The Arena and the Betting Den

Wang Yan rested all afternoon. Aside from some pain from his wounds, he had more or less recovered.

He skipped the Great Cafeteria, ate dinner in the infirmary, then returned to his cell.

One thing worth mentioning was that the other three had returned, too. That made sense. Wang Yan hadn't hit them that hard, and even someone in poor health would be more or less recovered after two days of rest.

Wang Yan sat on his bed and watched the three of them. After the guards yelled at them, they finally shuffled inside, reluctantly and at a snail's pace.

They didn't need to ask what Wang Yan had done all afternoon. The guards' yelling had told them everything. Now they understood just how stupid it had been to provoke him.

After hesitating for a long while, the leader finally steeled himself and approached Wang Yan with a sycophantic smile. "How should we address you, big brother? The three of us were out of line before. Could you give us another chance?"

"Come on, all of you, line up over here." Wang Yan ignored him and beckoned to the other two.

They had accepted reality, too, and slowly made their way over to stand in front of Wang Yan.

"Introduce yourselves. Tell me how you ended up here and how long you were sentenced to."

The leader said, "My name's Zhang Biao." Then he pointed to the one Wang Yan had knocked down with a punch. "This is Zhao Fang." He pointed to the one Wang Yan had kicked flying. "And he's Chen Zhiye."

After introducing them all, Zhang Biao continued, "The three of us robbed and injured someone on the road. We couldn't get away, so we were caught and sentenced to a year."

Wang Yan was stunned when he heard they'd only been sentenced to a year, but after thinking about it, it made sense. Hong Kong would be handed back in just a few years, and the foreign devils wanted the place to descend into chaos.

"All right, I've got it. My name's Wang Yan. From now on, I call the shots here. Any objections?" The three shook their heads in unison.

Seeing them shake their heads, Wang Yan said, "Everything comes at a price. I won't beat you up again." Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, he continued, "Go stand facing the wall. Stay there until bedtime."

The three immediately pulled long faces. There were still two hours until bedtime, but they reluctantly shuffled over to face the wall.

When Wang Yan saw them swaying on their feet, he barked, "Stand up straight! Do I need to teach you how?"

Afraid Wang Yan might lose his temper and beat them, the three stiffened at once and stood ramrod straight.

Leaving them alone, Wang Yan lay on his bed and opened the panel to check his attributes.

Wang Yan

Attributes: Strength 13

Agility 12

Constitution 14

Spirit 13

Unassigned Points 4

Seeing that his Constitution and Strength had each increased by one, Wang Yan was pleased. Just as I thought. Nothing improves you faster than real combat. His Constitution and Strength had already been close to their limits, and one fight had raised each by a point. It looked like he'd have to get into more fights. This stuff worked too well, and Wang Yan was already looking forward to tomorrow.

Wang Yan didn't know how to meditate or anything like that, and he couldn't exercise, either. He needed to save his strength for another fight tomorrow, and just sitting around was boring.

After thinking it over, Wang Yan opened his mouth to ask Zhang Biao if he had any money. Then the thought crossed his mind that those three probably didn't have much, anyway.

He gave up on the idea, closed his eyes, and rested while reviewing what he'd learned about Fighting.

Time passed quickly, and it was almost bedtime.

"All right, clean up and go to sleep," Wang Yan said to the three men, who had been standing at attention.

The three immediately went limp and rubbed their legs. They didn't dare cry out in pain, though, and instead forced themselves to cheerfully say, "Thanks, Brother Yan."

That was the misery of being small fry. Wang Yan left them alone, warned them to sleep quietly, then lay down and went to bed.

Wang Yan slept soundly. From his brief interactions with them, he knew the three didn't have the guts to try anything while he slept.

The next day, after breakfast and a short rest, work began.

While he was working, various gangs came by to recruit Wang Yan. He turned them all down. He didn't want to be anyone's underling. He wanted to be the boss, a big shot.

They didn't say anything, either. They just shook their heads and walked away. Without their protection, he might not even make it out of prison alive.

When it was time for a break, a huge crowd surrounded Wang Yan. This time the guards didn't just watch. Even if they were all scum, it would be a hassle if someone accidentally got killed, so a group of guards rushed over to disperse everyone.

Looking at the sea of people, Wang Yan was scared, too. Fortunately, the guards stepped in. Otherwise, he would've been done for.

Now that everyone had dispersed, Wang Yan changed his mind. If he didn't find a way to resolve this, he was sure they'd try to kill him when they got the chance. What he'd done the previous night was a challenge to Hung Hing's authority. If they didn't deal with him, they'd lose face, becoming a laughingstock among rival gangs. For gangs that valued their reputation above all else, that was unacceptable.

After thinking it over, Wang Yan called out to the Hung Hing guys across from him. "Hey, send someone over who can make decisions."

