Outside the factory gates, the blazing firelight illuminated Li Jinshui's face.
His gaze was calm as he occasionally flung a throwing knife, reaping the lives of martial artists amid the panicked crowd.
A moment later, every East Star Society martial artist had been wiped out. Only a large group of ordinary gang members remained, scurrying around the burning grounds with their heads in their hands, searching for a way out.
Li Jinshui couldn't be bothered with them. He waved a hand, then turned and left with Lin Zhen and the others.
Over the next few hours, he did the same thing again, leading his team at full speed to the headquarters of the Hung Hing and Hung Lok gangs.
The same night, the same flames—their two gang headquarters were burned to the ground.
The only pity was that both gang leaders had escaped, leaving behind only a group of injured gang members. Li Jinshui could only make up for his losses by taking their money and valuables.
After ransacking the headquarters and its occupants, he hurriedly sent them on their way out of this world filled with suffering.
In the end, he didn't spare the Venom Snake Gang either. Its leader was dead, but the headquarters absolutely couldn't be left standing, so he burned it down as well.
And so, all four Drifter gangs around Shuanglong Street were wiped out in a single night.
"The inner demon has been eliminated. You brothers should head back to the station first. Remember to take the same route back, so the cameras won't catch you."
Li Jinshui walked into the darkness, his back to Lin Zhen and the others. With a faint smile, he said, "By the way, I'll say it again: we're all in the same boat now. The Inspection Bureau will be coming for us soon. Remember, we stayed at the station all night and never went out. Of course, if any of you want to sell me out, that's fine too. I never force anyone."
"Don't worry, Station Chief. Since the brothers chose to get involved, we won't turn around and sell you out afterward." Lin Zhen shivered and hurriedly offered some reassuring words to ease the tension.
"That's right, Captain. The Inspection Bureau needs evidence to investigate a case, and they were only a bunch of drifters. Who knows how many of them were wanted criminals? There won't be a problem." Chen Dali and the others chimed in.
"Mm, I was just saying. No need to get nervous." Li Jinshui smiled.
But the others could only force a smile and nod in response.
They hadn't planned to betray him in the first place. But after seeing how Li Jinshui operated tonight, they were even more certain that they couldn't betray him, even if it meant dying. Otherwise, they might end up wishing they were dead.
"Station Chief, aren't you coming back with us?" Lin Zhen asked when he saw Li Jinshui heading in another direction.
"Right, you go back first. I've still got something to take care of. After all that arson, I suddenly started missing my old superior. I'll go see him and bring him a little gift."
As soon as Li Jinshui finished speaking, electric sparks flashed around his legs. His body twisted into a blurred afterimage and vanished into the darkness in an instant.
Only then did the others breathe a sigh of relief. They wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads and headed back to the station by the same route.
This was a remote area, after all, unlike the city center and other bustling districts, where security was strict. There were few surveillance cameras along the roads.
When they reached the station, the street was still littered with corpses. There were even plenty of severed limbs. Many ordinary gang members couldn't withstand Li Jinshui's attacks and had been left almost unrecognizable.
"Get inside, now! Tonight, every one of us is going to sleep upstairs and pretend we know nothing. Got it?" Lin Zhen spat hard, gave them another warning, and led the way through the station's entrance.
"Got it, Station Chief Lin." The others nodded like bobbleheads and filed in behind him, then pulled the rolling shutter down tight.
Meanwhile, in the urban village along Chenghua Avenue in the outer district.
Under an old, dilapidated apartment building, Li Jinshui swapped in a new, fully charged battery. Then, as silently as a ghost, he swept up the stairs and stopped before the security door of an apartment on the fifth floor.
Without a second thought, he raised his fist and pounded on the metal door without restraint.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
The heavy pounding echoed through the silent stairwell in the dead of night, urgent and violent.
"Who the hell is looking to die?"
Liu Daqiang's furious cursing soon came from inside, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps.
Bang!
Li Jinshui pinpointed his position by sound and suddenly kicked the security door.
Under the force of that terrifying blow, the entire door, along with the surrounding concrete wall, flew out.
With a deafening crash, the door slammed into Liu Daqiang as he came to open it, knocking him and the door to the floor and pinning him underneath.
"Ah... my back! My leg!"
Liu Daqiang let out a pig-like squeal, blood gushing from his head.
"Damn, I knocked for ages and you still wouldn't open the door. I thought no one was home."
Li Jinshui stepped into the room with an amused look, crouched beside Liu Daqiang, and asked with a playful grin, "Long time no see, Captain Liu. How'd you get so careless? Are you okay? Want me to call an ambulance?"
"You... it's you! Li Jinshui, you bastard! You—"
The moment Liu Daqiang recognized his face, he flew into a rage and started cursing.
But then he suddenly remembered something, and his expression froze. "Wait, didn't Wei Hu Security get people to come after you tonight? How could you..."
"Oh, you mean those Drifter gangs? I've settled things with them. It's all taken care of. But you..."
Li Jinshui stood up, looked around the shabby little apartment, and smiled. "Your place is a little run-down, but it should still be worth a million or so. If I set it on fire, though, I might drag your upstairs and downstairs neighbors into it!"
"Don't you dare!"
Liu Daqiang roared. His body jerked, and he flipped the security door off himself. Then he sprang smoothly to his feet.
"I, Liu Daqiang, have practiced martial arts for over thirty years. They call me the Stone Breaker—"
Bang!
The next moment, before Liu Daqiang could finish speaking—or even steady himself—an electric afterimage flashed before his eyes.
Li Jinshui raised his leg high and brought it down hard. The heavy security door came down with it, pinning Liu Daqiang to the floor again.
"Crack!"
At the sound of breaking ribs, Liu Daqiang spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with bits of his organs. His face turned deathly pale.
"You... you're a First-rate Martial Artist now? No! Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Liu Daqiang's eyes widened, his pupils contracting sharply with terror.
In his eyes, Li Jinshui had been no more than a helpless orphan he could crush with a finger.
Yet after just a few months apart, Li Jinshui had become a First-rate Martial Artist and was crushing him with ease.
He couldn't believe it. He couldn't accept it.
"Nothing's impossible. Now, out of the goodness of my heart, I'll give you two choices."
Li Jinshui planted a foot on the metal door and looked down at him. "Either I set a fire and burn this dump down along with you, or you hand over everything valuable in the house. Oh, and your bank card PINs, too."