Chen Yongren

Time passed as Wang Yan continued to improve himself day by day.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had gone by. It was now June of '91, and Wang Yan would be released from Prison in just three months.

Over these past six months, Wang Yan's growth had been equally immense.

Sitting on his bed, Wang Yan pulled up his panel.

Wang Yan

Attributes: Strength 17

Agility 16

Physique 18

Spirit 14

Unallocated points: 2

Storage space: 1m

...A pile of skills omitted.

At the cost of overdrawing his body's potential, Wang Yan had engaged in near-maniacal training, constantly suffering injuries and recovering. His Physique had naturally increased by two points, and he had added another two; his Strength and Agility had both increased by four points. His weight had risen from 160 to 175. Even after the system's compression, Wang Yan still looked lean, but his body was visibly thicker. This added bulk could be attributed entirely to his own training.

At this stage, Wang Yan clearly felt that his body had reached his personal limit. If he maintained his current physique, it would be difficult to improve his physical stats through natural training alone; he could only develop his current potential to boost Strength and Agility. For Wang Yan, his current training was truly just maintenance. If he wanted to improve further, he would have to rely on allocating points.

To Wang Yan's surprise, his Spirit had increased by one point. He guessed this might be because the agonizing process of training like a madman and constantly recovering from injuries had tempered his mental will. What he found regrettable was that this was likely a one-time opportunity. With his current body, he couldn't stimulate further growth this way.

His skills hadn't changed much; aside from Fighting LV3, he had spent over half a year reading, which had allowed a few other skills to reach the introductory level.

After some thought, Wang Yan allocated the remaining two points to Physique. The main reason was that this world was still very dangerous, and his current Spirit was sufficient. Wang Yan quietly sensed the divine power the system exerted on his body. He could clearly feel his body growing stronger; this feeling of being able to control himself and dominate others was addictive.

After the allocation, his attributes became:

Wang Yan

Attributes: Strength 18

Agility 17

Physique 20

Spirit 14

Physique had increased by two points, while Strength and Agility had each increased by one. His weight had gone from 175 to a terrifying 180.

At a height of 183cm, a weight of 180 jin would normally look a bit chubby. Tyson was 178cm tall and weighed around 200 jin; one only had to look at Tyson's body to understand. Since Wang Yan still looked slightly lean, one could imagine how terrifying the density of his body must be.

For a long time now, the personnel in Wang Yan's cell had been coming and going, with a high turnover rate.

Three months ago, an unexpected person arrived in Wang Yan's cell: Sha Qiang. He had been sentenced to half a year for car theft.

Seeing Sha Qiang, Wang Yan understood everything; the system was providing him with some convenience to make initial contact with Chen Yongren.

Wang Yan didn't care about this. He had no intention of becoming a lackey under Han Chen just to play nanny to Chen Yongren. With his knowledge of the plot and the memories in his head, he might even be able to wipe out Han Chen before a few years had passed. Since that was the case, why bother with all that useless effort?

Because Wang Yan had made a name for himself earlier, bolstered by the bragging of various Guhuozi, those who came to mix in the underworld now knew exactly who Wang Yan was. Even others would respectfully address him as "Brother Yan."

These people might have been skeptical when they heard rumors of such a fierce man on the outside, but after witnessing Wang Yan's methods in Prison, they learned what it meant to have a "reputation that lives up to the man."

Therefore, among the many people coming and going, no one was blind enough to act arrogant or stir up trouble in front of Wang Yan.

Although Sha Qiang was called "Stupid" Qiang, he wasn't actually stupid. He had a keen eye for who could be provoked and who couldn't. In Prison, he was always "Brother Yan" this and "Brother Yan" that, constantly sucking up to him.

Wang Yan wasn't the type to look for trouble or act tough for no reason. As long as they didn't get in his way, he couldn't care less if they lived or died. Now that no one dared to challenge him, he spent his free time reading. A corner of the cell was piled high with books—all of which he had read over the past half-year.

You would think that someone so fierce and famous would be doing something else, but he spent his days squatting in a cell reading books. The Guhuozi all thought Wang Yan was strange and out of place with their style. Besides, they felt reading was useless, so they figured there must be something wrong with his head.

