"This is Ah Xuan, nicknamed 'Blood Dragon.' The night before last, he hacked half of that bastard Jackals's arm off with a single slash, killed four more people, and seriously wounded over a dozen. He chased several hundred men away, one slash at a time. If that bastard hadn't escaped quickly, his head would already have been separated from his body!"
Baki loudly sang Wang Xuan's praises. After all, he was his subordinate, and the greater Wang Xuan's reputation became, the more face Baki had.
Looking at the handsome Wang Xuan in a baseball cap, plain T-shirt, and jeans, everyone found it hard to believe. He looked refined and scholarly, utterly different from the legendary image of a man covered in blood, with crimson eyes, who killed without blinking.
No matter how you looked at it, Wang Xuan was a university graduate. Compared with these men sitting before him—with hair of every color, wildly varying lengths and styles, gaudy clothes, and not one of whom had even finished junior high—he really did look refined and scholarly!
"Young man, you're quite handsome. It'd be a shame not to put you in a movie! You've made a great contribution to the organization this time. Baki, you can't shortchange the hero!" Camel looked at Wang Xuan with satisfaction. A boss naturally had a different perspective. Compared with those underlings who looked like monsters and demons, Wang Xuan gave him a much better impression. At a glance, he looked like someone capable of accomplishing great things.
"Rest assured, Dragon Head. I definitely won't shortchange Ah Xuan!"
"Thank you, Dragon Head. Thank you, Brother Ji!"
"Work hard. The organization won't mistreat any hero. I hope you'll be able to sit up here someday, too." Camel pointed toward the seats in the front row.
"Rest assured, Dragon Head. I'll work hard!" Wang Xuan said, nodding heavily.
Now that he had been promoted to a district boss, his status was completely different. He no longer needed to personally manage streets, collect protection money, or deal with other miscellaneous matters. The underlings beneath him would handle all that.
However, before that, he still needed to open the Fragrant Hall and take on disciples.
For this, Baki invited Sha Meng, Uncle Fung, and Uncle Fai to serve as witnesses.
"Why aren't you three greeting them? These two are Uncle Fung and Uncle Fai. They're both senior uncles of the organization."
"Hello, Brother Meng."
"Hello, Uncle Fung."
"Hello, Uncle Fai."
Wang Xuan, Wong Jai, and Ah Hoi greeted the several bosses in turn. Wong Jai and Ah Hoi were both Baki's trusted men; only Wang Xuan was a newcomer. After this ceremony at the Fragrant Hall, the three of them would officially become members of East Star.
The three knelt before the statue of Guan Gong and offered incense. After they had worshiped, Uncle Fai began reciting the gang rules.
One: Do not collude with the authorities.
Two: Do not prey on your own kind.
Three: Do not betray your brothers.
Four: Do not rape or violate your sworn sister-in-law or sworn younger sister.
"Wang Xuan, Wong Jai, and Ah Hoi will abide by the gang rules." After saying this, the three inserted their incense into the burner, rose, and walked over to Baki. They picked up a cup of tea from beside him and respectfully presented it to Baki with both hands. "Big brother, please have some tea."
Baki took the tea and drank a sip.
The ceremony was complete.
From that moment onward, Wang Xuan was a true member of East Star. He now had the qualifications to rise through the ranks and could no longer be compared with the 49ers, straw sandals, and the like. Baki had held this same status before.
Everyone offered their congratulations. Delighted, Baki returned each greeting in turn. "I'll host a banquet at noon. Everyone, come and have a drink together!"
"Forget it. You young people go ahead. We two old fellows won't tag along with you."
Seeing that Uncle Fung and Uncle Fai were unwilling to go, Baki didn't press them. He simply sent a car to take the two old men home.
At the banquet, Baki distributed the territory under his control. Wang Xuan had made the greatest contribution, and rewarding people according to their merits was also a way to win their loyalty. Naturally, the most prosperous Portland Street in Mong Kok fell into his hands.
The remaining streets had far less profit. After being consolidated, they were divided into two portions and given to Wong Jai and Ah Hoi. Their total income would not be much lower than Wang Xuan's, while keeping the strength of their subordinates relatively even was exactly what Baki wanted to see.
After the banquet ended, Wang Xuan sought Baki out alone. "Brother Ji, you know I'm still somewhat of a newcomer. I don't understand many things, especially when it comes to drugs. Consumption over on Portland Street must be huge, but I don't have any supply channels. What do you think—could you take over that side and help your little brother out?"
At this, Baki raised an eyebrow. The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward. He patted Wang Xuan on the shoulder and laughed heartily. "You kid! Fine. Who told you to be my subordinate? If I don't look after you, who will? From now on, I'll handle the goods for your side!"
Wang Xuan had phrased it nicely. What he really meant was that he was returning all the drug business in his territory to Baki and would not touch it himself. All the profits would go to Baki. On the surface, however, it still appeared to be a big brother helping his little brother, which sounded good when told to others. Naturally, Baki was overjoyed and kept praising Wang Xuan for being sensible.
In truth, Wang Xuan simply didn't want to touch drugs. That stuff ruined people. Although circumstances had forced him to become one of the Young and Dangerous, he still wanted to be a good person.
Besides, drug trafficking carried an extremely severe sentence, and once you got involved, it was difficult to break away. As for the supposedly enormous profits, he had asked around extensively and found that they were nowhere near as exaggerated as people imagined.
It was simply a crude and straightforward way to make money, suitable for gang organizations and useless punks with no ability. It looked highly profitable, but after the profits were divided among the various layers, a third of the dirty money would be deducted just to launder it. In more serious cases, two-fifths would be taken!
The companies with the real earning power were those capable of laundering money. That was what you called a truly lucrative business. These drug-trafficking kingpins were nothing more than wage laborers.
Look at those tycoons. Which one had not risen through legitimate business? In front of them, these gang members were nothing.
Wang Xuan might have seemed to be losing out badly, but in reality, he had merely tossed away a hot potato. As someone from the year 9102, he had far too many ways to make money. Drugs and the like were just too low-class!
After leaving the restaurant, Wang Xuan brought Ah Wai to wander around Portland Street.
Standing at the entrance to the street, Ah Wai was incredibly excited. He pointed grandly down the entire street and said, "Brother Xuan, let me tell you, Portland Street lies in the old districts of Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei. It's north of Temple Street and Waterloo Road, west of Nathan Road, east of Shanghai Street, and south of Boundary Street. This whole place is your territory now.
"There's a huge flow of people here and plenty of nightlife. Mahjong parlors, bars, dance halls, bathhouses, hourly hotels, and hometown associations—everything for eating, drinking, and having fun is available. The later it gets, the livelier it becomes! The girls here are the prettiest in all of Hong Kong, and they come in every variety. From now on... heh heh heh!"
Looking at the lecherous fat bastard, Wang Xuan curled his lip. So the entire street belonged to him from now on? In reality, they were only collecting protection money here, along with the operating rights to a few nightclubs, bars, and dance halls. As for the properties themselves, they had absolutely nothing to do with gang organizations like theirs.
Before you continue