Chapter 261: A Huge Sum of Money

"Inheritance?"

Li Mochen's gaze sharpened slightly as he paced to the window. "Uncle Franks, is it time to divide the cake?"

"The police have released the death report for Edwin Antonio."

Franks said in a lazy tone, "By law, his estate will be inherited by his relatives. Unfortunately, since Antonio has solid evidence of large-scale drug trafficking and is linked to the Dragon Witch Cult and over a dozen murders and disappearances, all his assets will be deemed illegal gains, confiscated by the police, and auctioned by the court. That guy ran things in Atlanta for over a decade and still has some quality assets—many people, including me, are interested. But as the one who killed Antonio and destroyed his entire operation, you have the right of first pick. That's the respect the entire Atlanta underworld shows to you, Andre Lee Wieldenstein."

"Wow, you guys flatter me."

Li Mochen sighed in an American tone. "So which part of his assets can I get? Roughly how many gold shields? And in what way?"

"No restrictions on the industry—you can take whatever you want, but the upper limit is around 30 million gold shields."

Franks explained with a light laugh, "As long as you bid on Antonio's assets at auction, they'll all back off and won't compete with you. That's only within the 30 million gold shield limit. Once it exceeds that, it goes to the highest bidder. So, interested, boy?"

"Of course!"

Li Mochen raised an eyebrow. He was certainly interested in Antonio's assets. Why refuse if there was money to be made? It was better than letting those underworld big shots have them.

"I'll have someone look into the details. If I find a target, I'll let you know in advance, Uncle Franks."

After Li Mochen hung up, Alisa asked curiously, "A-Mo, you must have a target in mind, right? Which of Antonio's businesses are you eyeing?"

She knew that during the war, Li Mochen had already become thoroughly familiar with Edwin Antonio's assets.

"I want the Craig Community Bank, the building at 34 Anfak Street, the Blood Hand Security Company and that building, and the chain of laundromats."

Li Mochen had indeed made up his mind, and he didn't hide it. "If possible, I'd also like to take the Riverbend Dock he owns and two large stores in the North City."

"The dock and stores aside, the first part is worth just over 30 million gold shields, but you don't have that much capital. Are you planning to set up another company and use the stolen money to buy them?"

Alisa could tell from Li Mochen's expression. "The first three assets are easy enough, but the problem is Antonio's chain of laundromats—that's the Blood Hand Gang's money-laundering operation. I doubt those underworld bosses will give it up. And the Craig Community Bank is already a negative asset; it cost depositors at least 20 million gold shields. Now only its banking license and that bombed-out plot of land are worth a little."

Alisa understood why Li Mochen wanted the building at 34 Anfak Street and the security company.

The latter could not only house Samson Brut and his men but also secure legal licenses for some weapons. When there were no combat missions, these people could take on security contracts, easing Li Mochen's financial burden.

As for the building at 34 Anfak Street, it contained an unstable spatial rift that could bring people from the dark world into Atlanta or smuggle magical materials into the light world.

If Li Mochen wanted to develop in the dark world in the future, such a spatial rift would be a great help.

But Alisa didn't understand why Li Mochen wanted the chain of laundromats and the Craig Community Bank. Was it to launder money?

Yet he didn't engage in illegal business, so there was no need to set up a dedicated money-laundering channel.

"They'll still be useful, Alisa."

Li Mochen explained with a bitter smile, "I expect I'll be entangled with the Dragon Witch Cult for a long time. If I use my legal funds for the war, it could become evidence against me."

—And as for the depositors of the Craig Community Bank, he didn't want to harm them or bear that karmic burden.

"So you mean you're actually planning to get into illegal business?" Alisa frowned deeply.

"Emm... how should I put it? I guess I'm just following in my father's footsteps."

As he spoke, Li Mochen handed two letters to Alisa. "These were delivered to me two days ago by Kadiren Jebsen (Vice President of Xuri). Someone brought them to the Xuri headquarters and claimed to be a friend of my father's."

Alisa took them, glanced through, and her expression tightened. "The Antoria Continent? The Holy Blood Hunters and the Cadia Hunters?"

The letters roughly stated that Li Mochen's father, Li Chunchu, had been supplying about ten percent of the daily necessities, medicine, and arms to these two hunter groups and the Triangular Viking Hunters, an affiliate of the Holy Blood Hunters, serving as their exclusive arms contractor and dealer.

Since the cooperation had been very pleasant, these three groups trusted Li Mochen to a considerable degree, so they wrote to ask if he was willing to take over Li Chunchu's business.

"I had someone check. The Holy Blood and Cadia are large hunter groups on the Antoria Continent, about six to seven times the size of the Fenrir Wolf Hunter Group. Even the Triangular Viking Hunters are quite sizable, at least twice as large as Fenrir Wolf."

Li Mochen's expression was complex. "Even just ten percent of daily necessities and arms is a huge business, with annual profits of at least 70 million gold shields. Plus there are the specialty goods from Antoria sold on consignment."

He felt that Li Chunchu was like a cabbage—peel off one layer, and there was another.

"70 million gold shields is an underestimate; at least 100 million."

Alisa said thoughtfully, "If that's the case, I suspect your father must have had a fairly capable armed force under his command? And probably other assets in America, like the Riverbend Dock?"

She knew that any large hunter group based on the Antoria Continent was extremely powerful. Their armed personnel usually numbered over 20,000 to 30,000, with military strength exceeding that of many small nations.

Moreover, their bases often formed cities of varying sizes, with populations between 100,000 and 200,000.

Given the harsh environment of the Antoria Continent, food, medicine, and arms all had to be shipped from other continents, so even securing just ten percent of the supply for these three groups was a massive business.

Additionally, due to the perilous conditions off the coast of Antoria, without a sufficiently capable armed fleet, it would be very difficult to transport goods safely to Antoria.

"I don't know. That's why I've asked Li Tailai and Jeremy Burt to investigate."

What Li Mochen cared about most was the money Li Chunchu had earned on the Antoria Continent. Where had that huge sum gone?

So he thought he should visit the Atlanta branch of the Swiss Bank soon to inherit his father's accounts. He might find something there.