Chapter 31: Evil Begets Evil (Part 3)
"Heh heh, boss, you still remember me, huh?" The man took off his hat, revealing the title "Ex-Prisoner" on his head, and bowed respectfully to Chen Yu, "Finally, I see you again."
It was the bunk chief he had met back when Chen Yu was in prison!
"You’ve been released?" Chen Yu sized him up.
"That’s right, I just got out last month." The bunk chief nodded, then immediately knelt down and started untying Chen Yu.
Looking down at the ropes being untied from around his ankles, Chen Yu’s expression was uncertain, "Are you the one who’s after my money?"
"Money?" The bunk chief was startled, "What money? Ah! The million I had my family transfer to you back then?! What do I want that for? It was all meant as a tribute to you."
"If it’s not for money, then why did you kidnap me?" Chen Yu frowned, "And hit me with four muffled blows."
"Boss, I wouldn’t dare kidnap you." As the bunk chief helped Chen Yu with the rest of the ropes and helped him up, he said sheepishly, "This is the operation of our Gang Leader. Knowing that you’ve always been under police surveillance, we had to resort to this method to successfully bring you here."
After moving his wrists that had turned blue from being bound, Chen Yu squinted his eyes, "So you’re mixed up with the underworld."
"That’s right." The bunk chief nodded, "Because of a botched operation that got leaked, I was caught and have been in until now."
"What does your gang leader want with me."
"Boss, please come with me. You should speak directly with our Gang Leader."
With that, the bunk chief stood up to lead the way, opening the iron gate of the basement, "Boss, follow me."
Standing in place for a moment, Chen Yu decided to follow the bunk chief out of the basement.
As they ascended the staircase to the first floor, Chen Yu realized this place was an abandoned factory.
Rusty machinery, dilapidated doors and windows, weeds and trash everywhere—it was a scene of decay.
Clearly, this factory was far from the Qingcheng City center.
It might not even be in Qingcheng City anymore…
A sense of crisis gradually welled up in him, but Chen Yu forced himself to remain calm and continued following the bunk chief, turning left and right until they came to a relatively clean, empty house.
Inside the house were three people.
Two men and one woman.
One of them, a tall bald man, was sitting and was clearly the leader.
"Gang Leader." As the bunk chief brought Chen Yu into the house, he first closed the door behind them and then nodded to the bald man, "I’ve brought my boss here."
"Brother, truly sorry for the inconvenience." The bald man immediately stood up, looked Chen Yu over, and took a big step forward to hug Chen Yu, "Regretful that we’ve met so late! We, the Iron Blood Gang, wouldn’t resort to such methods to invite you over if it weren’t absolutely necessary."
Pushing away the bald man, Chen Yu said calmly, "Big brother, just get to the point. What do you want with me."
"Four words," the bald man showed four fingers, "Making a mark in history!"
Chen Yu: "…"
"Brother, I’ve already heard that you’re ’known in advance,’ and your initial title was ’World’s Number One Dismemberment Murderer.’" The bald man hugged Chen Yu again, excited, "Our Iron Blood Gang, we need talents like you!"
"???" Chen Yu looked shocked.
"World’s number one murderer, ah! Such methods, such ambition, such a monumental undertaking! It’s simply…" The bald man stroked his bald head, sighing, "It’s simply amazing."
"So you kidnapped me to come here…"
"That’s right!" The light in the bald man’s eyes flashed, "To have you join the Iron Blood Gang, to lead us forward!"
"I’m fucking..."
Chen Yu was truly shocked.
Was this "Iron Blood Gang" sick in the head?
"Brother, to tell you the truth. This gang is our family’s legacy." Letting go of Chen Yu, the bald man put his hands behind his back and reminisced, "Founded since my grandfather’s time, through hardships, we’ve become the king. In this region of Qingcheng, everyone gives our gang a thumbs up."
"What did your gang do back in your grandfather’s time?" Chen Yu asked.
"Drug manufacturing." The bald man replied.
"And now?"
"My grandfather was executed by firing squad. My dad succeeded him and transitioned to smuggling."
"And then?"
"My dad was also executed by firing squad. My uncle took over and switched to kidnapping."
"And then?"
"My uncle also got shot. My brother took over and dabbled in theft."
