Host 3

Soft music played as the two sat facing each other.

On the dark brown stone tabletop, a single vibrant red rose sat, perfectly bisecting their lines of sight.

The sharp, intense rose-red color contrasted with the gold of Sears' hair, making both appear even more vivid.

"Suit yourself; I rarely drink coffee," Lin Sheng said calmly.

Sears smiled and ordered a coffee name the waiter had never heard of.

Soon, two cups of steaming, fragrant coffee were brought over.

Once the waiter left, Sears looked at Lin Sheng with a smile.

"Any interest in working for my company?" He held up a finger. "Don't be in such a rush to refuse."

"Ten thousand a month—that's the base salary."

Lin Sheng didn't drink his coffee; he simply tore open sugar packets one by one and poured them in.

"I have no interest in working for anyone for the time being."

"Twenty thousand," Sears smiled.

Lin Sheng paused.

"I want to start my own business. Do you understand what I mean?"

Sears shook his head with a smile.

"It seems you really aren't willing. That's fine; you're still young. If you ever have a need in the future, you can come directly to me."

He gently slid a white business card with black lettering across the table.

"I can tell you have big ambitions. If you ever get tired of striking out on your own, you are welcome to join me at any time."

"Thank you."

Sears picked up his coffee and took a sip.

"May I ask, who is your teacher?"

"I don't have one," Lin Sheng shook his head.

"Is that so?" A charming smile appeared on Sears' face. "I heard you're still a high school senior?"

"Yes, that's correct," Lin Sheng nodded. "The college entrance exam is coming up soon; it's quite a hassle."

"With your talent in swordsmanship, why bother with the entrance exam?" Sears said with a laugh.

"If you want, I can help you manage things for Langang University here in Huaisha City. As long as you place in the National Amateur Fencing Tournament, I can get you admitted through a special quota for athletes."

"Langang University?" Lin Sheng was taken aback.

"Yes, Langang is considered a key national university. Although its ranking is on the lower end, it's still a very good choice for the average student," Sears smiled.

Lin Sheng was tempted.

If he could truly be guaranteed admission, that would naturally be for the best. Studying for the college entrance exam took up too much of his time.

But the prerequisite was that Sears wasn't lying to him.

"Place in the national tournament? What is the required ranking?" Lin Sheng asked quickly.

"At least the top ten. Because it's the National Amateur Fencing Tournament, the authority isn't quite as high, but even if you had the skill for the professional circuit, you wouldn't have the time. The professional cycle is too slow."

Sears' azure eyes looked at Lin Sheng peacefully.

"Of course, the higher the ranking, the better."

"Why help me?" Lin Sheng asked in a deep voice.

"Because I am a businessman," Sears smiled again. "With your skills, as long as you receive a little training and learn how to counter and evade firearms, you would be a qualified, powerful bodyguard.

Therefore, I hope you can serve as a security consultant for my company. When I am in urgent need of help, you would protect the safety of myself and my family."

Lin Sheng rubbed his fingers, weighing the offer for a moment.

"If you can truly guarantee my admission to the university, then fine."

"As long as you get the ranking, that will be easy," Sears smiled once more.

A salary of twenty thousand a month, plus a guaranteed spot at Langang University, in exchange for a powerful bodyguard.

For him, this was undoubtedly a bargain.

Although this bodyguard was still green, a little training would make him highly useful.

After all, powerful experts were far too hard to find.

After the qualifying rounds ended, Lin Sheng quickly returned to his normal rhythm of life.

However, what he didn't expect was that the club's training program would run into trouble before it had even begun recruiting.

Near the venue rented in the Blackwater District, a few thugs showed up to collect protection money and ended up fighting with Russell, who was guarding the place.

Although Russell had studied close-quarters combat, he could win one-on-one or two-on-one, but he was outmatched against three. Consequently, he called Madilan over to help.

The result was that the thugs were driven off, only to return later with five more men.

Both sides started a brawl, ultimately leaving both parties injured.

These street thugs didn't care about anyone's status or background.

The Blackwater District was a typical lawless zone. Every so often, gangs would dissolve and form, making it incredibly chaotic.

These thugs had a high turnover rate. Unless it was a local powerhouse like the White Card Gang, they didn't care about ordinary rich kids; if they beat them up, they just beat them up, and at worst, they would just run off to another place.

By the time Lin Sheng received the news and rushed over, it was already afternoon.

To his surprise, Russell had actually hit it off with those few people after the fight, and the two sides had even become friends.

Not only did they not have to pay protection money for the training center's rented venue, but because of this fight, they had unexpectedly attracted a few impoverished youths who wanted to join the training center, working odd jobs to cover their tuition fees.

In the backyard of the training center in the Blackwater District.

A square wall enclosed a courtyard of less than two hundred square meters; this was the venue the training center had temporarily rented in the Blackwater District.

The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and a few large water vats that had been there previously hadn't been moved away yet.

The grayish-white walls were covered in all sorts of messy, vulgar insults written in red and black chalk, along with quite a few lewd, crude sketches.

The two cleaners he had hired were carrying buckets, carefully scrubbing and washing the walls.

Lin Sheng withdrew his gaze and looked at the three youths standing before him.

The three were thin and frail, looking like bamboo poles, with pale complexions and sunken cheeks—it was clear at a glance that they were malnourished.

The clothes they wore were patched, though fortunately, they were clean and tidy.

"You want to join the training center to learn?" Lin Sheng asked, frowning. "Using labor to replace tuition?"

"Yes, Teacher." The tallest boy answered loudly, showing no signs of stage fright.

Lin Sheng shook his head inwardly. These three looked like they were here to learn, but in reality, they were here to find a meal and work.

The so-called learning was just an excuse.

However, this could be considered their first batch of students in a roundabout way. If he could train these three, their reputation would surely spread in the surrounding area, making it much easier to recruit people later.

Lin Sheng turned his head to discuss it with Xiayin behind him and decided to take the three in.

As for the venue expenses, they would cancel the lease on the place near the clubhouse and only rent this one, which would reduce their overhead by dozens of times.

Coupled with the ample startup capital Xiayin had prepared, they could go years without turning a profit in such a small place without any issues.

After reaching an agreement, Lin Sheng checked the family backgrounds of the three.

Two were local residents, sons of dock workers in the Blackwater District. The other was an orphan from out of town who had wandered in begging.

He couldn't be bothered to verify the truth; after registering them, he began the training arrangements for the first day.

Lin Sheng didn't make many modifications; he directly took out the close-quarters combat training system from Black Feather City in his memory, organized the basics from light to heavy, and tossed it to Russell.

He had plenty of time anyway, and he ran over here all day long.

Russell treated it like a treasure, starting to practice it himself while leading the three youths along with him.

As for why those gang thugs didn't collect protection money afterward, Lin Sheng didn't believe for a second that they had become friends through fighting.

It was definitely because the families behind Russell and the others had exerted some influence.

But this was only natural. Everything was within Lin Sheng's expectations.

As long as they gained a foothold in the Blackwater District, the next step was to expand their influence. How to expand their influence?

It was very simple.

He planned to hold an unrestricted combat tournament every so often. Right on the street.

The winner would receive a certain amount of prize money and the title of Blackwater District Boxing Champion!