Chapter 132: Taken Away

Koya Shioda was already out of sight. That guy was pretty clever—he wisely slipped away as soon as the situation turned unfavorable.

But while Shioda could escape, Qiu Tianjue and Qiu Hongwen could not. A cold chill ran down their spines. They knew full well whom they had crossed.

Xiao Ma remained silent, genuinely unsure how to handle Qiu Hongwen and Qiu Tianjue. His body showed no concern for them, remaining indifferent. It was Mike Chen who was under pressure, cornered by the overwhelmingly attractive Julia.

Xiao Ma’s silence towards Qiu Tianjue was not due to any fondness; rather, he felt it inappropriate to make a scene in this setting. Ni Feihong’s privacy was not something to expose lightly; another approach was needed to handle this matter.

The Overlord was unlikely to be a petty jealous type. If he acted recklessly, Teresa and Julia would see through it, causing even greater trouble.

Moreover, based on earlier information transmitted by the Overlord, the principle of “no punishment for high officials” applied; Qiu Tianjue, that coward, was basically considered one of their own. Coupled with the grand political oath, “I vow to share the realm with the gentry,” borrowed from the First Overlord, the fact that Mike Chen had embezzled some of his enterprises was already a severe matter. This was not the time to create unnecessary complications.

At least, according to the historical novels Xiao Ma, carefree as he was, had read, today was about as far as it could go.

This summed up all of Xiao Ma’s thoughts, which, though vague, were tinged with respect.

As for the others, they were unaware of the feud between the Overlord and Qiu Tianjue over Ni Feihong. They assumed the Overlord refrained from targeting Qiu Tianjue because there was little enmity between them.

Indeed, Qiu Tianjue was more calculating, and despite his public provocations, he had the least amount of grudges.

In contrast, Qiu Hongwen and Zeng Xiaoxian were the real troublemakers. Yet the Overlord made no mention of this, prompting them to fill in the blanks politically: since Qiu Hongwen was Zhang Ye’s man—and that woman was known for opposing the Overlord—there must be some special, complicated feelings involved.

So with the Overlord silent, no one dared to get involved. After Mike Chen was thoroughly beaten, that marked the greatest benefit for the Spaniards and the Englishmen present.

It ended with Mike Chen. The others behind him were left unmentioned due to the Overlord’s silence, signaling some kind of family politics. Ma Jiaohong was no ordinary person—she had supported the Overlord’s rise from girlhood and was untouchable.

If not for Julia’s exceptional status, Mike Chen would not have been targeted at all.

Thus, Julia remained silent too, at least giving a warning to those behind Mike Chen.

And so, no one else spoke. Yet beneath the surface, each person harbored strange, peculiar thoughts, all tacitly understood among them.

It was reasonable to say the Overlord controlled everything and knew all, as shown in Elsa’s previous incident and his sudden appearance this time. Although Julia recalled Zhang Ziran’s words—“It’s unlike him”—she ultimately felt it was very much like him, given his all-knowing style.

The hacking of Teresa’s email further indirectly confirmed “his” involvement, owing to the mysterious methods used.

Yet subconsciously, Julia, being one of the people who knew him best in the world, sensed something slightly off, somewhat like Zhang Ziran’s feeling—“It really doesn’t seem like him.”

This contradiction lingered.

Of course, she dared not voice such thoughts.

Standing idly wasn’t a solution; Xiao Ma was reluctant to speak too much, so he deliberately stepped forward a few paces, then suddenly turned, casting a cold gaze at Qiu Hongwen and Qiu Tianjue.

The two men’s legs weakened; they dared not speak. Damn it, if words helped, Mike Chen wouldn’t have been humiliated like this.

Mike Chen’s beating naturally involved a meddler forcing the issue. Old Qiu was unaware of young Qiu’s foolishness and still felt somewhat lucky, thinking at least he had no ties with the British troublemaker and that the woman was his wife’s.

Xiao Ma nearly adopted the critical stance of Fan Wei but restrained himself just in time. He coldly uttered to Qiu Hongwen, “Don’t stir up trouble.”

Sweating profusely, Qiu Hongwen nodded quickly and breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Ma pondered, then beckoned Qiu Tianjue with a finger. Feeling a cold shiver at his chest, Qiu Tianjue hurried over, leaning in expectantly.

