Fat Wah's words instantly made Mixed River Dragon snap.
With a yin-yang, sarcastic tone, he sneered,
"So what, you just handled a small-time society, didn't you?"
"Anyone who didn't know better would think you wiped out the entire Numbers Gang. Tch!"
Lin Yao didn't respond.
He simply held his beer bottle, a faintly amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips, his eyes cool as he looked at him.
That gaze was like watching a monkey jump off a building—
not the slightest bit of concern.
"Feng Boy! How much have you even had to drink?"
Fat Wah couldn't keep his face straight anymore. He scolded him in a low voice, his tone full of warning.
"Godfather, I…"
Mixed River Dragon tried to explain, but Fat Wah cut him off.
"Enough with the 'I, I, I'! You and Ah Yao are brothers—two sides of the same hand. Got it?!"
Just then, Lin Yao's brick-sized phone suddenly rang in his pocket.
It was Ah Bu.
He picked up.
"Ah Bu, what's going on?"
"Boss, a lot more guys suddenly showed up on the street. People from Cheung Lok are here too!" Ah Bu reported.
"Have they made a move?" Lin Yao asked.
"Not yet, but it looks like they're trying to stir something up. I've already got people watching them."
"Alright. I'm heading back now."
Lin Yao hung up and turned to Fat Wah.
"Brother Wah, I'll head back first. The guys and Cheung Lok's people might make trouble."
"Alright, Ah Yao!"
Fat Wah stood up, his expression solemn.
"There's no evidence on the guys' side, so it should be fine.
But watch Cheung Lok carefully—if anything happens, call me immediately!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Fat Wah suddenly unbuckled the gold watch from his wrist.
He shoved it in front of Lin Yao, his tone firm and sincere.
"I won't say much else. Your contribution to the hall—I've got it all in my heart."
"Thanks, Brother Wah."
Lin Yao took the watch and slipped it into his pocket.
He knew Fat Wah was trying to bind him closer, but he'd never been the type to refuse goodwill.
Besides—
the person next to them was already so jealous he looked ready to explode.
Lin Yao glanced at Mixed River Dragon.
The man's eyes were dark, like someone having an acute pancreatitis flare-up—
as if he wanted to take both Lin Yao and Fat Wah down with him.
Lin Yao was very familiar with that look.
He'd seen it plenty of times in old triad movies.
When the Downhill Tiger of Tung Sing stared at Camel during their showdown,
it was exactly that expression.
As Lin Yao walked out of the private room,
Fat Wah's harsher scolding voice rang out behind him, followed by the sound of a fruit platter being knocked over.
Mixed in with it was Mixed River Dragon's deeply suppressed, humiliated rage—
like a wild beast whose head had been stepped on,
furious, yet daring not to lash out.
…
Back at the turf.
Ah Bu briefed Lin Yao on what he knew.
Today, more than twenty cops had shown up at the Walled City.
They were likely there to understand what had happened during the day.
Since no one had died and no guns were used, Lin Yao didn't take it too seriously.
At worst, the cops would call him in for a few questions.
Without evidence, they usually wouldn't even "invite him for tea."
As for Cheung Lok—
according to Ah Bu, fifty to sixty underlings had come.
But they hadn't provoked anything. Their purpose was unclear.
Lin Yao had Ah Bu lead the way and took a few men to make a round outside.
His turf was calm.
Was this the calm before the storm?
After returning, Lin Yao gave Ah Bu fifty thousand dollars.
He told him to send people out to gather intelligence.
Mainly to find out how Hongyi and Cheung Lok planned to deal with him—
and also to keep an eye on Wo Luen Shing's Big D.
In Hong Kong, underworld intelligence could be bought and sold.
This place was one of the world's major information hubs.
Aside from political and economic intelligence,
information on all the major societies was also openly priced.
Some were even clearly marked.
Kowloon Walled City remained a key hub for underworld intelligence exchange.
In movies, how did Burst Fire know that Ah Lik beside Jimmy was an undercover cop?
That was information he'd bought.
At the same time, Lin Yao thought to himself—
once the time was right, he had to build his own intelligence network.
Whether underworld intel now or economic intel in the future,
both would be crucial.
With nothing else pressing, Lin Yao returned to the Night General Club's private room and opened the system.
All his physical stats had only increased by 0.5—barely worth mentioning.
But his system points had jumped to 380.
Those points were probably the reward for taking down First Brother.
This damn system didn't give any sound notifications at all—
its core philosophy was silence is golden.
If he wanted to check anything, he had to pull it up in his mind.
According to the system text, once points exceeded 1000,
the system shop could be unlocked.
Points could be used to purchase skills—
as for what skills exactly, that remained unknown.
Before transmigrating, Lin Yao had read plenty of transmigration novels.
Those golden fingers were always flashy and overpowered.
His own bargain-bin system felt suspiciously weak—
he strongly suspected it was a pirated knockoff.
Still, any ointment that could strengthen his legs was good ointment.
Better than nothing.
After closing the system, Lin Yao began thinking about his future path.
His goal was crystal clear:
To become the world's strongest financial magnate.
He had absolutely no intention of making "gang boss" his life goal.
A gangster couldn't step into the sunlight.
Same old rule—
Money is king.
Right now, although handling Hongyi had made Fat Wah look at him differently,
Xu Feng was still Fat Wah's godson.
If Lin Yao wanted to move up, he had to step over Xu Feng.
He wasn't particularly passionate about taking the seat—
it was just a stepping stone.
Without higher status, how could he make real money?
Even if he didn't take the seat himself,
he'd have someone close to him do it—like Ah Bu.
Lin Yao realized Ah Bu was practically made for the underworld.
You could say—
he was Wo Luen Shing's future Gan Tai.
So how should Xu Feng be dealt with?
Lin Yao mulled it over—he needed a perfect plan.
Xu Feng had to be removed,
but without letting Fat Wah or the rest of Wo Luen Shing see through it.
Suspicion didn't matter.
There was plenty of time.
First, let Ah Bu gather reliable intelligence—
only then could he respond properly.
…
What Lin Yao didn't know was that the night he crushed Hongyi,
the news had already spread throughout the underground world!
After all—
a few dozen men versus several hundred
was unheard-of fresh gossip in the jianghu.
Pretty Yao.
Demon Yao.
Hard Bastard Yao…
Lin Yao's nicknames spread like wildfire.
…
Hongxing Headquarters.
It was meeting day.
After handling daily affairs, Dragon Head Chiang Tien Sheng specifically asked Hongxing's Kowloon Walled City seat-holder, Slim Eyes:
"Slim Eyes, you and that Hard Bastard Yao are both in the Walled City.
Is there any chance we can dig that eye-catching kid over?"
Slim Eyes, his triangular eyes narrowing, shook his head.
"Mr. Chiang, he handled Hongyi all by himself."
"If he comes over, what position could we even give him?
I can't possibly hand my seat to him, can I?"
"That's true… but if there's a chance, I still want to meet this kid.
Fat Wah—I know him too."
Chiang Tien Sheng looked every bit the talent scout.
In recent years, Hongxing had been struggling to attract fresh blood.
Among the younger generation, only Chan Ho Nam gave him any spark.
But Chan Ho Nam's skills were still too weak,
and his brain wasn't exactly sharp.
As for the younger men from other halls—
Chiang Tien Sheng hadn't even bothered considering them.
The reason was simple.
Among Hongxing's twelve halls,
only the Copper Gong Bay hall
was truly his direct lineage.