Outside the Zhannan District Sanitation Management Bureau, a low-level manager from the Bai Family's company was getting ready to head south toward home with four of his guys.
"Hey, Li!" a crew leader from the Kong Family called from nearby.
"What's up, Daming?"
"Heh, nothing much. What are you guys doing later?" The Kong Family man crossed the street and walked over with two of his guys.
"Work's done. Going home to eat and sleep," the Bai Family man replied.
"Want to grab a drink together?"
"You buying?"
"Sure, I'll buy." The Kong Family man was generous about it.
"Let's go, then. We'll mooch a meal off you."
Just like that, the two groups joined up, eight men in all, and headed toward a small restaurant on Four Seas Street.
On the way, the Bai Family man casually asked, "Hey, Daming, do you think what we're doing will actually work?"
"Who the fuck knows? But Changqing Company really has gone too far. Not only do they want to grab our contract areas, they want to kick all of us out and take our registered worker slots too. That's pretty damn overbearing. Ah, just do what the company says. We're getting paid to show up anyway," the Kong Family man answered frankly.
"True. As long as they pay, haha!"
They walked about a hundred meters, chatting as they went.
Screeech!
Just then, a battered SUV stopped by the curb, no more than five meters from them.
The doors flew open, and five men in floral shirts and patterned shorts rushed out. All of them were over thirty.
"Li Gang! He Daming!" the man in the floral shirt at the front called out.
"Who's that?" The Kong Family man glanced back.
In the blink of an eye, the other four men in floral shirts stepped forward and hooked their arms around the necks of the Bai Family and Kong Family crew leaders.
"Heh, nothing much. Just wanted a little chat."
"I don't know you."
"I'll help you get acquainted!" A burly man pulled a steel pipe with a diagonally sharpened end from behind his waist and pressed its sharp tip against He Daming's stomach. "Know me now?"
Seeing this, He Daming instinctively tried to break free of the man's arm.
Shhk!
The unfamiliar man drove the steel pipe straight into He Daming's abdomen. Blood instantly poured out through the hollow pipe.
Seeing their companions being attacked, the other workers immediately reached out and tried to step in. But the middle-aged leader in the floral shirt lifted the hem of his shirt, revealing the grip of a pistol that might or might not have been real. He pointed at them and said flatly, "Got a death wish? Stand the fuck back and watch!"
Although Dragon City's political situation was chaotic, privately held firearms were strictly controlled. Whether someone possessed them illegally or trafficked in them, getting caught with solid evidence meant a sentence of at least ten years. Above a certain quantity, it could even mean execution. Many people in Dragon City had served in the military and been to the front lines. If guns weren't kept under control, the city's current political climate would lead to major incidents every few days. So the moment the workers saw the gun, they froze. None of them dared move.
Half a minute later, He Daming and Li Gang lay covered in wounds in pools of blood, which had stained even the gaps between the curb bricks red. All around them, people watched, but no one dared break up the fight. No one even dared shout at the five attackers or demand an explanation. Only a few took out their phones to call the police.
On the ground, Li Gang struggled, drenched in blood, and cried, "Brother, what's going on? Stop hitting me! I was wrong! I give up...!"
"Weren't you the loudmouth? Weren't you refusing to work? Huh?!"
"You're just asking for it. We've got to beat some sense into you before you behave!"
The four men kept beating them and cursing, ignoring their pleas for mercy. But their leader, who had been watching from the curb, grew impatient. He turned, pulled open a car door, and took out a steel-headed sledgehammer weighing dozens of pounds. "Move, move! Get out of the way! You think this is enough to make them hurt? To make them afraid?!"
The four men stepped aside at his shout.
Carrying the sledgehammer, the leader walked up to Li Gang and He Daming and slowly raised his arms.
Thud! Crack!
"Aaargh!!!"
Seconds later, screams rang out through the street. He Daming and Li Gang passed out from the pain, both their hands and feet ruined.
The onlookers stood dumbstruck, goose bumps rising all over their bodies.
Only after he finished did the leader say between breaths, "See that? Catch the details? This is how you do it. This is what makes them scared, what makes them listen. Understand?"
The six remaining workers nearby didn't dare move. They were even unconsciously trying to control their breathing.
Holding his hammer, the leader turned to the six remaining workers and said bluntly, "Did you see what the sign outside the Management Council's main building says? No loud noise! We have to respect the decisions of the authorities! So stop fucking shouting. If you disturb me, I'll have to come back. Understand?"
The six workers nodded numbly.
"Let's go!" The man in the floral shirt carried his hammer back to the vehicle, led the others inside, and quickly left the scene.
Across the street, Lu Feng sat in a minivan with his legs crossed. He yawned and said, "Find a few people in the business and have them spread the story around the industry. Anyone who refuses to work and sides with those four companies, I'll take them down. But anyone who behaves, we might still have work for them later."
"Got it, Feng." The driver drove away.
Ten minutes after the attack, officers from the Zhannan District Police Affairs Bureau arrived at the scene, but the injured men had already been carried away to the hospital by their coworkers.
Meanwhile, at the Kong Family compound, Kong Zhenghui heard that his workers had been attacked. He showed no surprise and merely said, "Good. Changqing finally couldn't hold back. Go to the hospital and make the arrangements... Forget it. I'll go myself."
At the Su Family's garbage yard, Su Tianyu, his third sister, and the others had already been staying there for two days. He was waiting too.
That evening, after everyone ate, Su Tianyu went into the main building to use the toilet. By chance, he noticed Black Iron Tower, the man with a slight stutter, standing outside his third sister's window and peeking inside.
From behind Black Iron Tower, Su Tianyu followed his gaze into his third sister's room. Only then did he notice all the panties and other things hanging on the clothes rack inside.
Black Iron Tower was so engrossed that he failed to notice Su Tianyu.
Holy shit, this guy's a creep! Su Tianyu cursed inwardly.
Before you continue