Waste is shameful

Tang Fei's Adam's apple bobbed. Knowing there was no getting out of this today, he steeled himself, picked up his chopsticks, and bent over his bowl.

Seeing this, his underlings all picked up their chopsticks too. The two delinquent girls began shoveling noodles into their mouths through their tears, until the noodle shop was filled with nothing but a chorus of slurping.

Li Xiaomei kept carrying bowls of hand-pulled noodles to the tables. As she passed Jiang Nan, she gave the composed young man a curious look. She had seen him fire the gun earlier, too. She had thought catching bullets barehanded only happened in movies, but someone could actually do it in real life.

Tang Fei was a burly man, after all, considerably fitter than the average person. Besides, he had eaten nothing since the previous night, so even after putting away three to five bowls of noodles, he still seemed to have room to spare.

But by the seventh bowl, Tang Fei felt he was nearing his limit. Glancing back at his underlings, he saw that most had turned ashen after just three or four bowls. The two girls who had come along were especially pathetic, still crying and not even finished with their second bowls.

Tang Fei couldn't bear the sight and was about to plead with Jiang Nan. But when he looked up and met Jiang Nan's unmistakably threatening gaze, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and lowered his head to attack his eighth bowl.

It's not that I won't save you. I can barely save myself. You'll have to fend for yourselves. Tang Fei's heart bled. He had worked so hard to bring the Flying Dragon Gang together, and now its members would probably lose all faith in him!

Boss Li finally finished cooking the noodles. Once the last bowl was served, the family of three hid in the kitchen and whispered among themselves.

"I never would've guessed Nan was so formidable!"

"Old Li, if they keep eating like this, won't someone die? Why don't you talk to Nan and ask him to let it go?" Boss Li's wife said, her heart softening.

"No!" Boss Li understood the situation better. "Nan stood up for us. What would it say about us if we went and pleaded for them? As far as I'm concerned, these bastards deserve to eat themselves to death!"

"But Nan can't stay here guarding the shop forever. What if they take revenge on us?" Mrs. Li's face was full of worry.

Boss Li gritted his teeth. "If that happens, then we'll just have to count ourselves unlucky!"

While the couple continued to worry about how things would unfold, Tang Fei finally finished his tenth bowl of noodles. He felt as though the noodles were piled all the way up to his throat. Afraid they would spill out the moment he opened his mouth, he straightened his back. Only that made his stomach feel a little better.

Never again. I'm never eating noodles again as long as I live!

Clap, clap, clap!

Jiang Nan applauded approvingly and said with a teasing smile, "Congratulations on completing the challenge, Brother Fei! Your prize is-two intact legs!"

Tang Fei swallowed hard to keep the noodles lodged in his throat from surging back out. Forcing an ugly smile, he said, "Boss, I've finished the noodles. Can we call it even now?"

Jiang Nan looked at Tang Fei with an ambiguous smile. He pulled a handful of chopsticks from the holder and toyed with them as he said casually, "Put your gun away. Don't scare the kid. And don't forget to pay!"

Relieved, Tang Fei fought through the discomfort in his stomach and bowed obsequiously. "Thank you for showing mercy, boss. May I ask your name?"

"My name's Jiang Nan," he answered truthfully. "Pay up and get lost!"

"Yes, yes! I'm leaving right away!"

Afraid Jiang Nan might change his mind, Tang Fei hurried to the counter and paid. Then he waved at his underlings. "Brother Nan said we could go! Get moving, you embarrassing little shits!"

As if thrown a lifeline, the underlings immediately dropped their chopsticks and left. The two delinquent girls also went from tears to joy, patting their stomachs in relief. They even secretly congratulated themselves for eating slowly enough to escape after just two bowls.

Jiang Nan wiped his mouth, stood up, and went to pay as well. Mr. Li adamantly refused to take his money, and Jiang Nan didn't insist. To Mr. Li's bewilderment, he left the noodle shop still holding that handful of chopsticks.

Tang Fei led his underlings toward West Street Crossing, his face livid. Everyone had different thoughts. Some were stunned that an expert like Jiang Nan existed in this world. Some began questioning their aimless lives. Others secretly laughed at how Tang Fei, normally so swaggering, had been beaten down like a stray dog today.

Whatever they were thinking, none dared make a sound. Tang Fei was the only one among them who had dutifully finished all ten bowls. His underlings didn't want to provoke him and risk becoming targets for his anger.

Just as Tang Fei, simmering with frustration, was considering asking his cousin to help him settle the score, a piercing whistle rang out beside his ears. By the time he and the others reacted, someone was already clutching a leg and howling.

"I always keep my word. If I say I'll break your legs, I'll break your legs!"

It was Jiang Nan. Thanks to his recent fly training, his aim had become exceptionally accurate. He had already counted them inside the shop: twenty-one people had failed to finish their noodles, so he had brought twenty-one chopsticks with him.

