Chapter 918: Speak directly

When choosing the location, Xu Tian specifically picked a hidden spot. The manor was a Western Alliance-style building, surrounded by dense forest, making it a good hidden location.

He parked the car by the main road, got out, and walked through the dense forest to the entrance of the manor.

Before he could even enter, he felt a cold wind brush his face.

The next second, a flickering white figure appeared in front of him.

Xu Tian looked closely and found that the person was a youth with medium-long hair and a pale, gloomy complexion. He hadn't seen this person before and guessed that he should be a talent newly recruited by Wuling and the others, so he asked.

"Is Chen Xiaoxiao at the base?"

Hearing this, the gloomy youth showed a vigilant expression and asked back.

"Who are you?"

"Shadow Master." Xu Tian said.

"What did you say?" The gloomy youth was stunned at first, then sneered. "You say you are the Shadow Master, then I'm the Wolf King. You're young, why don't you do something good instead of coming out to swindle? Impersonating the Shadow Master here is a capital offense. Seeing that you're a first-time offender, I'll pretend I didn't see anything. You'd better leave quickly. If our manager comes out in a while, you won't be able to leave even if you want to!"

Xu Tian:...

Should I thank you...

He also didn't expect that because he hadn't come to inspect the Shadow base for too long, the newly joined members didn't recognize him at all, and even treated him as an imposter.

"My Lord!" Before Xu Tian could speak, a middle-aged man walked out of the mansion.

He was one of the first members to join the Shadow and recognized Xu Tian at first glance.

"Yinyu, don't be presumptuous! He is our Shadow Master!"

"He is the Shadow Master?"

Hearing this, Yinyu's complexion changed drastically, and he hurriedly knelt on one knee in front of Xu Tian.

"My Lord, please forgive me! It was your subordinate who didn't recognize Mount Tai!"

Yinyu never expected the Shadow Master to be so young.

"It's fine. You don't recognize me, so it's normal to have vigilance." Xu Tian raised his hand slightly, letting the gloomy youth stand up.

Yinyu had prepared to be severely punished, but seeing Xu Tian so magnanimous, he had a few more points of favor for this organization he had just joined.

"My Lord, his name is Yinyu. He is a new member we absorbed. He was previously a special-grade bounty hunter of the Luoyan Tang family's mountain villa."

"You are Yinyu?" Xu Tian looked the youth up and down.

He had also heard of this person before.

"Exactly." Yinyu's expression tightened, and he answered somewhat nervously.

"You were originally a special-grade bounty hunter of the Luoyan Tang family's mountain villa, but you rebelled after killing your fellow disciples. Am I wrong?" Xu Tian asked again.

"That's correct..." Yinyu felt there was nothing to hide about his experience. The Shadow accepted new members, so it was impossible not to do a background check.

"Hmm, I see." Xu Tian still remembered that he had seen the bounty mission regarding Yinyu on the bulletin board of the Profound Turtle Tang family's mountain villa, and it was special-grade. As long as one could kill Yinyu or capture him alive and hand him over to the Luoyan Tang family's mountain villa, one could get generous experience points.

"My Lord, if you mind my previous identity, or worry that I will cause trouble for the organization, then I can..." Yinyu had just joined the Shadow and wasn't sure if the Shadow Master would bear the risk of becoming enemies with the Luoyan Tang family's mountain villa for his sake, so he didn't have much confidence when speaking.

In fact, ever since he betrayed the Luoyan Tang family's mountain villa, he had prepared to have no organization to take him in and to hide everywhere. He didn't expect that there would really be an organization willing to accept him, and it was the Shadow, which made people tremble with fear among the dark forces.

Xu Tian didn't answer Yinyu immediately but looked at him carefully.

Being stared at by such a probing gaze, Yinyu became even more nervous.

He had even prepared to be kicked out of the Shadow, but suddenly heard Xu Tian say.

"It's just a Luoyan Tang family's mountain villa. Do you think I'd be afraid of them?"

"My Lord, what do you mean?" A look of surprise flashed in Yinyu's eyes.

"Work for me with peace of mind. As long as you don't betray the organization, no one dares to touch you." Xu Tian patted Yinyu on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Shadow Master!" Yinyu was very grateful.

"I told you, you can stay in the Shadow with peace of mind. As long as Shadow Master is here, the people from the Luoyan Tang family's mountain villa won't dare to come and find trouble for you!" The middle-aged man also echoed.

"Alright, let's go in first." Xu Tian didn't exchange pleasantries with the two anymore, but walked into the mansion gate first.

Chen Xiaoxiao, A Biao, and others heard the news and came out to greet him one after another.

"Boss!"

"Boss, you're here!"

Their martial arts values could only be considered middle-to-lower class on Wuji Island, and they were far from the members newly recruited by the Shadow, but it was more than enough for them to serve in management positions.

Especially Chen Xiaoxiao and Wuling. One was a former leader of the Tang family's secret guards, and the other was the leader of a bounty hunter team. Both had rich experience in managing personnel and establishing rules.

And the most important thing was that these people followed him back in Huaxia, so he didn't need to worry about them betraying him.

Xu Tian walked into the manor's conference hall surrounded by the crowd.

Just after sitting down, Chen Xiaoxiao brought over a roster.

"These are the current member configurations of the Shadow. Take a look first."

Xu Tian opened the roster and found that the Shadow had indeed absorbed many experts recently, and there were even special-grade bounty hunters.

"Brother Yi, we've recruited many people recently, and the forces have indeed grown, but..." Chen Xiaoxiao stood in front of Xu Tian, reporting with some hesitation. "With more personnel, various expenditures have also exceeded the budget."

Following that, she took out a financial report.

"Take a look at this."

Xu Tian took the financial report again. Just after opening the first page, he frowned.

This expenditure was indeed astonishing, making his heart ache a little.

However, with the increase in members, this was unavoidable.

After all, the Shadow recruited strong people. In order to retain these people, Chen Xiaoxiao's arrangements for food, clothing, housing, and transportation were all high-standard.

After all, if you want the horse to run, you have to let the horse eat its fill.

Recruiting talents extensively while cutting corners in terms of treatment, in the long run, you won't be able to keep people, even if the Shadow's name is useless.

"Shadow Master, our recent expenses are indeed too large, and there is no good revenue strategy at present. Basically, expenditures are greater than income." Wuling was worried. "If this continues, we might go into debt."

"Brother Yi, actually, it's not difficult to make money, as long as..." Chen Xiaoxiao thought of an idea, but was struggling with whether to tell Xu Tian.

"Speak directly if you have something to say." Xu Tian said faintly.

"It's that we can also imitate the business model of the Azure Wolf Hall..." Chen Xiaoxiao stopped at the point and didn't clarify directly.

Xu Tian was a bit dumbfounded.

As far as he knew, the initial source of income for the Azure Wolf Hall wasn't glorious. Many cooperations were forced by the Wolf King using martial force, forcing the other party to cooperate in a low-profit way. In the end, the Azure Wolf Hall was the beneficiary, and the profits grew exponentially.

. しa ===== CHAPTER 919 =====