The Underlings' Wishes

"Boss Qin, you look a little low on morale."

With a crafty glint in his eyes, Chen Fazheng chuckled. "The gang leader just told me to take extra good care of you. I'll make an exception this time and assign both people I conned... recruited today to your hall. No need to thank me too much!"

Qin Yiguan paused.

I'm about to have underlings?

Chen Fazheng gave a mysterious smile and clapped his hands twice in the air.

A figure slowly emerged at the far end of the hall.

The young man narrowed his eyes, then looked slightly surprised when he made out the figure.

It was a girl.

Around twenty years old.

She wasn't tall, and her figure was unremarkable.

She wore a blue-and-gray plaid cotton dress. The fabric was thick, and the long skirt extended past her knees. She had flesh-colored cotton stockings on her legs and a pair of old-fashioned leather shoes on her feet.

An enormous pair of black-framed glasses sat on her face. Their lenses were ringed with concentric circles and as thick as the bottoms of bottles.

She wasn't pretty, either, and a few freckles dotted her cheeks.

All in all, one word could describe this girl-ordinary.

If two words were needed, they would be-very ordinary.

With her head lowered, the girl hugged something resembling a folder in both hands and cautiously made her way forward.

Whenever she approached one of the vicious-looking gangsters, she shuddered and hurriedly skirted around them like a startled kitten.

It took the girl quite a while to finally reach Qin Yiguan.

"Um..."

"Hello..."

"I'm here to report for duty."

The girl kept her head down, not daring to look Qin Yiguan in the eye. Her fingers kept picking at the folder. Extremely nervous, she said in a slightly trembling voice, "My name is... Chen Mudou."

Then.

The girl waved a hand to open her data, then stared at the floor like someone with social anxiety, afraid to meet anyone's eyes.

-Fusion rate: 2%.

She had no reality enhancement whatsoever.

Everything was so ordinary.

The young man was a little dazed himself and replied reflexively, "Hello."

No matter how he looked at her, this girl seemed like an office clerk at a legitimate company.

And an intern who had only just entered the workforce, at that.

Her usual routine ought to have involved bowing and nodding all day, delivering files and pouring coffee for every senior coworker in the company.

What could she do... in a gang?

The girl named Chen Mudou gripped a corner of her folder tightly, the sweat on her palms clearly visible.

At that moment, she seemed to muster all her courage and raise her chin by half a degree, which was practically the same as not raising it at all.

"Boss... Qin."

"I'll be following you from now on."

"I can go slash people."

"I believe..."

Chen Mudou's voice grew softer and softer, and her hands began to tremble. "One day, we'll definitely become the darkest flower in the entire underworld."

The young man stiffened.

Chen Fazheng gave a slight shrug. His expression said-stop being so picky. You've only just joined the gang, yet you're already a hall boss, and you're getting underlings without having to work your way up. Other gangsters would be green with envy. I've done everything I can. This lineup is absolutely top-tier for the underworld. Also, quit fucking looking at me like I've scammed you.

The young man pressed his lips together. Director Chen's face was remarkably expressive.

He turned to the girl and asked, "Chen Mudou, right? Why did you join the Dog Gang?"

"I..."

The girl still clutched her folder tightly. "I'm too timid. I'm scared of almost everything, and people often bully me. Joining a gang is actually my part-time job. This way, I get an identity that sounds scary."

"There's also one really important reason..."

Chen Mudou still didn't raise her head, but a blush inexplicably appeared on her face. "My boyfriend also says my courage is no bigger than a sesame seed. I want to fix that flaw and become the perfect girl in his eyes."

After a pause, Chen Mudou added timidly, "I'm going to take my boyfriend's expectations to the limit. Uh... nobody gets to bully me. Make me mad, and I'll slaughter your whole family."

The young man took quite a while to process that.

"Heh."

Chen Fazheng suddenly clapped again, looking into the distance. "Boss Qin, there's more than one surprise."

The young man blinked. "There's another?"

A man in a floral shirt slowly approached, the top two buttons undone to reveal the squared contours of his chest muscles.

He was twenty-five or twenty-six, with handsome features, a cigarette clenched between his lips, and a face full of swagger.

The young man nodded slowly. "This one looks more like it."

The floral-shirted man came up to him, swept his flattened hand past the corner of his eye in a salute, and tilted his head back stylishly. "Hello, Boss Qin!"

The young man nodded in response. "What should I call you?"

The floral-shirted man was just about to speak when his gaze suddenly froze. He stared into the depths of the Church, and the words died on his lips.

