Chen Yongren

Time passed as Wang Yan grew increasingly skilled.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed. It was June 1991, and Wang Yan would be released from prison in another three months.

Wang Yan's improvement over the past half year had been tremendous as well.

Sitting on the bed, Wang Yan brought up the panel.

Wang Yan

Attributes: Strength 17

Agility 16

Constitution 18

Spirit 14

Unallocated Points 2

Storage Space 1m

...A large number of skills omitted.

At the cost of overdrawing his body's potential, Wang Yan had trained almost insanely, constantly injuring himself and recovering. His constitution had naturally increased by two points, and he had added another two, while his strength and agility had each increased by four points. His weight had also risen from 160 to 175. Even after the system compressed it, Wang Yan still looked thin, but his body had visibly filled out a little. That extra weight could all be attributed to his own training.

At his current level, Wang Yan could clearly feel that his body had reached his personal limit. If he maintained his current physique, natural training would make it extremely difficult to improve his physical attributes any further. He could only develop his existing potential and increase his strength and agility. At this point, his training really was just training. If he wanted to continue improving, he could only rely on adding points.

What delighted Wang Yan was that his spirit had increased by one point. He guessed that the pain of frenziedly training himself, followed by constant injury and recovery, had tempered his mental will. What he found regrettable was that this opportunity had only happened once. With his current body, he could no longer stimulate it further.

His skills had not changed much. Aside from Fighting reaching LV3, reading for more than half a year had allowed some skills to reach the entry level.

After thinking it over, Wang Yan assigned his remaining two attribute points to constitution. This world was still very dangerous, after all, and his spirit was sufficient for now. Wang Yan quietly sensed the divine power the system had applied to his body. He could clearly feel himself gradually growing stronger. The feeling of controlling himself and dominating others was intoxicating.

After adding the points, his attributes became:

Wang Yan

Attributes: Strength 18

Agility 17

Constitution 20

Spirit 14

His constitution had increased by two points, while his strength and agility had each increased by one. His weight had risen from 175 to a terrifying 180.

At a normal height of 183 centimeters, weighing 180 jin already made him look a little fat. Tyson was 178 centimeters tall and weighed around 200 jin; one look at Tyson's body made that clear. Yet Wang Yan still appeared slightly thin. It was easy to imagine how terrifyingly dense his body was.

Over this long period, inmates had constantly come and gone from Wang Yan's cell, making the turnover extremely high.

Three months ago, an unexpected person had entered Wang Yan's cell: Sha Qiang. He had been sentenced to six months for stealing cars and committing theft.

The moment he saw Sha Qiang, Wang Yan understood everything. The system had provided him with a little convenience, allowing him to make contact with Chen Yongren first.

Wang Yan did not care. He had never planned to join Han Chen's men as a lackey and then babysit Chen Yongren. With his knowledge of the plot and the memories in his head, he might even be able to wipe out Han Chen within a few years. Since that was the case, there was no need to bother with all those useless arrangements.

Because Wang Yan had already made a name for himself, along with all the boasting from the various Guhuozi, anyone involved in the underworld now knew more or less what kind of person he was. When others saw him, they had to respectfully call him, "Brother Yan."

Those people had heard outside that there was such a fearsome figure, and perhaps they had not thought much of it. But after witnessing Wang Yan's methods in prison, they understood what it meant for someone to live up to his reputation.

Therefore, despite the constant flow of people, no blind fool tried to show off or act tough in front of Wang Yan.

Although Sha Qiang was called Sha Qiang, he was not actually stupid. He knew how to read the situation and understood whom he could provoke and whom he could not. In prison, he constantly fawned over Brother Yan, flattering him at every opportunity.

Wang Yan was not the sort of person who picked fights or forcibly acted tough for no reason. As long as they did not interfere with him, he could not care less what they did. No one challenged him in the ring anymore, so he spent his free time reading every day. A corner of the cell was piled high with books, all of which he had read over the past half year.

