Then came the people in the third and fourth rows...
In less than two seconds, the more than one hundred burly men in the hall fell down like a human domino, one after another, in distinct layers, without exception.
In the blink of an eye, only Zhou Ziwei remained standing in the spacious hall.
Although Zhou Ziwei's face looked somewhat pale and he seemed a little listless, his not-so-tall body, standing alone in front of hundreds of burly men who had fainted, gave people a sense of towering invincibility, like a towering mountain.
“Buzz—” Just then, Wu Di suddenly felt a dizzying sensation in his mind, and in an instant, a strange sense of fear, as if he were witnessing the collapse of the heavens and the earth, rose from the depths of his soul.
His body involuntarily leaned back, crashing heavily against the back of the hand-shaped sofa.
Fortunately, this feeling did not last long and gradually dissipated in the blink of an eye. However, Wu Di felt as if he had been pressed down by an invisible mountain for ten thousand years. He was extremely tired, both physically and mentally. This reminded him of the feeling he had when he was a teenager, after working day and night for three days and three nights in a stone carving factory to earn money for his seriously ill sister's medical expenses.
Fortunately, Wu Di was a man of strong will and his many years of experience had made his mental strength much stronger than that of ordinary people. This allowed him to survive the strange soul attack without losing consciousness.
However, it was precisely because of this that Wu Di experienced far more pain and torment than the more than one hundred strong men who fainted immediately. After truly experiencing this pain and torment that came from the depths of his soul, Wu Di naturally developed a deep-seated sense of awe for Zhou Ziwei.
Is this the power of his roar? It's terrifying! Could this be... the legendary "Lion's Roar"? Impossible... even if the Lion's Roar is as magical as described in martial arts novels, it couldn't be this monstrous! I'm so far away from him, with a thick, soundproof wall between us, and I was still injured by his roar. Then... wouldn't everyone in the hall be killed by his roar?! My God... how did he do that...? What terrifying person did I, Wu Di, offend?!
Just as Wu Di was still in a state of surprise and uncertainty, the door to the reception room creaked open from the outside, and Zhou Ziwei's thin, pale face came into Wu Di's view.
Wu Di gasped for breath, struggling to sit up straight. Watching Zhou Ziwei's figure draw ever closer, he gave a bitter laugh and said, "You've won... From now on, all the forces under my command are yours... If you're willing, then from today onwards, you're my boss..."
Wu Di rose from the very bottom to his current position; it wasn't just about fighting and killing.
As the saying goes, extreme rigidity leads to breakage, and only by being able to bend and stretch can one achieve true success.
Having to hand over everything he had painstakingly built up over more than ten years, Wu Di felt as bitter as if he had swallowed a bitter medicine. But what could he do if he didn't let go? The arrogance he had cultivated over the years was completely useless in front of Zhou Ziwei. After what had just happened, he clearly realized the gap between himself and Zhou Ziwei.
He knew that no matter how many people he had or how powerful he was, he was nothing but a fleeting cloud under the absolute power of the other party. If the other party really wanted to kill him, they wouldn't even need to use any weapons against him. They could just stand downstairs and shout at the top, which would be enough to take his life!
After all these years of hard work, this was the first time Wu Di had encountered such a powerful opponent who made him completely despair. Therefore, without any hesitation, he immediately handed over everything he had, believing that all Zhou Ziwei wanted was his power and wealth. As long as he was willing to submit, Zhou Ziwei should not make things too difficult for him.
As things have progressed to this point, Wu Di has almost forgotten the cause of the incident, forgetting that he initially provoked Zhou Ziwei to repay a favor to someone.
Even if he had considered it, Wu Di wouldn't have believed that Zhou Ziwei would risk his life to single-handedly storm into his, the stronghold of this local tyrant on the Yunnan border, just because a dozen or so thugs had bothered him! In Wu Di's view, Zhou Ziwei must have had designs on him all along, and what happened on the street today was merely an excuse. Or perhaps even if Wu Di hadn't actively provoked Zhou Ziwei, Zhou Ziwei would still have come; it just might have been tomorrow or the day after!
