Battle Begins

"He's not coming back."

Old Ninth kept his head down, eating the hot pot. "Boss, how have the two of us treated you?"

"Well."

Old Xie didn't deny it.

They had conquered half the street for him. Apart from being a little arrogant, Old Ninth and Little White Tiger had never wronged Old Xie.

"Good." Seeing that Old Xie acknowledged what they had done, Little White Tiger raised his glass. "This one's for you. Whatever else happened, you raised us for almost ten years."

Granted, Old Xie had raised them to steal and swindle on the streets, punishing them whenever they failed to meet their quotas.

But there was no denying that without Old Xie, they might have died long ago.

Old Xie seemed to recall all the years Old Ninth and Little White Tiger had spent under him. A flicker of guilt crossed his eyes.

"Little Tiger, Ninth, honestly, I regret it."

Whether his words were genuine was anyone's guess, but his eyes reddened as he spoke with apparent sincerity. "I never wanted things to come to this."

"How the fuck did I let greed go to my head?" Old Xie drained his glass.

"We backed you wholeheartedly. Why were you so hell-bent on killing us?" Old Ninth placed a piece of meat in Little White Tiger's bowl. "Every fight, we were the first ones in. Every payout, we got the smallest cut. Why?"

Old Xie lowered his eyes, thought for a moment, then picked up the bottle and took a long swig.

"I wanted a better life for all of us, too. What future did we have guarding this one street? I wanted to expand, so I had to accept their offer. They specifically demanded that I get rid of you two."

Old Xie's eyes reddened as he mixed truth with lies, tears faintly glimmering in them.

Perhaps he really hadn't wanted to eliminate them, but he was still the one who had betrayed Little White Tiger.

"If you wanted to expand, we could've fought our way out for you. You say you didn't want to hurt me, so how did my brothers die?"

Little White Tiger saw his boss's hypocrisy perfectly clearly.

They had spent nearly ten years together. They knew exactly what kind of man Old Xie was.

A shortsighted bastard who would sell out his brothers for petty gains.

With his lies exposed, Old Xie sighed and dropped the act.

"Little Tiger, outsiders all say that without you two, I'm just a fucking gang leader of thieves. Everyone respects you, so where does that leave me?" Old Xie finally voiced his true feelings. "I know you wouldn't betray me. But have you ever considered that it's not whether you want to turn on me that worries me? It's the fact that you can."

"Your brothers only answer to you. When Old Ninth shot me, did he give a damn that I was your boss?"

Old Xie grew more agitated as he spoke, as though Little White Tiger and Old Ninth were to blame for everything.

Little White Tiger didn't bother arguing with his twisted reasoning. He drank without a word.

"Little Tiger, just leave. Go make a name for yourself in another prefecture. Consider it your big brother wronging you, all right?"

Old Xie's tone was almost pleading, while his eyes kept darting toward the doorway.

A dark figure flashed past outside.

The sight instantly restored Old Xie's confidence.

"Otherwise, I'll have to keep you here."

Little White Tiger let out a heavy breath. "If you'd only come after me and hadn't killed my brothers, I could've swallowed it. But my brothers are dead. You have to pay with your life."

Seeing things turn ugly, San'er aimed his gun straight at Little White Tiger.

"CNM, you really think we're scared of you? You're not walking out of here today. I guarantee it!"

While everyone's attention was on San'er, Old Xie snatched the knife off the table and thrust it at Little White Tiger's chest.

Clang!

A metallic collision rang out.

The knife in Old Xie's hand struck Little White Tiger's body without penetrating even a fraction.

A sharp gleam flashed in Little White Tiger's eyes, and his pupils split in two.

"An... an Awakened?"

Old Xie was dumbfounded.

Little White Tiger had been an ordinary person before going to prison. How had he suddenly become an Awakened?

If he wasn't an Awakened, how could the knife fail to hurt him?

Old Xie stabbed him twice more. Once he confirmed that Little White Tiger really was an Awakened, he shouted toward the doorway, "What are you waiting for? Attack!"

Bang!

San'er fired.

The bullet struck Little White Tiger's chest, but ultimately failed to punch through his body.

Clink!

The bullet fell to the floor, and blood trickled out.

Firearms could injure first-awakening Awakened.

Seeing San'er about to fire again, Old Ninth moved.

He grabbed the scalding hot pot and slammed it over San'er's head.

"Aaaah!"

The boiling contents poured over San'er, who covered his face and writhed in agony.

At the same moment, Little White Tiger seized Old Xie by the hair.

"You owe me your life for my brothers."

"Fuck!"

As Old Xie cried out, Little White Tiger shoved his head straight into the burning charcoal.

