Act.08 Wild Horses Horses
Foreword:
All the glory and pride in the world belong to mothers.
[Part 1: The Bond of Blood]
"Our family has fallen."
A sigh came from the brewery in Sanhe Town.
It was an old woman who was pondering, recounting the tragic fate of the astral hybrid lizardmen.
At this moment, their mistress sat in the center of the banquet, a black and green cloak covering her massive body, revealing only her sharp teeth, her gag receptacle, and the wrinkled skin of her throat pouch.
Her name was Louise, and the people of the Star Realm Gang called her the Mistress of the Wild Horses. She was also one of the earliest laborers to coexist and grow alongside humans, pioneering and building cities in Forty-Eight District.
Sanhe Town is named after the Triads society, Hung Mun. The Hung Mun Alliance was the original owner of this place until the Wild Horse Matriarch fought for this territory for the Lizardmen, and only then did these hybrid monsters have a blessed land.
"At Clearwater Bay Station, more than sixty Blood Knights died. Although there were still more than two hundred people on duty outside, the station's police station was massacred. This is a signal, a very dangerous signal."
The matriarch spoke with the twenty-odd senior officials and colleagues present.
"Someone is coveting our land where we can rest and recuperate. We don't even know who these murderers are. If they can kill the Blood Knights, they can certainly storm into our courtyard, kill our brothers, and take our lives."
"We have become so weak and powerless without realizing it. We may have to seek justice from Ming De."
Upon hearing this—
Most of the people present changed their expressions.
"Mom!" the young master of the Star Realm Gang immediately retorted, "You want to find the BOSS to seek justice? Really?"
Compromising with the Abyssal Railway means abandoning the Star Realm Gang's traditional businesses and drug trafficking operations, requiring the entire team to be reshuffled.
Ming De would never stand up for a group of drug dealers; he would always remain the shrewd and reliable businessman. As long as the trading post could serve as a safe haven for passengers, anything was negotiable.
But if the passengers go to Forty-Eight District and become disoriented drug addicts, the problem becomes much more complicated.
Today, the black market in Clearwater Bay survives entirely thanks to the protection of the local government and the governor.
If the mistress crosses this line and directly seeks help from Ming De, it would be tantamount to a complete upheaval in the entire Forty-Eight District.
She controlled the money and power transactions between the Star Realm Gang and many of the Sunflower Senate's relatives, and the Little Brotherhood did the same. Through these shady dealings, she gradually transformed the peacekeeping forces in Forty-Eight District from Guangling Zhixi into a private army.
The reason the Hung Mun Grand Alliance ceded Sanhe Town to the Wild Horse Matriarch was because this godforsaken place had almost no added value, aside from various hallucinogenic drugs. Even the resilient sorghum couldn't survive there. Lizardmen and other monstrous creatures could interbreed and live there.
Clearwater Bay is a station that relies heavily on the trade of money and food. The medicines it exports are very valuable. In the underworld, Universal Elixir alone are not enough. The chemical products here are very important to passengers as medicines for healing damage to the spiritual essence.
After all, the production capacity of Worry-forgetting Tea is limited, and once the VIP tea room stops supplying it, other alternatives must be found.
The Hung Mun Alliance abandoned Sanhe Town. These Homo sapiens were not good at dealing with natural poisons, so they decided to give this land to the Wild Horse Mistress as a favor.
Now, this town, and even the entire Forty-Eight District, has become a den of iniquity. Since the last harvest season, the Madness Butterfly Sect has taken root here, rivaling the Star Realm Gang. After rounds of selection and elimination, the Little Brotherhood absolute power, while the Star Realm Gang struggles to survive.
The death of the Blood Knights was the final straw for the Lizardmen.
Louise understood this principle. The food they had was a gift from the Hung Mun Alliance. Who was behind the Hung Mun Alliance? They had intricate connections with the Red Stone People Senate.
