Chapter 857: Li Yi’s Three Conditions!

The Governor’s Office!

The elderly Governor had gone to bed early, but was awakened in the dead of night by the urgent ringing of the telephone.

When he answered the phone, seething with anger and ready to give the bastard who’d disturbed his sleep a piece of his mind, he heard a voice that was both familiar and terrifying.

It was that fellow named Li Yi calling. His demonic voice seemed to be etched deep into the Governor’s mind, making it impossible for him to ever forget it.

Then, as he listened to the young man on the other end of the line briefly recount the situation in a cold, sharp tone, the Governor’s anger instantly turned to cold sweat.

The Sassoon family had targeted that young man across the strait and even hired hitmen to kill him, but not only did they fail to kill him, they were caught red-handed.

“Are they fucking asking for trouble?”

If that guy could really be taken out through underhanded means, the Sassoon family wouldn’t even have had to lift a finger—he, the Governor, would have met his end long ago.

But that’s out of the question. Who would dare use such underhanded tactics against a man backed by dozens of warships from the mainland?

If anyone did, they’d have to face the full wrath of the mainland government!

I simply cannot do that!

What’s even more of a headache for the Governor is that the young man is now demanding that the Governor’s Office and the police immediately intervene and apprehend the culprit.

This truly put him in a bind. If he sent men to Castle Manor to make an arrest, he would inevitably offend the Sassoon family.

And then there’s the family behind Henry—they’re no pushover either.

Among these powerful factions, the Liu family is likely the weakest.

But if he did nothing, the consequences would be just as severe.

Setting aside the risk of offending Li Yi and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the more critical issue was that this was a serious criminal offense.

If he, as Governor of Hong Kong, failed to act, and the matter came to light, the credibility of the Governor’s Office and the police force would suffer severe damage, and the government’s public trust would be completely destroyed.

If word of this reached London, he, as Governor, would have to pack his bags and leave.

Caught between offending a powerful business family and facing dismissal, the Governor felt as if he were being roasted over a fire.

One wrong move, and the consequences would extend far beyond his career—they could even cost him his life.

Sitting in the grand living room of his home, the Governor pondered the situation for a full half-hour. Finally, he dialed the head of the police department and ordered him to immediately mobilize officers to make the arrest.

After making that call, the Governor collapsed onto the sofa, deflated like a punctured balloon.

He knew that from this moment on, he had thoroughly alienated the Sassoon family.

After all, in all these years, no Governor had ever sent police to that place to make an arrest. Even when members of the Sassoon family had shot Chinese people in broad daylight in the past, no one had dared to go there to make an arrest; they had simply paid some compensation to settle the matter.

But now, by setting this precedent—regardless of who was right or wrong—he had effectively dragged the Sassoon family’s honor through the mud.

At the same time, the Governor understood that this was the young man’s objective—he was forcing him to take sides.

Of course, he could choose to refuse.

But clearly, the young man had a backup plan; this matter might well escalate into a serious diplomatic incident.

If that were to happen, the consequences would be far beyond his ability to bear.

Although the Governor was unfamiliar with the saying “choose the lesser of two evils,” he understood the principle. In the end, he chose his own future.

With orders from the Governor’s Office, the police department naturally dared not delay. A large contingent of officers was assembled and, under the leadership of several senior superintendents, proceeded to the address to make the arrest.

Back at the Castle Estate, Dolsen, the Earl, and Gusta were all still awake, waiting for news.

Of course, they were each waiting for different news.

Gusta was waiting for news that the mercenaries and assassins had raided the Cloud Peak Villa District and killed Li Yi, while Dolsen and the Jazz were waiting for news that Li Yi had successfully fought back.

However, just as they waited anxiously, more than a dozen police cars arrived at Castle Manor and surrounded the estate.

The officers then forced open the estate’s gates and stormed inside to make arrests.

Gusta and the dozen or so team members he had brought with him didn’t even have a chance to resist before they were all arrested; even Dolsen, Jazz, and the others were taken back to the police station.

On the other side of the city, Henry, Chairman of the Board and General Manager of Huifeng Bank, was also arrested at his home.

Also arrested was Liu Zhenxiong, the head of Ocean Shipping, along with the department manager in charge of ocean shipping operations, the captain of a certain ocean-going freighter, and quality inspectors, among others.

This night was destined to be sleepless!

………

The next morning!

The residents of Hong Kong Island had barely woken up when they were hit with a massive bombshell: after failing to seize control of the company, the second-largest shareholder of New Territories Warehouse had actually hired a hitman—and had since been taken into custody by the police.

At the same time, the media exposed a slew of “scandals” involving New Territories Warehouse’s management company.

With shareholder discord and scandals erupting one after another, the impact on the company’s stock price was immense.

Under the relentless barrage of newspaper reports, by the time the stock market opened, New Territories Warehouse’s already precarious stock price could no longer hold, and it began to plummet.

In less than half a day, the stock price had once again been cut in half!

Huifeng’s stock price was also affected. After news broke that Henry had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the assassination attempt on Li Yi, Huifeng’s stock price similarly took a hit and began to plummet.

Li Yi, however, ordered the company’s investment team to immediately enter the market and begin buying up shares of New Territory Warehouse and Huifeng Bank.

The Hong Kong stock market was thrown into chaos once again!

With Gusta, Henry, and Dolsen all under arrest, the British-owned conglomerate was left leaderless and utterly powerless to fend off the onslaught from Star Investment.

When Dolsons and the others were released from the police station that afternoon, they discovered that in less than a day, Star Investment had not only driven New Territories Warehouse’s stock price to rock bottom but had also acquired at least 10% of Huifeng’s shares.

Dawson had originally assumed that the police had rounded them all up because Li Yi wanted to take them all down at once.

But it now appeared he had misjudged the situation; that guy had had them all arrested simply to clear the way for this move.

Now that the other side’s plan was complete, they—as uninvolved bystanders—had been released.

Realizing that Gusta’s fate was sealed and that his life was in Li Yi’s hands, Dolsen immediately sent a telegram to his family in Europe, providing a detailed account of the situation.

The telegram reached Europe at exactly 8:00 a.m. local time.

Hearing this “devastating news” first thing in the morning, the Sassoon family’s top brass was stunned, and their good mood vanished in an instant.

Immediately, the head of the Sassoon family summoned the family’s senior members to discuss the matter.

After some deliberation, they ultimately decided to grant Dolsen and the Duke full authority to handle matters on Hong Kong Island, but they demanded that Dolsen guarantee, under no circumstances, that Gusta’s life would be spared.

With that, Dolsen officially replaced Gusta, taking over his 43% stake in New Territories Warehouse and nearly 7 billion Hong Kong dollars in funds.

Subsequently, Dolsen approached Li Yi once more and, on behalf of the family, began negotiations with him.

In response to Dolsen’s request to spare Gusta’s life, Li Yi put forward three conditions: First, the Sassoon family must transfer their 43% stake in New Territories Warehouse to Li Yi for 1 Hong Kong dollar as compensation for the assassination attempt.

Second, Gusta must personally publish an apology letter in all major media outlets on Hong Kong Island, apologizing for his attempt to assassinate Li Yi.

Finally, Gusta must serve at least five years in Hong Kong Island Prison.

After presenting these three conditions, Li Yi didn’t wait for a response from these Westerners; he left Hong Kong Island immediately—he was off to pick up his wife…

………