"And then?"
"My brother got shot too. Now I’m in charge."
"So what do you do now?" Chen Yu asked with a face full of black lines.
"We’re in the pimping business now." The bald man turned around to introduce the middle-aged woman behind him. "This is my cousin, the current leading lady of our Iron Blood Gang."
"Hello, Mr. Chen." The bald man’s cousin squeezed out a smile at Chen Yu, losing at least two grams of powder, "I hope you’ll look out for us in the future."
Chen Yu: "…You fell from grace too quickly."
"Yeah." The bald man sighed, rubbed his bald head, then patted Chen Yu’s shoulder. "That’s why we came to you, hoping to restore the glory of my grandfather’s era under your leadership, even outshine it!"
"Is that so?" Chen Yu nodded, turned, and walked away, "But I’m not interested, bye."
But as he pushed open the door, he saw that outside a crowd of gangsters had gathered at some point, each holding a big machete (some with kitchen knives), all staring at him with piercing gazes.
Chen Yu: "..."
After a moment of silence, he closed the door, turned back around, and smiled at the bald man. "Actually, I’m not entirely uninterested. We can talk."
"Haha!" The bald man was thrilled, giving Chen Yu another bear hug. "I knew you wouldn’t let me down, brother. Come, sit! Let’s talk in detail."
"Alright." Chen Yu nodded, took a seat in one of the only two chairs available, and gestured, "Go ahead."
"Brother, I want you to lead us in making a big splash, something that will shock the world," the bald man said eagerly. "Just like your old title, ’the world’s number one murderer’! It has to be on a global scale, something that will honor our ancestors."
Chen Yu: "You seem to have misunderstood the meaning of ’honoring our ancestors’."
"I get it, I do," the bald man looked puzzled. "I meant my own ancestors."
"Oh." Chen Yu realized. "Then no problem. But right now..."
Chen Yu pretended to hesitate, pointing to the title above his head. "It’s not that I don’t want to help you, bro, but no matter how awesome I used to be, it’s all history. I’m just a ’useless otaku’ now. Can’t help you with anything."
"Damn! Speaking of your title really pisses me off." The bald man suddenly stood up, strode forward, opened the door, and pointed at Chen’s title in front of everyone inside and outside, "Brothers, look how brutal? How absurd? A ’world’s number one mutilator and corpse abuser’ brought down by human governments to a ’useless otaku’? Where is justice? Where is the law?
Where is freedom?!"
The gang members exchanged glances, then burst into a fervent discussion, all filled with righteous anger, raising their knives and shouting deafeningly, "Down with the human tyranny! The world belongs to Three-Body!"
Chen Yu: "?!"
"Down with the human tyranny! The world belongs to Three-Body!" the bald man led the roar.
"Down with the human tyranny! The world belongs to Three-Body!" each person shouted at the top of their lungs.
Breaking several pieces of old glass in the factory...
"Brother, let me explain," the bald man said, returning to his senses, and eagerly addressed Chen Yu, "This ’Three-Body’ refers to decadence, indulgence, and crime, all three united. Not the ’Three-Body’ from that novel."
Chen Yu sat uncomfortably, sweat beading on his forehead, "You... your gang’s goals are now on a galactic scale. You... probably don’t need me..."
"Need you! How could we not? No matter how grand the ambition, there needs to be a leader," the bald man said, sitting down across from Chen Yu, eyes wide with spirit, locking eyes with him. "Brother! So the first goal of our gang now is to help you regain that glorious title of ’world’s number one mutilator and corpse abuser’! With that, both our gang’s reputation and power will soar to a new peak!"
Chen Yu: "But I..."
"Hear me out!" the bald man interrupted. "The second goal is, once you have the title of ’world’s number one murderer,’ to call out and unite all the world’s gangs, to give human tyranny a damn good fight! To stand up against it."
Chen Yu: "..."
"And the third goal, with your leadership, is to gradually seize the world, to completely liberate human civilization! The world belongs to Three-Body!"
Chen Yu: "..."
"Brother!" The bald man said, his face flushed with excitement, anxiously asking the restless Chen Yu, "Are you feeling the rush now?"
Chen Yu: "I’m about to pee myself."
…