"No, no, no... I think you've misunderstood!"
Zhou Ziwei swaggered down on the sofa opposite Wu Di, unceremoniously picked up a bottle of fine red wine from a famous French estate on the table, poured himself a glass, and then took a sip while saying, "Our country is a society governed by law, and there are no organized crime groups, so I will not be your boss! And the power you have still belongs to you and has nothing to do with me."
Upon hearing this, Wu Di's expression changed slightly. He didn't believe that Zhou Ziwei would have no desires after going to such great lengths to completely conquer the vast power under his control.
In his view, Zhou Ziwei was only saying this because he didn't want to accept his allegiance. Anyway, almost all the main leaders of the forces controlled by Wu Di were now dead in the outer hall, which meant that the entire force was groveling at Zhou Ziwei's feet. As long as Zhou Ziwei wanted to, he could easily control the entire force even without going through Wu Di.
If things are really as Wu Di thinks, then even if Zhou Ziwei lets everyone else go, he will definitely not let Wu Di go!
Wu Di's expression changed several times as he struggled internally. Several times he wanted to use his trump card and fight Zhou Ziwei to the death, but as soon as he thought of the shocking scene of Zhou Ziwei's roar that knocked hundreds of people unconscious, he immediately lost all courage.
Finally, he could only sigh in despair and say, "Mr. Zhou, whatever you want to do with me, I... I accept it! But... I hope Mr. Zhou won't make things difficult for my sister. She... she's just a poor girl with a tragic fate. She has nothing to do with what I'm doing. Please, Mr. Zhou, let her go!"
Zhou Ziwei said, half-laughing and half-crying, "Mr. Wu, I think you've really misunderstood! I, Zhou Ziwei, am not some bandit who robs and plunders. Why would I make things difficult for your sister? Besides... since you've already admitted defeat, I suppose you won't refuse the conditions I proposed before, right? As long as you do that, then we'll be even... Hehe, then you'll still be you, and I'll still be me. If you'd like, you can consider me, Zhou Ziwei, your friend, but I will absolutely not replace you as any boss... I think I've made myself clear enough, haven't I?"
Wu Di was stunned upon hearing this. It took him a long time to remember that Zhou Ziwei had made a request to him, something like asking him to do to Yan Jun what he had done to Zhou Ziwei. But... would Zhou Ziwei's request really be that simple?
Zhou Ziwei's demands were certainly not that simple. Punishing Yan Jun was just a side effect. His real purpose was to use Wu Di's influence so that he could leave Li Yifeng here without any worries after he left.
After all, the business of jadeite rough stone exchange can be big or small. However, even the smallest business probably requires an investment of hundreds of millions of assets, while a large-scale business may involve purchasing billions of rough stones at once.
If a business grows large and involves buying, selling, or stockpiling large quantities of goods without the protection of local authorities, the consequences will be unimaginable.
However, Zhou Ziwei was not keen on embarking on the path of the gray forces. Therefore, even though he could have taken over all of Wu Di's power with just a nod, he refused the temptation without hesitation.
People who like to eat pork don't necessarily have to raise pigs themselves; similarly, people who want the protection of local powers don't necessarily have to completely control those powers.
Zhou Ziwei believed that after today's events, even if Wu Di had ten times the courage, he would never dare to provoke him again. Moreover, once the jadeite rough stone exchange business took off, the less Zhou Ziwei was in Tengchong, the more cautious Wu Di would be in protecting his exchange, because he knew that if anything went wrong with his exchange, he would definitely come after him!
Although taking over Wu Di's forces would certainly bring a large sum of money and manpower immediately, the loyalty of such forcibly acquired personnel is hard to guarantee, and as for the wealth... Zhou Ziwei didn't believe that Wu Di, this local tyrant, would be doing all clean business in this prime location on the Yunnan border.
Therefore, taking over the other party's power is equivalent to taking over all the potential dangers and troubles at once.
