Chapter 846: Gusta’s Vicious Plan!

After seeing Dolsen off, Li Yi furrowed his brow, his eyes filled with cold determination!

Just moments ago, Dolsen had laid bare the Sassoon family’s conspiracy against him and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

Li Yi had originally assumed they were merely engaging in a business ambush against the Chinese Chamber of Commerce’s various companies—manipulating stock prices to drive some firms into bankruptcy or strip them of controlling stakes—simply a matter of commercial competition.

But he never could have imagined that the business attacks were merely one part of the plan; what was truly vicious were their second and third steps.

According to Dowson, Gusta’s most important mission on this trip consisted of three parts. The first was to target Li Yi himself, ideally driving his Star Investment Company into bankruptcy.

The second was to dismantle the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, completely shattering this business alliance and eliminating the threat it posed to the British-owned conglomerate.

The third was to make money and recoup the losses suffered recently in the London market.

To accomplish these objectives, those individuals not only allocated substantial funds but also brought in numerous assassins and mercenaries from Europe, while simultaneously making contact with local triad organizations on Hong Kong Island.

That’s right—the Sassoon family was preparing to play dirty.

Whether it was Gusta or other high-ranking members of the Sassoon family, they all believed that Li Yi and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce had become too powerful; simple business warfare would no longer be enough to force them to submit.

Therefore, they decided to resort to unconventional means—a principle they had long adhered to: if you can’t solve the problem, eliminate the person causing it.

While Gusta prepared to launch a frontal stock market attack against Chinese Estates, Wharf Holdings, New Territories Warehouse, and Hang Seng Bank, he also directed these forces to launch a full-scale assault on Li Yi’s Shield Security Company.

To this end, they drew up a list of targets for elimination, including Yan Guangming, Yang Wenguang, Jin Junze, Huang Zhan, and Liang Cang—all key members of Shield Security.

This move was not only intended to eliminate Li Yi’s “support network” on Hong Kong Island, but more importantly, to make an example of them and intimidate the members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

Gusta and the Sassoon family behind him intended to use these bloody and tyrannical methods to make it clear to the members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce that Hong Kong Island was still their territory, where they could do as they pleased.

Additionally, they had devised an assassination plan targeting Li Yi, Huang Lixing, and others!

However, this plan was their last resort, to be used only if all other plans failed.

After all, the Sassoon family didn’t want to completely alienate the communist regime backing Li Yi. They knew their family still had significant business interests across Asia, and if they were targeted by that regime, it would be a major headache.

After learning the full extent of that Gustave’s plan, Li Yi’s only reaction was rage.

These Westerners were truly ruthless—unable to win in the marketplace, they resorted to underhanded tactics. It was nothing short of banditry.

But then again, it made sense. This family had built its fortune on the opium trade and the slave trade; from the very beginning, they had been inextricably linked to violence and crime. How could one expect them to abide by any business ethics?

Fortunately, Li Yi had never let his guard down around these foreigners from the very beginning; otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent his brother-in-law and Yan Guangming over.

Besides, the current strength of Aegis Security is far beyond what those foreigners could ever imagine.

Li Yi had originally intended to engage in a fair business battle with them, but since these guys wanted to play dirty, he would show them exactly what “thunderous measures” meant!

With that in mind, Li Yi immediately had Li Futiao, Huang Lixing, Yan Guangming, and Yang Wenguang summoned—he needed to run this by all of them.

As for the others, there was no need to involve them for the time being; too many cooks spoil the broth, and it was easy for word to leak out.

After all, his collaboration with Dolsen required strict confidentiality; if Gusta caught wind of anything unusual, things would get complicated.

“Knock, knock, knock…”

Just as Li Yi was deep in thought, a soft knock sounded at the door of the reception room.

“Come in!”

As the door swung open, Li Futao and the others filed in one after another.

After ushering the four men inside, Zhang Ziqiang promptly closed the door behind them and stood guard outside like a door god, preventing anyone from eavesdropping.

“Have a seat!”

