665: Chapter 665: Dining with the Evil Dragon (Massive Chapter for Monthly Votes) 665: Chapter 665: Dining with the Evil Dragon (Massive Chapter for Monthly Votes) Hearing He Ao’s words, the leader of the Scorpion Gang didn’t answer imdiately.
He picked up his wine glass, took a light sip, then slowly rose from the couch and walked toward the curtains behind it.
As he approached, the thick and heavy curtains slowly parted to the sides, revealing the large, clear expanse of the huge floor-to-ceiling window behind.
The buildings, flickering with neon lights, were barely visible behind the floor-to-ceiling windows.
However, the leader of the Scorpion Gang didn’t look at the luminous buildings beneath him; instead, he raised his head, gazing at the pitch-black, ink-like night sky above.
The night was heavy, the sky filled with rolling dark clouds, and the whole city seed shrouded under a misty do.
“Old man, do you know why I chose to live here?”
He squeezed the wine glass in his hand and looked up at the firmant, “Because from here, I can see the sky.”
In Saint Joen City, where the sunlight was devoured by factory buildings, the top of a high-rise was one of the few places where one could see the sky and the sun.
“I grew up in Green Olive Street district; my father was the lowest rung gangster, my mother was mute.
At the age of five, I was out on the streets stealing with peers, at seven I learned to cheat in casinos for people, and when I was ten, my father died—hacked to death during gang fights.
“He was an asshole, never brought a penny ho, beat my mother and stole her money.
When he died, I didn’t claim his body.
We couldn’t afford cremation, and being picked up by the Scavengers was his only end.
“I never went to school a day in my life.
When I was little, I often lay outside the school fence, watching the children inside, wondering what made them different from .
“Sotis, I’d also go online to teach myself.
There were almost no free educational videos, and all the relevant pages were ads from big education corporations.
Most of the ti, I had to figure out the textbooks myself or sneak into community schools to listen to lectures.
“Sotis I got kicked out, sotis not.
“Then, at the age of fifteen, I joined the gang too.
I always thought I would end up like that bastard father, one day dying in the gang’s fight, picked up by the Scavengers like trash.
“But I was lucky.
Those random books I had learned taught many useful logical ways of thinking.
I realized that many things weren’t so complicated when you think them through backward, that small tactics could be very effective.
“I gradually earned the trust of the gang leader of my group, step by step, until I sat in the lieutenant’s seat,”
His voice trailed off, as if sinking into deep mories, “I was only seventeen at the ti, a young man in a high place, full of youthful arrogance, thinking that everything could be changed with my own power.
“Back then, all our gangs were in the Green Olive district, killing each other over small gains.
But was it the poor in the Green Olive district, who couldn’t even afford als, who were feasting the most in the whole Saint Joen City?
“The whole city knew it was the Kajet Consortium, at its zenith, that was feasting the most in the city, and the Kajet Consortium’s grain trucks had a habit of being almost unguarded before heading out of town.
“So I gathered a few confidants, staked out for a few days, and, behind my boss’s back, led the operation to rob Kajet Consortium’s grain trucks, then sold the stolen grain at low prices to the residents of Green Olive Street, making a tidy sum.
“For a ti, my reputation soared in the entire Green Olive Street district, with many coming over to my side.
“The first ti I did this, I did it very well, covering up all the tracks, so even though it made the news that day, after two weeks, no one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Saint Joen City Police Departnt ca looking.
“Then, a month later, I did it again.
“I did just as well this ti, but on the third day after the incident, the Kajet Consortium ca knocking.
I had foreseen this ending a long ti ago; after all, no one suddenly has an abundance of grain without cause.
There are no walls without wind in this world.
“I originally wanted to kill the people from the Kajet Consortium directly, declare a war between the Green Olive Street and the Kajet Consortium, but I was stopped by my leader at the ti.
He had always thought highly of , but that was the first ti he scolded .
He apologized to the Kajet Consortium.
“The Federation has no death penalty, and I could control the gang from prison, so I was not afraid of the Kajet Consortium going through the legal process.
However, in the end, the Kajet Consortium gave a way out that took by surprise.”
“Convert all the stolen grain into cash based on the market price, then repay it as a loan over five years, with annual interest of 8%.
“Of course, the premise of all this is that our gang must work for them, and of course, every task they assign us is paid.
“To put it more plainly, they wanted to take us in as their dogs.