Before considering how the men across from him would react, the guards nearby were already unhappy. Wang Yan had gotten into a fight the day before. He hadn't started it, and they hadn't punished him, but they still didn't think much of him. Now he'd shouted like that, and the guards figured he was openly showing them disrespect. Two of them exchanged a glance, cursed, and walked right over. Without a word, they raised their batons and beat him. The batons were made of special material, and each blow hurt like hell. Wang Yan could only cover his head and take it, rolling around to protect his vital spots.

Once the guards had finished beating him and vented their anger, Wang Yan struggled to his feet and went over to talk to them. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to say something before he got beaten. They simply hadn't given him the chance.

"Are you two feeling better now, officers?" Wang Yan went over and asked.

"You've got the nerve to come over here? We didn't hit you hard enough?" One of the guards spoke as if he was about to come over and beat him again.

Wang Yan hurriedly grabbed his arm. "Please don't get angry, officer. Hear me out."

The guard tried hard to pull his arm free, but couldn't, so he gave up.

Seeing that he'd stopped trying, Wang Yan continued, "You two don't make much money, do you? Even with the kickbacks you get from the inmates here, how much can that really be? Don't police officers have families to support?"

"What are you trying to say?" the guard from before asked impatiently.

"Would the two of you like another source of income?" When neither man responded, Wang Yan continued, "This place is full of Guhuozi. I want to team up with Hung Hing and set up an arena. Of course, where there's an arena, there'll be betting, too. It'll give these energetic troublemakers an outlet and stop them from causing problems all day. That'll make things easier for you to manage, and you'll earn some extra money on the side. Everybody wins. What do you think?"

The two men looked at each other but said nothing.

Seeing them hesitate, Wang Yan realized they weren't the ones in charge. He kindly told them, "How about this? I'll talk to Hung Hing first. I'm sure one of their bosses will get in touch with you before long."

After watching them leave, Wang Yan turned and called out to the Hung Hing crowd watching the scene.

After a while, a burly man in his thirties came over.

The man had watched Wang Yan talking with the guards for a long time and wasn't sure what to make of it. He walked up and said, "What do you mean by this? You can't just slap Hung Hing in the face and expect us to let it go."

Wang Yan explained, "Brother, think about it. Your guys came over to lay down the law, and I hit them. I didn't start it, right?"

The man was clearly impatient. "Don't give me that crap. Just tell me how you want to settle this."

Honestly, Wang Yan was speechless at the man's reaction. Why are you still taking orders from someone else instead of stepping up? With a brain made of muscle, what can I say?

Wang Yan continued helplessly, "It's better to make peace than hold a grudge. Aren't we all out here for money?"

"I've got an idea. We team up and set up an arena here, then open a betting den."

"Instead of fighting and killing each other, we should sit down and make money together."

"Of course, Hung Hing can't run the whole thing by itself. We'll need to find two more groups to work with us."

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

When the man nodded, Wang Yan said, "All right, that's all. Go back and talk to your boss. Let them figure out the details."

They were professionals at this sort of thing. These gangsters had rock-solid connections with the prison guards and knew exactly who to grease and how.

Calling the man back as he turned to leave, Wang Yan added, "Oh, one more thing. I don't care how you arrange things, but I want half a percent, no more. Call it a fee for coming up with the idea. My sentence is only a year, so I'll collect for one year. Everything after that is yours."

"Pass that on to your boss. Go on."

Watching the man walk away, Wang Yan found a place to sit and rest.

He hadn't asked the man his name at any point. It wasn't because Wang Yan was trying to act cool; why bother remembering someone who wouldn't survive three episodes?

The man went straight to contact his boss. They had the guards well taken care of, so this was no trouble at all.

When his boss heard about it, he couldn't make the decision himself. He passed it up the chain to his boss's boss: Tai Zi.

Tai Zi was the boss of Tsim Sha Tsui and one of Hung Hing's big shots. Chen Haonan hadn't risen to power yet, and Tai Zi was widely considered Hung Hing's best fighter.

Tai Zi couldn't sit still once he heard the news. An arena and a betting den, with a bunch of thugs in prison? It was bound to make money.

As a boss in his own right, Tai Zi had the bearing to match. Without a second thought, he got moving.

First, he called Hung Hing's big boss, Jiang Tiansheng, to ask permission. It was a family business, after all. If you made your living under someone, asking them before doing something like this was only proper. Jiang Tiansheng, as Hung Hing's boss, had far greater vision. He wouldn't be interested in a little business like this. He simply said, "You've worked hard, Tai Zi. I'll leave this business to you. Think of it as a reward from your big brother." What a smooth way to put it. Tai Zi still had to thank him profusely.

Once he'd reported to his boss, Tai Zi contacted Tung Sing and Wo Lian Sheng. These were the two gangs in Wang Yan's prison that were nearly as powerful as Hung Hing. Although Hung Hing often clashed with the other two gangs and they hated each other, it still came down to this: why did people join the underworld? Wasn't it for money?

Tai Zi didn't need Wang Yan to tell him he couldn't pull this off alone. No matter how much money was involved, someone would get jealous if it proved profitable. To keep others from getting greedy, he had no choice but to share some of the profits.

