"Let's meet." For the first time, Zhou Shirong dialed the number the stranger had given him, saved in his phone as "Big Brother Confidant."

Zhou Shirong liked tea, so he chose to meet "Big Brother Confidant" at a teahouse called "Rainbrew Pavilion," which boasted a small garden. The environment was quite pleasant. Whenever Zhou Shirong had serious business to handle, aside from his usual vices, he would come here.

Three minutes past the agreed time, Zhou Shirong saw Ethan Shaw arrive, wearing a pristine white karate uniform.

Ethan's aura was completely different from the mysterious vibe he had given off last time. His smile was warm and friendly as he said, "Sorry, I just finished a karate session. Didn't have time to change before coming, and this outfit drew quite a bit of attention on the way here."

But to Zhou Shirong, Ethan's friendliness was a complete façade. He could sense a dark energy lurking beneath. Unlike their previous encounter, Zhou Shirong was on high alert this time, with none of his usual playboy nonchalance. Sternly, he asked, "What do you want?" He didn’t even offer Ethan a seat, but Ethan made himself comfortable, as if he owned the place.

Pouring himself a cup of tea, Ethan didn’t seem to mind the lack of hospitality. Casually, he said, "So, how's it going? Are you the heir to Crescent Wellness now? Two billion dollars within your reach."

Zhou Shirong scoffed, "It's not that simple. My dad practically treats me like an enemy now. Who knows if he's changed his will? I've even heard he's in talks with a company specializing in human cryonics. He might end up outliving me." He laughed at himself bitterly.

Ethan smiled faintly. "Then you'd better step up your game. I can only help you so much."

Zhou Shirong frowned. "Step up? How? What are you talking about?"

Ethan leaned back, his tone nonchalant. "Obviously, you'll need to get your hands dirty. I've done a lot for you already. You don’t expect everything to fall into your lap, do you? There’s no such thing as a free ride. Only if you take action can we truly become trusted partners. Don’t you agree?"

"I still don’t get it," Zhou Shirong said, confused. "Spell it out."

Instead of clarifying, Ethan asked, "Did you call the police outside?"

Zhou Shirong's face darkened. "What? No, I don't know anything about that."

"The police have been hanging around outside for a while now," Ethan said calmly. "Are they waiting for me to come out? Or are they just concerned about disturbing the teahouse's business? Seems like the owner of Rainbrew Pavilion has quite the pull. Since the cops are here, let’s not discuss business today. Let's just enjoy the tea."

But Zhou Shirong was far too jittery to sit and drink tea peacefully. His nervous glances were soon noticed by the police. Fearing their suspects might flee, five burly plainclothes officers barged in, surrounding them. The lead officer, his voice firm, said, "You there, come with us to the station for questioning."

He flashed his badge, but Ethan didn’t even glance at it. A cold glint flickered in his eyes.

Suddenly, Ethan’s wrist flicked, and the cup of premium Biluochun tea splashed all over the officer’s face.

Officer Hu, now drenched in tea, erupted in fury and lunged to grab Ethan’s arm. Zhou Shirong, the sheltered illegitimate son who had never seen such a scene, immediately jumped up in fright, unsure where he stood in all of this. He retreated to the side, trying to distance himself from the chaos.

Officer Hu was well-trained in grappling, and it seemed like he was about to succeed. But just as he was about to grab Ethan, his target flickered. Yes, flickered—so fast that even Hu, fully focused, couldn’t see how Ethan moved. Before he knew it, his large frame was sent flying several meters, crashing into the wall of the private room. The wooden wall made a distinctive thud. "Oof," Hu groaned, his voice thick with pain. Judging by his expression, the fall had not been gentle.

The other officers were startled and hesitated to approach. One tried to push Ethan, but it was futile. Ethan didn't budge, instead offering a mocking smile, as if to say, Didn’t you eat breakfast?

Left with no choice, the officers drew their batons. But even with all five attacking, they were quickly overpowered. Despite Ethan's slight frame, his speed and strength far exceeded their expectations. Not a single baton touched him. Each was dodged in the nick of time, followed by a swift, decisive counter. In less than ten seconds, all five officers were either tossed aside or slammed to the ground, groaning in pain. Zhou Shirong, watching in shock, was utterly dumbfounded.

"You assaulted a police officer. You're… you're finished!" Officer Hu spat out his last threat.

"Oh? Well, in that case, I guess I should go with you. Go ahead, cuff me." Ethan smiled pleasantly.

The police hadn’t expected this turn of events. They genuinely thought Ethan had surrendered. Judging the situation, Officer Hu stepped forward to cuff Ethan—and even landed a harsh slap across his face. Ethan could have easily dodged, but he merely flinched slightly. Though the slap landed, Ethan still smiled. Officer Hu, feeling uneasy, didn’t dare hit him again. Something about this suspect felt off. Best to get him to the interrogation room first.

Officer Hu instructed his colleagues to take Ethan away while he stayed behind to talk to Zhou Shirong.