These Inspiration individuals must also explore and overcome obstacles, build roads and bridges for stations, and seek their place in the wilderness. They will then rise to high positions, become gang leaders, and form the local order with the new city's governor, balancing the social relations between psionicists and ordinary people.
In other words, the Hung Mun are the vanguard of the Red Stone People, and the Red Stone People are absolutely loyal to Ming De. Even if their loyalty is indirect, it is still absolute loyalty to the BOSS.
Even if Ming De didn't know about this matter and judged these groups, which were nominally classified as terrorist and illegal organizations, as criminals, the Hung Mun Alliance had ultimately been working for the BOSS.
Final--
--In the end, Sanhe Town, this place of refuge, was still a gift from the BOSS.
Now that the Little Brotherhood to annex this land, the Wild Horse Madam has no choice but to turn to Ming De and selling her offspring to ensure a stable supply of gene samples to the Research Station, sending a few healthy calves every month, completely shutting down the drug factory, and pushing out many scapegoats, she has to make a tough decision to abandon her own tail and save her life.
However, her two children don't seem to quite understand this yet.
The eldest son is ambitious and only wants to Little Brotherhood for this small piece of land.
"Mom, you're not dealing drugs anymore? Can our gang still be considered a gang?"
The second young master is completely out of his mind, wanting to berate the boss.
"What's there to be afraid of with that worm of flesh! I'm about to get engaged to the governor's youngest daughter! Just wait until I turn the tables!"
For a moment, the family gathering was shrouded in a deathly silence.
Today is the second young master's birthday, and no one knows what to say.
The comeback that the second young master spoke of was an unrealistic fantasy.
The youngest daughter of the governor of Forty-Eight District is a relative of a key member of the Yellowstone People Elder Council. The second young master has been pursuing this girl. It is a love between a human and a lizard, a cross-species pursuit that involves spending a lot of money, commonly known as "fishing for a rich man".
The second young master has already spent a lot of money, even giving away the revenue from the management of six bars as a bargaining chip.
So far, there has been no progress. The Mustang matriarch loves her two children very much, but feels as if she is under a curse from her blood ties.
She thought that made sense; if dragons could really give birth to dragons, then phoenixes could really raise phoenixes.
--This should be the Qin Dynasty. Otherwise, how could Qin Shi Huang be so powerful while his son was so incompetent?
She didn't even feel comfortable criticizing the two men for their lack of decency; the matter was so simple, so natural, a relationship that could be explained in just a few words.
The Blood Knights died at the train station, in a square where there were many people around, and all sides could see and hear him. His entire family was massacred in broad daylight—they couldn't even escape! They left no evidence!
Even the assault team that Guangling Zhixi couldn't have achieved this result! They would at least have left evidence! They would have left ballistic traces or shrapnel!
But at the crime scene, no one knew how the enemy had done it. The bizarre and grotesque dismembered body parts, and the dog that died in the kennel—a fire destroyed almost all the evidence. The only thing found was a soft, rotting eyeball on the steps of the back door, and even the forensic doctor couldn't say who it belonged to.
The enemy is in the shadows, Star Realm Gang are in the open.
There's no chance for negotiation anymore. If this was done by the Little Brotherhood, after eliminating the Star Realm Gang's mercenaries, the next step would be to strike at the heart of the enemy and wipe out all the hybrid monsters!
My most pressing concern is survival! My two foolish sons!
The Blood Knights elites deployed at Clearwater Bay Station were all skilled warriors among the lizard hybrids, used for counter-terrorism and riot control. Apart from the last bit of garrison force in the gang, there were very few capable fighters left in the entire team.
You want these drug dealers to command operations? Dream on!
The Wild Horse Lady thought for a very, very long time, and then did an elementary school math problem with her two sons.
How many men do we have? How many soldiers?
The young master immediately said, "One thousand four hundred and forty-eight men! Four hundred men can fight once they're equipped! And there are over two hundred veterans!"
It seems the eldest son still cares about the family and is quite wise; he probably wishes the matriarch would pass away immediately so he could take over all the gang's affairs.