Although Zhou Ziwei wanted to accumulate a fortune as quickly as possible in order to strike at Huang Lianshu, he would not put himself in an extremely dangerous situation for such a sum of money.
With his special abilities and the memories of countless people, he doesn't need to worry about making money. For him now, all he lacks is time. Given enough time, it's not impossible for him to accumulate a terrifying amount of wealth.
It was this self-confidence that enabled him to easily resist temptations that ordinary people would find impossible to resist.
Whether Wu Di believed it or not, Zhou Ziwei simply left Wu Di with his contact information before leaving.
Zhou Ziwei believed that Wu Di would soon take care of Yan Jun's matter. To him, a local bigwig, Yan Jun from the mainland was nothing more than a tiny ant that could be crushed at will.
Of course... Zhou Ziwei could easily crush Yan Jun, but... for Yan Jun, the psychological contrast between his previous and current state when he saw the person he thought was his support suddenly turn around and become his nightmare was even more devastating!
As Zhou Ziwei passed through the hall where people lay scattered on the ground, he took the opportunity to check on the condition of the burly men. The result was not unexpected; the destructive power of the Soul Roar was indeed very strong, but after he dispersed it over such a large area, the damage had been reduced to a very low level.
Basically, most people's injuries are similar to those suffered by Li Yifeng and Liu Xiaofei when they were injured by the ghost bats. They should be fine after a good night's sleep.
Those who were closer to Zhou Ziwei at the time were more unlucky; the most severely affected might have to stay in bed for ten days to half a month to recover.
Even after a full physical recovery, there is a high possibility that a lasting shadow may remain in one's heart.
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 132: Stunned
In reality, Zhou Ziwei's soul roar was silent; he only made a sound to avoid appearing too strange.
After all, with this roar as a cover, people could still think of kung fu like the Lion's Roar described in martial arts novels. If he had just silently opened his mouth and blew a breath, and knocked down more than a hundred people, then in everyone's mind, Zhou Ziwei would probably have become synonymous with "monster"!
In fact, the Soul Roar is just a fluctuation of soul power. This special fluctuation can ignore any ordinary material barrier and directly invade the soul of every living being within the range of this soul power fluctuation. Therefore, even though Wu Di was hiding in the reception room with a strong soundproofing device, he could not avoid the harm of the Soul Roar.
At most, the damage will only be weakened due to the distance.
Wu Di later discovered that Zhou Ziwei's roar had not only stunned the more than one hundred people in the hall, but had knocked down almost all the hundreds of people on the entire floor, regardless of age or gender.
At most, some people who were farther away were just as dazed as he was at the time, but did not faint.
By this point, Wu Di's fear of Zhou Ziwei had been deeply ingrained in his soul. He was even more convinced that if Zhou Ziwei truly intended to kill him, it would be effortless. From then on, he never dared to harbor the slightest thought of being Zhou Ziwei's enemy again.
In fact, Zhou Ziwei himself didn't feel very good after he let out that soul roar. It proved that the peculiar vibration frequency of that soul power was indeed very damaging to the soul. Moreover, this damage was not limited to the enemy. Even he himself, who let out the soul roar, would suffer a certain degree of damage under the vibration frequency of that soul power.
Because the power of the soul originates from his own sea of souls, if he wants to unleash a soul roar, he must first create a unique frequency in his sea of souls before sending it out, in order to create a certain degree of damage to others.
And just as this soul power forms a unique frequency, before it is released, it will also cause certain damage to his own soul.
That's why Zhou Ziwei looked pale and listless when he entered the reception room. It's because although the power of this soul roar is great, it's like the "Seven Injury Fist" described in martial arts novels—it injures oneself first before it can injure others.
In addition, the soul power consumed by this soul roar is also astonishing. With just one roar, Zhou Ziwei found that about half of the soul power stored in his sea of souls disappeared.
No wonder those ghost bats didn't unleash a series of soul roars on him back then. Otherwise, even if there weren't many attacks of that level, just three rounds in a row would probably have caused Zhou Ziwei's soul sea to collapse, or at least made him faint like Liu Xiaofei and Li Yifeng.
