Chapter 60: Chapter 57: Brother Hao, Let Me Do It

THUD, THUD, THUD!

Neon signs flickered in the night.

Dozens of young men and women poured out of Dreamfire Bar, their faces panicked and traces of fear still lingering.

Through the street-side, floor-to-ceiling windows, flickers of light and shadow could be seen inside the bar.

Though some had fled, about half the patrons remained. They either sank deep into their booths or stood in corners nursing their drinks, their eyes a mixture of tension and excitement at the unfolding drama.

Lu Chao quickened his pace, his expression growing grim.

He quickly stopped a passerby to ask a few questions, confirming all his suspicions.

Iron Splitting Palm Liu Hong.

One of the six Hall Masters of the Iron Blood Gang, a veteran professional-level expert.

As he mulled it over, memories of the many times Brother Hao and Zhou Qiang had helped him surfaced, vivid and clear.

Lu Chao’s gaze hardened. He finally clenched his fists and, like a reef parting the tides, moved against the flow of the crowd and walked inside.

...

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

Inside the bar, the sounds of gun safeties being flicked off rang out one after another.

As Liu Hong’s threatening retort hung in the air, the atmosphere plummeted to a freezing point.

The two groups faced off, the tension stretched taut like a bowstring. The men from the Iron Blood Gang and the bar’s security guards had all drawn their guns; it looked as if a single wrong word would erupt into a firefight.

In that instant, all the remaining guests held their breath. Some even broke out in a cold sweat, beginning to regret not having left earlier.

RUSTLE!

Following the faint sound, Zhou Qiang, on the second floor, stared daggers at Liu Hong on the stage below.

Killing intent and rage flashed in his eyes, but they were tinged with a hidden wariness.

’After all, he’s a professional-level expert. His Life Energy is likely over fifty, making him difficult to hit with a handgun.’

’And even if we managed to take him down, the Iron Blood Gang would retaliate with utter madness.’

"What’s the matter?"

The cold voice sounded again. Liu Hong, in the center of the stage, seemed to have seen through Zhou Qiang’s thoughts.

His lips twisted into an even crueler smirk. He gestured to his men, and one of them stepped forward, dumping a previously-injured security guard onto the ground.

"Weren’t you so brave, drawing your guns?"

His tone was like a blade of ice. Liu Hong stared intently at Zhou Qiang. "Go on, shoot."

He lifted his right foot, clad in a heavy combat boot, and slammed it down onto the guard’s head, grinding it into the floor. He paid no mind as the man’s wound gaped wider, fresh blood spilling out.

The silent threat made the faces of all the bar’s security guards turn grim. A vein throbbed on Zhou Qiang’s temple as blood rushed to his head.

Just as the situation reached a breaking point...

"Alright."

A calm voice sounded, and another figure emerged from the end of the second-floor corridor.

Chen Junhao appeared, his suit jacket unbuttoned and his expression calm. His tall frame partially blocked the light as his black leather shoes clicked against the tile floor, stopping beside Zhou Qiang.

The crowd stared, slightly stunned, still processing his response.

The next instant.

BANG!

The shot rang out!

It was as abrupt as a clap of thunder.

Liu Hong’s pupils instantly shrank to pinpricks, and he subconsciously threw his arm up to block.

CLANG!!

The clang of metal on metal echoed as sparks flew.

The onlookers stared in shocked disbelief. They could see a hole had been blasted through Liu Hong’s sleeve.

But it wasn’t flesh and blood—it was a silver metallic bracer.

The brass-colored bullet, twisted and deformed, fell to the floor.

His arm trembled slightly. Liu Hong’s face was livid; he clearly hadn’t expected the other man to actually shoot.

Looking up, one could see Chen Junhao’s right hand raised, a wisp of smoke drifting from the black muzzle of the gun he gripped.

"The next one’s for your head."

"Want to try me?"

Looking down calmly, Chen Junhao asked, a cigarette held in his left hand.

Liu Hong’s expression was dangerously dark.

His eyes flickered wildly, a hint of apprehension mixed with a calculation of gains and losses.

Finally...

He slowly withdrew the right foot that was on the security guard’s head, kicking the unconscious man aside like a piece of trash.