Wang Yan was well aware of this, but he didn't care what they thought. He went his own way and found joy in it.

On this day, Wang Yan was sitting on his bed reading as usual when he heard the cell door open. He looked up. What met his eyes was a face that looked remarkably like a young Ah Leung—Chen Yongren had arrived. After a brief pause, he lowered his head to continue reading, ignoring him.

Sha Qiang was busy shooting the breeze with other Guhuozi when he heard the commotion and saw Chen Yongren enter. He froze for a moment, then burst into mocking laughter. Chen Yongren wasn't one to take abuse, so he went straight for him. At first, Sha Qiang and his group didn't dare to make a move, opting for passive defense, mainly because Wang Yan's deterrent power was too strong. Wang Yan wasn't sick in the head; he had no reason to get involved in that nonsense.

Seeing that Wang Yan didn't say anything, they finally started ganging up on Chen Yongren. In the end, it resulted in mutual injuries, and after being disciplined by the guards, both were sent to the infirmary.

Chen Yongren had been sentenced to three months, meaning he would be released from Prison around the same time as Wang Yan.

In the following period, as Chen Yongren gradually grew accustomed to life in Prison and understood the situation within the facility, he became completely disillusioned.

They held fighting matches, ran gambling dens, and even worse, he saw people trafficking drugs inside the Prison. Chinese guards, Gweilo police, and the dregs of society were all in cahoots, colluding with one another. Some guards even walked arm-in-arm with the thugs, acting like brothers. Just like Wang Yan in his cell, whom the guards would basically call "Brother Yan." This situation reminded him of the legendary era of the Four Great Sergeants; how was that period any different from now?

This was normal. The Gweilo were making constant small moves to frantically rake in money while they still had a few years left. The Chinese, meanwhile, each had their own agendas and couldn't unite. The police force was an even more intricate vanity fair; it was only through the efforts of high-ranking officers loyal to the motherland that they could barely maintain a facade of harmony, which was already quite an achievement.

This caused the justice-filled Chen Yongren to start doubting himself, wondering if his persistence was truly correct.

When meeting with Chen Yongren, Huang Zhicheng sensitively noticed his abnormality. He kept trying to persuade and comfort him.

"We are police from Hong Kong Island; fighting crime is our duty. But the situation is complex now. The police force, and indeed all of Hong Kong and Kowloon, is not under the control of us Chinese. You are young, but I think you should understand what I mean. Before that happens, all we can do is keep searching for evidence and keep persisting. Victory will come eventually, won't it?" Huang Zhicheng continuously guided Chen Yongren through faith, the current situation, and personal ideology.

Afterward, Chen Yongren told Huang Zhicheng about Wang Yan's situation.

The police force was very well aware of Wang Yan. When the gambling dens started, those with an interest had already taken note. By the time Wang Yan became famous throughout Hong Kong and Kowloon, he had already been thoroughly investigated by the police.

Wang Yan's identity was arranged by the system; aside from the incident that led to his current conviction, he was just another slightly more prominent Guhuozi.

This left the police force with no real options; if there had been a way, they wouldn't have let a prison turn into a casino. Besides, Wang Yan's offenses were mostly just Fighting and causing serious injury, and he was already incarcerated, so what were they supposed to do? They could only keep a constant watch and strike with everything they had once they had ironclad evidence.

Furthermore, Wang Yan was from Tuen Mun, while Huang Zhicheng was from Tsim Sha Tsui; whether he even had the jurisdiction to enforce the law there was a matter for debate.

Huang Zhicheng said to Chen Yongren, "Your main task is still to get close to Sha Qiang. As for Wang Yan, just keep an eye on him and report back if there's any situation."

After saying this, he stuffed some money into Chen Yongren's hand—you could buy anything in prison these days. He then rattled off a bunch of hollow, encouraging words before leaving.

Returning to the cell, Chen Yongren greeted him with a "Brother Yan," then grabbed a random book from the corner, lay on his bed, and flipped through it absentmindedly.