Imagine someone as fearsome and renowned as him spending all day in prison reading books. The Guhuozi thought Wang Yan was strange, completely unlike them. They also felt that reading and studying were useless, and that he probably had something wrong with his head.

Wang Yan knew exactly what they thought. He ignored them, did as he pleased, and enjoyed himself.

That day, with nothing else to do, Wang Yan sat on his bed reading as usual. When he heard the cell door open, he looked up. The face before him looked remarkably like Ah Leung in his youth. Chen Yongren had arrived. After freezing for a moment, Wang Yan lowered his head and continued reading, ignoring him.

Sha Qiang was chatting nonsense with the other Guhuozi. When he heard the commotion and saw Chen Yongren enter, he froze for a moment. Then he burst into laughter and mocked him relentlessly. Chen Yongren did not put up with it and immediately attacked. At first, Sha Qiang and the others did not dare fight back, only defending themselves, mainly because Wang Yan's deterrence was too strong. Wang Yan was not bored enough to interfere in such a thing.

When they saw that Wang Yan said nothing, they began beating Chen Yongren together. In the end, both sides were badly injured, then got scolded by the guards and were sent to the infirmary.

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

After Chen Yongren gradually became familiar with prison life and learned the situation there, he was completely thrown into confusion.

People held fighting matches in the prison and ran gambling dens. Even more outrageous, he saw people selling drugs inside. Chinese guards, foreign police officers, and social scum were all in league with one another, working together in corruption. Some guards even walked arm in arm with a group of thugs, calling one another brothers. Just like Wang Yan in his cell, almost every guard called him "Brother Yan." This situation reminded him of the legendary era of the Four Great Sergeants. How was that period any different from the present?

It was only natural. The foreigners took advantage of the few years they had left, constantly making small moves and frantically raking in money. The Chinese had their own agendas and could not unite. The police force was an even more complicated arena of fame and profit. It was barely being held together by senior officers who still cared about the motherland, and simply maintaining a superficially harmonious environment was already quite an achievement.

This caused the justice-filled Chen Yongren to begin doubting himself. Was his persistence really right?

When Huang Zhicheng met with Chen Yongren, he keenly noticed that something was wrong with him. He kept deceiving and comforting him, trying to talk him through it.

"We're Hong Kong Island police officers. Fighting crime is our duty. But the situation is complicated now. Neither the police force nor Hong Kong Island as a whole is in the hands of us Chinese. You're young, but I think you should understand what I mean. Until then, all we can do is keep looking for evidence and keep persevering. Victory will come eventually, won't it?" Huang Zhicheng constantly guided Chen Yongren through matters of faith, the situation, and personal thought.

Afterward, Chen Yongren told Huang Zhicheng about Wang Yan.

The police force knew Wang Yan extremely well. Those with ulterior motives had noticed him when the gambling den first began operating. By the time Wang Yan had made a name throughout Hong Kong and Kowloon, the police force had already investigated him thoroughly.

Wang Yan's identity had been arranged by the system. Aside from being charged this time, he was simply a somewhat powerful Guhuozi.

That left the people in the police force with little they could do. If they had a way, they would not have allowed a prison to become a casino. Besides, Wang Yan had merely injured people in fights somewhat seriously, and he was already in prison. What could they do? They could only keep an eye on him and, once they had conclusive evidence, destroy him with a decisive strike.

Besides, Wang Yan operated in Tuen Mun, while Huang Zhicheng was from Tsim Sha Tsui. Whether he even had jurisdiction was something they would have to investigate first.

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. Tell me if anything happens."

After saying that, he slipped Chen Yongren some money. Anything could be bought in prison now. Then he gave him a pile of meaningless words of encouragement and left.

When he returned to the cell, Chen Yongren called out, "Brother Yan," as a greeting. He casually took a book from the corner, lay down on the bed, and flipped through it distractedly.

The sound of Chen Yongren repeatedly turning pages irritated Wang Yan, who was reading. "If you're not going to read, then lie there quietly and take a nap. Stop flipping through the damn thing."

