The next morning, in Xiao Di’s ex-boyfriend’s tiny apartment, the three elders of No One Under Heaven gathered for a meal. Calling it a meal was a stretch—it was just instant noodles. Thank heavens and earth for the existence of this geek lifesaver. For Pierce, this was breakfast; for Xiao Di, it was dinner. For Jill Young, the tireless one, it was just a meal to bridge the gap between yesterday and tomorrow.
“Hoo-hoo-haha-hahaha!” Jill Young cockily shook her leg, laughing like some East Asian supervillain about to launch an army. Bloodthroat TV replayed last night’s events, and Jill’s speech was drawing all sorts of attention.
“Are you still laughing? Still laughing? Don’t you know we’re the biggest targets for the casino bosses and drug lords now?” Xiao Di slurped up a noodle and continued, “I don’t think they’ll just roll over and hand us their profits because you scared them a little.”
“No worries, no worries, are we really afraid of enemies?” Jill Young grabbed a chopstick-full of pickled veggies without a care. “If nobody’s jealous of you, you’re a nobody. I’ve always known—here, people aren’t afraid if you’re weird, they’re only afraid if you’re weak. As long as you’re strong, you can do whatever you want. That Mr. Reliable has fans everywhere. He kills people, drives his cat-car crashing around, doesn’t care who’s playing dead, and I bet he’s stepped on plenty of toes. But after all this time, who’s dared to touch him?”
“Someone has.” Pierce pointed with his fork. “You.” He slurped some soup and wiped his mouth. “I was busy setting up defenses and missed your inauguration speech, but I heard you scared a lot of people last night. Rumor has it, civilians are already researching your likes and dislikes, terrified of accidentally crossing you and getting whacked.”
“Pfft,” Xiao Di scoffed. “You’re just scaring a bunch of spineless nobodies, that’s all.”
“Oh, I also heard some of your new recruits are practicing how to kneel,” Pierce added quickly. “Apparently, it’s ‘to make sure they can grovel and kiss Her Majesty’s shoes in record time if she gets mad.’”
Xiao Di immediately bristled. “Those idiots are embarrassing me! Seriously, aren’t you supposed to scare outsiders? How’d you end up terrifying your own people so badly?”
Jill Young shrugged. “When you’ve got a bunch of thugs, bandits, murderers, and maniacs together, if you don’t scare them a little, how do you lay down the law? No rules, and this messed-up world stays messed up forever. Anyway, that’s the first order of business, and it’s basically sorted. Now, onto the second thing: our money, especially the twenty grand from The Reliable Adventure…”
Pierce and Xiao Di instantly leaned in, eyes gleaming.
“Boss, you know I worked hard to get you those two nice guns, spent a ton… Drug Lord Number One got wrecked, so now I’m walking everywhere. And even though that Luo guy’s cemented at the bottom of the sea, if I want to be Queen’s District manager, I need some capital…” Pierce rubbed his hands together.
“Pierce, look at that greedy mug of yours. Contributing to your boss is what you’re supposed to do, why are you asking for money? I can’t be as shameless as you—” Xiao Di massaged her neck and shoulders. “It’s just that after all this fighting, I’m a little beat up. Took an arrow to the knee, my neck’s all messed up…”
Jill Young smacked her forehead. “Why are you rubbing your shoulders if you took an arrow to the knee? And who even uses arrows in Steelbull City? Anyway, enough, both of you, settle down. That money’s for something big.” Jill gave the two a mysterious look. “So, who wants to be the boss?”
“The boss?”
“Yep. I’m going to register a company…”
Before becoming a transmigrator, Jill Young was just a corporate employee. Before ending up in Old Ghost’s dump, she worked at a bigger, fancier company. In that high-level place, Jill learned about something called a holding company.
A holding company is basically a company that invests and controls other companies, becoming the main boss. It controls its subsidiaries’ production, business, policies, and can even directly appoint the leadership. For details, check Baidu Encyclopedia. In short, Jill Young wanted to set up a holding company.
Steelbull City spins with the sun and moon, split into Day City and Night City. Jill Young has pretty much locked down the key interests in Night City, but Day City’s biggest gold mine—commerce—is still up for grabs. On the surface, Day City has to follow the law, so Jill planned to play it legit for once. Registering a holding company is the best way to do it.
“Basically, it’s all about throwing money around, buying stuff up, and raking in the profits.” Jill Young’s explanation was simple but clear. Real holding companies have tons of complicated tricks, but rule number one: if you’ve got your eye on a company and want to buy its shares, but its board isn’t happy, what do you do?
Finance experts will drone on forever, teaching you how to use financial weapons to push the other side to bankruptcy, then swoop in and buy everything for cheap. That method leaves a trail of bankrupt directors and a bunch of fired employees wandering the streets.