The second young master muttered to himself, but didn't utter a sound for a long time.
The mistress of the wild horse asked the young master to finish calculating the equation.
How many people Little Brotherhood?
The young master also became hesitant, seemingly having guessed part of it but not daring to say it outright.
Right now, at this very moment--
--Xue Ming arrived at the banquet hall carrying a gift box.
The sudden appearance of a Homo sapiens at a lizardman family gathering was quite startling.
Especially when you see the other person's attire clearly, there's a handkerchief in the front pocket of that black suit, embroidered with the feathered serpent emblem of the Little Brotherhood.
The ministers and their advisors were all greatly shocked, and immediately bared their teeth and revealed their red letters to this uninvited guest.
Louise remained calm and offered a chair to the person in the head seat.
"This is a guest I invited; from now on, she's family."
This statement contained a great deal of information, and for a moment neither of the children dared to question it.
Xue Ming sat down, put down the gift box, and then continued talking about that elementary school math problem.
"As far as I know, the Little Brotherhood's armed force numbers 882--"
She took out paper and pen and, using Clearwater Bay Railway Station as the center point of the coordinate system, drew a topographic map of the towns, villages, and cities surrounding Forty-Eight District.
"--Two hundred and eleven people in Heung Wan are related by blood or marriage, mainly from four major surnames: Brazilian and Bolivian. They all own family businesses and manage businesses in six major districts."
"--Four hundred and fifty-seven people are spread across one hundred and sixty different bars. They're considered local bigwigs, each with their own henchmen. You have to call them 'brother' when you see them."
"--The rest are the lubricants of the logistics industry, who have dealings with Sunflower Movement, mostly as middlemen, sons-in-law of Yellowstone People, or simply rich wives who married into wealthy families."
"These people are all very capable fighters. If we can win over our friends and relatives, hire bodyguards, and privately build an armed force, the Little Brotherhood's fighting force will expand to three to five thousand people."
"And what about the remaining members of the Little Brotherhood? There are over two thousand four hundred people involved in the main production and trafficking of drugs."
"Your mother is right. Even with the simplest math problem, according to your calculations, with only six hundred soldiers and a thousand thugs, fighting against three to five thousand enemies in street combat is a sure way to die, like throwing an egg against a rock."
"Besides, your Blood Knights would shatter at the train station. Most of the supervising officers who could instruct ordinary people on how to fight are already dead."
[Part 2: Meeting the Enemy]
Before the words had even finished --
The young master was so angry that his eyes were bloodshot. If it weren't for the fact that guns weren't allowed at the family gathering, he would have killed this strange woman on the spot.
The second young master, however, was highly suspicious of the woman's origins.
"Mom! Don't believe her nonsense!"
The matriarch remained silent, awaiting the selection of other senior officials, advisors, and uncles based on seniority.
A large crowd gathered, and discussions arose.
"Louise, who is this person?"
Can we trust her?
Is that really the case?
"I won't listen! If the family business goes under, where will we go?! What will we do then?"
"You're already ruining your own morale before the fight even starts?! My child is Blood Knights too! If this was done by my Little Brotherhood, I'll make that woman pay for my son's death!"
Immediately afterwards--
--The matriarch spoke slowly.
"She was a stranger I met at a flower arrangement tea party."
This statement silenced all doubts and left the uncles and elders utterly astonished.
The Mustang mistress continued, "She knows my interests and hobbies, which I never talk about with anyone else. It's my only hobby, and throughout my long life, it's been a very private secret that I won't let others in—do you know what that means?"
The hoarse female voice echoed in the quiet room, like a thunderclap.
"My brothers, who have been with me for over seventy years, have no idea I have this little hobby."
The mistress then reached out from her robe and grasped Glory's arm tightly.