“I flatly rejected the offer from the Kajet people.
The people from the Kajet Consortium left like dejected dogs, and that day was the happiest day of my life.”
He took a sip of alcohol, paused slightly in his tone, and concluded,
“I thought I had crushed the consortium under my feet.
“Unfortunately, that happiness was short-lived,
“The people from the Kajet Consortium had just left when my boss at the ti told to go to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and turn myself in imdiately to avoid so retaliation.
“The Kajet people left in the morning, and I turned myself in in the afternoon, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not accept my surrender case.”
The leader of the Venomous Snake Gang said this, somberly draining the glass of its contents.
anwhile, He Ao watched the man’s figure intently, lost in thought.
He slowly moved towards Jia Xi’s spot and sat close to his granddaughter.
“When I returned to my gang’s base, I found nothing but ruins.
A rival gang had attacked our base.
They brought out high-tech weapons we had never seen before, bypassed the alarm system I had set up, and massacred every last mber of our gang.”
The man continued,
“The boss who had trusted also died in that battle.
Based on the information he left behind, I surmised that the attackers were able to bypass our alert system because a traitor inside had led the way, and that traitor was the trusted follower I once believed in the most.
“Realizing this, I imdiately went to my mother’s house.
After I joined the gang, my mother never took a penny from again, and she moved far away from where my gang was based, getting by on odd jobs, with only a few close followers knowing my mother’s whereabouts.
“When I got ho, I saw only a house full of blood, and my mother lying in a pool of it.
“In a rage, I led my remaining n in a raid on the enemy gang’s base, but their firepower was too strong.
Almost imdiately, we suffered heavy losses.
I retreated, wounded all over.
“I escaped with the last few n thanks to the cover of a family that had once bought grain from at a low price.
But soon after I left, that family was caught and massacred by the rival gang.”
“One of their neighbors took money from that gang and betrayed them.
“During that ti, the entire Saint Joen City underworld was plastered with my wanted posters.
They offered tens of thousands as a high bounty for my whereabouts and my life.
A few long-ti loyal followers couldn’t resist the temptation and chose to betray .
“If it weren’t for my quick reaction, I would have died in those betrayals.
“But the number of people around dwindled until the betrayal of the very last person I trusted, and I finally found myself in a dire situation.
“It was then that the Kajet people found ,”
The man laughed with a touch of scorn, seemingly at the Kajet Consortium, but perhaps also at himself, “They first clarified their stance that the rival gang indeed took their money, but they only provided the funds and did not request that they kill my mother or wipe out my gang.
“They said they were willing to help , to give money, and to give channels for buying arms, but there was one condition: all the money and grain from the loans had to be paid back, and if I ended up defeating the rival gang, the money they took also had to be counted against .
“Funny, isn’t it?
They gave money to others to kill my family and friends, yet I am the one who has to repay it.
“But at that ti, I had nothing left, so I agreed to the condition.”
“With the support of the Kajet Consortium, I soon made my coback and re-established the gang, which is now known as the Scorpion Gang,”
“It took less than three months to deal with the original gang, kill the person who first betrayed and then betrayed his followers, wiping out everyone in that gang.
“Over the next few years, I gradually unified the entire Green Olive Street, but the loan I once owed to the Kajet Consortium was never fully paid off.
I would pay off one loan only to take out another for expansion, in a never-ending cycle.”
He looked down, gazing at the brilliant city in the distance, almost entirely made up of Kajet Consortium factories, the rumble of machinery as if echoing across the entire night,
“The deeper the contact, the more I realized how terrifying and enormous a super consortium could be, like a frog in a well looking up at the Giant Dragon flying across the sky.”
He sighed softly,
“It was during that ti of developnt that I t ‘Shadow Cutter,’ and gradually built up what I have now.
“Of course, that guy never trusted , and I never trusted him either.
He needed to provide him with enough ‘sacrifices,’ and I needed the thods he offered to stably cultivate Polluted Monsters.
“He knew that I wanted to kill him at any mont and take all the benefits for myself, and I also knew he always wanted to kill and take over Green Olive Street, this huge ‘sacrifice cabinet’ for himself.
“Old man, before you arrived, my relationship with Shadow Cutter had always been in a delicate balance of mutual exploitation.
Your arrival tells that Shadow Cutter has decided to break this balance — it seems that what he used to be concerned about is no longer there.”
