Chapter 56: You Call This Having a Little Bit of Money? A Little Bit of Status?

A crow cawed!

An uninvited guest arrived at the landscape courtyard.

The uninvited guest held a card, passing effortlessly through the invisible barrier.

Among the entire landscape courtyard, only one villa had its lights on.

The distinguished Black Gold VIP must be right there.

In just a few strides, the uninvited guest reached the outside of the villa and stepped into the living room.

Chen Mu and the Capitalist Phantom, who were sitting inside, looked toward the front door upon hearing someone arrive.

When the Capitalist Phantom recognized the newcomer, it froze completely.

It rubbed its eyes and looked again carefully, thinking it must be seeing things.

The uninvited guest was none other than the manager of the Fallen Mall!

One must know that Chen Mu was the Fallen Mall's sole Supreme Black Gold VIP!

Upon receiving Chen Mu's card, the manager of the Fallen Mall did not dare to delay and had rushed over to the landscape courtyard at top speed.

Since the landscape courtyard was located in a wealthy district very close to the Fallen Mall, the manager was the first to arrive.

Recognizing the manager of the Fallen Mall, the Capitalist Phantom was utterly terrified!

As one of the phantoms, the Capitalist Phantom was well aware of the immense weight and influence of the Fallen Mall!

In this city, the ruling factions included:

Midnight Hotel, Dark Night High School, Dread Hospital, Fallen Mall... and the Misty Museum, which held an aloof and detached status, rumored to be the residence of a powerful Phantom General.

No matter how one looked at it, the Fallen Mall undoubtedly held a secure place among the city's top factions!

Naturally, the strength and status of the Fallen Mall's manager were extraordinary!

The Capitalist Phantom had always wanted to become a member of the Fallen Mall, but unfortunately lacked sufficient spending, leaving it a regular customer to this day. Even catching a glimpse of the manager would normally result in rejection.

Why would the manager suddenly run all the way here?

Could it be... that he was Chen Mu's... friend?

Thinking of this, a chill crept into the Capitalist Phantom's heart.

What was going on with Chen Mu? Didn't he say his friends were just ordinary people? That they only had a little bit of money and status...

Do you call *this* "a little bit"?

The representative of a top-tier city faction—the manager of the Fallen Mall—and you call that "a little bit of status"?

???

"Mr. Chen, you are our Supreme Black Gold VIP. On behalf of the Fallen Mall, I have come to congratulate you on your housewarming. Please accept this small gift as a token of the Fallen Mall's sincerity."

With that, the manager produced a small box and handed it to Chen Mu.

Inside the box lay a spectral jade worth a million!

Chen Mu accepted the gift with a cheerful smile.

Hearing their exchange, the Capitalist Phantom beside them was startled.

A Supreme Black Gold VIP?

That wasn't something you could get just by having money!

***

An ominous premonition welled up inside the Capitalist Phantom. It looked at Chen Mu, only to find Chen Mu staring right back at it with a grinning smile.

Suddenly, the Capitalist Phantom's heart skipped a beat, and it felt that things were going terribly wrong.

This kid Chen Mu... little brother, seemed to have "a little bit" of background after all!

Before the manager could even take a seat, another crow's caw echoed from the villa's roof.

Someone else was here?

A moment later, a female phantom in a red dress walked into the villa, accompanied by six phantom-chief-level security guards.

"Li Xiaoxiao, manager of Midnight Hotel, has come to congratulate my master on his housewarming."

Midnight Hotel?

Why was it yet another top faction!

The Capitalist Phantom's vision went dark. The Midnight Hotel was a newly rising faction, and it hadn't had the time to investigate it thoroughly yet.

Word had it that the boss behind the Midnight Hotel seemed to be a human, and his surname was Chen...

What did Li Xiaoxiao just call Chen Mu? Master?

Could it be... that Chen Mu was the boss of the Midnight Hotel?

The Capitalist Phantom felt like crying without tears; it realized it had been deeply deceived.

