Black Water Gang Leader's Fury, Blood Debt Must Be Paid!

Black Water Gang training grounds.

No one dared to speak, the atmosphere was oppressively heavy.

Dark clouds hung low, a cold wind whipped up dust that stung their faces.

Thousands of Black Water Gang members stood packed together in the square, utterly silent.

All eyes were fixed on the high platform.

Seven or eight stretchers were laid out there.

They were covered with white cloths, but the cloths were soaked through with blood, revealing glimpses of mangled corpses beneath.

A strong smell of blood permeated the air.

In the center of the platform, on a tiger-skin armchair, sat the Gang Leader Chen Wanli, his face grim.

He idly played with two iron balls in his hands, their grinding friction an unpleasant sound.

Beside him, the War Hall Master Zhao Tieshan, and several other Hall Masters, all had ashen faces and radiated killing intent.

Lu Chen stood at the front of the War Hall contingent. As a newly promoted minor leader, he was entitled to a forward position.

His gaze swept over the stretchers, and his heart gave a slight jolt.

Quite a few people had died.

And judging by the outlines under the white cloths, some had clearly been dismembered by sharp blades.

"Are they all here?"

Chen Wanli's voice wasn't loud, but amplified by his internal energy, everyone heard it clearly, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.

"Reporting to the Gang Leader, the War Hall is fully assembled!"

"The Punishment Hall is fully assembled!"

"The Commerce Hall..."

The various Hall Masters stepped forward to report.

Chen Wanli nodded and slowly stood up.

He walked to the stretchers and abruptly pulled off one of the white cloths.

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

It was a headless corpse, the cut at the neck ragged, as if hacked off by a blunt blade.

The chest was caved in, clearly indicating the victim had suffered inhuman torture before death.

"This is Old Li."

Chen Wanli pointed at the corpse, his voice icy.

"A brother who followed me for ten years, responsible for escorting the gang's third cargo ship."

"Last night, the third cargo ship was hijacked on the lower reaches of the Nu River."

"The entire ship's cargo, worth three thousand taels of silver, was stolen! All twenty-eight brothers on board, not one survived!"

The entire place erupted.

Three thousand taels of silver!

It was an astronomical sum.

More importantly, the murder of twenty-eight brothers was a direct slap in the face to the Black Water Gang, an attack on its very foundations!

"Who did it?!"

"Damn them! How dare they touch our Black Water Gang members!"

The gang members below were incensed, their angry roars rising one after another.

Chen Wanli raised his hand, silencing the uproar.

"The Red Fish Gang."

He spat out the three words, each one sounding like it was squeezed from between his teeth.

"Only those water rats would do something so utterly destructive!"

"And..."

Chen Wanli's gaze grew even darker, his voice lowered, audible only to the leaders in the front row.

"Among that batch of goods, there was a box that a certain 'important figure' from the city had specifically requested."

"The item is lost, and that important figure is very displeased."

Lu Chen's heart stirred.

An important figure?

An important figure that even Chen Wanli feared must be one of the true powers pulling the strings in Nujiang County.

No wonder Chen Wanli was so furious.

This isn't just a matter of money and lives; it concerns the very foundation of the Black Water Gang's presence in Nujiang County.

If they can't even protect the cargo of important figures, the Black Water Gang will have no reason to exist.

"This debt must be paid in blood!"

Chen Wanli drew the long saber at his waist, its blade pointing straight at the sky.

"Pass down my orders!"

"The entire gang is to enter a state of combat readiness immediately!"

"All personnel outside are to be recalled! The weaponsmiths will work day and night to forge weapons!"

"Three days from now, we will launch a night raid on Red Fish Dock!"

"I will ensure the Red Fish Gang is completely wiped from Nujiang County!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Thousands of gang members raised their weapons, letting out earth-shattering roars.

The killing intent surged, seemingly dispersing some of the dark clouds in the sky.

After the meeting, the various halls began assigning tasks.

As the main force, the War Hall naturally took on the most arduous mission.

Inside the War Hall.

Zhao Tieshan stood before a massive sand table, a wooden stick in his hand, pointing at the terrain.

"Red Fish Dock is built by the water, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"The front is a water fortress, filled with traps and mechanisms. Those Water Ghosts from the Red Fish Gang are like kings in the water. A frontal assault would result in too many casualties."