As he said this, he paused and turned around, his back to the sparkling city and the hazy night, his voice growing hoarse,
“Old man, when I was young, I too thought about changing the world.
But reality has shown how insignificant and small we are.
I can change nothing,”
He lifted his glass towards He Ao, “We are just mortals with rusty swords, we will never defeat the evil dragon that can cover the sky with its wings.”
“So you chose to sit at the sa table as the evil dragon?”
He Ao, supporting himself with a cane, stood erect, gazing at the Scorpion Gang leader.
“What’s wrong with that?”
The Scorpion Gang leader swirled his glass, glancing at the luxurious and expensive decor around him, “In such a world, the kinder the person, the more miserable and despairing they are.”
He shook his head, chuckling, “Well, now that the recollection is over, old man, it’s ti to handle the matter between us.
I can give you those pieces of information for free,”
The Venomous Snake Gang leader spread his hands, a sticky flesh tentacle extended from behind him, curling around the wine glass in his hand, “but you’ve killed so many of my people, if I let you leave this room alive, the reputation I’ve built in the underworld over the years would be destroyed in an instant.”
“That reason alone is probably not sufficient for you to make a move on .”
He Ao looked at the Venomous Snake Gang leader, pushing himself up with his cane to stand diagonally in front of his granddaughter.
The loss of his n was recoverable; Green Olive Street was never short of gang mbers.
And with the strength that He Ao had demonstrated, even if the Scorpion Gang leader was confident he could deal with He Ao, it would likely cost him.
Moreover, the Scorpion Gang leader was in fact in a hostile relationship with Shadow Cutter.
On that level, he and He Ao shared common interests.
It would be in his best interest to let He Ao go after Shadow Cutter.
So from his point of view, he wouldn’t easily attack He Ao.
Unless so external factor interfered with his choice, providing him with benefits greater than the losses.
“Is it Shadow Cutter?”
He Ao looked at him, adding another question.
“Old man, you’re very smart,”
The Scorpion Gang leader lifted the bracelet in his hand, “Before you ca, I had already sent your ‘records’ to Shadow Cutter.”
“And as you were telling your ‘story’ with your back turned just now, Shadow Cutter sent you a ssage.”
He Ao said calmly.
All this ti, the Scorpion Gang leader had been holding the wine glass with the hand that had the bracelet, and when he had his back to He Ao, he could use his body to block the glow from the bracelet and the reflection in the mirror.
“You noticed,”
The Venomous Snake Gang leader looked at He Ao with slight surprise and chuckled, “Old man, I think I know why Shadow Cutter values you so much.”
“It seems he has given you an offer you can’t refuse.”
He Ao looked at him.
“Indeed,”
The Venomous Snake Gang leader smiled and the sticky tentacle wrapped around the stem of his glass, shattering the transparent glass into pieces, “Sotis the line between ‘friend’ and ‘enemy’ is just that blurred.”
His body slowly split vertically, tentacles surging from the center tearing apart his seemingly luxurious clothes.
These tentacles extended upwards, cradling his head, ‘plucking’ it from the neck, and hovering it in the air as he sighed at He Ao,
“Old man, if we had more ti together and Shadow Cutter’s price was a bit lower, I might have chosen to take a gamble and work with you.
Unfortunately, there are no ifs in this world.”
He Ao engaged his Divine Sense, observing the powers inside the monster before him twisting like a vortex.
These powers had reached the limits of C-level, even slightly beyond.
“Jia Xi!”
He Ao shouted.
Jia Xi, already prepared, propped herself on the sofa and executed a backflip behind it, retreating towards the door.
At the sa ti, He Ao activated his Super mory and suddenly pulled out a Butterfly Knife from his chest.
Tentacles, that could obscure the sky, ca whirling towards him.
He Ao looked up at his foe, the warped and chaotic sights before him, like a kaleidoscope, clustering behind the monster, clinging tightly to its body.
These were the patchworks of nurous lives it had devoured.
In that instant, He Ao could even hear the distorted and confused thoughts murmuring within those Shadows.
The power of Super mory flooded his body, and the sleek, tallic Butterfly Knife unfolded its blade.
In the past, when faced with an enemy of this magnitude, He Ao would usually have advanced to C-level, and with the help of Super mory, he could quickly reach or exceed the limits of C-level.
But now, he had only Super mory.
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