Chapter 977
Although the thirty or so subordinates that Derek brought were not all the elite power of the Piers, they definitely accounted for at least half of the experts.
This was a team of experts that the Piers had painstakingly spent a ton of money to build and nurture.
But in just a few minutes, they had become the Howards’ subordinates, which made him so furious that he was about to vomit blood!
Rayson was also looking at this scene in astonishment.
Even he didn’t expect that so many of the Piers’ experts would pledge allegiance to the Howards within such a short period of time!
In that case, how could they fight against the Howards? He had only brought twenty or so experts.
Florence was very satisfied with this result in front of her, and she was smiling non-stop.
She pointed to the first person to join the Howards, followed by the other two who spoke up shortly after. “The three of you are the earliest to announce joining the Howards. I naturally won’t go back on my word about the reward. You will receive a grand reward of four million, two million, and one million dollars respectively!”
The three people immediately smiled excitedly and quickly thanked Florence, “Thank you, Ms. Howard! Thank you, Ms. Howard!”
Seeing the three of them receiving such a large sum of money without any effort at all, the other people next to them showed looks of envy and chagrin.
They just spoke up a little bit later than these people, but they missed out on so much money. They really felt heartbroken!
Florence looked at the remaining ones and said, “Since you’ve joined the Howards, you’re now one of us, and each of you will receive two hundred thousand dollars!”
The remaining twenty people were overjoyed and hurriedly thanked Florence.
Although $200,000 was a lot less than what the other three got, it was still quite a large amount. Not only were their lives spared, but they even received $200,000 each. Moreover, they would be getting a high salary and a lot of bonuses when they started working for the Howards in the future.
Lucas was very satisfied with the situation in front of him.
Although this idea was thought up by Jordan, it was appropriate.
Although these experts were not the top powerhouses of the Howards, each of them was still considerably strong. Together, they could be considered a powerful force for the Howards.
Under normal circumstances, it would take at least a few dozen million dollars to recruit such a large group of experts, as well as a long period of time to repeatedly hone their skills and train them.
But the Howards had only paid less than fifteen million dollars to subdue these experts and make them feel grateful toward the Howards. It was undeniably a good deal for them.
On the contrary, Derek was really enraged by these former subordinates of his.
“You bastards, how dare you betray the Piers! Don’t forget who’s been paying you! I worked so hard and spent so much money to train you people. How dare you betray us just like that?!
“I’m warning you. None of you are allowed to join the Howards! Get your asses back here immediately. Otherwise, the Piers won’t spare you!” Derek hollered in exasperation.
These experts who had just chosen to join the Howards instantly sulked. All this fool Derek is capable of is threatening us with such things. It’s not like we have a choice.
Why didn’t Derek step forward to defend them when Jordan said that they would have to die if they didn’t agree to join the Howards?
Derek merely treated them as the Piers’ private tools, which he would rather destroy than let the Howards have.
But they were living human beings!
So despite Derek’s furious holler, there was no way these experts would return to the Piers as Derek had commanded.
From the moment they made their choice, they were already part of the Howards!
“Mr. Piers, why are you lashing out at my subordinates? Don’t you forget that they’ve all chosen to join the Howards, and you’re in no place to yell at them!
“Mr. Piers, you keep saying that your family isn’t going to spare them, but I insist on protecting them! If you dare to harm them, it means going to war with the Howards!
“But I advise you to put your brains to use and think through this carefully before you decide to go to war. These thirty-something people must be quite important to the Piers, and they must account for at least half of the Piers’ combat power, right?
“The Piers have lost so much combat power to the Howards. The tables have turned. Do you really have the courage to go to war with the Howards?”
Florence spoke extremely hostilely, but the Howards were pleased to hear it.
This was what the truth was. The Howards and the Piers used to be evenly matched, and if they really fought, the chances of victory would be 50-50. But now that the Piers had lost a significant force, the Howards didn’t have to be afraid even if they went to war with the Piers!
The thirty or so experts who had just defected to the Howards were greatly relieved after hearing what Florence said. At the same time, they were very confident as well.
Now that they were already working for the Howards, they naturally had the Howards to protect them, so why would they be afraid of Derek?
“Mr. Piers, we indeed worked for the Piers previously, but we’re not your slaves. You paid us, but we also did a lot for your family in return, so our conscience is clear!”
“That’s right! We don’t owe you anything!”
“If the Piers want to take revenge against us in the future, we won’t sit back and do nothing. You can’t blame us when the time comes, Mr. Piers!”
“That’s right! We belong to the Howards now, and we no longer have anything to do with the Piers. If you want to make a move against us, we won’t be polite!”
...
The thirty or so experts spoke one after another.
Since they belonged to the Howards now, they naturally had to perform well in front of their new employer, especially since they couldn’t have anything else to do with the Piers anymore.
They used to be Derek’s subordinates, so they had obeyed him. But the situation was different now. If Derek insisted on dealing with them and making a move against them, the Piers would be their enemy!
Derek’s face flushed red, and he was about to be angered to death by his former subordinates.
The Piers had invested heavily in them, and they thought that these experts would work for them for the rest of their lives. But now, they had not only betrayed the Piers to join the Howards, but they even had the guts to speak to him like that and threaten him, the helmsman of the family!
“Very well! Since you’re so brave, the first thing I’ll do is to get rid of you traitors once we start to deal with the Howards in the future! Just you wait!” Derek cursed angrily through gritted teeth.