Just as Feng Yin was reconsidering the reality of this world after witnessing the bloody spectacle on the screen, Boss Hong noticed Sister Xie discreetly retract her gaze from sizing up Feng Yin for the third time at the front of the group.
He leaned closer and asked in a muffled voice, "Old Xie, you've been sizing him up for a while now. Is that kid really your so-called junior martial brother?"
The gloomy-faced woman gave him a cold glance. "What are you thinking? Didn't I tell you last night? My junior martial brother has been dead for a long time. I watched him die in our master's arms with my own eyes. Feng Yin couldn't possibly be him."
Boss Hong looked displeased. "Then why do you keep looking at him? What, looking for a boy toy?"
"Are you sick in the head?!" Sister Xie glared at him, immediately causing Boss Hong to shrink his neck back.
She slightly lowered her voice. "At a time like this, someone who looks exactly like my junior martial brother suddenly pops up. And it's such a coincidence that he's a Celestial Essence Person, and he just happens to appear right in front of me. I suspect there's a problem with this kid's identity."
Hearing this, the fat on Brother Hong's face trembled as he revealed a ferocious expression. "You have a point. I'll go ask him about his background. If this is a trick played by our rivals, I'll just..."
Saying so, he slowly made a throat-slitting gesture.
Sister Xie shot him a glance. "I don't recall you being this brainless. How have you gotten stupider since we started cooperating?"
Seeing Sister Xie mock him, Boss Hong helplessly rubbed his bald head and laughed awkwardly. "Hey, you're the one who's smart and a good fighter. The capable do the heavy lifting; I just follow your lead."
Sister Xie said softly, "I... have already received word. My master knows I'm trapped here on Border Prison Island and is figuring out a way to get me out. Old Hong, keep a low profile lately and don't cause trouble. If everything goes smoothly, I'll take you with me."
Boss Hong immediately perked up, lowering his voice. "Old Xie, is what you're saying true? Roughly when?"
Sister Xie said indifferently, "Sometime soon. Make sure you keep it a secret and stop acting impulsively."
"Alright!" Boss Hong revealed an excited smile.
As they spoke, Boss Hong saw Sister Xie suddenly stop, her gaze turning cold as she looked ahead. He immediately followed her gaze, only to see a massive crowd of people surging out onto the road ahead.
After making out the leader of that group, his jowls hardened with ferocity, and a voice squeezed out through his gritted teeth: "The Ren Sheng Group, and their Wakagashira Yamanamikawa..."
He immediately turned around and shouted, interrupting his many subordinates who were still glued to the screen. "Stop looking! Keep staring and you won't even know how you died!"
Nearly a hundred people, including Feng Yin, immediately tore their eyes away from the screen and turned to look at Boss Hong. Then, they simultaneously spotted the members of the Sinful Selection Team slowly approaching from the other side of the street.
In an instant, a chorus of cursing and swearing boiled over.
"It's the Ren Sheng Group!"
"KORA! Let's get 'em!"
Feng Yin also saw the people around him unanimously lift their shirts, drawing out various hidden weapons from their waists. Iron pipes, wrenches, wooden clubs, blades... It was quite a diverse assortment.
Good lord!
He raised an eyebrow. He hadn't noticed earlier that these people were packing so many toys. Subsequently, he followed the crowd as they swarmed forward with a roar, all closely trailing behind Brother Hong and Sister Xie to bolster their ranks and build momentum.
Led by their respective leaders, the two groups quickly closed the distance. Coupled with the sight of both sides brandishing various weapons, and combined with the fact that most people here spoke with a peculiar, yakuza-like cadence—a language similar to Japanese on Earth—it almost triggered Feng Yin's memories of playing a yakuza video game called Like a Dragon. There were even many in the crowd who naturally rolled their tongues when shouting just now.
He wondered, "So, is this Genroku Country that Border Prison Island belongs to actually the Otherworld equivalent of Earth's Japan? Then is the Celestial Essence Country, which uses the Celestial Essence Language similar to Chinese, the equivalent of my homeland?"