"But she knew that she had investigated all the trade documents, big and small, in Sanhe Town. There was no sunlight here, and flower arranging was an aristocratic art. It was extremely difficult to cultivate flower seeds, predict the flowering period, and finally create a mature work—she found me through these clues. Simply because she found a seed that I had discarded along the garbage truck transport route along Sanhe Town."
The mistress pulled back her hood, revealing a wrinkled face and a twisted, deformed lizard-horn-shaped head.
"She knows my little secrets better than any of you; in other words, you are naked in her eyes."
"So what?" the young master still tried to argue, "I can find excellent private investigators too. I..."
"That's right! I even know what the governor likes to eat!" the good-for-nothing second young master chimed in.
The mistress sighed; it seemed her two sons truly knew nothing.
If Glory wanted them dead, they would probably be dead already.
Throughout history, killing a person has never been difficult. The most difficult thing is often how to identify the target, how to approach the target undetected, how to find the target's weakness, and how to predict the target's movements.
"Bring up the gift," the mistress decided, deciding not to waste any more words.
Xue Ming opened the gift box in response. Inside was a Braille card and a mobile phone, which was playing a loop of photos of the Blood Knights's death.
This card contains various data about the anonymous Big Sister, including the basic test section of the Polarized Sextant. It's practically revealing the Big Sister's true identity to the members of the Star Realm Gang.
At this moment, the Mustang mistress began to tremble with fear.
She had originally thought that since it was her youngest son's birthday, the important figure sent by Ming De would be more polite.
The card shattered almost all her fantasies, yet also brought a sense of relief, like a broken jade preserved in a tile.
That's because the new person in charge, [the anonymous one], has arrived.
--He is the Death God wiped out the Rose Sect, the Ming De, and virtuous imperial secret agent, the personal bodyguard, the ace of aces.
The thing that drove her to despair was hidden in this Braille card.
Xue Ming, "If you want the BOSS to help you, you have to listen to me."
Louise nodded shakily, then looked at her two sons, her eyes pleading for mercy.
Xue Ming continued, "I killed the Blood Knights. They did something inhuman, driving away all the soldiers from Guangling Zhixi. That's not right."
"It's really not good," the mistress replied. "It's really not good, it's really not good."
Although she said that, the mistress still harbored a tiny bit of hope—if Guangling Zhixi were still at the train station, how could the Star Realm Gang possibly get a share of the most lucrative transfer area and lodging/rest stops?
That fantasy was immediately extinguished.
Xue Ming mentioned Jing Guang, who had just killed the Blood Knights's father.
It was a single, fatal shot; fragments of his skull splattered on the walls of the quiet room.
Xue Ming continued, "I killed his child, he hates me, and he'll definitely betray me. You have to understand."
The matriarch nodded. "I understand."
The screams were silenced by the bullets, and an unparalleled sense of oppression rendered all the lizard hybrids present speechless.
"All the glory and pride in the world belongs to Mother," Xue Ming said, handing Jingguang to Louise. "You know what to do, don't you?"
The Wild Horse Madam swallowed nervously. Faced with the threat of death, she was like a helpless little girl. She looked at the nameless Big Sister's blood-red hair and almost collapsed when she gripped the gun.
She glanced at everyone present, finally mustering the courage to awaken her vicious heart.
From left to right, Jingguang fired seventeen bullets, leaving no chance to escape. Only five people remained at the table.
Besides the matriarch, Glory, and her two sons.
There was also an uncle in charge of the guild's treasury accounting who was so frightened that he wet himself and dared not move.
"Is he trustworthy?" Xue Ming raised the black umbrella and pointed it at the survivor.
The mistress immediately said, "He's fine, he's my own brother—I've entrusted him with the most important bookkeeping work."
Xue Ming asked again, "You don't hate me, do you?"
Wild Horse Madam: "These beasts traffic drugs and harm people! They deserve to die!"
Then Louise launched into a fierce tirade, as if trying to drive all her fear out of her heart.
