Chen Xia heard the conversation behind him as he entered the lobby.
He thought to himself, It seems Yang Hua's punching power is still a little short of mine.
But the other man was only in his twenties, while Chen Xia was older. There wasn't much to boast about.
If not for the Seven Injuries Fist, Chen Xia wouldn't have been able to surpass Yang Hua. He supposed he'd just gotten lucky.
"Let's eat breakfast first. I'm getting a little hungry."
After clocking in, Chen Xia headed to the Patrol Inspection Office cafeteria.
The Patrol Inspection Office provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes Chen Xia didn't have night duty, so he went home to eat.
He had to admit, the benefits here were decent. Breakfast was plentiful, with noodles, steamed buns, stuffed buns, and yogurt. At lunch, there were even fruit and pastries.
The Patrol Inspection Office also provided accommodations in a building behind the office. Chen Xia usually slept at home, though; it wasn't far away. Most of his local coworkers did the same.
After breakfast and a quick morning meeting, Chen Xia climbed into a patrol car and headed out.
As they roamed around Xingou Street, nothing much happened. The work was easy day after day.
Their job was simply to keep local hooligans in check and stop them from causing trouble in broad daylight and disrupting order.
Many local restaurants, shops, and shopping malls paid the Patrol Inspection Office for protection.
Although those at the bottom like them didn't get much of the money, the higher-ups who received it had to protect the businesses below. That was part of their duty, too.
Usually, they made a few rounds of the streets, shopping malls, and Old Town in the morning, then called it a day and waited for their next meal.
Sometimes, teahouses invited them in for tea. They used to drink alcohol, but after the higher-ups ordered them to stop, they switched to tea.
Now that their patrol was over, the owner of a teahouse had invited them to sit by a window on the Second Floor. They sipped tea and chatted as they watched the street outside.
They had barely warmed their seats when a commotion erupted outside. People on the street scattered in a panic.
Chen Xia glanced out the window and saw two groups fighting. Small vendors by the roadside were running in all directions.
Faced with this scene, the patrol inspectors stayed seated, pretending not to notice.
They'd seen this sort of thing countless times. As long as the fighters didn't cause trouble in restaurants or legitimate shops, and were only brawling in the streets and alleys or fighting rival groups, the Patrol Inspection Office generally didn't get involved.
Everyone recognized who they were at a glance. They understood each other without a word and had no intention of stepping in.
The Blazing Fire Mercenary Group was being driven into a sorry state by the Gathering Justice Mercenary Group. Some were rolling on the ground, while others had been injured after just a couple of exchanges and could only retreat.
The Gathering Justice Mercenary Group fought fiercely and acted without restraint, shouting loudly as they threw their weight around.
Captain Jiang furrowed his brow and remarked, "The Blazing Fire Mercenary Group probably can't hold out much longer. Their numbers keep dwindling."
At that, Yang Hua lit a cigarette and smiled. "The main problem is that no one's backing the Blazing Fire Mercenary Group. They've lost several fights in a row, and their fighting spirit's been ground away. I've heard some of their people even abandoned the group and ran."
Captain Jiang nodded. "The Blazing Fire Mercenary Group only has fewer than two hundred people to begin with. In the past few months, the Gathering Justice Mercenary Group has grown larger and larger. They've got more than twice as many now."
"Not long ago, I heard the Blazing Fire leader was badly injured. His trusted subordinates are either dead or wounded, and quite a few people have been hiding on other streets. They still got tracked down and beaten badly. At this rate, the Blazing Fire Mercenary Group will probably fall apart!"
Captain Jiang picked up a cup of tea, used the lid to brush aside the leaves floating on top, and took a sip. Then he said slowly, "I heard the Blazing Fire Mercenary Group's leader was a Grade 1, Sixth Stage martial artist who had reached Major Completion in a saber technique."
"He once fought more than a dozen people by himself without falling behind, then walked away unharmed. He was very strong; only our main force could keep him in check. Who would've thought he'd be so badly injured? The world is full of surprises!"
Zhang Feng asked in surprise, "Who could've injured him that badly?"
"Maybe he was ambushed!" Captain Jiang said.
"In the end, this world judges by results. The Blazing Fire Mercenary Group is about to become a thing of the past."
"The Blazing Fire people used to get along with us well enough. I just don't know if the Gathering Justice bunch, once they take over, will be the same."
Captain Jiang frowned, looking a little worried.
The Blazing Fire people generally didn't cause trouble. As long as the nearby shopkeepers paid a little protection money, they could make a living, and the group left the street vendors alone.
But no one knew what things would be like once someone else took over. If the new group had powerful backing and started acting recklessly, the Patrol Inspection Office could get caught in the middle and run into trouble.
"The situation's in turmoil. It's not a good thing..."
Sitting quietly in the corner, Chen Xia listened. He understood some of what they were talking about.
The Blazing Fire Mercenary Group had once been flourishing. Every year, nearby shops paid them a little money for protection.
When they saw people from the Patrol Inspection Office, they nodded in greeting. The two sides had never had any conflicts. The group also rarely bullied ordinary people. Everyone left each other alone, and the Blazing Fire Mercenary Group had enjoyed quite a bit of prestige.
Who would've thought they'd be on their way out in just a few months?
A trace of worry flashed through Chen Xia's eyes.
It wasn't the changing situation that worried him. He'd thought of his older brother, who had joined a mercenary group.
Chen Wu had always looked after him and his younger sister.
Back when the family couldn't afford to send Chen Xia to school, Chen Wu went away to work and earned money to support him. Later, when their grandfather became gravely ill, Chen Wu resolutely joined a wilderness mercenary group and went adventuring.
Mercenary groups came in two kinds: local groups and professional hunting teams.
Everyone knew what the local ones were like. They were just using the name "mercenary group" as a cover.
Wilderness teams, on the other hand, were legitimate hunting groups that hunted Exotic Beasts. They spent all year on the road, living hard lives with danger always close at hand.
His older brother was also at the Eighth Stage of Ningyuan, but he wasn't a martial artist. He'd been with the mercenary group for half a year. Some time ago, he'd sent the family a hundred thousand in blood money. For the past month, though, they'd lost contact with him.
Chen Xia thought that if he could become capable enough to support the family, his older brother wouldn't have to risk his life anymore.
Seeming lost in thought, Captain Jiang, seated beside him, spoke again. "I still liked the old days better. A thousand years ago, spiritual energy revived, and everything under heaven began to mutate."
"Then, five hundred years ago, alien races from beyond the heavens opened a passage through Otherworldly Space and invaded the Human Race. It was our ancestors who threw themselves into battle, sacrificed themselves one after another, and fought in rivers of blood. Only then did they drive the invaders beyond the Spatial Battlefield and secure a place for the Human Race to live."
"Sure, nowadays everyone can cultivate, grow stronger, and become powerful. But the risk of dying is far greater than it was in the peaceful days of old."
Before you continue