"Protection money? From me? You people? Dare?"
When the local "gang" came knocking, demanding so-called protection money for opening a shop, Lu PingAn laughed outright.
Especially when he saw that the leaders were actually a group of Aquatic Race.
".Do you perhaps not know who I am?"
"Open shop! Pay up! Rules!"
Looking at the Fishmen and Half-Fishmen before him, more like refugees than gang members, wielding clubs and iron weapons, Lu PingAn was so angry he laughed.
Reality could sometimes be this absurd, yet still make perfect sense.
Refugees lacking the means to make a living were indeed pitiful. Yet the ones they were most likely to turn their blades on were those even weaker than themselves.
Lu PingAn's shop had merely hired a large number of Long-Hand Tribe members and Fishmen as clerks, while the "human employees" were busy with their own affairs and did not wander around outside.
And so, following the rules, these "local gangs" had come knocking at the new shop.
They demanded an opening gift and regular protection payments, threatening to smash, loot, and rob the place if they were refused. When Lu PingAn, this "ordinary human young man," appeared, their arrogance subsided somewhat, but they remained remarkably stubborn.
"Don't pay? Block door! Splash oil!"
"We're customers too. We want to spend money too—we don't have money, but you can't stop us from coming in, right?"
Noticing there were "human employees" here, they skillfully changed tactics, turning hard into soft. Their direct threats became, "If you don't pay protection money, we'll make sure you can't run your business properly."
That overly practiced change in attitude only made Lu PingAn laugh in anger.
It seemed they were already accustomed to bullying the weak and fearing the strong.
"Get lost."
Lu PingAn could not be bothered