"Damn it! Those sons of bitches! If we keep them alive, they'll betray us sooner or later! Even at this point, they're still thinking about making money! Who knows, they might tip off our Little Brotherhood and betray us! I've been killing and thinking for ages, and I can't even kill all these stupid parasites in the royal family! If I kill one old one, the younger ones will come back for revenge, so I might as well just kill them all."
Xue Ming picked up Jingguang and spoke with the Wild Horse Mistress.
"You are a great mother, I admire you very much."
The moment the gun was taken away, the Mustang matriarch was completely paralyzed, as if her soul had been ripped out.
Xue Ming didn't say much, only gave instructions.
"Pack up the body and transport it to Xiangwan District Post Office. I will send someone to meet you."
After taking only a few steps, Xue Ming turned back and emphasized the point—
"--I will definitely keep my promise to you. Remember, I am the person in charge of the Nameless Ones."
She opened the umbrella, revealing Mingde's remains inside.
"You and your two sons will definitely survive this drug bust."
The Mustang mistress nodded.
Xue Ming, as if joking, raised the gun and held it to the head of the sole survivor.
"Just this person"
The mistress repeatedly emphasized, "No, no, no, no."
Having said that, Xue Ming finally put down his gun and left.
After the evil spirit left, Louise asked her two sons and brother to clean up the bodies of their uncles and aunts.
The eldest son was both shocked and furious, and asked angrily, "Mom! Why did you listen to her?! Why!"
Louise: "Because things are about to change, she's like a thunderbolt—if I don't cooperate with her, we'll probably be the ones dying at the table!"
The second young master gritted his teeth in hatred. "Why? I hate it so much! I hate it so much! These uncles and elders have always been very kind to me."
"Bullshit." Louise rolled her eyes. "Little darling? Do you really think these people are genuinely looking out for you? If I weren't in this position, you'd probably be torn to pieces by now. The people who are truly good to you..."
The mistress's brother, without even having time to change his pants, had already dismissed all his men to secretly dispose of the corpses.
My brother's mind works fast; he immediately picked up where the mistress left off.
"The person who's truly good to you is this Big Sister!"
The uncle grabbed his nephew by the collar, ignoring the blood all over his hands.
"She chose our house, not anyone else. You should be thankful you're still standing here cleaning up corpses and washing the floor, instead of becoming flesh on the floor!"
Just then, Xue Ming returned.
The mistress looked as if she had seen a ghost and apologized repeatedly.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, he's just a kid and he doesn't know any better. He was just joking."
Xue Ming didn't care. "There's something else. Have the second young master give me that person's contact information."
Second Young Master: "Who is that?"
Xue Ming: "It's that girl you've been pursuing. Give me her contact information."
This refers to the youngest daughter of the governor of Forty-Eight District. Xue Ming plans to approach this woman, find out what the leader of Forty-Eight District is doing, and deliver a new kill list to the BOSS.
The second young master immediately said, "Don't lay a hand on her. Sir, you won't hurt her, will you?"
Xue Ming frowned and glanced at the Wild Horse Mistress.
Did I hear something wrong? Is he negotiating with me?
Louise immediately gave her good-for-nothing son a hard slap, then slapped his face with her bloodied claws, leaving a bloody mark.
"How dare you slander an anonymous person! Do you think the Big Sister would kill an innocent and vulnerable woman?"
The second young master quickly calmed down.
"I didn't. I didn't."
"I'm in a hurry. You can ask someone to tell Leslie, and have him pass the message on to me." After saying this, Xue Ming left.
The young master nervously made his way out, making sure there was no one on the dock road. He walked a few dozen meters further and saw a bustling market in the town, finally putting his mind at ease, and returned to the banquet.
"Mom, what should we do?"
Mustang opened the Braille cards, which contained three clips: [Quick Knife], [Gate of Wonders], and [Nameless Person's] contact information.
She knew this was her only way out.
If they obeyed, she and her children would have a chance to survive.
To oppose [the anonymous person] is to oppose the entire station.
The Little Brotherhood's good days are coming to an end.