Snapped back to his senses by Wang Yan's words, Chen Yongren hurriedly apologized. "Sorry, Brother Yan. I was just distracted."

Although he had only been there a short time, he had already witnessed Wang Yan's ruthlessness in the ring. Wang Yan read many books every day, and Chen Yongren knew he was a reasonable person, but that required him to have enough status. If he angered Wang Yan, Wang Yan would not even need to act personally; the other Guhuozi in the cell would put him in his place.

Wang Yan pulled out a cigarette and held it between his lips. Seeing his chance, Chen Yongren hurried over and lit it for him. Wang Yan tossed him another cigarette and took a deep drag. "Hiss... whoosh..."

After exhaling the smoke, Wang Yan comfortably got off the bed and walked outside, signaling for Chen Yongren to follow. He said, "Come take a walk with me. I've been sitting all day. Time to stretch my muscles."

Prison management was extremely lax at the time. Aside from not being allowed to escape, people like Wang Yan could basically do whatever they wanted. After signaling to the guards, he took Chen Yongren toward the exercise yard.

The sunlight felt exceptionally comfortable on his body. Wang Yan lazily stretched and said to Chen Yongren, "Why the long face every day? Something on your mind, you little punk?"

Chen Yongren made up an excuse. "No, Brother Yan. It's probably because the injuries I got in the ring a few days ago haven't healed yet."

Seeing him say that, Wang Yan smiled faintly. "Then get some proper rest."

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

Seeing Chen Yongren, drenched in sweat, open his mouth as if he wanted to explain something, Wang Yan did not want to hear his nonsense and cut him off. "Enough. Come find me if you need anything. Let's go."

Chen Yongren felt as though he had been granted a reprieve. When Wang Yan had just said he was different, his heart had nearly leaped out of his chest. Chen Yongren was still young, only around twenty. He had little experience and poor mental composure. If he heard someone say that a few years later, he would absolutely grin and shamelessly move closer, then talk circles around the subject.

Watching Chen Yongren hurry away in a sorry state, Wang Yan shook his head. He was too green. The fact that he had survived Ni Yongxiao could only be attributed to his good luck. One reason was their blood relationship, and another was that Luo Ji had taken the brunt of it with his life. The protagonist really was blessed.

After that, Wang Yan did not have much contact with Chen Yongren. If Chen Yongren was to find redemption, his early experiences could not be changed. He had to suffer first before redemption could be discussed. As for the later stages, Wang Yan could arrange them however he pleased. It would all depend on Wang Yan's mood.

Days passed one after another. Through deliberate efforts to get close to him, Sha Qiang and Chen Yongren grew increasingly close.

Wang Yan also rarely needed to act more than once every ten days or half a month. Aside from a few fighters who refused to accept reality and wanted to step on Wang Yan to rise, no one challenged him anymore.

Wang Yan's constitution was no joke now. Even five or six Red Poles together could not beat him. Against ordinary but capable fighters, Wang Yan could basically knock them down with one punch.

After he got out, many people would probably come to acknowledge him as their big brother. Meanwhile, the underlings he had before being imprisoned would certainly arrive in grand style to welcome him out.

"I'm finally getting out," Wang Yan muttered.

Today was Wang Yan's last day in prison. Tomorrow, he would be released.

He brought up the panel and looked at his physical data.

Wang Yan

Attributes: Strength 20

Agility 20

Constitution 20

Spirit 14

Another three months had passed, and Wang Yan had developed his body to its limit for now. His strength, agility, and constitution had all reached twenty. With Wang Yan's current physical qualities and his professional-level Fighting ability, he probably could not beat Tyson, but he estimated that he could at least exchange a few blows with him. Wang Yan figured he would need to add another three to five points to his constitution before he would probably be able to knock Tyson out.

He stopped thinking about pointless things. After spending a year in prison, he had already thought through almost everything he could.

He pulled the blanket over himself and went to sleep. Tomorrow, he would be released.