This was like a remote control again, and Xiao Ma felt a surge of triumph. He leaned close and whispered, “One, stay away from Ni Feihong. Two, those private photos you obtained by hacking her computer—no need to report them to me specifically, but if even one survives beyond tonight, you’d better find a lonely place and bury yourself.”

Qiu Tianjue exhaled deeply, nearly fainting from relief and joy. The chill on his back faded; this meant the ordeal was over. He had been planning to negotiate with Fourth Young Master Huo Dongjun to save his life.

The situation made Zeng Xiaoxian see stars, yet her chest still felt icy. Though she hadn’t caused major trouble, having no chance to speak left a bad taste.

Xiao Ma glanced at Zeng Xiaoxian again, hesitated for a moment, then said nothing and turned to leave. Much like the last time when he fled with money, he acted mysteriously—he truly intended to slip away.

But it was all in vain.

Julia was no Fourth Young Master Huo or Zhang Ziran. While others had no objections, Julia followed him out.

At the same time, Julia gave Teresa a meaningful look, signaling her to hold back the bodyguards of the VIP Protection Bureau, so she could be alone with the Overlord.

Teresa nodded slightly and followed.

Meanwhile, the personal bodyguards of the internal affairs ministers hurried after them. One bold guard even took out his phone to snap a photo of Julia entangled with the Overlord.

But he was immediately struck on the back of the head by Teresa, who snatched the phone, smashed it on the ground, and stomped on it until it was crushed.

“You… Teresa, that’s too much!” the lead guard shouted indignantly.

“Too much?” Teresa blinked, then said shockingly, “Or… should I send the video of you and your aunt fooling around to your wife? And cc your daughter’s school, so they can screen it publicly? How does that sound?”

Damn it.

A real man wouldn’t get caught up in such petty matters, but that’s the price of losing control. It’s also why countless parliamentarians oppose Julia’s “New Security Act,” since it allows the Ministry of Internal Affairs to exploit counterterrorism as a pretext to gain wider surveillance powers and operate more gray-area agencies.

Though they all belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, just the existence of the Internal Intelligence Bureau and Homeland Security Bureau—two gray agencies—has rendered Scotland Yard almost irrelevant, forcing many to tread lightly and suffer losses. If Julia’s political momentum continues, who knows what might happen. She’s bound to restore her grandfather’s political prestige from the Heberlai era.

Thus, Xiao Ma failed to escape this time and was dragged into the helicopter by Julia.

Except for Julia’s personal assistant, all the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ bodyguards were stopped by Teresa, who extorted them mercilessly.

Jeon Ji-ryeong tried cleverly to follow the VIP onto the helicopter but was pulled back by Jiang Yaowen, who shook his head slightly, implying, “Try again another day, not today.”

Everyone watched the helicopter take off with strange expressions.

Moments later, Teresa’s phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, she frowned—it was Olivia.

Olivia was Teresa’s archrival, the top figure in the British police force and the esteemed director of Scotland Yard.

Answering, Olivia immediately berated her over the phone: “Motherfucker, Teresa, you damn idiot! How dare you threaten my people and blatantly violate the VIP Protection regulations?”

Teresa remained unruffled, smiling: “Olivia, how have you been lately?”

Olivia repeated furiously, “Motherfucker! You damn fool, did a car hit your head? How do you explain violating the VIP Protection regulations? Threatening a VIP’s bodyguard could land you in serious trouble! Are you out of your mind?”

Teresa continued smiling: “Calm down first. Firstly, my motherfucker mom will definitely not lose out. Secondly, I don’t want to curse, but I might just send the video of your father, Justice Hinkley, and a prostitute to your mother—and cc the entire VIP and royal circle for public viewing. Thirdly, if I find out your people dare leak a minister’s private affairs to Scotland Yard again, I’ll declare war on Scotland Yard. Let’s see who’s the stronger power—the Security Bureau has far more chips than Scotland Yard.”

“Fuck you!” Olivia hesitated, spat the words, then abruptly hung up.

Teresa put away the phone with a strange expression.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs’ bodyguards felt faint facing this situation. It seemed that immortals were now fighting each other, and damn, Earth was becoming more dangerous by the day.

Originally, Teresa wanted to send a secret agent a code to capture Shioda Koya for blackmail. But she reconsidered—no rush. That kid was a sitting duck; when he formally cooperated with the Spaniards, that would be the perfect time to strike and work with them...