Chapter 268: Strange threat

It had been a morning that was just like any other morning, but that soon quickly changed.

During the usual normal rush, while Lin Fan and Song Shu were busy, there was a strange person that moved right through the crowd.

This was an old man, but he definitely didn't look like an old man with his thick head of black hair and muscular build. If anything he looked more like a young bodybuilder. But the wrinkles on his face clearly showed that he was an old man.

This old man easily moved through the crowd without attracting any attention, it was almost as if he didn't exist.

As he came closer to the counter, he watched Lin Fan for a bit from the side as he was working behind the counter.

Of course, it wasn't like no one in the store had noticed the old man. In the corner, Angela had noticed the old man the moment he came into the store since he had been using a strange law.

She could tell that this old man was interested in Lin Fan, but he didn't seem to have any hostility, so she decided to watch for now.

Naturally, she wouldn't let anyone harm Lin Fan…

After the rush was over and the crowd in the store thinned, Lin Fan finally had some time to relax as he leaned back in his chair at the counter. It was at this time that the old man had finally approached.

But Lin Fan strangely didn't notice him until the old man was right in front of the counter and he gave a cough.

Lin Fan looked up in surprise to see this old man who seemed to have suddenly appeared out of thin air, but he didn't try to engage him. In his store, people were free to do business if they wanted and if they didn't, he wasn't planning on convincing them since his store was already popular enough.

However, that old man had different plans.

That old man suddenly leaned in towards Lin Fan who slid his chair back slightly in surprise, but that surprise didn't match the shock that he felt when he heard the words the old man said.

The old man revealed a smile and said, "Owner Lin, was it fun destroying the businesses of the Jiang Family? How much do you think they would pay for this information?"

Lin Fan immediately revealed a wary look as he looked over this old man. He could tell that this old man was much more than he seemed, even though he already looked quite special.

Just based on the aura that the old man had slightly suppressed, but didn't fully conceal to allow Lin Fan to see his cultivation, this old man was in the Platinum Realm. Not only was he in the Platinum Realm, it was clear that he was in the peak Platinum Realm.

Why would this old man suddenly say something like this and what was his goal?

After being shocked, Lin Fan quickly looked around, but it seemed like no one was able to see them. They were all walking by them like they didn't exist, clearly not having heard what the old man had just said.

What was going on here?

But Lin Fan didn't have time to think about this as he turned back to the old man and asked, "What do you mean?"

The old man shook his head with a smile as he said, "Owner Lin, there's no use in denying this. I have plenty of evidence proving that you were the one who destroyed those businesses. Moreover, if you were to attack me now, that would look bad for your business, so how about we just have a nice civilized conversation?"

Lin Fan knew that this old man's words had covered every possibility, with the only exception being that this old man was lying about his evidence. However, with how confident he was, Lin Fan wasn't certain of this possibility.

Moreover, he wasn't willing to risk his entire plan just on this single possibility. It was still far too early in his plan for it to be exposed and if it were to fail now, it could only mean that it would fail.

This was something that he had promised Jiang Zhi Shu and he really wanted Jiang Zhi Shu as his subordinate now that they had spent some time together. He enjoyed his personality, but the most important thing was that Jiang Zhi Shu was someone who was loyal. He had demonstrated this over his four months of service to Lin Fan and he had demonstrated that in his love for Yuan Xiang Qin.

Lin Fan really wanted someone like him as a subordinate, so he didn't want this plan to fail.

After a slight moment of pause, Lin Fan forced himself to calm down as he said, "What do you want then?"

The old man just stood there with his smile as he asked, "What do I want from you indeed?"

Lin Fan felt a bit of irritation when he heard this, but he forced it down as he said, "Well this is a pet shop, so what do you think you can want from me?"

The old man said, "But isn't it interesting that you're only targeting the businesses under the Jiang Family? What if I were someone who worked for them, what would you do?"

Lin Fan raised a brow and asked back, "If you were working for them, would you have done all of this? Now who's asking dumb questions?"

The old man finally dropped his smile and revealed a serious look as he said, "Good, I don't like dealing with dumb people. It's always much easier to deal with intelligent people."

Lin Fan crossed his hands and said, "So?"

The old man said, "First, let me introduce myself. I am Qiang You, the president of the Seeker Union here in Rock Mountain City."

Seeker Union, that was actually quite the special existence in Rock Mountain City.

They were the ones that maintained the semblance of order in this city and the one leading that was the president. It was said that the part of the city that was ignored by the Jiang Family would be much worse if it wasn't for the Seeker Union keeping the peace.

There was no doubt that the Seeker Union was the second strongest force in Rock Mountain City since most people either became a seeker or a miner to make a living in this city, or in most cases, they were both. But those that did survive were all powerful experts who were able to survive those beast inhabited mountains.

It was said that the Seeker Union even had more experts than the Jiang Family…

But it was also said that the Seeker Union was fiercely opposed to the Jiang Family since they were the ones ruining the city.

Of course, the reason why the Jiang Family never attacked the Seeker Union was because both of their forces had upper realm factions behind them. If they were to ever make a move against the Seeker Union, it would mean starting a war that neither of them could afford to finish.

That didn't mean that the Seeker Union wasn't a thorn in the side for the Jiang Family and vice versa.

Both of them wished to destroy the other side, but neither of them could do a thing.

Still, it was clear that the Seeker Union wouldn't sell information to the Jiang Family. Or at the very least, if this old man really was the president of the Seeker Union, there was no way that he would be working with the Jiang Family.

In that case, what was his goal in coming here?

The old man could see the confusion on Lin Fan's face, so he said with a smile, "Owner Lin, it's like this. To be honest, I'm looking to cooperate with your shop on something that only your shop can help me with."

The confusion on Lin Fan's face became even deeper as he couldn't understand what this meant. Lin Fan asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Qiang You revealed a knowing smile and said, "What is the main business of your shop?"

Lin Fan casually answered, "Of course we deal in pets, this is a pet shop."

Qiang You nodded and said, "Exactly, but do you know how rare pets are in this Rock Mountain City?"

Lin Fan thought about it for a bit and he realized that he was right.

Most of the pets that he saw were all the most common pets, but these people were clearly all experts who could afford his prices which definitely weren't cheap. The only people he saw with different pets were clearly those that were nobles and royals.

He hadn't thought too deeply into this, but now that it was pointed out, he did find it strange.

Lin Fan nodded before asking, "Why is that?"

Qiang You said, "It's the Jiang Family and the so-called nobles and royals that support them. They hold a monopoly on higher tier pets and don't allow anyone to get them so they can maintain their power. It really makes it hard for us common people."

Lin Fan thought about it before nodding in agreement.

Those on top clearly wanted to keep their advantage, so why would they let others obtain the ability to oppose them?

Qiang You then said, "So Owner Lin, I'm looking to see if I can get some pets from your pet shop. I'm sure that someone with your level of training must have some high level pets."

Lin Fan thought about this and was about to reject this offer since it would hurt his plan even more, but then there was the voice of the system that rang in his mind.