Honest Business, They Say

Reno, a junior manager at the Clean Water Guild, had sent his workers to find some technicians, only for them to get honey-trapped by a madam. Reno felt that his authority had taken a hit and needed to win back some face.

What kind of organization was the Clean Water Guild?

In the world of Warhammer 40,000, humanity had developed into an interstellar civilization and controlled millions of planets.

These planets had different environments. On some industrial worlds, the atmosphere was filled with industrial toxins, and the water sources had been completely polluted.

At times like this, organizations responsible for purifying water became especially important.

On some planets, the Clean Water Guild was a state-owned enterprise; on others, it was privately owned. On some worlds, it was a joint venture or even an organization controlled by gangs.

Agri-World 496b had an excellent environment. People could even move about on the planet's surface without protective suits, so there was little demand for purified water. As a result, the Clean Water Guild was not particularly influential. It was active only in places with heavy water demand, such as Hive City, and was a modest private enterprise.

At that moment, on Red-Light Street in the safe zone, Li Qinwu squatted in a corner smoking, staring fixedly at the three-story garbage building ahead.

The madam was a fat old woman. She and several technicians stood outside the garbage building, soliciting customers.

Li Qinwu looked past the madam and the technicians toward the first floor behind them. Several men were playing cards there. They were the garbage building's enforcers.

Li Qinwu spat on the ground, utterly contemptuous of the madam.

He, Old Li, lived by a code in this line of work: integrity. I kill people for money, you make people for money. Neither of us is more noble than the other, but you can't go around breaking your word!

That bitch of a madam even picked her customers, pulling honey traps every now and then. What if she scared her clients into impotence?

In the face of such immoral criminal behavior, Old Li had to come down hard!

Li Qinwu took several deep drags from his cigarette, tossed the butt to the ground and crushed it out. He put on a gas mask, took a gas grenade in each hand, pulled the safety pins, gripped the activation levers, and walked step by step toward the garbage building.

"Oh, young man~ Come in and have some fun~ My girls are each prettier than the last~"

The madam swayed flirtatiously as she solicited customers. Behind her, Jenny (Zhenzhen), Alice (Aiai), and Lena (Lianlian) also twisted their waists and bared their legs, trying to attract the Lower Hive rats passing by in search of a living.

But lately, the Lower Hive economy had been declining. The lords of the Spire were busy dealing with the rebels outside and had no energy for eating, drinking, and pleasure. Too little garbage was being dumped from the sewage outlets, leaving even the rats who scavenged it without income. They had no way to support Zhenzhen, Aiai, and Lianlian.

So Zhenzhen, Aiai, and Lianlian were practically starving thin. With no other option, the madam had honey-trapped several workers from the Middle Hive.

The rats passing by looked greedily at Zhenzhen, Aiai, and Lianlian, but the moment the three women stepped forward to pull them in, they immediately ran away.

This infuriated the madam. If there was no more income, she feared she would have to go back to honey-trapping people.

Just then, the madam saw a man walking straight toward her, and her eyes immediately lit up. A customer had arrived!

She had just opened her mouth to solicit him when Li Qinwu flung out the gas grenades in his hands.

The two gas grenades flew into the first floor of the garbage building. The instant they left his hands, the levers sprang open, and upon hitting the ground, they began spewing yellow-green toxic smoke.

The things sprayed quickly. Within five seconds, the first floor was filled with poison gas. The enforcers inside felt as if their lungs had been filled with chili water and began coughing violently.

The madam had been stunned by Li Qinwu's sudden move, but her expression immediately changed. She reached behind her back, trying to pull something out.

But Li Qinwu was faster. After throwing the gas grenades, he had already drawn a water pipe in his left hand and a homemade large-caliber pistol in his right.

The madam raised her hand and pointed something at Li Qinwu. It was actually a small-caliber handgun!

But Li Qinwu's water pipe was already in position. He raised it high and brought it down hard on the hand holding the gun.

With a crack, the madam's hand bone broke. The handgun fell to the ground, and she let out a pig-like shriek.

Li Qinwu did not hesitate. He raised the large-caliber pistol and fired at the madam's knee!

Boom! The madam's knee was completely blown apart, and she fell to the ground screaming.

Zhenzhen, Aiai, and Lianlian were stunned. Then they came to their senses. Not only did they not run, they actually pulled Little Knife from their underwear and charged at Li Qinwu.

Life in the Lower Hive was cruel. A job was truly, truly, truly important. Lose your job, and all you could do was wait for the Lower Hive rats to drag you into a corner and play with you until you died!

So the instant Li Qinwu appeared as a problem, these seemingly fragile women did not think of running. They chose to fight desperately.

Either they killed Li Qinwu and preserved their current lives, or they died and got it over with quickly. This was the resolve Lower Hive people needed to cling to life.

But Li Qinwu's resolve was even greater!

He smashed Zhenzhen across the crown of her head with the water pipe. Her skull caved in deeply, and the pressure inside her head launched both eyeballs out. She collapsed to the ground, twitching.

Aiai rushed at Li Qinwu screaming like a madwoman, trying to stab him with Little Knife. Li Qinwu dodged the blade and struck her stomach with the water pipe.

Aiai cried out in pain, her waist folding over, but she still tried to sway forward and stab Li Qinwu. Li Qinwu brought the water pipe down on her neck.

With a crack, Aiai's slender neck bent at an unnatural angle, and she shut down on the spot.

Lianlian threw herself to the ground, trying to grab the madam's small-caliber handgun.

Her hand had only just grasped the gun, and she had not yet raised it when Li Qinwu stomped on her hand, pinning both her hand and the gun to the ground.

"Aaaahhh!!"

Lianlian screamed and opened her mouth to bite Li Qinwu's foot. Li Qinwu blasted her head apart with one shot.

Li Qinwu picked up the small-caliber handgun and tucked it into his pocket, then looked toward the enforcers on the first floor.

By then, the first floor had been turned yellow-green by the poison gas. More than a dozen enforcers stumbled out and rolled on the ground, clutching their throats as they coughed and dry-heaved nonstop. They had already lost their ability to fight.

Li Qinwu wore a gas mask, so naturally the poison gas did not affect him. Holding the water pipe, he felt around for the Clean Water Guild logo, walked over to an enforcer, raised the pipe high, and swung it down hard at the man's leg.

Thus, a series of bone-chilling cracking sounds rang out. Every enforcer's leg was broken by Li Qinwu.

Afterward, Li Qinwu walked over to the madam. The woman was dragging her broken hand and leg as she crawled away.

Li Qinwu took off his gas mask and tossed it aside. Squatting before the madam, he grabbed her by the hair and asked, "Do you know who you messed with?"

The madam's eyes were filled with terror. The pain from her broken hand and leg had left tears and snot streaming down her face.

"I-I-I... I was wrong. How much did Reno pay you? I'll give you three... no, ten times that!!"

Li Qinwu nodded.

"Good. Glad you know."

Then he kicked the madam's fat body over. Amid her terrified screams, he used the water pipe several times to break the leg that had not been shot.

By then, quite a few Lower Hive people had gathered around to watch. They were rats, decomposers, scavengers.

They looked greedily at everything before them, measuring all things with greedy eyes.

Li Qinwu had finished his assignment and was in an excellent mood. Seeing so many people around, Old Li, being a man of the world, naturally had to say something.

After clearing his throat, Li Qinwu pointed his water pipe at the crowd and shouted, "Kids, make sure you run an honest business!"