"Chen Junhao, you’re truly vicious! Truly impressive!"

Lifting his head again, Liu Hong suppressed his rage, his gaze hooking onto the other man. "But I only came here today to ask one thing."

"Do you still follow the rules of the underworld?"

"Oh?"

Chen Junhao raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting him to ask such a question.

He tossed the gun to a man behind him, took a drag from his cigarette, and said, "Go on."

"According to the rules our two gangs established in the past, North Street was supposed to be split between us."

Liu Hong straightened his back, his voice booming, deliberately making sure everyone in the bar could hear him. "But ever since you, Chen Junhao, opened this Dreamfire Bar, you’ve broken the rules and driven our people out of their businesses one after another."

"Do you admit to this?"

His accusatory voice echoed through the hall. The onlookers grew pensive, surprised to learn of this history between them.

Instantly, all eyes turned to him, filled with curiosity.

Chen Junhao’s expression remained unchanged. He casually flicked the ash from his cigarette. "So, you’re here to take that half back?"

"That’s right!"

Liu Hong’s tone was resolute as he waved sharply behind him.

A trusted subordinate stepped out from the crowd and stood by his side.

The man had short hair, a long face, and stood about five-foot-ten. His gaze was as predatory as an eagle’s.

He looked to be in his mid-twenties, dressed in a black hoodie with his hands wrapped in bandages. He was the one who had sent several security guards flying with a single move.

"Since you, Chen Junhao, dared to set up a fighting ring, then I’m going to issue a challenge of my own."

"Simply put, we settle this with a fight."

He pointed to the empty octagonal cage, his tone provocative. "Three challenge matches. If my men lose, then from now on, your rules are *the* rules. The Iron Blood Gang will never interfere here again."

"But if you lose, I’m taking back our half of North Street."

As his words echoed, the guests grew interested.

Chen Junhao’s expression was unreadable, his eyes narrowing slightly. He could naturally see what the other man was planning.

’He’s using the underworld’s code to drag me into this, then using a three-match challenge to leave me no room to refuse.’

’If the great Hongyi Society doesn’t even dare to accept this kind of challenge, what will people say when word gets out?’

However...

"It’s Ge Tao."

Zhou Qiang said in a low voice, his expression turning ugly.

He recognized the identity of the man Liu Hong had sent out.

A veteran at the Fighting Level. Rumor has it his Life Energy is around thirty-five. Although he’s not known to have mastered any Martial Skills, he is proficient in several types of Beast Form Fighting Skill.

He was vicious. He had once won fifteen consecutive matches in the underground fighting circuit and even crippled four other fighters of the same level.

He had a fearsome and well-earned reputation.

Normally, he wouldn’t be worried about such an opponent.

But.

He looked down at his gauze-wrapped left arm.

Waves of pain shot through it, causing Zhou Qiang’s gaze to turn cold. He resolved to enter the ring despite his injury.

"Brother Qiang, let me go."

However, a hand landed on his shoulder.

Zhou Qiang turned his head to see a sturdy man from the Hongyi Society with a solemn expression.

As one of Brother Hao’s trusted men, his strength was naturally not to be underestimated; he was also a veteran fighter.

Zhou Qiang hesitated, but then he saw Chen Junhao give a slight nod.

"Let Ah Wei go."

’A three-match challenge isn’t won or lost in a single moment. I’d like to see what’s backing Liu Hong’s confidence.’

Instantly, the man named Ah Wei’s face grew serious. He placed one hand on the corridor railing and leaped down.

THUD!

The floor trembled slightly as he landed in the first-floor hall.

He was unharmed by the four-to-five-meter drop. He simply bent his knees to absorb the impact, straightened up, and walked toward the octagonal cage.

STEP, STEP!

At once, amidst the sound of footsteps, the two men entered the narrow octagonal cage one after the other.

Whether it was the Iron Blood Gang members or the bar’s patrons, everyone’s attention was fixed on them.

"Zhang Wei of the Hongyi Society."

Ah Wei said with a cupped-fist salute, grounding himself and taking a defensive stance.

But Ge Tao, opposite him, just smirked mockingly.

