Are the Strong Allowed to Do Whatever They Want?

Blood gushed from Greedy Wolf's severed legs as if it cost nothing, pooling beneath him into a blindingly red puddle.

The intense pain and blood loss had already begun to cloud his consciousness.

Yang Yu walked up to him, crouched down, and lightly tapped his face with the tip of his sword.

"Wake up."

The icy touch made Greedy Wolf jolt. He laboriously opened his eyes and saw, right before him, the savage Wild Boar King Mask.

"You..." His voice was hoarse with weakness.

"Don't be nervous." Yang Yu's tone remained calm. "You're just about to die, that's all!"

He paused, then changed the subject.

"Still, I'm not an unreasonable person. I can give you a chance."

"Compensate me... two million, and I can spare your life."

He returned Greedy Wolf's earlier words almost verbatim.

Greedy Wolf's expression turned utterly hideous.

Struggling, he stared at Yang Yu's terrifying figure, his heart sinking ever lower.

"The Jiang Family!"

Greedy Wolf suddenly seemed to have seized a lifeline. "Right, we... we work for the Jiang Family. If you dare kill me, the Jiang Family won't let you off!"

"The Jiang Family?"

A puzzled look appeared on Yang Yu's face, and Jiang Shuyue's figure involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

He had heard that her father was also someone from the Professional Association.

Could the Jiang Family Greedy Wolf meant be theirs?

"That's right! There's only one Jiang Family in Lin Hai City. Let me go now, and I'll pretend none of this ever happened!"

Greedy Wolf's voice carried a threatening edge that belied his fear, mixed with pleading.

The fear in his heart had reached its peak. The shadow of death loomed over him, leaving him unable to care about anything else. He only wanted to survive.

He began to regret it—regret provoking this killing star, regret coveting that bit of money, only to now have to pay with his life.

He stared intently at Yang Yu's face, trying to find even the slightest trace of hesitation beneath that Wild Boar King Mask.

A look of realization flashed through Yang Yu's eyes.

So that was how it was.

Then it seemed that this was not the only place in all of Lin Hai City where protection money was being collected. There had to be others as well.

And this was probably more than just protection money. It was merely the most insignificant part of their methods for amassing wealth.

Jiang Zhenshan?

Hopefully, they would not come after him over a Greedy Wolf!

Yang Yu considered it briefly.

A teasing smile appeared on his face.

Then he gave a soft laugh.

"That sounds pretty impressive." Yang Yu spoke slowly, his tone carrying a hint of mockery. "But have you ever considered this..."

"You're doing dirty work for them, carrying out these shady dealings in front of so many people, and even invoking the Jiang Family's name..."

Yang Yu leaned down, his savage mask nearly pressed against Greedy Wolf's eyes. "Tell me, if I take care of you now, will they be angry... or will they be even happier?"

He paused, his tone growing even more chilling. "After all, a useless subordinate who damages their reputation isn't exactly a good thing for them, right?"

In an instant, every trace of color drained from Greedy Wolf's face, leaving him paler than a corpse.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through his back.

He understood such matters better than anyone.

But his desire to survive had clouded his mind earlier, and he had instinctively grasped what he thought was the thickest lifeline available.

Yet Yang Yu's words had exposed it all, jolting him awake.

Right... what kind of existence was the Jiang Family?

They were a colossal force in Lin Hai City, and Jiang Zhenshan was even the Vice President of the Professional Association.

They acted ruthlessly and valued their reputation and secrecy above all else.

To them, an outsourced worker doing this kind of shady work was no different from a dog to be discarded once used.

Invoking the Jiang Family's name in front of so many people... that was handing the hilt of a blade to the Jiang Family's enemies, throwing the Jiang Family's dignity to the ground and trampling on it!

Even if the monster in the Wild Boar King Mask let him go today, what about the Jiang Family?

To silence him, they would absolutely, absolutely make him vanish from this world by means a hundred times crueler than this!

What he had found was not a path to survival, but two paths to death.

"No..."

At that moment, Greedy Wolf's psychological defenses completely collapsed.

His fear of the Jiang Family even surpassed the threat of death Yang Yu posed before him.

Like a drowning man, before sinking completely, he blindly reached for the last floating straw.

"Money!!"

He suddenly roared, filled with terror. "I'll give you money!!"

"Brother!"

Wang Jie, lying on the ground, seemed to have heard their conversation as well. He stopped wailing and stared fixedly at his brother with an intensely desperate gaze.

He knew how much money his brother had.

But if his brother used that money, would there still be enough to buy his freedom?

He did not want to die either!

Seeing the expression on his younger brother's face, Greedy Wolf regained a little clarity.

Gritting his teeth, he said:

"I... I can give it to you! But you have to let my brother go too!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

Yang Yu pretended to ponder it, glancing at Wang Jie as well.

"But that money only buys your own life."

"Your brother's life looks like it's worth a little more than yours."

He stood up and looked down at Greedy Wolf, his tone laced with ridicule.

"How about this? I'll be kind and take five million from you. Two lives, that's a fair price, isn't it?"

"You!!!"

Greedy Wolf was so enraged that he spat out a mouthful of blood and began coughing violently.

Five million!

Even if he sold the entire Greedy Wolf Battle Group, he could not scrape together that much money!

"What? You don't have that much?"

Yang Yu's tone turned cold.

"Then this is going to be difficult. This is my first time killing... no, my first time acting in self-defense. It's caused enormous trauma and emotional scars."

"If you don't have the money to compensate me for my mental losses, then I... can only kill your brother first, to soothe my wounded heart."

As he spoke, he raised his sword and made to walk toward Wang Jie.

"Don't!" Greedy Wolf let out a despairing roar. "You're despicable!"

"Am I despicable?"

Yang Yu stopped and turned around. His eyes beneath the mask held endless mockery.

"No."

"I'm just... stronger than you."

"Aren't the strong allowed to do whatever they want?"

That was also something Greedy Wolf had said only moments ago.

Wang Jie's face was overwhelmed by terror.

Forcing himself up, he raised his head and said to Greedy Wolf, "Brother, I don't want to die!"

Hearing his younger brother's words, Greedy Wolf's eyes were filled with struggle.

At last, he looked once more at Yang Yu's unreadable mask.

"Don't touch him!" he roared. "I... I only have two and a half million! That's all my savings! Let my brother go! My life... take it!"

"Oh?"

Yang Yu raised an eyebrow.

"What a deeply moving brotherly bond."

He slowly walked back to Greedy Wolf.

"Fine. Since you're being so sincere, I'll agree to let him go this once."

Upon hearing this, Greedy Wolf felt as though he had been granted a pardon.

With difficulty, he raised his intact arm, trembling as he opened the Personal Terminal on his wrist and transferred every last cent from his account to Yang Yu.

You have received a transfer. Amount: 2500000.

Hearing the terminal notification, Yang Yu nodded in satisfaction.

Sure enough, murder and arson were... no, chivalrous acts were the easiest way to make money.

He leaned down, looked at Greedy Wolf, whose eyes had begun to show hope, and said softly:

"Pleasant... doing business."

Pfft!

Before his words had even faded, the Bloodstained Longsword in his hand pierced Greedy Wolf's heart without hesitation.

Greedy Wolf's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the sword protruding from his chest, his life force rapidly draining away.

For the last time, his gaze turned toward his younger brother.

"Jie... this time... we lost..."

"Leave Linhai City... and never come back..."

After speaking those final words, his head tilted to one side, and he breathed his last.