But Jill Young had a much simpler method: go with your gut. If the board seemed likable, she’d just drop it and move on. If they rubbed her the wrong way, she’d slap a gun on the table and say, “One question: you selling or not?” With this method, nobody goes bankrupt, nobody gets fired, and everything’s quick and drama-free. That’s why it’s the real advanced method.
What? Didn’t she say ‘no forced buying or selling’? Please note, she said ‘you guys’ can’t do it—not ‘me’. Even the wisest ruler wouldn’t trip themselves up with their own rules. And Jill Young, the iron-fisted tyrant, definitely wouldn’t either.
Actually, in practice, it wasn’t that brutal. Jill Young wasn’t just throwing money around—the targets were small shops, rundown factories, and struggling companies. These places weren’t refusing; they were praying for someone to come invest. When Jill showed up with cash and firepower, they didn’t even care about the guns—they just dove straight into the money’s arms.
This chapter isn’t over yet ^.^, click next page to keep reading!
Twenty grand is no small fortune in Steelbull City. Most people couldn’t make that in a lifetime, and even small-time gang bosses wouldn’t have that much cash lying around. Jill Young roamed Queen’s District, snapping up a few shops, a clinic, and an accounting firm. While wandering, she ran into a few guys in matching suits—definitely Syndicate types.
They clearly knew who Jill Young was, and what she’d done. So when they ran into her head-on, they all stumbled. Day City isn’t a place to pull a gun—cops are everywhere, and even if you did, these guys couldn’t handle her anyway. So they just pretended not to see her and walked away—that was their plan.
Jill Young’s plan was nothing like theirs. She glanced at a passing cop, who was busy checking out a girl in a miniskirt. In two seconds flat, Jill knocked all the suit guys out cold. So when the cop finally heard the commotion and turned around, he found a pile of unconscious men.
“What happened here? What happened?” The cop grabbed his holster and ran over. “Did you do this?”
Jill Young didn’t even look at him, just tossed out, “Heart attack,” and walked off. The cop glanced around and decided to let it go. In Steelbull City, shootouts and explosions are daily business—a little brawl is no big deal. These gangs grease the police plenty, so if he can ignore it, he will.
Of course, this was just a minor episode and didn’t bother Jill Young’s shopping mood at all. After a round through the district, Jill dragged Xiao Di out of her beauty sleep. “What the hell do you want?” Xiao Di was furious at being yanked out of bed—she usually works nights. But Jill just grinned mysteriously: “Come with me, I’ve got a present for you.” “What is it?” Xiao Di was curious now.
Moments later, Jill Young dragged Xiao Di into a shop: Saint Garments Club! As soon as they walked in, the two clerks got nervous. They might not have known before, but now Jill and Xiao Di were household names. Seeing Xiao Di, the clerks bowed and shouted in unison, “Hello, boss!”
“Boss…?” Xiao Di looked at Jill Young, eyes wide, pointing at herself. “Me?”
“Yep, this Saint Garments Club has been bought by my holding company. Didn’t you say you wanted to run this place? Now, on behalf of the parent company, I’m appointing you as general manager.” Jill Young patted Xiao Di’s shoulder. “Kid, chase your dreams and do your best.”
The two clerks immediately chimed in with another, “Hello, boss!”
“Wait, wait!” Even in a hail of bullets, Xiao Di could keep cool, but now she was flustered. “I don’t know how to run a shop, and I need to sleep during the day! And I’ve got work at night!”
“Pfft, night work? Don’t make it sound so sketchy.” Jill Young threw an arm around Xiao Di and led her outside. “Big-picture thinking, kid. If I can do it, why can’t you? You handle gangs, running a shop is nothing—just fiddle around and you’ll be fine. Bottom line, you’re the boss now.”
The two clerks followed along, and when they heard Jill Young, they bowed again: “Bo…”
“Enough, enough, zip it.” Xiao Di cut them off, then looked at Jill Young, hesitating. “Look, I’ve never made money this way before. If I lose, don’t blame me.”
“Money’s never the most important thing—happiness is. Life’s about having fun, win or lose, you just start over. With our skills, we’ll never starve.” Jill Young spun Xiao Di around and pointed at the shop’s entrance. “Didn’t you say you wanted a statue of the Gunfire Angel by the door? Now’s your chance.”
That seemed to strike a chord with Xiao Di, and she immediately laughed. “Alright, I’ll do whatever I want. But this is my first time as a boss, so don’t expect too much.”
“Wasn’t this my first time running a gang? Rules and conventions are for boring people—they don’t know where to go, so they stick to the old path and swap hard work for inspiration. Us? We’re reckless, and that’s why we shine the brightest.” Jill Young pulled out a document. Xiao Di looked down—it was an appointment letter. Printed at the top: Eternal Night Holdings.
“Alright, sign it. I’ve got plenty of faith in you, Boss Xiao Di.”
The two clerks stubbornly bowed one last time and shouted, “Hello, boss!”
This time, Xiao Di didn’t stop them. A clothing store? Isn’t that every girl’s dream? Xiao Di’s eyes sparkled.