Now Zhou Ziwei understood. It wasn't that the ghost bats didn't want to attack continuously; they simply lacked the strength! Given their situation, each ghost bat could probably only unleash its Soul Roar two or three times at most. Any more than that, and even if their soul power wasn't drained, their own souls would likely suffer serious damage.
Moreover, Zhou Ziwei had always felt that the strength of those ghost bats shouldn't be much weaker than the old ghost that possessed Gu Xiaoli. However, he had actually absorbed the soul power of fifteen ghost bats, which was only equivalent to the soul power of three old ghosts. This had always puzzled him. But now he understood. It must be because the ghost bats had already undergone the consumption of a soul roar, so their soul power had been greatly weakened. Otherwise, given the capacity of Zhou Ziwei's soul sea at the time, if he had directly swallowed fifteen intact ghost bats, he would have undoubtedly been burst open immediately!
After Zhou Ziwei met Li Yifeng in the reception hall downstairs, the two had just stepped out of the building when Zhou Ziwei's phone rang.
Zhou Ziwei had only recently bought this phone and hadn't given his number to many people. When he saw that the caller was an unfamiliar local number, he immediately understood what was going on.
Here, only Gu Dongfeng and Captain Zhang know his phone number. It's unlikely that Captain Zhang would call him at this time, and if Gu Dongfeng wanted to call Zhou Ziwei, he should use his own cell phone.
Zhou Ziwei pressed the answer button, and sure enough, the familiar man's voice came through the phone...
"Xiao Fei just woke up..."
After saying that, the man immediately fell silent, seemingly waiting for Zhou Ziwei's reaction.
However, Zhou Ziwei did not react at all, but simply remained silent with the other party for more than ten seconds without uttering a sound.
Standing in front of a public telephone in the hospital corridor, Liu Haiyang's face was gloomy, and his chest heaved with anger.
He knew he had hurt Zhou Ziwei badly just now, but he was Liu Xiaofei's father after all, and Zhou Ziwei's elder. He was willing to swallow his pride and make this call to Zhou Ziwei. He thought that once Zhou Ziwei heard his call and understood the implication in his words, he would immediately show his sincerity.
But now... if he couldn't clearly hear car horns coming from the phone receiver, he would have thought the phone line had been disconnected long ago!
Liu Haiyang waited a few more seconds, but still received no response. He had no choice but to suppress his anger and continue, "My...my daughter...she's very emotional. She...she still believes you're dead. No matter what we say, she won't believe us. Can you...can you..."
Although Liu Haiyang tried his best to restrain himself, the words that came out of his mouth still sounded so stiff. Obviously, fundamentally, his prejudice against Zhou Ziwei had not changed much.
Hearing Liu Haiyang's tone, Zhou Ziwei felt a surge of anger. He initially intended to hang up, but then he faintly heard a girl's desperate cries coming from the phone. Although the sounds were faint and difficult to understand, Zhou Ziwei could still sense the girl's heartbroken grief from the scattered sobs. His heart trembled slightly, but he couldn't harden his heart. He could only sigh softly and say, "Uncle Liu, I can go to the hospital to see Officer Liu, but I hope you remember what I said before I left... I don't want to see those two dirty faces again! If I get to the hospital and see those two still there... um... you understand!"
Zhou Ziwei hung up the phone without hesitation after speaking, and was about to wave for a taxi when he suddenly saw the female supervisor from the gym's reception hall rush out and block his way. She clutched her chest, panting, and said, "Mr. Zhou... our boss just... just specifically instructed... that it's inconvenient for Mr. Zhou to travel in and out of Tengchong during this time, so he wanted to... wanted to give Mr. Zhou his own car for your use... the driver will be here soon, please wait a moment!"
Although the head waitress was only plain-looking, her figure was absolutely stunning, especially when she wore the uniform of the fitness center staff, which perfectly showcased her curves.
Because she was in a hurry to catch up with Zhou Ziwei, she ran a few steps and then became so tired that she kept panting. As she panted, her already magnificent breasts rose and fell like ocean waves, so spectacular that Li Yifeng and Zhou Ziwei stared at her in disbelief.
