I Inherited 5,000 Years of Family Property-Chapter 498 - 496: Beg for the rest of your lives

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"What's wrong with asking for a little protection fee when I'm practically securing your national security by leveraging my contacts on your behalf?" Zhang Menglong continued shamelessly.

Wait, no, how could this be considered shameless? The arms he provided to the Tambat Kingdom were almost worth 100 billion US Dollars, not to mention the cost was still there.

But Zhang Menglong was certainly a cunning businessman; how much he'd profit from the markup and how to fleece them was entirely up to him, after all, he was now the only one who could help them out of their desperate situation.

"Not excessive at all, it's perfectly reasonable," Dalit had no choice but to agree, despite desperately not wanting to. They first tried to seize other people's assets, faced retaliation, and then sought alliances to kill Zhang Menglong. It seemed not too excessive for him to ask for some compensation for his troubles.

"Mr. Zhang, I will make a request to the speaker about this, but this protection fee...," Dalit hesitated, "As you know, our country isn't very wealthy at the moment, we don't even have the funds to manage the river we consider our mother. I hope you can give us a discount."

"Of course," Zhang Menglong replied, "I'm not unreasonable, since you've already mentioned it, I'll certainly give you a big discount!"

Hearing this, Dalit's expression eased slightly. If it was only a few billion or even tens of billions of US Dollars, they could reluctantly manage to pay.

"In that case, I'll just take 10 billion US Dollars from you out of generosity!"

"Mr. Zhang, that...," Dalit nearly spewed a mouthful of blood, wasn't that supposed to be a big discount? How could there still be 10 billion US Dollars after the discount?

"Mr. Zhang, isn't that a bit too much?"

"Too much? How could that be?" Zhang Menglong replied, "I recall your country spends upwards of 500 to 600 billion US Dollars annually on the military. Isn't it a bargain to spend 10 billion for peace of mind?"

"Oh, I mean 10 billion US Dollars a year!"

"A year?" Dalit had initially thought it was a one-time payment of 10 billion US Dollars; wasn't this making Brahma Country into a long-term wage earner for them?

"Of course, you can choose not to pay this fee," Zhang Menglong said nonchalantly, "I'm not short of money. I'm only offering help out of pity for your plight. If you're ungrateful, then forget it."

"What do you call offering help?" Dalit was so aggravated he wanted to apply a red buff to Zhang Menglong's head right there and then. Wasn't this blatantly outrageous?

While Dalit cursed Zhang Menglong inwardly, he kept a forced smile on his face.

"Mr. Zhang, I need to discuss this with our council members. Would it be okay to give you an answer in a few minutes?"

"Of course."

...

A few minutes later, Dalit called Zhang Menglong back. After some haggling, they finally settled the protection fee at 5 billion US Dollars annually.

Of course, Zhang Menglong truly didn't care about the money; he just wanted to vex them purely for the sake of it.

In the afternoon, Dalit personally came to Zhang Menglong with the Mahalast Family's property will and, of course, the first year's protection money.

"Mr. Zhang, this card has been specially prepared for you. The protection fee for each year will be transferred into this account. We've already deposited the first year's 5 billion US Dollars, and you can verify it."

"Oh, that was quick," Zhang Menglong handed the card to Hong Yi, "Check it."

"Mr. Zhang, this is an International Bank savings card, it indeed has 5 billion US Dollars," Hong Yi immediately reported after checking the account.

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"Mr. Zhang, we have paid the protection fee, now about this matter..."

"Oh, right, I'll give them a call now!"

Zhang Menglong took out his phone and dialed General Avril's number.

"Is that General Avril? It's me."

"Zhang... Mr. Long."

"General Avril, stop the military actions after taking the third piece of territory," Zhang Menglong said straightforwardly.

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"Yes!"

...

"Is that how it ends?" Dalit stood there, dumbfounded by the side. "Thou call that 'pulling strings'?" That's outright giving orders, okay?

Do you even dare deny it was not you who bought the equipment to support Tambat Kingdom? Otherwise, why would they be so polite to you, so willing to listen and obey? Even if you are pretending, could you at least try to act a bit? Can't you give us some basic respect?

This protection fee of 5 billion US dollars each year, settled with just a phone call—this is just too easy to earn.

At this moment, Domt's cousins and sister also arrived.

"Please forgive us, Master!"

The first thing they did upon arriving in front of Zhang Menglong was to kneel down.

They had learned from those few senators that the sudden surge in Tambat Kingdom's military power was Zhang Menglong's doing, and that's when they started to panic.

They thought Zhang Menglong could only suffer the loss silently, but who could have expected him to respond with such drastic measures?

The entire country was almost toyed to death by Zhang Menglong alone, what storm could they possibly stir up?

Suddenly, they came to realize that betraying Zhang Menglong was an extremely foolish act.

"Master, they coerced us!" Domt's niece was quick to point at Dalit, "No matter how powerful our Mahalast Family might be, we're only part of this country. We couldn't compete with them, that's why we compromised. Master, please spare us!"

"What did you say?" Dalit immediately became furious upon hearing this.

The Mahalast Family controlled over 10% of the entire country's tax revenue, and a massive number of state enterprises were in their hands. It could be said that they affected the very foundation of the entire country.

For so many years, they had held the Mahalast Family in high regard, so this was outright lying through their teeth. Had it not been for their determination to take over the Mahalast Family's assets, the members of the Parliament wouldn't have fully cooperated.

Watching this dog-eat-dog scenario unfold, Zhang Menglong couldn't help feeling angry and amused. With such a country and such siblings and cousins, Domt probably felt very unlucky.

"All right, Mr. Representative, you may leave now. I need to tend to some internal family matters," Zhang Menglong said.

Dalit let out a sigh of relief. It seemed Zhang Menglong would no longer trouble their nation. With this, his mission was also concluded.

A few dozen of Domt's unlucky relatives had arrived, and now they were all kneeling before Zhang Menglong, not even daring to raise their heads to look at him.

As for Luca and Sintobe and others, they now stood proudly behind Zhang Menglong, their faces expressing utmost excitement. The Master was truly the Master—his possessions were untouchable, even by the force of an entire country!

Thinking back on what Zhang Menglong had promised them, they couldn't help but begin to breathe more rapidly. The entire Mahalast Family's assets, which they hadn't even dared to dream of, were now within their reach.

"I have an announcement to make," Zhang Menglong said, "From today on, all assets of the Mahalast Family will be managed by Luca and Sintobe. Their status will be the same as Domt's was. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" At this time, they couldn't dare to argue.

"I despise betrayal the most," Zhang Menglong stated, "Can anyone tell me, what does the familial code dictate as the punishment for betraying the Zhang Family?"

"Expulsion from the family, confiscation of all assets, and henceforth forbidden to use any family connections!"

"Now, you may leave!" commanded Zhang Menglong. "Luca, I have a task for you. Strip them of all their assets. If they take a single penny from the Mahalast Family, I will consider replacing you!"

"Yes, Master, I will complete the task!"

Zhang Menglong's words plunged Domt's siblings and cousins into the depths of despair, but his next sentence completely shattered them.

"Sintobe, I want them never to be able to leave Brahma Country, and not a single enterprise or individual in the entire Brahma Country shall employ them!" Zhang Menglong decreed to those betrayers, "For the rest of your lives, you will live by begging!"