My Milf Conqueror System novel Chapter 225

Chapter 225: The Border Skirmish

[Jake’s POV]

The encrypted phone in my jacket pocket vibrated as I walked across the main casino floor. A quick buzz against my ribs.

The floor was bright. Too bright. Slot machines sang and dinged in overlapping melodies. Carpet patterned in red and gold swallowed footsteps. The air smelled like perfume, spilled vodka, and the faint metallic tang of coins. The slot lights flashed white and gold across my face. It was too loud to think. Women in heels clicked past with champagne flutes. A man at the blackjack table cursed under his breath and slammed his chips down. The carpet was sticky under my shoes. Every sound here was money, and every smell was someone losing it.

I pulled it out, checking the caller ID. It was Li.

The vibration in my hand felt heavier than it should have.

"Noah," she said, her voice tight with suppressed anger. "We have a small situation on the northern border."

I bypassed the crowded slot machines and headed for the quiet of the eastern service corridor. The noise dropped with every step. Bells fading. Voices muffling. "Talk to me."

"One of our collection teams was hit ten minutes ago," Li explained. "Two men. They were doing the morning run through the electronics market near the boundary line of the Iron Fists’ territory. A black van pulled up, four men jumped out with baseball bats and pipes. They beat our runners and took the envelopes."

I could picture it. The market was narrow, stalls stacked with phones and wires. The van would’ve blocked the alley in seconds. No cameras. No witnesses. Just the sound of bats on bone and men gasping. I felt my jaw tighten. Lin wasn’t stealing cash. He was taking our reputation and testing if it bled.

I could hear traffic behind her. Horns. Distant shouts. The sound of Macau moving.

"Are our men alive?" I asked, pushing through the heavy wooden door into the service hallway. The door was heavy. It closed with a soft thud that cut the casino noise in half.

"They are in the clinic," Li said. "Broken ribs, concussions. They will survive. But the message is clear. Lin is testing our borders. He wants to see if the Golden Koi has the strength to hold the territory we claimed."

The hallway smelled like cleaning solution and cardboard. A mop bucket sat against the wall, water still rippling. My shirt stuck to my back. The AC in here was broken and the humidity rolled off the walls. I could still hear the casino through the door, but muffled now. Distant. Like another world. Li’s voice was steady, but I knew her. That quiet meant she was furious. Someone was going to pay for this.

"If we don’t respond, he’ll hit another route tomorrow," I said, my mind already calculating the logistics of a counter-strike. Streets, timing, exits. "And if we respond with a massive show of force, we trigger a full-scale gang war that draws the police and the Empress."

"Han and Zhao will be watching closely," Li added. "If we show weakness, they will join Lin and carve the Outer Harbour into pieces."

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