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The banquet ended.

On his way back to the inner hall, Lin Feng's communicator rang.

Duan Hongyuan.

"You little rascal, you've stirred up a huge scandal without making a sound."

Duan Hongyuan's tone was complex, containing both praise and a headache.

"The Beast Taming Alliance is a piece of fat meat that countless people have been eyeing for years. No one has been able to make a move on it for thirty years, but you, after just one trip, became the alliance leader."

Lin Feng tucked the communicator between his neck and shoulder, freeing up both hands to flip through the alliance's financial statements in front of him.

"Is someone unhappy?"

"There are plenty of unhappy people." Duan Hongyuan's voice turned somber. "This afternoon, the arbitration committee held an emergency meeting, and several veterans from the East China Sea Military Region jointly submitted a proposal."

"What proposal?"

"We say that you are both a second lieutenant in the military and the leader of the alliance, which creates an overlap in your roles and a conflict of interest. We recommend that you be stripped of your rank."

Lin Feng paused for a moment as he flipped through the report.

"Remove my military rank?"

"Yes. The reason is that national defense interests take precedence, and active-duty military officers are not allowed to simultaneously serve as the supreme leader of an independent armed group."

"That statement does contain a bit of fallacy."

Duan Hongyuan snorted. "Whether the logic is flawed or not is irrelevant; the key is that someone is pushing this. Those people in the East China Sea Military Region can't swallow their grudge against Gu Qingfeng. The impeachment case being dropped is useless; they've changed their approach to target you."

Lin Feng threw the financial statements on the table and leaned back in his chair.

"Chief of Staff Duan, I have just one question."

"ask."

"If they really strip me of my military rank, and I leave with the four Martial Saint beasts of the Beast Taming Alliance, would that be a good thing or a bad thing for the military?"

There was a full six seconds of silence on the other end of the communicator.

Lin Feng continued.

"I only acknowledge you and General Zhou Che. As for those others who only sit in their offices and point fingers, if they disagree, let them come to the Northern Border to find me. I will naturally reason with them in my own way."

Duan Hongyuan's breathing became heavier.

The old man on the other end of the phone was clearly going through a fierce internal struggle.

Ten seconds later, he made the decision.

"Fine. I'll take the blame for you. I'll handle the arbitration committee and deal with the people from Donghai, but you have to deliver results."

"become."

"Also, the alliance between the Beast Taming Alliance and the military will follow formal paperwork. I will have Qin Haotian draft a cooperation framework agreement. The alliance will maintain independent operation rights, but will be subject to the unified command of headquarters in military operations."

"Okay. But there's one condition: I'll decide how the alliance's resources are allocated; headquarters won't interfere."

Duan Hongyuan remained silent for another three seconds.

"make a deal."

It's over.

Lin Feng placed the communicator on the table and stared at the ceiling for five seconds.

Then he got up and walked out of the inner hall.

The four elders were waiting outside the hall.

Gongsun Yuan leaned closer, speaking in a low voice.

"Leader, what's the military's statement?"

"It's nothing serious. Someone tried to get my rank, but Chief of Staff Duan stood his ground."

Helian Shuang frowned.

"Eastern Naval Region?"

"Um."

Helian Shuang sneered, about to say something.

Lin Feng raised his hand to interrupt her.

"I'll handle things outside. You four, take care of the internal affairs."

He glanced at the four people.

"Within three days, report the entirety of the alliance's assets and debts, down to the last penny. Income, expenditures, debts, mineral vein ownership, fissure ownership, personnel, and material reserves—report it all to me. If you miss a single item, you'll be beheaded."

The four elders all bowed their heads.

"Yes."

Lin Feng turned and walked towards his residence.

After taking a few steps, he stopped again, turned around, and added a sentence.

"Especially the logistics department. I noticed something was off about the expression on your logistics manager's face. Investigate carefully."

three days later.

Tie Ying carried a stack of account books into the main hall, his steps slower than usual, each step revealing his unease.

Gongsun Yuan, Helian Shuang, and Duan Wuji stood on either side, their expressions not very good.

Lin Feng sat in the main seat, took the account book, and began to flip through it from the first page.

His fingers stopped when he turned to the third page.

"Of the three mining veins in the eastern part of the alliance, only one and a half are currently under actual control? Who controls the other one and a half?"

Gongsun Yuan cleared his throat. "The Chen family and the Sun family signed a 'joint development agreement' fifteen years ago, stipulating a 50/50 profit split, but in practice they took more than 70%."

Lin Feng continued flipping through the pages.

Page 7.

"The sale of C-grade fissure mineral cores was 40% lower than the market price per kilogram? Who were they sold to?"

Duan Wuji gripped his cane, his voice low. "The middlemen at the provincial martial arts association. They know we wouldn't dare to turn against the military, so they're keeping the price down."

Continue flipping through.

Page 12.

Lin Feng's page-turning speed became slower and slower.

