night. In the darkness, two shapes stood out clearly — a human figure and a blazing red Pokémon beside them. The figure looked up at Sammy in the window, drew a finger across their throat, then turned to leave — but not before ordering the Fire-type Pokémon at their side to hurl one more fireball his way.

"Watch out!" The middle-aged man beside Sammy released a Blastoise, which absorbed the blast before it could reach him.

"They've crossed a line," the man said grimly, staring after the retreating figure.

"Money moves men's hearts. Take away someone's livelihood, and you'd better be ready for them to fight to the death over it." Sammy crouched down, sifting through the broken glass until he found a shard he liked the look of. "Hold onto this piece for me. Keep it on you."

"President Sammy..."

"And tell everyone — no one leaves unless it's absolutely necessary," Sammy said coldly. "Oh, and call the police while you're at it."

With that done, Sammy picked up his phone and placed calls to both Wynne and Som, wanting to gauge their reactions and settle, once and for all, who was truly behind this.

Wynne? Som? Or both of them together?

Golden City.

Wynne sat alone in his study, gazing absently at the deep red wine glass on the table before him.

Golden City's underworld ran on five major trades: gambling fraud, money laundering, organ trafficking, human trafficking, and Pokémon smuggling — alongside smaller rackets in stolen data, hacking, information brokering, and contract killing. Of the five, gambling and fraud belonged to Som, human trafficking and Pokémon smuggling to the Xie family, and Paradise Group held only organ trafficking.

When Giovanni first proposed folding all of it under Paradise Group's control, Som and Wynne had bristled at the idea — but with Giovanni's fearsome strength hanging over them, they'd had no real choice but to agree. Now that Giovanni was gone, other ideas had started to take root.

They couldn't defy him outright, but they could still nudge their people into action. A few carefully placed leaks were all it took — the rest of the underworld would do the fighting for them, and neither Wynne nor Som would ever need to show their face.

Paradise Group wanted the whole pie. Whether it actually had what it took to hold onto it was another matter entirely.

"Master, word just came in," the old butler murmured beside him. "Sammy took a minor injury. Nothing serious."

"That — reckless as ever. Som needs to keep his people on a shorter leash, or at least make a show of trying." Wynne allowed himself a faint smile before picking up his phone to call Som. Whether or not Som actually caught up with Song Pa hardly mattered — he just needed to look like he was doing something.

Sec

Jacob sat back on the soft cabin sofa, gazing out at the stars stretched across the sky ten thousand meters below.

Nearby, Edwin was speaking sharply into his phone, listening as his people relayed the string of incidents that had struck Paradise Group over the past few days.

"I'll be back tomorrow. Tell my second uncle to hold off — don't do anything rash until I'm there." Edwin's expression had turned hard, an unmistakable edge of killing intent in his eyes.

Jacob glanced over. "What's happened with your second uncle?"

"Someone leaked word that Paradise Group was moving to absorb every gray trade in Golden City. The other factions turned on us over it, and our people have been getting hit ever since. My second uncle was even attacked at home just now — only a minor injury, but still." Edwin's voice was cold. "I don't even need to guess. It's the Xie family and Som, no question."

"Money moves men's hearts. That's nothing unusual." Jacob's tone stayed even — friction like this was exactly what he'd expected when folding the gray trades together. "Do you have a plan?"

"Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys." Edwin's smile turned cold. "Good a chance as any to show off what Gigantamax Charizard can do, and give Wynne and Som a bit of a surprise."

Jacob shook his head, smiling faintly at that. Edwin really was one of a kind. Back when they'd first met, everyone else had worn masks and dark robes, keeping even their strongest Pokémon hidden away, terrified of being recognized. Edwin, meanwhile, had shown his face without a second thought and led with his strongest ace, Baxcalibur, no cards held back. Now, having just caught a Gigantamax Charizard, he wasn't interested in saving it as a secret weapon — he wanted to make an entrance with it instead.

With a personality that bold, maybe it was time to start sending him on more jobs suited to being seen. Let him build himself a name — and build one for Team Rocket while he was at it.

"Mm. I'd planned on heading straight back to China, but given what's happened, I'll come to Golden City with you instead." Jacob's voice was steady. "We'll land in Golden City tomorrow night. I look forward to seeing what you can do."

"I won't disappoint you."

… … … …