Zhao Tieshan's gaze swept over the dozen or so minor leaders present, finally landing on Lu Chen.

"Lu Chen!"

"Here!"

Lu Chen stepped forward, cupping his fist in response.

"You will take thirty skilled men and sneak through the reeds on the flank."

Zhao Tieshan's wooden stick tapped a corner of the sand table.

"That area is full of swamps and difficult to traverse, but it's also the Red Fish Gang's weakest point."

"Your mission is to infiltrate from the flank simultaneously as the main force attacks, set fire to their granary and boatyard, and create chaos!"

"Remember, you are both the vanguard and the bait. Once you cause a disturbance over there, the Red Fish Gang will surely divert troops to rescue them. At that time, the gang leader and I will personally lead the main army to strike at the heart of the enemy!"

This was an extremely dangerous mission.

Going deep alone, once discovered, they would be surrounded.

But it was also the mission with the greatest potential for merit.

Lu Chen looked at the sand table, his mind rapidly deducing the operational route.

"Your subordinate accepts the order!"

He didn't hesitate at all, his voice firm and powerful.

Fortune favors the bold.

To climb the ranks within the gang, to obtain more resources for cultivation, one had to risk their life.

"Good! You truly are someone I value!"

Zhao Tieshan nodded in approval and tossed Lu Chen a token.

"Go to the storeroom to collect your equipment. For this operation, you are each allowed to take a set of leather armor and three repeating crossbows!"

Leather armor! Repeating crossbows!

These were strategic materials for the gang, rarely brought out under normal circumstances.

It seemed the gang leader was truly willing to go to great lengths this time.

For the next three days, the entire Black Water Gang operated like a finely tuned war machine, running at full throttle.

The sound of whetstones could be heard day and night.

Cartloads of supplies were transported to the main hall.

Lu Chen was not idle either.

He selected thirty strong men from the War Hall, including the sharp Wang Xiaoliu.

"Listen up, all of you!"

In a corner of the training grounds, Lu Chen looked at the thirty men before him, his expression stern.

"This mission is a matter of life and death."

"Those who fear death can leave now. I won't blame you."

No one moved.

In this world, those who feared death would have already starved to death.

Following Lu Chen, the "strongest newcomer," into a life-or-death struggle was better than being cannon fodder.

"Very good."

Lu Chen nodded, took out gleaming Mountain Splitting Sabers from a box behind him, and threw them to everyone.

"Since none of you fear death, sharpen your blades!"

"On the battlefield, if anyone dares to falter, you won't need the Red Fish Gang to do it, I'll cut him down myself!"

"Yes! Leader Lu!"

Everyone responded in unison, their eyes burning with ferocity.

Lu Chen looked at them, but his mind was on another matter.

The Red Fish Gang leader, Li Qingyi.

It was said she was a woman, but she was ruthless and her aquatic skills were superb, her strength no less than Zhao Tieshan's.

He wondered if he would encounter this legendary female gang leader during this night raid.

If he could...

Lu Chen touched the Iron Cloth Shirt manual in his bosom.

Although he had made progress in his cultivation these past few days, he was still far from mastering it.

If he could find some expert corpses in this great battle, or obtain some precious elixirs...

Greed flashed in his eyes.

War, for him, was not only a crisis but also the greatest hunting ground.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The night of the third day.

The sky was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Mist shrouded the Nu River.

Boats loaded with Black Water Gang elites glided silently into the river, heading towards Red Fish Dock downstream.

Lu Chen and his team of thirty did not take boats.

They wore black night-clothes and stepped through the mud, struggling through reeds as tall as a person.

The icy mud water reached their knees, and mosquitoes buzzed around their ears.

But no one made a sound.

Everyone bit down on wooden stoppers and gripped their sabers tightly.

Ahead, a cluster of brightly lit buildings could be vaguely seen.

That was Red Fish Dock.

And tonight's Asura field.

Lu Chen stopped, gazing at the massive water fortress in the distance through gaps in the reeds.

He let out a cold laugh.

"We're here."

He waved his hand gently.

Behind him, thirty pairs of eyes lit up with bloodthirsty glints in the darkness.