Hu was well-connected with Zhou Xueyan, and all of the Zhou family children knew this—except for Zhou Shirong, the illegitimate son. Now, seeing Zhou Shirong as possibly the last heir of the Zhou family, Hu decided to build a connection. "Your old man set this up. No matter who this guy is, once he's in our hands, he'll spill everything."

Hu tried to sound confident, but Zhou Shirong wasn’t convinced. He sneered, "He practically handed himself over to you."

Hu was embarrassed for a moment but quickly recovered. "The outcome will be the same! Now, it’s just you and me. Be honest—did you have anything to do with this?"

Zhou Shirong immediately shook his head. "Absolutely not. You know I don't have that kind of ability or ambition. I’ve been a failure my whole life, physically and mentally."

Hu chuckled. "Don’t be so hard on yourself. You might just become the heir to the Zhou family. You never know."

But Zhou Shirong wasn’t optimistic. While he knew he was worthless, he also sensed the terrifying power behind "Big Brother Confidant." Hu’s investigation might not go as smoothly as he expected. All Zhou Shirong could do was wish him good luck.

After Ethan was taken into custody, he was thrown straight into a detention center. The police hoped a few days behind bars would tame his arrogance.

The detention center was a mix of people from all walks of life. As Ethan entered, all eyes were on the new arrival. At 165 centimeters tall, with an unremarkable build, he didn’t stand out at first glance, aside from the "calm and composed" demeanor that some might have assumed was just an act.

"Hey, what got you in here?" a burly man shot him a side glance, his tone unfriendly.

Ethan replied nonchalantly, "There are 218 dead bodies outside. The cops probably think it was me."

The big man exchanged a look with his cellmate, completely disbelieving his outlandish claim.

"He's gotta be bluffing," the cellmate muttered.

Ethan shrugged. "Of course, if they can’t pin that on me, they’ll probably get me for assaulting the police. After all, I took down five officers, haha!"

The big man snorted. "Tough guy, huh? So, you think you're good in a fight?"

Ethan smiled. "I get by. Wanna try?"

The big man, covered in tattoos and muscle, was used to instilling fear in others. Seeing someone like Ethan, he felt the urge to assert his dominance.

What he didn’t know was that the guards had already told him to rough up the new guy. So, he took the first swing, grabbing Ethan’s shirt with a menacing grin.

Everyone gathered to watch the fight, but it ended in less than a second. With lightning speed, Ethan slapped away the man’s hands and shoved him back. The big man’s hefty frame flew like a cannonball, crashing into the cold wall three meters away. His head hit the wall with a thud, and he passed out instantly, without even managing a groan.

Ethan had initially wanted to play around a bit, but the man's bad breath made him decide to end things in 0.1 seconds. As the onlookers gawked in stunned silence, Ethan found himself a good spot to sit down and closed his eyes, meditating as if nothing had happened. No one dared to bother him after that, not even to call for help for the unconscious man.

Yesterday, Ethan Shaw was wandering the streets when he passed by a pawn shop. Not far from the shop, he noticed a farmer sitting on the curb, not too old but with a face full of wrinkles, silently wiping away tears. Ethan approached him and asked, “Brother, what’s wrong?”

The farmer lifted the electric drill in his hand, his face bitter. “The pawn shop won’t take this.”

Ethan asked, “You want to pawn your drill? Isn’t this the tool you use for work? Without it, how are you going to make a living?”

The farmer sighed, “I bought this drill for fifteen hundred bucks. It’s a good one. I figured I could get a few hundred for it, but the shop doesn’t want it. They only take gold. I used to buy gold, but I later found out it was all fake, mixed with tungsten. I stopped buying it after that. I lost my luggage, and my ID’s gone too. I don’t know how I’m going to survive.”

Ethan clicked his tongue and said, “That’s rough, man. Well, today’s your lucky day. I just happened to pick up a watch earlier. No idea if the pawn shop will take it or not, but how about this—you take it in for me. Whatever you get, we’ll split it.”

As he spoke, Ethan removed the watch from his wrist. In reality, the Rolex he handed over was something he swiped during the chaos of the 218 murders.

The farmer was both surprised and elated—could such a good thing really happen to him? He didn’t dare ask too many questions, took the watch, and walked straight into the pawn shop.

The original price of the gold Rolex was $80,000, but the farmer happily exchanged it for $40,000 in cash. He exited the shop with a big suitcase full of money, overjoyed. He didn’t expect to actually get half, but considering the watch was just found by Ethan, he figured a few thousand dollars would be reasonable. That amount alone would be more than enough for him.

When he didn’t see Ethan at the door, the farmer began pacing back and forth around the area, waiting for a full half-hour before Ethan finally showed up again. Relieved, the farmer called out, “Where did you go? Good news! The shop really took the watch, and for quite a lot!”

Ethan shook his head at the honest, simple man in front of him, thinking to himself how naïve the guy was. He could’ve just run off with the money, but there he was, with not a shred of cunning.