It is said that one should not strike a smiling face. The other party took the initiative to compensate you and spoke in a humble tone. You really have no reason to resort to violence.
Seeing the hundred-yuan bill handed over, Xu Shengbiao chuckled and accepted it, "Young man, you're quite sensible."
Everyone around was stunned, guessing what Lu Ming was going to do.
"What is he trying to do? Give a hundred yuan to bribe Xu Shengbiao?"
"Of course not. Does Xu Shengbiao lack money? Even if he's short on cash, he's not short by a hundred yuan."
"In my opinion, he must want to use this hundred yuan to get close to Xu Shengbiao, and then take the opportunity to acknowledge Xu Shengbiao as his boss and follow him!"
"Yes, yes, that analysis makes a lot of sense. I think that's exactly what's happening."
A group of fishermen were all speculating wildly, only Long Wang secretly chuckled.
Having traveled with the Dragon Warlord all over the land, Long Wang understood Lu Ming's thoughts very well. He knew that Lu Ming wouldn't be polite to others easily. Once he was polite to someone, that person should be wary, as trouble was brewing!
As expected.
Just as Xu Shengbiao was about to tuck the hundred yuan into his pocket, an accident suddenly occurred.
Lu Ming gave a cold smile and said, "I'm sorry, give me my money back."
What?
Xu Shengbiao and everyone present looked at Lu Ming as if he were an idiot. Did this person have a screw loose? He gave someone a hundred yuan and now he wanted it back.
Yet, Lu Ming had a point.
He said, "Everyone saw it. I took the hundred yuan out of my pocket; it didn't fall on the ground. The money is mine, not yours. I even had someone record a video to prove that I took the money out."
It was speechless.
It was just a hundred yuan, was it worth recording a video?
Besides, did Xu Shengbiao lack a hundred yuan?
Xu Shengbiao glared fiercely at Lu Ming, "You little brat, are you playing with me?"
As he spoke, he crumpled the hundred yuan into a ball and threw it directly at Lu Ming's head. Lu Ming casually waved his hand and caught the money.
Then, Lu Ming uttered words that shook heaven and earth.
As he unfolded the hundred yuan, he said logically, "My money earns interest by the second, ten thousand times per second. You took my one hundred yuan and occupied it for a total of 39 seconds. So, the interest is 100 multiplied by 39 multiplied by ten thousand, which equals thirty-nine million. Xu Shengbiao, you have only returned the principal of 100 yuan, when will you return the interest of thirty-nine million?"
These words were incredibly shocking.
Everyone present was dumbfounded, not knowing what words to use to describe their current feelings.
The most surprised person was Xu Shengbiao himself.
Frankly, his 50% interest was already outrageous. Who knew Lu Ming was even more outrageous, charging ten thousand times the interest!
Crucially, Lu Ming charged it by the second.
One hundred yuan had become thirty-nine million in just 39 seconds! My heavens, wasn't that faster than robbing a bank?
However.
Despite the shock, everyone could see that Lu Ming was retaliating in kind, using an exaggerated method to disgust Xu Shengbiao.
Weren't you charging exorbitant interest, making it impossible for people to repay?
Fine, then my interest will be even higher than yours!
Xu Shengbiao wasn't an idiot. He immediately understood. The first thing he did was look around to see if Lu Ming had any accomplices.
Normally, anyone who dared to speak to Xu Shengbiao like this would definitely bring others.
The result was that Lu Ming directly said, "No need to look, it's just me, no one else."
No one else?
Without anyone else, you dare to be so arrogant?
This, on the contrary, confused Xu Shengbiao. In his years of experience, this was the first time he had encountered Lu Ming playing this kind of game.
Was his life really that cheap, to be given away for free?
Instead of getting angry, Xu Shengbiao burst into laughter.
After a long while.
He patted Lu Ming's shoulder and said meaningfully, "You little brat, are you learning from me?"
Lu Ming nodded, "Yes, do I look like it?"
"Very much!" Xu Shengbiao gave him a thumbs up, "Extremely much. Your shamelessness is exactly like mine. But you are you, and I am me. No matter how much you imitate, it's still fake."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Lu Ming asked.
Xu Shengbiao laughed, "Do you think you can make money effortlessly just by slightly increasing the interest? Do you think these fishermen are willing to kneel here and be reprimanded by me? You only see the surface, not the essence. Since childhood, teachers have told us to look at the essence of things and not be deceived by appearances. It seems your studies weren't very good."
Then.
Xu Shengbiao pointed to the group of young men behind him and said, "The reason I dare to charge high interest is because I have these thugs, and I have the Fan family behind me! Only with absolute military force can one be unscrupulous and bully the weak. You come out here shouting without anything; that's not courage, that's stupidity."
Unexpectedly, Xu Shengbiao, who seemed arrogant and unrestrained, was so clear-headed internally.
He had a very clear understanding of his own position.
He also knew the real reason he could act so dominantly.
It wasn't because he was powerful, but because his thugs were powerful, and the Fan family behind him was powerful.
Being able to clearly recognize this made him much better than many petty hooligans.
