When the Zoo delegation was deliberating whether to take into Jin's offer with serious consideration, Claire questioned how Jin got hold of that footage and had been planning this impromptu meeting for some time.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I had to keep it a secret that it came out of the blue. The video materials were sensitive in nature and the fewer people who knew about it, the better." Jin said through the System Channel with Claire and Grandma Yuan in it.
"You still did not answer the question," Claire said as she took a chair for Grandma Yuan to sit right beside Jin while she stood at the side.
"Honestly I thought it was you who orchestrated all these in the first place. It's Jiang Song, our new Zoo Guard. He had pals in the security department that had been hashed with threats rather than bribes to keep everything under the wraps. It just so happened that when his pals heard Jiang Song was going for a new Zoo, they were wondering if he could expose them for their sake." Jin said and Grandma Yuan quietly raised an eyebrow towards Jin.
"Oh… Hmm yea. Jiang Song was like their big bro in almost everything in the security department. I guess, he too already knew it and had to keep his eyes closed about the management. Would not be surprised if he decided to use you to try leveraging it against them."
"All I knew from their end was that their higher ups would force them off the cameras for certain nights but one was curious and tech savvy enough that he created a backup device that would record the camera footage to see what was exactly going on. Needless to say, he found himself a pot of scandals but he was not that tech savvy to spread it into the net without implicating himself." Jin explained.
"So yeah. When Jiang Song came here, he was wondering if I could take advantage of it since he saw how big I have become and having possession of the System. Initially, I thought it would be a gamble and prepared a few more threats but this was way easier than I thought." Jin said through the System Channel but reminded the Zoo Delegation to quickly make their decision. However, it seems like he had spoken too soon.
"Are you very sure that you will delete them? Or is there more to this?" One of the Zoo Investors asked and Jin placed hands on the table to try and intimidate them further.
"Why? Are there even more incidents I am not aware of? Perhaps bestiality?" Jin queried and the zoo investor got a little too defensive in his line of answering.
"I do not care. Just delete them when the deal is done!" The Zoo Investor said and Jin shrugged his shoulders.
"You are in no position to bargain and it is not in the legal documents which stated I have to do just that," Jin replied.
"Then we are under no obligation to pay you this much too!" Another one of them shouted.
"That's true. You can reject the offer, and we will merely send this to the police as well as the internet. Oh and feel free to send any cultivators to my end as well. My colleagues and I would love some exercise." Jin realised that the investors are finally trying to bark and bring him down so he merely used the simplest tactic in bargaining.
To stand up and leave the bargaining table.
As they saw Jin trying to leave the area until someone decided to show their 'rank'. A man in his late sixties stood up and declared that he was with the Royal Zodiac Rat Clan. Not just a member but a distant uncle of the direct family.
It no doubt stopped Jin in his tracks and that Royal Zodiac Rat Clan Member thought he had the upper hand until Jin opened his mouth.
"Seriously? You are going to play rank and title right here and now?" Jin questioned and the Royal Zodiac Rat Clan Member replied with a resounding yes. Both Claire and Grandma Yuan merely smirked at the mistake he was about to make.
"One last chance. Have you forgotten that I decimated your Rat Triad Leader? Are you sure you want to go against me?" Jin queried.
"That leader can be replaced anytime. You offend us and you will get your just rewards. Don't think that you would be let go just because you have a big tree in Shenzhen!" The Royal Zodiac Rat Clan Member answered and Jin laughed.
"Come at me, I do not care. The deal is off so be prepared to handle the consequences."
"Hah! You think I- we would be scared of your threats? The entire Royal Zodiac Rat Clan will come after you."
"Oh, by the way. What's your name again? I did not catch it the first time when you were rat-tling off your title." Jin suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"My name is Ben Lao Shu! People call me Big Ben!" Big Ben said and Jin chuckled a little without any effort in hiding it.
"Very well Big Ben, I look forward to your counterattack. Just be sure. It's you, your clan against me, alright? Any attack on my customers would result in severe consequences." Jin said as he waved his hands and the current zoo deal was off.
However, the moment he left the meeting table, that prideful behaviour turned 180 degrees as a number of Zoo Investors went towards Grandma Yuan asking her if it could be salvaged. Some were even deciding whether they could utilise her connection with him to not let that evidence be leaked out. There were some who would want to pay money to have their own footage be erased.
Grandma Yuan, on the other hand, merely stomped her stick and walked off, signalling to them that she was disappointed in them. She had no idea that the scandals were that sick and thought the worse was merely siphoning funds from the Zoo itself. It then makes her realise how terrible humans could be and sometimes not worth saving.
"You guys should have taken the olive branch even though it was at a high price. But now, it looks like the gutter would have been a better place to hide in." Claire walked away with Grandma Yuan.