Tung Sing sent Smiling Tiger, while Wo Lian Sheng sent Da D. After a fierce back-and-forth, the three agreed on how to divide the profits, then each used their connections to reach out to the prison's higher-ups.

Together, the three of them had tremendous influence. On top of that, Hong Kong was about to be handed back, and many people in the police force were afraid of being investigated. Everyone was anxious. They figured they might as well take whatever they could, then leave the country once they had enough, no matter what happened afterward. It was easy to bring the prison guards around.

They didn't object to Wang Yan's half percent, either. There had been gambling in prisons for years, but nobody had thought of doing anything like what Wang Yan proposed. Besides, Wang Yan knew his place, and they'd heard he was a skilled fighter. It was worth building some goodwill with him.

Three days—or, to be precise, two and a half. Once they'd sorted out the profit-sharing and cleared all the hurdles, Wang Yan hadn't expected them to move so quickly.

There was no denying that the gangs had some talented people. Wang Yan had only come up with the idea; the rest was thought up by the brightest minds in the three gangs. They came up with all kinds of fighting rules and services. The setup was incredibly thorough. In those two days, they'd even brought in a number of tough fighters and loan sharks. They'd also arranged for several professional doctors to work in the infirmary. Everything was taken care of. Wang Yan was stunned by how they'd managed it. It was seriously incredible.

That showed just what kind of state society was in at the time.

As the prison arena expanded, word of it spread from inmate to inmate. Its reputation grew, and the various gangs began sending their best fighters in to compete. They also opened betting pools outside the prison, and more and more people joined the fights and placed bets. The corresponding rewards were enough to drive people crazy. At least, they were for gang members. Wang Yan wasn't impressed.

As the operation grew and gained momentum, it brought all kinds of competition for profit in the underworld, attention from police higher-ups, and investigations into the guards by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

No one knew what methods they used or how much they spent, but some of the prison guards were transferred. The process was sordid, but the result made everyone happy.

As for Wang Yan's half percent, naturally, he couldn't hold on to it. Hung Hing stood surety and sold it to various other people and groups? Wang Yan received his first payment in Hong Kong: five hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars. Along with that money came countless families ruined, marriages torn apart, and people driven from their homes. To console himself, Wang Yan often repeated Mencius's words: "When poor, cultivate yourself alone."

Wang Yan had sold his share just as the business was taking off. If he'd waited a few more months, he could've earned more. Of course, the money wasn't easy to get. Wang Yan was certain that if he hadn't sold his share then, he would've been dead within three days. Big bosses weren't fools. As soon as they saw the first signs of success, they'd resorted to both threats and bribes, forcing Wang Yan to sell his half percent. They'd sincerely promised that they'd protect him in prison from then on.

At the time, an average boss earned a net income of around two hundred thousand a year, if he was doing well. Many didn't even make that much.

For a while afterward, Wang Yan settled into a regular routine. Since he was the one who'd come up with the idea, the guards gave him special treatment and let him skip work. He had money, too, so every day he fought in the arena, ate and drank, and worked out. The rest of the time, he read books. He had some guards he knew well buy him professional books from outside.

With the system backing him up, Wang Yan was especially fierce in the arena.

At first, he fought one-on-one against fighters from all the major gangs. Most of them were street fighters, but some had trained under renowned masters, and they were genuinely skilled.

Because of the system, Wang Yan's bones and muscle density far surpassed those of ordinary people. His stamina and ability to take hits were also far beyond the norm. He fought every one of those fighters and never lost.

And thanks to all that real combat experience, Wang Yan's Fighting skill advanced to LV3, Professional.

After that, Wang Yan began deliberately practicing how to control his strength and inflict damage. At first, he wasn't very good at holding back, and his opponents suffered for it. Even the one who got off easiest spent two months in bed.

The betting den eventually stopped taking bets on Wang Yan. Whenever he fought, nobody would bet on his opponent. Wang Yan wouldn't cooperate with them and throw a fight, but they couldn't very well force him to, either. There was no point in opening a betting pool.

As Wang Yan's Fighting skill and physical abilities improved by leaps and bounds, he started to feel that one-on-one fights weren't enough.

He began taking on multiple opponents at once in the arena. The results were mixed, and most days he ended up battered and bruised.

Wang Yan's fame soared as a result. His name spread throughout the prison, among the gangs in Hong Kong and Kowloon, and beyond. People started calling him Yan Wang.

Partly, the nickname played on his name. Partly, it was because Wang Yan's blows had grown increasingly brutal. Now, nobody would face him in the arena unless they could find at least two others who knew how to fight.

It wasn't that nobody tried to get revenge on him. But as he gained more fighting experience, Wang Yan also got better at protecting his vital spots. On top of his powerful mind and tough body, nobody ever managed to succeed. Instead, he beat them even worse, leaving them hospitalized for at least half a year. Before long, nobody bothered Wang Yan anymore.