Thinking of this, Feng Yin couldn't help but feel speechless. Transmigration was one thing, but why did he have to end up in this broken country's bizarre place of exile? Fortunately, it seemed he had physically transmigrated with his original body, rather than possessing a native of Genroku Country.
"Wait... no one here happens to have a gun, right?" he suddenly thought.
At this thought, Feng Yin silently dropped back half a pace, using a burly gang member as a human shield. He didn't want to be forcefully killed off by some inexplicable sniper or stray bullet before he even had the chance to develop his strength.
A few seconds later, the two groups came face to face.
Whereas both sides' underlings had clearly been in a fiery, impulsive stance moments ago, they now completely quieted down at a simple hand signal from their respective leaders. This left only Boss Hong and Sister Xie to confront a fierce-looking man with a Warrior's topknot from the opposing side.
Feng Yin noticed that Sister Xie's right hand was already resting on the hilt of the sword she wore at her waist, as if ready to draw it and attack at any moment. Opposite them, the man with the Warrior's topknot was equally vigilant, his right hand gripping the hilt of a blade at his left hip—impressively, he was also equipped with a weapon similar to a Japanese katana.
If it had been earlier, he would have just assumed Sister Xie was a mere female mob boss who carried this seemingly orthodox sheathed sword as a hobby, and that her real fighting style would be no different from a street thug's brawl. But after seeing the shirtless man named Ya Lie fight for his life against his opponent on the big screen, his perspective had subtly changed.
The martial prowess that the people of this world possessed was probably extraordinary. This was a world where special powerhouses known as "experts" existed. Therefore, Sister Xie's state of Unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, along with her fierce stance preparing to draw her sword, made Feng Yin instinctively sense that her martial prowess was likely extraordinary as well. He sensed the exact same aura from the topknotted Warrior across from them.
At this moment, the topknotted Warrior laughed and said, "Boss Hong, where are you planning to take this bunch of rats to scrounge for food?"
The fat on Boss Hong's face twitched. Unafraid, even though the other party had a sword in hand, he stepped forward to go toe-to-toe with the Warrior. "Yamanamikawa, you dare intercept the transport team hired by the Zero Point Group? Do you have a death wish?"
Yamanamikawa revealed a ruthless smile. "Of course I wouldn't dare touch the Zero Point Group's workers. However, Boss Hong, the section you contracted is about to finish, right? You might not be the one taking the next bid."
Boss Hong cast him a disdainful glance. "Pfft. If I don't take it, could you? Are you going to rely on this bunch of trash under you—who idle around all day and only know how to steal and pilfer—to do the heavy lifting?"
Despite being pointed at and cursed by Boss Hong, Yamanamikawa looked indifferent and merely smiled. "Bald Hong, you've been in Sin City for so long. How have you become so naive? As long as I secure the upcoming bid, why would I worry about not having anyone to do the work?
"This Sin City houses tens of thousands of rats, and more than half of them don't know where their next meal is coming from. I only need to offer half of the bid's remuneration in supplies, and I can call up enough rats to work themselves to death."
Boss Hong sneered, "Everyone who ends up on this island, including yours truly, is a top-tier villain. You think you can make these people who lick blood off the edge of a blade risk their lives with some petty favors?"
Yamanamikawa said indifferently, "I have my own methods. Rather than engaging in a battle of words with me here, you should think about how to keep your own business."
As he spoke, his smile turned sinister. "You should know by now, right? For all future labor commissions, the Zero Point Company is no longer using the previous bidding route."
Boss Hong's expression changed, and Sister Xie beside him also turned icy.
Yamanamikawa glanced at the two of them. "Any team that wants a contract, in addition to meeting the worker quota, must also arrange for five skilled fighters to go to the Death Madness Tower and participate in five matches against other contracting teams. This will serve as a warm-up act for every official 'Death Frenzy Sword Combat' tournament at the Death Madness Tower."
Saying this, he pointed his left hand at Boss Hong and Sister Xie. "You two are fairly strong, but it'd still take some effort for you to beat me. And as for our Ren Sheng Group—"
He flipped his hand and pointed his thumb at himself, his face filled with rampant arrogance. "We've already secured the services of that genius Sword Hero who just arrived on the island. Adding me and our Leader...
"Can you outfight us?"