Chapter 581 - 339: In Dubai, the Forceful and Domineering Lin Chu

"Brother Chu, you were looking for me?"

After closing the door to the inner room, Ma Teng asked in a low voice.

"Big meetings for small matters, small meetings for big matters—that's the truth."

Don't mind all the people from the big meeting. A task was assigned—the Solomon Islands. It sounded impressive, but this, right here and now, was the real main event.

"Just a small thing."

"I want you to form a team and, at any cost, reconstruct a person's entire life for me: their upbringing, career, family, subordinates, friends... everything."

Lin Chu casually handed him a cigarette and smiled, his expression calm and nonchalant.

'If you dig deep enough, there are no secrets in this world.'

Someone like Liszt was worthy of such close attention.

"Is it... Liszt?"

Ma Teng guessed quickly. He had been there when Lin Chu bought the Yuan Blue-and-White Porcelain. And while he hadn't witnessed what happened next, piecing together all the subsequent events made it glaringly obvious.

"Bingo. It's him."

"Remember that Black man at the auction who was bidding against us for the porcelain? I suggest starting with him."

"Also, I caught a few people when I disembarked. They're leads, too."

"He sold other collectibles at the auction before. Those are all clues."

"Of course, you can use other channels too—hackers, the dark web, you name it. The budget is unlimited... That's the gist of it. Be quick. I want to see the results before the end of the year."

Lin Chu's demeanor was calm, but his instructions were meticulously detailed. If he was going to investigate, he would leave no stone unturned.

Ma Teng licked his lips and gave a firm nod. "Got it. I'll get started right away. Is there anything else?"

"Also... watch our own people. Sly old foxes like him are masters of bribery, threats, and temptation... He has a major advantage when it comes to information and communications. We need to prepare ahead of time. It'd be best to find a domestic communications company to create a custom-built secure system for us."

Lin Chu added.

Although his own home was now secure, with all network signals encrypted, he couldn't say the same for other areas.

Objectively speaking, this was now... no-holds-barred competition.

All the overt rules were now null and void.

Without the powerful security umbrella of a nation-state, without a first-mover advantage, and without the foundation built up over decades of development, they had to rely solely on themselves.

Some things could be borrowed, but for others, self-reliance was the only way.

"Alright, that's no problem..."

After agreeing once more, Ma Teng looked at Lin Chu, thought for a moment, and then suddenly smiled. "As it happens, there are a few things on my mind I'd like to share with you."

"Go ahead."

"If I were you, I'd go online right now and expose everything this man has done, along with all the powerful interests he controls from behind the scenes."

"This sort of thing requires a fight in the shadows, but we also need to make our voice heard on the main front."

"If it were me, I'd take two steps right now. First, flip the table. Second, raise a banner. I refuse to believe that Liszt doesn't have enemies. The enemy of our enemy is our friend, and we can form an alliance with any friend we find."

"You raise the banner, and just like that, anyone willing to join our side will flock to us."

Ma Teng said, his tone resolute.

He sounded like a reckless hothead.

Life and death were trivial; if you weren't happy with something, you fought.

He even felt that Lin Chu's current moves were all too sneaky, almost to the point of seeming cowardly.

Even though they were at a disadvantage and laying low to build up strength was the smart play, it still felt incredibly stifling.

'What are we lacking, anyway?'

'We have the manpower, we have the money, and it's not like we don't have powerful backing.'

Glancing at him, Lin Chu smiled. "My main battlefield isn't here. It's in the financial world. You'll understand in a couple of days. As for public opinion, that's not our strong suit right now. We'll have to wait on that as well."

Of course, Lin Chu had considered this...

He'd mulled over this exact path last night while soaking in the tub, but had decided against it for the time being. The last time he'd failed to hold back and had gone in guns blazing, it had left him shouldering a massive burden.

'If I make the same mistake twice, I'd truly be an idiot.'

"Okay, I understand."

Ma Teng gave Lin Chu a long look and nodded. He had said his piece. Naturally, Brother Chu had his own plans.

'Whether it succeeds or not, the results will speak for themselves.'

...

During dinner that evening, Lin Chu and Li Hongfan chatted for over an hour.

His problem was simple: he had been scammed by a company in Dubai. There weren't a huge number of such companies in Dubai, but there were quite a few.

Most of them were operations that had branched off from Southeast Asia, using more covert and sophisticated methods. Instead of targeting ordinary people, they mostly went after small business owners with a decent net worth.

While they discussed the matter, Lin Chu also got Ma Teng, his local expert, to weigh in.

At the same time, he called Rashid over to join them and hear his thoughts on the matter.

The situation... left the Little Prince feeling rather awkward.

"Where the water is too clear, no fish will live." Every place has its share of demons and monsters. But to be fair, in their eyes, these small-time crooks were a complete non-issue; they had never even paid them any mind.

As for whether his other brothers were involved, he stated with ironclad certainty that they absolutely were not.

That little bit of money? A few million, tens of millions, even a few hundred million... You call that money?

In reality, law enforcement against these kinds of scams is far less stringent abroad than it is back home in China.

According to American libertarian values, the big fish eat the small fish, and the small fish eat the shrimp. If you get eaten, you have only your own incompetence to blame. The so-called police force costs money, after all. They aren't likely to invest too many resources in a situation like this. They might as well ask, "When you were raking in cash, why didn't you think to donate to the police force?"