The Five Great Factions

Yes, yes, yes.

The leader of the White Shark Gang nodded frantically, like a chicken pecking at rice.

No matter what Lu Bai said, he dared not show any rebuttal.

He still feels like he's dreaming. Who knows why a random, plump lamb he bumped into on the street suddenly transformed into a powerful martial artist?

But since things have come to this, we can only accept our fate.

"Now that you're here, why don't you help me with something else?"

Lu Bai chuckled and put his arm around White Shark, adding, "I'm hungry too."

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the remaining White Shark Gang who were still standing, finally settling on a rather overweight Fatty: "You, go cook me two dishes."

When Fatty heard Lu Bai nod, he was startled and trembled at first. Then he realized what Lu Bai meant and froze.

"Big Fatty! Didn't you hear the boss's orders?! Hurry up and go!" White Shark urged impatiently.

It's not that he's a coward; the warmth from Lu Bai's arm against his neck made him feel extremely insecure, fearing that Lu Bai might twist his neck off if he got annoyed.

The Fatty wore a look that was hard to describe.

However, being able to leave the hotel for a while to get some fresh air is still somewhat comforting.

In the corridor, after watching Fatty leave, all the dozen or so pairs of eyes of the White Shark Gang, big and small, turned back to Lu Bai.

The leader of the White Shark didn't even dare to breathe, his voice strained as he said, "Boss, we..."

"I told you, don't be nervous."

Lu Bai casually patted White Shark on the shoulder, startling the gang leader so much that his heart skipped a beat.

Fortunately, Lu Bai didn't mean to tease these thugs. Instead, he asked, "Tell me, how much operating capital does our gang have right now?"

At the same time.

A gym in Chikan Bay.

A shirtless young man lay on the ground in a plank position, sweat dripping from his well-defined muscles.

It's worth mentioning that it's hard to sense much fierceness from him; on the contrary, his overly pale complexion makes him appear somewhat sickly.

A moment later, the young man turned to his side, lay back, and gasped for breath.

"How is it? Can you feel it?"

Seeing this, a burly man who looked like the shop owner walked over and sat down next to the young man.

Xiao Xueyin shook her head. "It still seems a little short."

The burly man laughed heartily, "These things can't be rushed. Your progress is already quite frightening. When I was sensing Internal Energy back then, it took me several months to even get the basics down."

"Brother Fengze, you don't understand."

Xiao Xueyin sat up and sighed softly, "At this rate of cultivation, it doesn't mean much to me."

"I don't know what you're in such a hurry for."

The burly man, nicknamed Brother Fengze, shrugged and added, "But I think you're probably getting too hung up on things. Often, the more impatient you are, the harder it is to achieve your goal."

Xiao Xueyin took a deep breath. "I understand the logic."

"How about we shift our focus? Have you heard? There's been quite a commotion in Peace Lane tonight."

"In Chikan Bay, it would be news if nothing happened on any night, right?"

"It's not that simple. The local tyrant there is called Snake. Even Red Pole was killed. Neighboring forces are all busy encroaching on Snake's territory, forcing Hei Jinbao to step in and maintain order. Moreover, rumors suggest that Dao Master is behind this whole farce."

Xiao Xueyin's attention was indeed drawn to Brother Fengze's words.

He said thoughtfully, "I know that Dao Master is the biggest leader in the entire Chikan Bay, but what about this Hei Jinbao? Can he take charge of the situation?"

"Oh right, you just arrived in Chikan Bay yesterday, I don't think I told you."

Brother Fengze scratched the back of his head. "Mainly because Dao Master's Dao Sect doesn't get involved, currently there are five major forces jointly managing the Chikan Bay area."

Xiao Xueyin couldn't help but sigh, "Sure enough, if you don't want power, someone else will take it away."

"That's right. The balance among the five major powers is actually quite delicate. There are no written agreements between them; it's just a tacit understanding of non-aggression."

Brother Fengze paused for a moment, then continued, "After all, given their size, if a conflict were to break out between the five major powers, it would definitely cause a huge chain reaction, driving the already chaotic Chikan Bay into complete madness. None of the five families would want to see such an outcome."

However, I suspect this fragile balance is something Dao Master would be happy to see; it's better than another behemoth emerging in Chikan Bay."

Xiao Xueyin wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a rather seductive tone.

"Brother Fengze, have you ever considered building such a behemoth of a power? In terms of the level of internal energy cultivation, you should be considered Grandmaster, right?"

"This is the Grandmaster realm?"

As Lu Bai felt the solidified Internal Energy within his body, a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

Although compressing Internal Energy from a liquid state to a solid state was more difficult than Lu Bai had imagined.

But after spending two whole days, he finally succeeded in reaching this level.

That's how unreasonable high talent can be.

Two days, spanning countless martial artists and decades of diligent training.

In a sense, Lu Bai can already be considered Grandmaster in this world.

Compared to a normal Grandmaster, what he lacked was simply the tempering of his body by solidified Internal Energy.

"Brother Bai, are you there?"

There was a gentle knock on the door, and White Shark, hunched over, pushed it open and entered.

As soon as he entered, White Shark complained with a long face, "Brother Bai, this can't go on, the brothers in the gang are almost starving."

Lu Bai is no longer at that simple inn.

In fact, ever since he seized control of the White Shark Gang that night, he had quickly moved into the only luxury hotel in Peace Lane.

The daily menu consists of expensive, high-energy ingredients.

The food probably contributed about one-third to his ability to compress his Internal Energy into a solid state so quickly.

The problem is, all of these cost money.

The White Shark Gang was just a minor, insignificant force with little savings; how could they possibly afford such expenses?

Lu Bai knew that White Shark wasn't bluffing him; no matter how much you squeeze a skinny pig, you can't get much fat out of it.

In just the last two days, quite a few gang members have been unable to endure such a miserable situation and have chosen to leave the gang.

Perhaps understanding this approach, White Shark did not follow the usual practice of leading a group to retaliate.

Lu Bai rested his chin on his hand, sizing up the White Shark in front of him.

"Then tell me, where can we get the money?"