"Hoo—"
Xu Shengbiao took a deep breath, raised his club, and looked at Lu Ming, "You little brat, remember what I told you today. Next time you want to act tough, use your brain first. Today, you've provoked the wrong person!"
With that, Xu Shengbiao swung the club down towards Lu Ming's head.
The force was immense.
If he had been hit, he would have been dead or crippled.
But!
To everyone's surprise, Lu Ming dodged the attack by sidestepping. Xu Shengbiao swung and missed.
Because Xu Shengbiao missed, his body stumbled forward. Lu Ming reached out, pressed down on the back of his head, and then forcefully slammed him onto the ground!
BAM!!!
With a loud crash, Xu Shengbiao's face made intimate contact with the ground.
In an instant, his entire face was bloody and mangled.
Brushing off his hands, Lu Ming said calmly, "I don't have many thugs, but I'm more than enough to deal with you."
Xu Shengbiao's subordinates couldn't stand by and watch! They all charged forward, wielding their clubs.
"Beat him to death!"
"Avenge our boss!"
"Damn it, you dare to touch our boss, you're going to lose your life today!"
A group of them rushed forward, intending to beat Lu Ming to death.
However, how could such a rabble be a match for the Dragon Warlord? Without even needing Long Wang to make a move, in just over ten seconds, all seven or eight young men lay on the ground.
Blood stained the ground.
Lu Ming squatted down, gently lifted Xu Shengbiao's face, and said, "You owe me thirty-nine million. If you don't repay this debt, I'll beat you every time I see you. Alright, the beating for today is over. You can go now."
Go?
How could he possibly go anywhere!
Xu Shengbiao didn't remember how he left. In his memory, he and his subordinates crawled away slowly, leaving long trails of blood on the ground.
The terrifying Green Eyed Flying Dragon was thus easily dealt with by Lu Ming.
Next.
Lu Ming said to the kneeling fishermen, "You can all get up now. Also, I have something to tell you. You don't need to repay the money you owe the Fan family. I'll handle this matter. From now on, live your lives honestly and don't borrow money from the Fan family again. Do you understand?"
The fishermen were moved to tears and kowtowed to Lu Ming incessantly.
In fact, they had completely given up hope of living and only wished for an early death. Living with constant fear was worse than not living at all.
Now that someone had helped them resolve their debt, they considered him their savior!
"Benefactor, please accept our bow."
The fishermen all kowtowed.
Lu Ming quickly went to help them up.
A fisherman said, "Benefactor, you have shown us such great kindness, how can we ever repay you? We can never repay your immense kindness, even if we work like oxen and horses for the rest of our lives."
Lu Ming waved his hand and said, "You can repay it, you can repay it. To be honest, I'm not entirely acting out of pure kindness. I have a little selfish motive in helping you. I need you to do me a favor."
There's the saying "a handful of rice brings kindness, a bushel of rice brings hatred."
Often, people are afraid of being unable to repay after being helped.
When Lu Ming said he wanted them to do him a favor, these fishermen were overjoyed. They all patted their chests and promised to do whatever it took!
Lu Ming said, "Actually, I want to acquire Purple Copper Fish. Can you help me get some?"
The fishermen looked at each other, looking troubled.
They hadn't expected Lu Ming to be like the people from the Fan family, also wanting Purple Copper Fish.
A fisherman said, "Benefactor, it's not that I don't want to help you, but Purple Copper Fish are truly very difficult to catch. We've tried our best and can't get any. Let alone us, I'm afraid the entire Fog City can't get a single Purple Copper Fish."
"Is that so?" Instead of being disappointed, Lu Ming was even happier. This meant that Purple Copper Fish were very precious. If he could get them, he would have a way to counterattack the Fan family.
Lu Ming continued, "Then, how about this: I'll have my companion leave their contact information. If you manage to catch any Purple Copper Fish, or if you know where to get them, call my companion."
"Okay!" The fishermen readily agreed.
Afterward, Long Wang walked over and left his contact information. If there was any news about Purple Copper Fish in the future, they would notify Long Wang immediately.
With the matter settled, Lu Ming and Long Wang left the riverside.
Back in the car.
Long Wang asked, "Warlord, what's our next move?"
Next move?
Normally, they would wait for news from the fishermen. After obtaining the Purple Copper Fish, they would use them to counterattack Fan Xiaoyun.
But without Purple Copper Fish now, what else could they do?
As he thought, Lu Ming smiled, a wicked smile.
He said, "Didn't Xu Shengbiao owe me thirty-nine million? That's a huge sum of money, I need to go and collect it from him. Let's go, take me to find Xu Shengbiao."
Long Wang frowned, "What do you mean? Didn't you just let him go? You're going back to him so soon?"
Lu Ming grinned wickedly, "Do you know what it's like to play cat and mouse? The enjoyment comes from letting him run a few steps after releasing him, and then catching him again. The mouse tries desperately to run every time, but no matter how it runs, it can't escape, and is always caught by the cat! I want Xu Shengbiao to experience the despair and helplessness of a mouse being toyed with by a cat!"