Once everyone had taken their seats, Li Futiao turned to Li Yi and said, “Brother Li Yi, the banquet downstairs has already begun. Aren’t you going to make an appearance?”

Huang Lixing chimed in, “That’s right. You’re the star of the show today. Everyone’s waiting for you to go down and say a few words!”

Li Yi smiled and said, “There’s no rush for that. Let’s handle the important business first!”

“What could possibly be more important than this?” Li Futiao asked with a laugh.

“Dorson just came by!” Li Yi suddenly said, dropping a bombshell.

Since Dolsen had come and gone entirely through the underground parking garage of Cloudtop One, Li Fuzhao and the others had no idea that Li Yi had abruptly ended the meeting just to see him.

“He… what did he come for?” Li Futiao frowned.

“He wants to partner with me!”

Li Yi then proceeded to explain in detail the purpose of Dolsen’s visit.

After hearing Li Yi’s account, Huang Lixing was the first to lose his composure. He shouted angrily, “Those bastards actually dared to play dirty tricks. I’ll chop them to pieces!”

Yan Guangming and Yang Wenguang also furrowed their brows, a glint of murderous intent flashing in their eyes, but they remained silent.

Li Futiao, after all, was a man who had weathered many storms. He didn’t rush to call for bloodshed but paused to reflect before saying, “Old Huang, don’t get ahead of yourself! Hong Kong is still our Hong Kong. If they want to play these underhanded games, we’ll just play along with them!”

“What I’m wondering now is why Dolsen would tell us all this. What’s in it for him? Could there be a trick to this?”

Yan Guangming chimed in, “Chairman Li makes a good point. Dalson isn’t just one of the Sassoon heirs—he’s also the head of the British-owned conglomerate. He has no reason to choose to cooperate with us at this moment and betray his own kin!”

My brother-in-law, Yang Wenguang, added, “Unless… unless Dolsen isn’t on the same side as those foreigners trying to take us down, or unless he stands to gain a massive benefit from this!”

Li Yi nodded and said, “My brother-in-law is right. Dolsen wants to be the Sassoon family’s heir, but this Gusta, who was sent to deal with us, doesn’t support him. Although they’re from the same family, they’re not on the same side!”

“If we take care of Gusta, it’ll be a good thing for him. More importantly, Dolsen doesn’t want to waste his energy tangling with our Chinese Merchants’ Association!”

Li Fu Tiao paused briefly, then said, “I never expected this guy to be so ruthless—he’d actually betray his own kin for personal gain!”

“You’ll get used to it!”

Li Yi, however, found this perfectly normal.

The Sassoon family’s method of grooming an heir is quite common in Europe.

It’s like raising poisonous insects: you put several venomous creatures together and let them fight to the death, all to select the strongest and most venomous one.

If you aren’t ruthless, forget about rising to the top—surviving at all is a question mark.

The struggle for the throne is inherently brutal—just think of the Nine Princes’ Struggle for the Throne during the Qing Dynasty; aside from the victorious Fourth Prince, few of the others met a peaceful end.

The fact that Dolsen managed to make it to the final round among a dozen or so heirs proves he’s a ruthless man; it’s only natural that he would betray his rivals for personal gain.

“So, does that mean Dolsen really wants to cooperate with us?” Li Fu asked.

“That seems to be the case, though we can’t rule out the possibility that he’s deliberately trying to mislead us—though that’s highly unlikely!” Li Yi replied.

“Brother Li Yi, what should we do then?” Li Futao asked.

“Since these Westerners don’t want to play by the rules of fair business competition, we don’t have to stick to them either!”

Li Yi then turned his gaze to Yan Guangming and his brother-in-law and asked, “What’s the situation with Shield Security? How many people do they have? Can they handle the current situation?”

As Shield Security was the primary target of those mercenaries and assassins, Li Yi was quite concerned about their situation.

After all, the security firm had already begun operations on Hong Kong Island, and there were plenty of opportunities for hidden enemies to strike against them.

However, what Yan Guangming said next left Li Yi and the others completely dumbfounded…

………