The Bloody Hand Gang, the largest gang in Freedom City, was undoubtedly the underground emperor of the entire city.
Yet ordinary people rarely heard its name, and when they first heard it, they might even find it somewhat unfamiliar. That was because the gang had moved beyond crude violence and the business of the criminal underworld. Collecting protection money, smuggling, and kidnapping were all things it had left behind.
Its name circulated only among gangs large and small, street organizations, and thugs. Its core business had become raising gangs like fighting crickets. In Freedom City, no gang or individual could stay in business without the Bloody Hand Gang's approval.
All gangs had to hand over the lion's share of their income to it, whether that income was legal or illegal.
Some said the tax bureau was the strongest fighting force in Eagle Country. In Freedom City, the Bloody Hand Gang played that role.
As an organization that already ranked among Freedom City's top powers, its headquarters naturally would not be tucked away in some corner. On the contrary, its headquarters building stood in the city's busiest downtown district.
That saved Li Xingkong a great deal of trouble. After asking around a little, he found out where the headquarters was.
Since entering the urban district of Freedom City, Li Xingkong had encountered no further attacks. Come to think of it, that made sense. Outside the city, there were few people around, so even an attack would not be exposed. The urban district was different. If a large-scale firefight broke out in a place like this, news of it would spread like wildfire across Prisoner Continent by the next day. If someone caused such a huge uproar in his own backyard, Luke Morgan would truly lose face across the entire country.
Li Xingkong drove at a leisurely pace to the vicinity of the address he had obtained, then found a random spot to leave the car.
Wearing a bulletproof vest downtown really made him conspicuous. The whole getup drew too much attention, so he had no choice but to take it all off first.
After changing into ordinary clothes, Li Xingkong began examining the high-rise in front of him.
The headquarters building had twelve or thirteen floors and stood a little over sixty meters tall, making it something of a landmark in Freedom City. The building was a conventional office tower, with large expanses of glass covering its facade. Sunlight spilled over it, casting a broad glare.
The target he meant to kill was inside the building, but he had no idea which floor the man was on.
If he fought his way up from the first floor, he would make far too much noise, and the other side would have plenty of time to flee once they caught wind of it.
He circled the building. Security here was fairly tight: unauthorized personnel were barred from entering, and quite a few security guards were patrolling and standing watch at the entrances.
Li Xingkong decided to find someone first and ask about the inside of the building.
As for how to find someone, he would stake the place out, of course.
It wasn't as though he had some miraculous means at his disposal, so he had to use a somewhat clumsy method.
He found a café across from the headquarters and sat down by the window. He wasn't in a hurry; he had plenty of time.
They were the ones who should be anxious now. Unable to find him outside the city, they ought to be busy for a while.
As he slowly drank his coffee and waited for someone to come out of the building across the street, Li Xingkong kept himself occupied.
His Explosive Reactive Armor needed to be prepared in advance. In particular, every time it blocked an attack, the armor's effectiveness was heavily depleted, and he had to repair it manually in his spare time.
He was also thinking about how to strike back later.
Although his Shotgun Spell covered a wide area and dealt enough damage to people, it still couldn't cover an entire indoor space very well with such a complex layout.
He wanted to kill in a single strike, giving the other side no chance to fight back.
Most importantly, Shotgun Spell wasn't very effective against walls and modern buildings. It couldn't completely destroy a wall. If anyone hid behind cover, his means of attack would be considerably weakened.
How can I expand its killing range? Li Xingkong traced circles in his coffee cup with a spoon as he considered the question.
Suddenly, Li Xingkong's attention snapped back. He heard a whistling rush through the air.
He sensed something flying at him from behind and immediately reached back, catching it between his fingers.
"Mom! My bouncy ball!"
A child at a nearby table began making a fuss.
Li Xingkong opened his hand and saw that it was a child's bouncy ball.
The child's mother came over and apologized profusely to Li Xingkong, offering to pay for his coffee.
"It's all right. Kids like to play. That's perfectly normal."
Li Xingkong returned the ball to the child and even played with him a little.
There was no other reason: the child had already given him the answer he wanted.
That was right. Li Xingkong had thought of special warheads. He could replace the pebbles in his hand with ordinary rubber bullets.
Rubber bullets were naturally elastic and would bounce around after being fired, and his Shotgun Spell was powerful enough. He only had to fire a handful of them into a room, and with the rubber bullets' bouncing trajectories and the power of Shotgun Spell, a single shot would basically be enough to strip everyone inside of their ability to fight.
Of course, the downside was that this thing made no distinction between friend and foe and would be very likely to hit him too. But that was easy enough to solve. He could simply stay outside.
Having thought of a solution, Li Xingkong enjoyed his coffee even more.
At that moment, there was movement across the street.
A figure hurried out of the building opposite. He was walking quickly and carrying a bag. After coming out, he looked left and right, then headed for a car by the roadside.
The man reached the car, opened the door, and quickly climbed in.
Li Xingkong put down his coffee and hurried to his own car, intending to grab the man on a less crowded stretch of road.
The man really was driving in a hurry. Judging by the way his car moved, something urgent had indeed come up.
Li Xingkong figured that anything so urgent right now was most likely connected to him too. It seemed he had happened to pick the right person.
He drove along at a measured pace behind the man's car, following it for two or three blocks. Before long, they left the bustling district and turned into a slum.
Li Xingkong hesitated no longer. He accelerated and sent his car charging forward.
He adjusted his position, and just as the man's car was about to turn into a secluded side street, Li Xingkong stomped on the accelerator. His car shot forward and swung across the road in front of the man's vehicle.
His car was no piece of junk. It was the one driven by the people who had attacked him outside the city. Whatever else could be said about it, at least it was extremely tough.
The car blocked the road ahead. The man couldn't swerve in time and slammed straight into Li Xingkong's car. The violent collision stalled his engine.
By the time the man opened his door and stumbled out, Li Xingkong was already waiting beside the front of his car.
"Damn it, do you have a death wish?! You dare block a Bloody Hand Gang car?!"
The man was still shouting threats as he got out, his hand reaching around his waist as though going for a weapon.
Li Xingkong took two steps forward and seized him by the neck. As though lifting a chick, Li Xingkong hauled him bodily into the air.
His hand jerked sharply, shaking the man's whole body apart. The man had been struggling, but his body instantly went limp. Only his eyes continued to glare viciously at Li Xingkong.
"This is Bloody Hand Gang territory. If you know what's good for you, let me go!"
He was still trying to break free, but unfortunately for him, that was nowhere near enough against Li Xingkong.
"You're exactly who I'm looking for."
Li Xingkong looked around. It wasn't a good idea to question him in the street; someone was bound to see.
Still carrying the man, Li Xingkong pushed off against the wall to his left and grabbed the top with one hand. The two of them went straight over the wall and landed in a deserted, abandoned construction site.
"Talk. Who's in charge of the Bloody Hand Gang, and which floor is he on?"
Li Xingkong wasted no words and asked his question directly.
As far as he was concerned, grabbing this man was no different from grabbing a chicken.