As a senior executive of the Ordinary Alliance, Wang Chen was in charge of this branch and all the surrounding personnel, outposts, and industries.
Each year, after meeting the minimum quota, he would receive thirty percent of the net profit, with the remaining seventy percent submitted to the headquarters of the Ordinary Alliance. Of course, authority and profit came hand in hand with responsibility.
Routine matters were handled by Soul King– or Soul Emperor–level deacons, but whenever a major issue arose, he, as a high-ranking official, had to step in personally.
As for why he had joined the Ordinary Alliance, the reason was simple—Wang Chen needed manpower.
As one of the high-ranking figures within the alliance, Wang Chen's position was equivalent to that of a regional governor. Within the area under his jurisdiction, he wielded tremendous power.
Using that authority, Wang Chen had secretly recruited a number of Mingdu's underground thugs to work for him. These people had no idea who their true superior was; all connections operated on single-line contact.
Meaning—Wang Chen knew them, but they didn't know Wang Chen.
The purpose of this was to prevent anyone from tracing him if, in the future, he exposed Crown Prince Xu Tiannan's impotence and someone tried to investigate the source.
Furthermore, even Wang Chen's identity and name within the Ordinary Alliance were completely fake. Everything about him was fabricated.
He had even altered his appearance through facial muscle manipulation techniques, turning his normally handsome features into something fierce and menacing.
Even if, one day, someone managed to follow the clues and uncover his false identity, it wouldn't matter—
by then, Wang Chen would already be long gone.
Over the past three years, Wang Chen had fully prepared for the family crisis to come—in both strength and influence…
He rose from his office chair and infused soul power into the golden soul tool ring on his right hand.
In the next instant, the six black soul rings around him transformed into the standard seven-ring sequence of yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.
Satisfied, Wang Chen nodded slightly.
This golden soul tool ring had no offensive or defensive power whatsoever. Its sole function was to generate false imagery, allowing Wang Chen to better conceal his identity.
After that, he adjusted his black robe, straightened the mask on his face, and walked out of the office.
Outside, a beautiful female deacon with an alluring figure, appearing to be in her early thirties, hurried over as soon as she saw him.
"Sir," she said anxiously, "people from the Evening Water Alliance are causing trouble again. This time, the one who came is their branch leader, a Soul Sage–level powerhouse named Zhang Ming.
He's currently blocking the entrance to our branch, demanding an explanation.
He claims that his guests have all run over to us, so we must compensate for his losses. And he's asking for five hundred thousand gold soul coins right off the bat!"
Wang Chen's expression instantly turned cold.
Zhang Ming thinks I'm easy to push around?
Five hundred thousand gold soul coins—the annual profit of his entire branch was barely that amount!
At present, the underground of Mingdu was ruled by three great powers: the Ordinary Alliance, the Odu Chamber of Commerce, and the Evening Water Alliance.
Behind the Ordinary Alliance stood the great nobles of Mingdu.
Behind the Odu Chamber of Commerce stood the Sun Moon Empire's military.
And behind the Evening Water Alliance stood the Holy Spirit Cult.
Among these three, the Evening Water Alliance had risen to prominence in recent years—it was now the most aggressive and expansionist force, constantly swallowing up smaller underground factions.
Because of this, the Ordinary Alliance and the Odu Chamber of Commerce had reached an unspoken understanding to resist it together.
Although the Evening Water Alliance resented being jointly suppressed, there wasn't much it could do.
After all, while the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters were frighteningly powerful, the nobles and military of the Sun Moon Empire were equally formidable.
Moreover, the Holy Spirit Cult currently operated within the empire under a collaborative relationship—if they were to truly offend the nobles and military, it would bring serious consequences.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit Cult, the nobles, and the military all tacitly agreed to let their "dogs"—no, their three underground forces—keep their conflicts within a certain range.
They could fight, but not to the death. There was competition, but not malicious destruction—a tacit understanding to divide the profits of the underground world.
Because of this, Wang Chen didn't fear the Evening Water Alliance in the slightest. As long as things didn't get out of hand, the powers behind the scenes wouldn't interfere.
He said coldly to the female deacon,
"An explanation? Zhang Ming isn't even worthy of that. Can't earn money with his own skills, so he comes here to throw a tantrum? Ridiculous."
The female deacon looked worried and said softly,
"Sir, that Zhang Ming is extremely powerful. The previous branch leader wasn't even his match. Please be careful."
Wang Chen sneered,
"I want to see just how capable he really is."
With that, he strode forward, and the female deacon quickly followed.
When they reached the entrance of the branch, they saw a tall, thin middle-aged man standing there, surrounded by a group of subordinates in white robes, all exuding a hostile aura.
As soon as Zhang Ming saw Wang Chen emerge, his eyes narrowed.
This new branch leader of the Ordinary Alliance, known publicly as Song Yu—Wang Chen's false identity—had come up with many clever strategies, causing the alliance's business in this region to flourish.
As a result, Zhang Ming's own profits had plummeted, and most of his customers had switched to doing business with Song Yu.
That alone made him furious and envious.
But what really infuriated him was that, as the branch leader of the Evening Water Alliance, he had to turn in a hefty sum of profits to headquarters each year.
If the amount was insufficient, he would be punished.
Just thinking of the cruel, twisted, and deranged evil soul masters behind him made Zhang Ming's entire body tense with dread.
If not for the seal placed on his soul by those evil soul masters when he was younger, he would have run away long ago.
But since he couldn't escape, he could only try to survive as best as he could.
Putting on a friendly smile, Zhang Ming said,
"You must be Song Yu, the new branch leader of the Ordinary Alliance, correct? I came today just to reason with you.
We may belong to different factions, but we're all operating in the same area. We see each other all the time. If you take all the business, how are we supposed to explain ourselves?"
But before Zhang Ming could continue, Wang Chen had no patience for his pointless chatter.
He cut him off coldly,
"Zhang Ming, stop wasting my time with meaningless talk. You're here for money, aren't you?
If you can defeat me, I'll hand over five hundred thousand gold soul coins with both hands!
But if you lose, I want all the soul tools on you!"
Hearing that, Zhang Ming's expression hardened.
As a Soul Sage, his soul tools were all extremely valuable—the cheapest among them worth tens of thousands of gold soul coins, while his most expensive piece was valued at over one hundred thousand.
If he lost, the losses would be enormous.
Seeing Zhang Ming hesitate, Wang Chen mocked him,
"If you're scared, then hurry up and get out of my sight. Don't stand there being an eyesore."
At that, Zhang Ming's rage exploded.
He might fear the evil soul masters behind him—but did that mean he should fear some unknown branch leader of the Ordinary Alliance?
He knew almost all the top Soul Sages in Mingdu, and this "Song Yu" was clearly a new face—likely just a recently promoted Soul Sage.
I tried to be polite, but you had to act arrogant?
Zhang Ming's soul power surged violently, his expression twisting with fury.
He, Zhang Ming, possessed Rank 76 soul power—among Soul Sages, he was considered an upper-tier powerhouse.
Among his peers, he feared no one except the strange and wicked evil soul masters, or those with top-tier martial souls or genius-level soul engineers.
And now, this no-name branch leader dared to talk big in front of him?
"Who gave you the courage to act arrogant before me?!"