Wang Yan, who was reading, became annoyed by the sound of Chen Yongren flipping pages back and forth: "If you aren't going to read, then keep your damn mouth shut and stop flipping that thing like an idiot."

Startled by Wang Yan's words, Chen Yongren quickly apologized: "Sorry, Brother Yan. My mind was just wandering a bit."

Although he hadn't been there long, he had witnessed the ruthlessness Wang Yan displayed during his Fighting matches. Even though Wang Yan read a lot of books every day and he knew Wang Yan was a reasonable man, that only applied if your status was high enough. If you upset Wang Yan, he wouldn't even need to lift a finger; the other Guhuozi in the cell would have already beaten you into submission.

Wang Yan pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Seeing his chance, Chen Yongren acted like a sycophant and stepped forward to light it. Wang Yan tossed another cigarette to Chen Yongren and took a deep drag: "Hiss... exhale..."

After exhaling the smoke, he stood up comfortably and headed outside, signaling for Chen Yongren to follow. "Come walk with me. I've been sitting for so long, I need to stretch my bones."

Prison management was extremely lax these days. Aside from not being allowed to escape, someone like Wang Yan could basically do whatever he wanted. He signaled to the prison guard and led Chen Yongren toward the exercise yard.

The sunlight felt exceptionally comfortable on his skin. Wang Yan stretched lazily and asked Chen Yongren, "You've been looking miserable every day. Got something on your mind, kid?"

Chen Yongren bluffed, "No, Brother Yan. It's just that the injuries from the fight a few days ago haven't healed yet."

Seeing him say this, Wang Yan smiled faintly, "Then you should get some good rest."

"I always feel like you're different from the others."

Seeing Chen Yongren sweating profusely and opening his mouth to explain something, Wang Yan didn't want to hear his nonsense and interrupted, "Alright, if you need anything, you can come to me. Let's go."

Chen Yongren felt as if he had been granted a pardon; hearing Wang Yan say he was "different" had made his heart jump into his throat. Then again, Chen Yongren was still young, only in his twenties. He lacked experience and his mental fortitude was still poor. If he heard someone say that a few years later, he would definitely be grinning and sucking up to them, spinning all sorts of yarns.

Watching Chen Yongren walk away quickly in a flustered state, Wang Yan shook his head. Too green. The only reason he survived under Ni Yongxiao was pure luck. Part of it was their blood relation, and the other part was Luo Ji sacrificing his life to take a hit for him. The protagonist really has it good.

After that, Wang Yan didn't have much contact with Chen Yongren. If Chen Yongren was to find redemption, his early experiences couldn't be altered. He had to experience pain before he could talk about redemption. As for the later stages, that could be handled however Wang Yan felt like it.

As the days passed, through purposeful approach, the relationship between Sha Qiang and Chen Yongren grew better and better.

Wang Yan rarely had to make a move once every ten days or half a month, because aside from the occasional fool who didn't believe the rumors and wanted to step on Wang Yan to climb the ladder, no one dared to challenge him anymore.

Wang Yan's physique was no joke now; even five or six Red Poles attacking at once couldn't take him down. As for the average tough guy, Wang Yan could usually knock them down with a single punch.

He figured that once he got out, many people would come to pay their respects and ask to be his underlings, and the lackeys he had before he was imprisoned would certainly come to pick him up in style.

"Finally getting the hell out of here," Wang Yan muttered to himself.

Today was Wang Yan's last day in prison; he would be released tomorrow.

He pulled up his panel and looked at his physical stats.

Wang Yan

Strength: 20

Agility: 20

Physique: 20

Spirit: 14

Three more months had passed, and Wang Yan had pushed his current body to its limit, with Strength, Agility, and Physique all reaching twenty. With his current physical condition, combined with his professional-level Fighting skills, although it was highly likely he still couldn't win, he figured he could at least hold his own against Tyson for a bit. Wang Yan estimated he would need to add another three to five points to his Physique, and then he would likely be able to KO Tyson.

He stopped thinking about these random things. He had been locked up for a year, and he had thought through everything he needed to.

He covered himself with his blanket to sleep. Tomorrow, he would be released.