He closed the ledger on page fifteen.

There was no table smashing.

But the indoor temperature dropped by two or three degrees.

"The cash on hand is less than 80 million."

"Yes."

"Foreign debt: 300 million."

"Yes."

"The annual maintenance fee for the four martial saint beasts is 1.2 billion."

"......yes."

"The Chen family, a second-rate family, controls 30% of the mineral veins? The cracks' output is being bought up at low prices by middlemen from the provincial capital? The forge is only operating at one-third capacity? One of the two third-grade alchemists in the pill refinery is already semi-retired?"

Gongsun Yuan lowered his head further and further.

Lin Feng slammed the account book onto the table.

It wasn't a violent smashing.

But the moment the blood and energy flowed into his palm, it shattered the entire wooden table into pieces.

"You are an elder with four Martial Saint-level beasts guarding your position..."

He stood up.

"What have you been doing in the mountains for the past thirty years? Living off your savings and getting ripped off? You're all Martial Saint level fighters, yet a few Martial King level merchants outside are riding roughshod over you?"

Helian Shuang gripped her sleeve tightly with her right hand, not daring to utter a sound.

Gongsun Yuan finally couldn't hold on any longer and knelt down on one knee with a thud.

"Alliance Leader, please calm your anger. After the old Alliance Leader disappeared, the alliance was leaderless. We feared that other forces would covet our legacy and bring about our annihilation, so we have been enduring this in silence all these years..."

"Endure?" Lin Feng looked down at him. "Endure until you're drowning in debt? Endure until you're completely exploited? You have four Martial Saint beasts at your disposal, who would dare provoke you? You don't even dare to show them?"

Gongsun Yuan's back bent even lower.

Duan Wuji's lips moved twice, but he ultimately remained silent.

Iron Eagle stood at the very back, his forehead covered in sweat.

The hall was silent for about ten seconds.

Lin Feng took a breath and suppressed his anger.

Despite the criticism, the matter still needs to be handled.

"Starting today, the alliance will undergo a complete overhaul."

He counted on his fingers.

"First, the maintenance fees for the four Martial Saint Beasts cannot be reduced; this is a matter of face for our alliance. Later, I will use the Eye of Ten Thousand Beasts to control the four sacred beasts, which will significantly reduce expenses."

Gongsun Yuan suddenly looked up.

"Second, all unequal agreements regarding mineral veins and fissure resources are hereby abolished. If the Chen and Sun families disagree, we will negotiate with them. If we cannot reach an agreement, I will go personally."

"Third, a major overhaul of the logistics system. I just went through the logistics department's accounts, and there are several discrepancies in the accounts."

He hadn't finished speaking.

A series of hurried footsteps and tearing sounds came from outside the door.

Two young animal trainers forced a man in his fifties into the room.

The man was wearing the Alliance's grey robes, but the hem was torn, and there was a fresh scratch on his face.

Logistics manager.

King Wu, 8th Dan.

Helian Shuang's distant cousin.

"Leader!" the young beast tamer gasped. "We went to the supply depot to inventory the provisions as you instructed, and found that three hidden compartments had been pried open, and everything inside was empty! We ran into the person trying to slip out the back door!"

The logistics manager struggled twice but couldn't break free, so he looked up and shouted at Helian Shuang.

"Sister Shuang! Say something! I'm your uncle!"

Helian Shuang's face twitched.

Lin Feng turned his gaze to her.

Helian Shuang gritted her teeth and turned her head to the side.

He didn't speak.

Lin Feng walked down the steps and stood in front of the logistics manager.

The logistics manager, seeing the eighteen-year-old approaching, finally realized something and raised his voice by three octaves.

"You're the new alliance leader? I've been in the alliance for over thirty years! All the elders have to call me Old Zhao! You're just a greenhorn."

The sword was drawn.

The logistics manager's words caught in his throat.

He looked down and saw a knife emitting a ghostly golden light held against his neck.

The dragon scale patterns pulsated, and the aura they emitted gave him goosebumps.

"What's missing from the warehouse?"

Lin Feng's voice was very flat.

The logistics manager's mouth trembled slightly.

At the door, another animal trainer ran in holding a list.

"Reporting to the Alliance Leader! A preliminary inventory reveals that the logistics warehouse is missing 37 portions of Grade A spiritual materials, 120 Grade C magic cores, and a quantity of pill ingredients, with a market value of approximately 24 million!"

Twenty-four million.

The alliance's total funds are less than 80 million.

This person moved almost a third of the way by himself.

Lin Feng sheathed his sword, turned around, and walked back up the steps.

"Take him to the square. We'll deal with him in person at the company-wide meeting tomorrow."

The logistics manager was dragged out.

After the door closed, Lin Feng turned around and glanced at Helian Shuang.

Helian Shuang's face turned ashen, but she did not plead for mercy.

She knew better than anyone that speaking up at this time would be digging her own grave.