With a child like Li Xiaomei in the shop, Jiang Nan hadn't wanted things to get too bloody. He had waited until they rounded a street corner before throwing the chopsticks in his hand.

The chopsticks shot out in all directions, flying faster than bullets. By the time Tang Fei heard their shrill whistle as they cut through the air, they had already pierced his underlings' leg bones. Even the two delinquent girls weren't spared.

They immediately lost their footing and toppled every which way. Worst off was the underling whose leg had already been pierced when he tried to go for help earlier. With his other leg pierced as well, he dropped straight to his knees.

"That's what happens when you waste food!" Jiang Nan said coldly.

Cold sweat dripped from Tang Fei's chin. He was the only one who had escaped unscathed. Bowing almost ninety degrees, he said nervously and respectfully, "You're right to teach us a lesson, Brother Nan!"

Jiang Nan paid Tang Fei no further attention and headed back for an afternoon nap.

Once Jiang Nan was far away, Tang Fei could no longer hold back the discomfort in his stomach or the tension inside him. He ran to a corner, braced himself against the wall, and vomited.

In truth, Tang Fei and his underlings weren't the only ones suffering. Back in his room, Jiang Nan's emotions churned, refusing to settle for a long time.

What he had just done had certainly felt good-utterly, exhilaratingly good.

Yet that pleasure had shaken something inside Jiang Nan.

That was more than twenty people. I crippled more than twenty people's legs in a single move. They deserved punishment, sure, but wasn't mine a little too harsh?

Looking at his slightly trembling hands, Jiang Nan questioned his strength for the first time.

With a power level of barely over seventy, I can cripple someone's legs on a whim. When my power level reaches hundreds of millions someday, will I become a demon who kills indiscriminately?

For some reason, the scene of Doris slaughtering Henry and the others on Papaya Island surfaced in Jiang Nan's mind. Covered in blood-red markings, her eyes crimson, Doris had truly looked no different from a demon: bloodthirsty, oppressive, and indifferent. Back then, she had stirred the most primal fear even in Jiang Nan.

Lying on his bed, Jiang Nan saw the terrified eyes of Tang Fei and the others whenever he closed his own. It wasn't that he was some bleeding heart. He was simply afraid he would gradually grow used to being feared, that his moral boundaries would keep shifting until he eventually became this world's new demon king.

Jiang Nan wasn't like Goku. Goku trained hard partly because of the battle-hungry Saiyan blood in his veins, and partly to protect his companions and the Earth where he had grown up. That was why, even after becoming so powerful later on, Goku could still retain his original kindness.

Jiang Nan was different. He had no particular attachment to this world. In fact, he wanted to leave as soon as possible and return to the Earth he knew.

As for companions, Doris was probably the only one who meant something special to Jiang Nan. But she seemed to possess tremendous potential in combat and hardly needed his protection.

After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Jiang Nan suddenly found himself ridiculous. With a power level of barely over seventy, he was already worrying about humanity's fate. For all he knew, someone like Frieza might show up ahead of schedule on a whim and kill him in their very first encounter. What would all his talk of returning to his original world amount to then?

Though Jiang Nan tried to talk himself around that way, he still set himself a rule: from now on, he wouldn't casually attack anyone weaker than himself, unless they were guilty of truly heinous crimes.

Then I'll give them a chance every time before I act, Jiang Nan thought. At the very least, I should give them a chance to listen to reason.

I have to win people over with virtue!

That evening, after getting his underlings settled in the hospital, Tang Fei drove downtown to his cousin Pei Zheng's private club.

Unlike the small-time Flying Dragon Gang, Pei Zheng's Black Tiger Hall was one of White Cloud City's top gangs-or, more accurately, its undisputed overlord. The Black Tiger Hall didn't limit itself to illegal and gray-market businesses, either. It also had extensive interests in real estate and hotels, bringing in enormous profits every day.

His cousin Pei Zheng used this private club specifically to make connections with the powerful and maintain those relationships. Corruption was rampant in the World Federation, and virtually every prominent Federation official in White Cloud City was a honored guest of Pei Zheng's.

As for what services the private club offered, the only limit was your imagination. Tang Fei had once witnessed his cousin send more than ten little girls to a Federation official's suite. That was also why Tang Fei would rather run his own small-time Flying Dragon Gang than work under his cousin.

Tang Fei felt that, bastard though he was, he was at least still human. Calling his cousin an animal for the filthy things he did behind closed doors would be an insult to animals.

Though he refused to sink to Pei Zheng's level, Tang Fei had suffered such a crushing humiliation today that he simply couldn't swallow it without settling the score!

He just didn't know whether his cousin could handle that bastard Jiang Nan!

The moment Jiang Nan's face appeared in his mind, Tang Fei felt another wave of nausea.