At that same moment.

A commotion rippled through the hall.

A beautiful woman in a black silk qipao slowly appeared at one side of the hall.

She stood a full 170 centimeters tall, with a practically perfect figure: a slender waist, shapely hips, and an impressive bust.

Her long, wavy hair draped over one shoulder, partially covering her snowy collarbone, tantalizing in its concealment.

Her face was stunning as well, with delicate cheeks and fiery red lips.

But her eyes were icy, her demeanor aloof. Her gaze swept lightly over the gangsters without lingering on any of them.

Qin Yiguan was slightly transfixed. "Who's this?"

"What are you thinking?"

"She's not one of your underlings!"

Chen Fazheng looked at the beauty with admiration. "Her name is Daxiu. She's our gang leader's wife!"

The woman in the qipao went straight to NST Wulong Baiyan and slowly settled onto his lap, looping her arms around his neck.

"Ha ha!"

NST Wulong Baiyan laughed heartily, wrapped an arm around the beauty's waist, and leaned in to sniff the hair beside her ear, looking utterly intoxicated.

Then.

NST Wulong Baiyan stuck out his tongue and licked her earlobe.

The beauty tilted her head and closed her eyes, enjoying herself.

"Hello, Sister-in-law Daxiu!"

"Hello, Sister-in-law Daxiu!"

Hundreds of gangsters bowed in unison.

Just then.

Qin Yiguan noticed that the floral-shirted man beside him-his second underling-was looking at the gang leader's wife rather strangely, his pupils practically heart-shaped.

The floral-shirted man licked his lips. "Not only is she the gang leader's wife, she's also a great beauty renowned far and wide!"

Qin Yiguan made no comment.

Daxiu?

That's a pretty unusual name, too.

The woman was indeed beautiful, and her expression was haughty. She made no attempt to hide her imposing air as the gang leader's wife.

But that had nothing to do with him.

Qin Yiguan turned back toward the floral-shirted man beside him. "Brother, what's your name?"

The floral-shirted man chuckled, pinched his cigarette butt between his fingers, and suddenly crouched down to write something on the floor with the remaining ash.

The young man chuckled. What a character, insisting on writing out his name.

Once the floral-shirted man finished writing the character.

The young man froze.

Chen Fazheng froze, too.

Chen Mudou gave a soft cry and hurriedly covered her face with her folder.

On the floor was a complicated Chinese character.

-"Chinese onion," Allium macrostemon.

"Heh."

The floral-shirted man looked up with a grin.

Qin Yiguan's mouth twitched this time. "Is that your name? That's probably your motive for joining the gang!"

The man in the shirt didn't deny it. He stole a distant glance at the gang leader's wife, Daxiu, and sucked back his drool.

A vein faintly bulged on Qin Yiguan's forehead. "And what character is that? Did you make it up yourself?!"

The floral-shirted man slowly stood and raised one finger. "It's pronounced xiè. It refers to a perennial herb with an underground bulb, slender leaves, and purple flowers. The bulb can be eaten as a vegetable!"

The young man was speechless.

A thug with an education?

"Heh."

"Boss Qin, don't worry about all those little details."

"Are you going to take me on as your underling or not?"

As he spoke, the floral-shirted man tipped his head back stylishly, and a blue panel appeared in front of him.

Name: Jingye Meinan

Fusion rate: 18%

Reality enhancement: ****

Qin Yiguan blinked.

An eighteen percent fusion rate. That's pretty impressive!

And he had activated reality enhancement, too.

In other words, like Meng Jihe, he was a human with special abilities in this Experimental Zone!

However, the fellow had hidden his data, so there was no telling which aspect of him had been enhanced.

"Looks like you've agreed, Boss Qin?"

The floral-shirted man chuckled. "As you can see, my real name is Jingye Meinan. You can just call me Meinan. Boss Qin, we'll be partners in the Dog Gang from now on. Here's hoping we both accomplish our missions smoothly!"

Qin Yiguan took a deep breath.

For now, he had a job and a chance to increase his fusion rate.

Even if it was in a gang.

Still, he'd gotten a head start, becoming the boss of Hall 157 right away.

Even if it was the lowest-ranked hall.

And he'd actually gained two underlings in an instant.

Even if.

One of those underlings was a girl scared of everything who only wanted to please her boyfriend.

But I have another strong male underling.

Even if.

His only reason for joining was to sleep with the gang leader's wife.

Those are all minor issues.

You have to live with hope.