Chapter 765 --765

Chapter 765: Chapter-765

Old Lady Lin’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly. She looked at her son, then at the iron syndicate plaque, and finally down at the impossible fortune of silver in her arms. A twenty percent stake in a business backed by the Crimson Lotus? She would make more silver in a single month than she had made in twenty years of boiling bitter bark for dockworkers.

Up on the ceiling beams, the System wiped a fake tear from its eye. "She’s back. The ruthless capitalist warlord is finally back. Oh, Host, I missed this toxic grindset so much."

"You..." Old Lady Lin swallowed hard, her fierce street-tough facade completely crumbling under the sheer weight of the financial leverage. "...You want us to move in with you?"

"I want you to work for me," Heena corrected sharply. "Ren, bind my shoulder. Mother Lin, pack the mortar and the alcohol. We have a factory to build."

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.

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An hour later, a hired wooden ox-cart rattled slowly down the moonlit cobblestones of the East Market’s main commercial avenue, pulling up in front of a grand, albeit heavily neglected, two-story wooden building.

The original Lu Heena had been granted this prime piece of real estate by her late father, but after being cast out by the Matriarch, the property had fallen into severe disrepair. The paper windows were torn, the lacquered double doors were scratched, and the inside smelled of stale dust, abandoned cobwebs, and the lingering despair of the original owner.

But as Ren carefully helped Heena step down from the cart, she didn’t see a ruin. She saw an empire.

"Mother Lin," Heena rasped, pulling her heavy black cloak tighter against the midnight chill as she stared up at the peeling wooden sign above the door. "Nail the plaque to the center pillar. I want it to be the first thing the sun hits tomorrow morning."

With a few loud, echoing strikes of an iron hammer, the fearsome crest of the Crimson Lotus syndicate was permanently affixed to the apothecary’s doorframe. It was a silent, lethal warning to every thug, guild boss, and debt collector in the capital: This territory is claimed.

Ren pushed the heavy wooden doors open, a cloud of stale dust swirling into the moonlight.

Inside, the layout was sprawling. The entire ground floor was a massive, open-concept showroom with a wide mahogany counter, perfect for displaying high-end luxury goods. The back rooms held heavy stone grinding vats, wide copper boiling cauldrons, and massive ventilation flues left over from its days as a traditional medicine hall.

It was perfect.

Heena walked slowly into the center of the dusty room, her boots leaving quiet tracks in the silt. Her back was screaming, her knees felt like water, and she was running on nothing but pure, unadulterated spite and ambition.

Ren hurried forward, dragging the only intact piece of furniture in the room—a heavy, high-backed redwood chair—and wiped the dust off the seat with his sleeve.

"Sit, Miss Lu," Ren urged softly, his eyes filled with a mixture of deep concern and quiet awe as he looked at the fragile girl who had just conquered the underworld in a single night. "You shouldn’t be on your feet."

Heena didn’t argue. She sank into the redwood chair, letting out a long, ragged exhale as she rested her arms on the armrests. She looked at Ren, rolling his sleeves up to start cleaning the dust, and Old Lady Lin, grumbling as she hauled the heavy stone mortar through the door.

"Ren," Heena ordered, her voice echoing softly in the empty, cavernous shop.

"Yes?"

"Fetch a bucket of water and start scrubbing the cauldrons," Heena commanded, leaning her head back against the wood and closing her eyes. "Tomorrow morning, we start grinding the pearls. We have a lot of work to do."

Old Lady Lin’s grip tightened fiercely around the leather satchel of silver clutched to her chest. Her weathered face twisted into a deep scowl of pure, prickly indignation.

"Who the hell do you think you are to order us around like servants?!" the old woman barked, her voice echoing off the dingy walls. "I just dragged your half-dead carcass back from a mafia alley! I am a respectable clinic owner, not your hired mule!"

Up on the ceiling beams, the System let out a loud, pixelated snort, slapping its digital knee. "Wow. This woman literally followed you into the absolute worst lane in the city just to extort thirty taels, is currently hugging two hundred taels of your silver, and now she’s asking for a polite tone? The audacity is honestly inspiring."

Heena didn’t argue. She stopped by the heavy curtain and slowly turned around.

Instead of looking at the old woman’s furious face, Heena’s dark, unbothered eyes dropped deliberately to the leather satchel of silver pressed tightly against Old Lady Lin’s stomach.

"Your business partner," Heena said calmly.

The old woman’s gray eyebrows shot up in genuine bewilderment. Her defensive posture faltered for a second. "When did you become my business partner?!"

"About ten seconds ago," Heena replied, leaning her weight subtly against the doorframe to keep her knees from giving out. She met the older woman’s gaze with cold, absolute financial logic. "Well, if you are my business partner, you would get about half of the money I make from the apothecary moving forward. Which, considering Madam Hua just ordered ten jars a week, will likely buy this entire street by next spring."

Heena paused, letting the sheer weight of the math settle into the quiet room.

"So, yeah," Heena finished dryly, adjusting the heavy black cloak over her bleeding shoulder. "I am going to my shop. You can either stay here, protect your pride, and remain a respectable, broke clinic owner... or you can grab the stone mortar and come help me get rich."

For three completely silent seconds, Old Lady Lin stared at Heena.

The old woman looked down at the heavy silver in her arms, looked at her bewildered son, and then looked back at the pale, ruthless girl leaning against her doorframe. The fierce, insulted matriarch vanished as if she had never existed.

"Ren!" Old Lady Lin barked, spinning around so fast the hem of her apron snapped in the air. "Are you deaf?! Did you not hear the little boss?! Go grab the heavy mortar, pack the clear alcohol, and bring the good charcoal! And wrap the distillation still in a blanket so it doesn’t chip on the way over!"

Ren blinked, completely suffering from whiplash. "M-Mother? But her back—"

"Her back is fine! She said it herself!" Old Lady Lin shouted, already aggressively shoving the remaining dried osmanthus flowers and camphor crystals into a large burlap sack. "Time is silver, boy! The Crimson Lotus is waiting! Move!"

The System burst into hysterical laughter, doing somersaults through the air. "Oh my god, Host! You didn’t just buy a bodyguard syndicate tonight, you bought a whole family! Look at her go!"

Despite the white-hot agony radiating from her torn shoulder blades, the very faintest shadow of a genuine smile touched Heena’s lips. She turned around, pushing the curtain aside and stepping out into the cool night air of the courtyard.

She was bleeding, she was exhausted, and she was stepping into a ruined, dusty shop in the dead of night. But as she listened to the frantic clattering of Old Lady Lin packing up the entire clinic behind her, Heena finally felt the heavy, suffocating dread of the Lu family’s shadow begin to lift.

She wasn’t just surviving anymore. The Black Lotus was officially in business.