Fortunately, after Zhou Ziwei's soul sea expanded twice, his mental world had undergone some fundamental changes, and he could now control his body's instinctive reactions with relative ease. He only lost focus for a moment before quickly returning to normal, smiling slightly, and said, "Then thank you, boss."
Zhou Ziwei knew that Wu Di's fear of him was not ordinary. He estimated that the more Zhou Ziwei treated him like family, the more at ease Wu Di would feel. If Zhou Ziwei refused his kindness now, Wu Di would probably not be able to sleep tonight.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei agreed without thinking. Although the head waitress implied that Wu Di was going to give him the car instead of lending it to him temporarily, Zhou Ziwei didn't care too much. After all, it was just a car.
Anyway, Zhou Ziwei could take everything that originally belonged to Wu Di if he wanted to, so he wouldn't take it seriously since he was only accepting a car from him.
However, when the car drove out of the building's underground parking lot, it still gave Zhou Ziwei a slight jolt.
It was a Mercedes, but not an ordinary Mercedes sedan; it was a luxury RV.
It's the kind of luxury RV that comes with a refrigerator, TV, bed, sofa, and even a bathroom—it's touted as a mobile five-star hotel! Putting aside how luxurious the interior is, just looking at the nearly eight-meter-long body and its alluring streamlined shape is enough to make any man swoon!
When Li Yifeng saw the car, he was stunned, not even noticing the long drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.
Zhou Ziwei wasn't much better off; his chest heaved, just like the head waitress from earlier.
There's nothing we can do... Although Zhou Ziwei has fused with the memories of over a hundred remnant souls, most of the memories he can digest are knowledge-based, so these memories don't actually have much impact on his personality.
This means that even if he merged the souls of all the top 100 richest people on the Forbes list, he could only learn some tricks and methods to make money. But deep down, he was still the poor boy from his previous life who was born into an ordinary family and had to struggle to make a living after graduating from university!
That's why Zhou Ziwei was just as shocked as an ordinary person when he saw this ridiculously luxurious RV.
Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei is now a small tycoon with a net worth of over 100 million yuan, and there is a huge amount of wealth buried under the small building he just bought that is currently incalculable. Therefore, his psychological resilience has gradually increased as his net worth has grown. By the time the RV stopped in front of him, he had almost completely returned to normal.
Then he turned around and patted Li Yifeng, who was still looking like he was in a daze, on the shoulder, and said, "Hey... buddy... could you wipe your drool? Please... you're going to be a boss soon, and you'll probably be working here for a long time, so don't embarrass your buddies!"
"Well……"
Li Yifeng took a deep breath, forcing back the drool hanging out, then grabbed Zhou Ziwei's shoulder and said lewdly, "Dude... if I drove this car to pick up girls, wouldn't that be so much easier? And... hehe... I could even save money on hotel rooms..."
Zhou Ziwei was almost stunned by what this guy said. So this is what this guy was thinking about all along... No wonder he was drooling so much earlier... Damn... How come I never realized this guy was such a closet pervert before!
After the RV came to a stop, the driver's side door opened silently, and a tall, thin man slowly stepped out, holding an electronic car key. He respectfully handed it to Zhou Ziwei, saying, "This is the key to this vehicle. The boss asked me to hand it over to Mr. Zhou. The transfer of ownership will be completed by tomorrow at the latest, and it will be delivered to you. Everything in the vehicle is currently in good working order. If Mr. Zhou has any other requests, please let us know, and we will handle them for you as soon as possible. Of course... if Mr. Zhou needs a driver, I can continue to serve him. As for my salary, my boss will naturally pay for it, and Mr. Zhou need not worry about the maintenance costs for this vehicle during its stay in Tengchong."
Damn, this Wu Di is really not just rich, he's incredibly wealthy!
When Zhou Ziwei saw that Wu Di had given away such an expensive RV so readily, after the initial novelty wore off, he felt not excitement but rather some worry.