"A little bit of money."

"A little bit of influence."

Chen Mu's definition of "a little bit" seemed rather different from everyone else's...

Right at that moment, another crow cawed from atop the villa's roof.

Hearing the crow, the Capitalist Phantom gave a violent shudder.

Every time the crow cawed, a monstrously powerful figure showed up. Could another big shot with "a little bit of status" be arriving?

Sure enough!

A few seconds later, a potbellied, bald-headed middle-aged man walked into the villa with a ingratiating smile.

The principal of Dark Night High School!

The Capitalist Phantom recognized him instantly! Its child wanted to enter the key class of Dark Night High School, and it had been pulling every possible string and trying every method to slip bribes to the principal.

Before the connections could be fully established and the money handed over, the principal himself had come knocking on the door.

The bad news was that the principal wasn't visiting the Capitalist Phantom—he was visiting Chen Mu!

With a single sentence from the principal, the Capitalist Phantom nearly dropped dead on the spot.

"The principal of Dark Night High School has come to congratulate School Board Member Director Chen on his housewarming."

A school board member!

Chen Mu was actually a school board member!

The Capitalist Phantom's vision darkened, and it nearly suffered a fatal stroke right then and there.

It looked at Chen Mu, feeling an urge to cry without tears.

At this moment, only a single sentence echoed in the Capitalist Phantom's mind:

"A little bit of money, a little bit of status, just ordinary people..."

***

At this very moment, the Capitalist Phantom truly understood the cruelty of human—or rather, ghostly—nature.

To put it bluntly, the Capitalist Phantom was merely a merchant without any immense backing; its sole reliance was these dozen-odd villas in the landscape courtyard.

Every single person present—whether it was the manager of the Fallen Mall, Li Xiaoxiao of the Midnight Hotel, or the principal of Dark Night High School—possessed a colossal background.

To put it mildly, it couldn't afford to offend a single one of them.

The good news: it hadn't offended any of these three.

The bad news: it had thoroughly and utterly offended the ultimate boss standing above all three of them—Chen Mu.

Before the Capitalist Phantom could recover from its shock, another crow's caw rang out from the villa's roof.

Damn it!

Would this ever end!

The Capitalist Phantom's mind went completely numb!

Three guests had come, each one more formidable than the last.

As for what kind of identity the fourth guest might possess, the Capitalist Phantom didn't even dare to imagine.

The Capitalist Phantom only knew one thing: there was an eighty percent chance it was going to meet its end here today.

A moment later, a powerful ghostly aura swept in from outside the villa.

Even as a phantom chief, it found this ghostly aura difficult to withstand. The Capitalist Phantom sensed extreme danger.

With an aura like this, the entity's strength far surpassed that of a phantom chief!

Could it be that the newcomer was... a Phantom General?

The next second, the Duke's figure appeared at the entrance of the villa.

"Brother Chen Mu, I received your invitation and came specially to check out your new home and congratulate you on your housewarming."

The Capitalist Phantom was about to crack; it almost burst into tears on the spot.

This was sheer bullying against phantoms!

The Capitalist Phantom's psychological defenses completely collapsed.

I just asked you to drum up a few heads for business, and you called in four friends—three of whom were representatives of top factions, and the fourth was directly the strongest Phantom General in the entire city!

You summoned every single top-tier bigwig in the entire city with a single word!

Chen Mu, you're bullying a ghost here, playing the old trick of pretending to be weak while hiding your true power, aren't you?

I'm just a guy who sells villas; how could I ever afford to provoke you?

At this point, the Capitalist Phantom suddenly recalled something Chen Mu had said earlier:

"If you still want to collect money from me by then, I'll definitely give every single penny back to you."

Back then, the Capitalist Phantom had laughed at Chen Mu for being a fool, thinking to itself how it could possibly refuse money. Only a fool turns down profit.

But now!

Even if Chen Mu shoved money into its hands, it would have to drop to its knees, kowtow to Chen Mu, and beg him to take the money back!