Grand Palace Nightclub

Big B was still waiting for news at the bar when he heard that Gu Sheng had returned with several carloads of wounded men. It gave him quite a fright.

He hurried outside and immediately demanded, "What happened? Why are you back? How did it go?"

"The job was done, so of course we came back. We scattered Tung Sing's five or six hundred reinforcements, and the cops were already cleaning up. What else were we supposed to do, go to the station for a midnight snack?"

Big B paid little attention to Gu Sheng's disrespectful tone. His mind was entirely on what he had said.

"You dealt with them? Five or six hundred reinforcements?"

"Brother Sheng's telling the truth. He was unstoppable out there! He took out both Flyboy Kun and Xu Fei from Tung Sing, and scared off all the rest," Big-Eyed Hua said beside him, his face animated.

"Yeah! If the cops hadn't come to clean up, we'd have finished those bastards off today," the gangsters who had driven them back chimed in.

"What about the others?" Big B asked at once, looking at the wounded men in the cars.

"Some went after the Tung Sing boys. Others were badly hurt, so I had them taken to the hospital," GS said, leaning against a car.

"Good work. Once everyone's back, we'll hand out rewards according to what each man did!" Having confirmed that Gu Sheng was telling the truth, Big B beamed and patted his arm twice.

GS went into the bar, threw away his bloodstained T-shirt, and dug out a beer bare-chested. He downed half the bottle and felt much better.

Even sitting there, he could still hear Big-Eyed Hua boasting in the distance.

GS looked around. Because of the operation, the bar hadn't opened for the past two nights. None of the girls were there, either, just Four-Eyed Kid and some underlings sitting nearby.

Before long, more men began returning in noisy groups.

"If the cops hadn't shown up, I'd have wiped out those Tung Sing bastards today!" Chicken's booming voice carried from far away.

"Whatever else happened, Brother Ho-nam sure showed his stuff today. The Tung Sing boys were scared shitless of him!" a fat man in glasses said excitedly beside Chan Ho-nam.

A little later, Mad Dog and Chui Gai returned with their men as well.

Big B questioned them one by one.

Although Tung Sing had taken some precautions, they still hadn't withstood Hongxing's all-out assault. Every establishment belonging to Tung Sing had been trashed, and hundreds of their men had been killed or wounded.

But no one had seen Thunderclap Tiger, only a few of the Red Poles under him.

Big B wasn't particularly disappointed by that. He hadn't expected to kill Thunderclap Tiger in one go. What mattered most was establishing his own reputation and bringing the Yuen Long branch's men under his control.

"Not bad. Tonight's operation went smoothly. The only shame is that we didn't find that bastard Thunderclap Tiger. Four-Eyed Kid, send some men to find out where he went."

"Also, tonight LS (I'll stop explaining this from now on; the name is replaced in certain scenes to meet content-review requirements) led his men to stop Tung Sing's reinforcements and took out Flyboy Kun and Xu Fei under Thunderclap Tiger. I, Big B, keep my word. Since LS has earned his stripes, I'll have him formally promoted in a few days through an Initiation Ceremony."

Quite a few men looked over in surprise. They hadn't expected Handsome Sheng to be such a tough fighter.

Flyboy Kun and Xu Fei were no pushovers, especially Flyboy Kun, a Red Pole under Thunderclap Tiger. Yet he had fallen at Gu Sheng's hands.

"Leave some men here in case Tung Sing hits back. The rest of you can go home and rest. Don't fucking wear yourselves out on your women, or your legs will be too weak to catch anyone when it's time to chop them!" Big B said with a laugh.

As Gu Sheng headed outside, someone squeezed in beside him. It was Mad Dog.

"When you were working for Brother Xin, I never noticed you could fight that well. Now Big B shows up, and suddenly you're taking out Tung Sing's Red Poles. Makes me wonder if Big B planted you here," Mad Dog said, eyeing him sidelong with obvious malice.

Gu Sheng had been nothing more than an underling. Now, the moment Big B arrived, he was going to promote him to the same level as Mad Dog. Naturally, Mad Dog resented it.

How long had he followed Ah Sin before he reached his current position?

What made this Handsome Sheng so fucking special?

"Then go ask Big B, you useless fuck who couldn't even protect his own boss!" Gu Sheng sneered.

"What did you say?" Mad Dog flew into a rage and reached for Gu Sheng's collar.

Gu Sheng slapped his hand aside and stared straight at him. "Am I wrong? You were right beside your boss, yet you watched him get beaten to death and couldn't even catch the killer. If that doesn't make you useless, what does?"

Mad Dog stared at Gu Sheng for a long moment, then pointed at him. "Watch yourself, kid. You might trip and die walking home at night!"

A vicious glint flashed in Gu Sheng's eyes, and he wanted to beat Mad Dog to death.

But this clearly wasn't the time.

"What's going on? What's going on?" Big B came over with his men. "We're all brothers here. What's there to fight about? Save that energy for Tung Sing."

Mad Dog snorted, turned, and walked away.

Chui Gai also left with a sour expression. Gu Sheng's words had insulted both him and Four-Eyed Kid along with Mad Dog.

"And you, too. Why pick a fight? You're about to become a boss. Get that temper under control!" Big B patted Gu Sheng's arm, treating him like one of his own.

Though Big B said nothing openly about the clash between Gu Sheng and Mad Dog, inwardly he was pleased.

Before coming here, his greatest fear had been that Mad Dog and the others would join forces and turn him into a figurehead. That would have been troublesome.

After all, Mad Dog, Chui Gai, and Four-Eyed Kid had all been formally promoted. They had their own turf and could recruit their own men. They were also Yuen Long veterans, so he couldn't easily do much to them.

With Handsome Sheng around, he could divide the Yuen Long men while giving the other underlings an example to follow.

"As long as you contribute to the branch, I'll treat you equally, whether you're from Yuen Long or Tsz Wan Shan. Big B treats everyone the same."

"Go find yourself a girl and let off some steam."

"Brother Sheng!"

The moment Gu Sheng stepped outside, a crowd of underlings greeted him. Clearly, this fight had established his reputation and won over both Long-Haired Kit's former men and the fringe underlings.

After all, his opponent had been a Red Pole under Thunderclap Tiger.

Without Gu Sheng, they could never have won.

In the underworld, men with money and power were admired, as were those with prestige who could fight.

Especially now that Gu Sheng was about to rise through the ranks, his stock was soaring.

"All right, stay here and keep watch. Be careful of a Tung Sing counterattack." Gu Sheng waved them off and checked his watch. It was past midnight, so there probably wouldn't be any more trouble tonight.

It would take Tung Sing until tomorrow at the earliest to organize their men.

Seeing Gu Sheng head back, Big-Eyed Hua immediately called a few underlings to follow him.

Gu Sheng had intended to go home, but halfway there, he noticed a sign by the road and promptly changed direction.

Grand Palace Nightclub.

Gu Sheng felt that, since he had come to this era, he ought to experience more of the local customs.

Gu Sheng pushed open the door and went inside. A dance floor occupied the center, with booths all around it.

Girls in school uniforms moved around the room or drank with customers.

Gu Sheng immediately knew he had come to the right place.