The smell of roasting flesh rose into the air as Old Xie struggled in unbearable pain.

"Do something!"

Old Xie screamed desperately for help.

Whoosh!

A two-meter steel pipe pierced the Heavy Truck and shot straight toward the back of Little White Tiger's head.

"Look out!"

Old Ninth reacted first, shoving Little White Tiger aside, only to be impaled by the pipe himself.

"Someone's at the door!"

Old Ninth roared.

"Open fire!"

San'er reacted too. Both sides saw red and pulled their triggers.

"Don't fucking shoot the one strapped with explosives!"

Even then, San'er remembered to warn his men.

If the explosives on Hi Dog went off, everyone in the warehouse could be finished.

San'er's lackeys dragged him behind cover before daring to return fire.

Little White Tiger's brothers opened fire immediately, completely unafraid of the enemy's bullets.

Rat-tat-tat!

Twelve against fifty, Little White Tiger's brothers stood their ground under Hi Dog's lead and pinned the other side down.

"CNM, hiding from me? Come out and fight me one-on-one!"

Hi Dog leaped onto a wooden crate in the warehouse like a god descending from heaven, suppressing the enemy single-handedly.

"Get Old Ninth behind the truck."

Worried about Old Ninth's injury, Little White Tiger grabbed Old Xie and hoisted him high.

"Old Xie, our debt is settled."

"No, no, no! Little Tiger, Little Tiger, I was wrong!"

Crack!

Little White Tiger slammed Old Xie down while driving one knee upward.

The crime boss who had ruled Red Three Street ultimately died at the hands of the wolf cub he had raised.

Old Xie's spine snapped in two, leaving him on the verge of death.

Little White Tiger slung Old Ninth over his shoulder and ducked behind the Heavy Truck.

Both sides exchanged fire from cover.

A gaping hole pierced Old Ninth's chest, and blood kept pouring from his mouth.

"Hang on. Hang on, Old Ninth!"

Little White Tiger's eyes were bloodshot, tears welling with panic.

"D-don't worry about me. There's... someone outside. F-fuck, kill him. Leave the people... in the warehouse to me."

With that, Old Ninth pushed Little White Tiger away, drew the Shotgun from his waist, and charged out from behind the Heavy Truck.

"Beibei!"

Old Ninth shouted.

Beibei understood what he meant, grabbed a liquefied gas tank off the floor, and hurled it toward the enemy.

Bang!

Old Ninth blew up the gas tank with a precise shot. The violent explosion killed more than a dozen men behind the nearest cover.

"Aaaah!"

The agonized screams of San'er's men filled the warehouse.

As the smoke cleared, a sea of flames separated the two sides.

"Brother Nine, there's another one!"

Beibei excitedly lifted another liquefied gas tank.

Whoosh!

The sharp whistle of something tearing through the air sounded again.

Another steel pipe flew in from outside the warehouse, this time piercing straight through Beibei.

Clang!

The gas tank rolled into the flames.

Beibei dropped to one knee and touched the wound in bewilderment.

"CNM!"

With two of his brothers wounded in succession, Little White Tiger grabbed the Meat-Cutting Knife off the floor and charged out of the warehouse.

There was no sign of the enemy in the vast expanse of snow.

But after awakening, Little White Tiger could sense the other person's faint, elusive presence.

The enemy was clearly an Awakened too.

"CNM, come out and fight me one-on-one!"

Little White Tiger stood at the warehouse entrance. "I'm killing you today."

Inside the warehouse, Old Ninth dragged Beibei behind cover.

San'er's gang seized the opportunity to pin down Old Ninth's side.

"B-Brother Nine... fuck, it's cold."

Trembling all over, Beibei huddled in Old Ninth's arms and pressed fingers over the wound, only to discover they could slip inside.

"It... it went clean through. Fuck."

Beibei breathed heavily, all color gone from that face. "Brother Nine, I'm so cold. It feels... it feels like that day again."

Old Ninth stared wide-eyed at Beibei, helpless to do anything but let his tears fall.

"When I was eight, it was this cold too. You and Brother Tiger picked me up and brought me home. After that day, I wasn't cold anymore. Brother, I'm dying."

Beibei gazed at those brothers with reluctance to leave. They had grown up together, keeping one another company and relying on one another, and those eyes were full of attachment.

"You're not dying. You're not dying. Don't worry, I'll get you to a hospital." Old Ninth held Beibei tightly.

"My parents didn't want me. Brother Nine, if... if I die, can I be reborn and come find you again? Don't reject me. Don't pretend you don't know me."

Beibei's mouth was full of blood, those eyes already losing focus.

"Fuck, don't die!" Hi Dog grabbed Beibei by the hair and pleaded.