SWOOSH!!

Launching a sudden attack, he moved like a cheetah, his bandaged right hand forming a claw as he thrust it forward.

The whistling wind from his attack carried a vicious intent, aiming straight for the face with treacherous precision.

His expression tightening, Ah Wei did not retreat.

Sinking into his stance, he clenched his left fist. With a coordinated burst of power from his shoulder and elbow, he threw a mighty, crushing punch!

The powerful punch stirred the air, creating a whistling gale.

The distance between the two closed rapidly, their techniques about to collide.

WHOOSH!!

But Ge Tao’s figure flickered, veering off at an impossibly sharp angle.

Ah Wei’s seemingly unavoidable punch missed. Then, he saw Ge Tao’s arms, like Eagle Claws, lash out one after another, becoming a blur of afterimages.

SWISH SWISH SWISH!!

THWACK! THWACK!

Ah Wei’s expression changed. He hastily altered his technique, blocking with his fists.

But that single moment of lost initiative put him at a disadvantage. In the blink of an eye, the phantom-like Eagle Claws struck his shoulder, elbow, abdomen, and face.

RRRIP!

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!!

His clothes were shredded, his skin split open.

Several deep gashes appeared on his body, the skin and flesh torn back.

Worse, a gruesome gash was slashed diagonally from his cheekbone to the corner of his mouth. Blood instantly gushed out, blurring half his vision.

Then, before he could create some distance.

RRRIP!!

The Eagle Claw was vicious, like an iron hook, and tore through the clothes and flesh on his chest.

The intense pain made him tremble, and his opponent seized the opening, smashing a fist into his chest.

BAM!!

Ah Wei was sent flying like a kite with a broken string. He crashed into the iron cage, spat out a large mouthful of blood with a cry, then bounced off and fell to the ground.

He struggled to get up, but quickly collapsed again and passed out.

"This..."

The flowing blood stained his clothes and matted his face. The guests looked on in shock, not expecting the fight to end so quickly.

Looking closely, they could see that Ge Tao’s expression was normal and his breathing was steady, as if he hadn’t expended any energy at all.

Seeing this, the expressions of the bar’s security guards shifted, showing wariness and hesitation. Even the other men from the Hongyi Society frowned, thinking to themselves that they would likely have suffered the same fate.

But even so...

Ge Tao was still not finished.

He glanced contemptuously at the shocked members of the Hongyi Society below the stage, a mocking sneer on his lips. Then he stepped forward, raised his foot, and pressed Ah Wei’s head down, grinding it into the floor.

"You’re courting death!"

Zhou Qiang roared in fury and leaped down from the second floor.

Chen Junhao’s eyes also narrowed slightly.

Watching all this, Liu Hong on the stage chuckled and began to applaud.

Then he looked at Zhou Qiang, who had just leaped down to the first-floor hall.

He stared at the man’s gauze-wrapped left arm and said with a mocking smile, "You can’t be serious."

"Has the Hongyi Society run out of men? You’re actually sending out a cripple?"

Even knowing it was a provocation meant to enrage him, Zhou Qiang’s face was still dark, a vein throbbing on his temple.

Even though he knew he wouldn’t gain much by entering the ring now—that the odds were stacked against him—he still strode towards the octagonal cage.

STEP, STEP!

Footsteps sounded again, and it seemed another perilous battle was about to begin.

THUMP! THUMP!!

Two Iron Blood Gang members standing guard at the door were suddenly sent flying, smashing into the bar counter.

The scene was so sudden, and so similar to when the bar’s security guards had been attacked earlier, that everyone was stunned.

"Who?"

His face darkening, Liu Hong and several of his men whipped their heads around to look.

Footsteps approached from the dim doorway. A young man with a buzz cut, dressed in a gray hoodie and sweatpants, walked in slowly.

He showed no fear, nor any worry.

Lu Chao simply looked past Liu Hong and his men, glancing at the blood-soaked man lying in the octagonal cage.

Then, his gaze met Zhou Qiang’s. He gave a slight smile before looking up at Chen Junhao.

"Brother Hao."

His tone was even, his gaze as placid as water. "Let me go."