Madman!

Chapter 135: The Dragon Head Election

"The spear is the bandit among all weapons, yet also the king. Training the spear is entirely different from training the fist — especially a heavy spear four and a half meters long. The tip weighs like a thousand-kilogram stone. Even making it tremble is a challenge, let alone commanding it like an extension of your own arm..."

Though the great spear had a white wax wood core, the outer layer of woven metal gave it some flexibility but far less than a wooden spear — to say nothing of the weight.

Even with Chen Wujun's strength, making it vibrate properly was no easy feat.

"But who would've thought that Dragon-Tiger Combined Force could be trained this way? A pleasant surprise." On his way home, Chen Wujun was still turning over the afternoon's spear practice in his mind.

The greatest harvest was understanding how Dragon-Tiger Combined Force actually worked.

Though for now, he'd only grasped the concept. To make the force flow naturally with every movement, arriving the instant his fist did, would take sustained long-term practice.

But that was a minor matter.

Back at Ah Yue's place, the medicinal water was already prepared. Chen Wujun started with the eye wash, then stripped off his clothes and lowered himself into the wooden tub.

As he drew in a deep breath, a rumbling hum like rolling thunder emanated from deep within his body. The water's surface shattered into countless pearl-like droplets.

All two hundred-plus bones in his body, along with his fascia and muscles, trembled in unison.That evening, Chen Wujun went home for dinner first.

The atmosphere at home was still somewhat heavy, though much improved compared to a few days ago.

Chen Wuhong, on the other hand, was chattering away enthusiastically.

"Dad, Ah Jun's arcade really is a gold mine! People line up to play. It pulls in several thousand a day."

Chen Hanliang wore an expression of deliberate disinterest, but his ears were perked up.

"Big Brother, take me to play! Please?" Chen Wuqi's eyes lit up. He'd been wanting to visit the arcade for ages.

"Fine by me — ask Dad. If he says yes, we'll go." Chen Wuhong shrugged. These past two days out of the house, he felt like a man released from prison.

Best of all, with Ah Jun being so impressive, everyone called him "Brother Hong."

It filled him with an immense sense of satisfaction.

"Ah Jun's home!" Chen Wuhong immediately jumped up to offer his seat, then squeezed onto the sofa next to their father.

Over dinner, Chen Hanliang sighed and said, "We'll do it your way. But what about the apartment here and the dental clinic?"

"Big Brother can live in the apartment. As for the clinic, rent it out and let him collect the money. You shouldn't come back here, and don't maintain any contact with anyone from this area." Chen Wujun said.

At the mention of rental income, Chen Wuhong's eyes gleamed even brighter.

......

Two days later, Master Xin was laid to rest. The funeral procession was a spectacle — nearly a thousand people in attendance, an imposing sight.

Federal police dispatched additional constables to monitor and maintain order, wary of any disturbances.

The actual burial, however, was discreet. Only Shark Jiu, accompanied by Chen Wujun and a few lackeys, placed the ashes in a niche at the Diamond Hill Crematorium's columbarium — to prevent Master Xin's enemies from desecrating the grave.

Watching a lackey slide the urn into its private niche, the memorial tablet bearing only the words "Spirit Tablet of the Late Mr. Lin Jianxin," Chen Wujun stretched his arms. Master Xin's chapter was finally closed.

He turned and walked out of the columbarium with Shark Jiu.

Master Xin's era had come to a definitive end.

"Don't forget — meeting tomorrow!" Shark Jiu said before getting into her car.

"I could forget anything but that!" Chen Wujun grinned. Tomorrow's meeting was far too important to miss.

The election of the new Dragon Head.

In truth, the most volatile period had been the seven days of the mourning hall. If Tall Guy had intended to make a move, those were the days to do it.

He'd been perfectly well-behaved throughout. So Shark Jiu becoming Dragon Head would proceed without a ripple.

Watching Shark Jiu's car pull away, he climbed into his own.

Shark Jiu was off to meet a tycoon for business. He was heading back to the Walled City.

"Curry, buy a morning flight to West Embankment. Find Nguyen Minh Kim and have him track down Double Blade Long — Li Wenlong..." Chen Wujun paused mid-sentence and let out a derisive laugh:

"Another 'Wen Long.' Anyone with that name must be born a short-lived ghost — not long for this world!"

"Tell Nguyen Minh Kim that if he tries anything funny, he's a dead man. But if he does this well, I'll owe him one. If he's ever in trouble, I might save his neck. He knows me — I'm a man of my word."

He'd already applied the stick. Time for a carrot.

An empty promise cost him nothing, and having Nguyen Minh Kim as a planted nail in West Embankment would make future operations there much easier.

"Take the stuff we brought back from last time. Have Nguyen Minh Kim buy it all. If he doesn't have the cash, tell him to borrow it... give him a bit of a discount on the price."

What Chen Wujun was sending Curry with were the land deeds and share agreements found in Nguyen Phuc Hung's karaoke bar, along with Nguyen Minh Kim's own villa deed.

Meanwhile.

In an alley deep within the Walled City, two men with messy hair and stubbled faces had barely walked a short distance when they noticed a muscular young man leaning against their front door, smoking. They went on alert immediately.

"Looks like someone's here for us." One of them muttered.

The other glanced behind them. No one blocking the exit. He relaxed slightly. "Doesn't look like trouble. Let's find out what he wants."

The young man against the wall noticed them too and flicked his cigarette butt to the ground.

"You two — surname Duan?"

"Who the hell are you?" One of them answered coldly, his eyes scanning the stranger up and down, particularly studying his stance.

The stranger was clearly not on guard — which further confirmed he wasn't here for a fight.

"Brother Wei came by looking for you several times. You were never home. He asked me to wait here. Now that you're back, I'll go let him know."

"Li Wei?" The two exchanged a glance before asking.

"That's right. If you're not going anywhere, I'll go get him." The young man nodded, not inclined to say more.

When Li Wei had posted him here, he'd specifically warned him not to provoke the two.

Watching the young man leave, the brothers looked at each other. "Li Wei's been running with that Chen Wujun, hasn't he? What does he want with us?"

"Probably trying to recruit us."

"Recruit us? Can they even afford us?"

"Let's hear him out first."

The two returned to their apartment. Inside, it looked like a garbage dump — trash everywhere, the bedsheets so filthy their original color was anyone's guess.

After confirming that no one had broken in and nothing had changed, they went back out, locked the door, and waited in the alley for Li Wei.

This was safer. If anything went wrong, they could bolt.

Li Wei arrived within half an hour.

Seeing he'd come alone without backup, the brothers let down their guard entirely.

"Li Wei, what do you want with us?"

"Brother Jun is building up his forces. You two are skilled fighters. I wanted to see if you're interested." Li Wei pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered each of them one.

The brothers' names were Duan Haitao, the elder, and Duan Haibo, the younger.

"I hear your 'Brother Jun' is still a kid." Duan Haibo sneered.

"Age doesn't matter. Strength does. Some men become bosses before they're twenty. Others live for decades and have nothing to show for it — can't even afford a single meal." Li Wei said lightly.

Duan Haibo's eyes flashed with hostility at those words.

He thought Li Wei was mocking the two of them.

Since arriving in the Walled City, the brothers had deemed manual labor beneath them. Their heads were full of grand ambitions, but grand ambitions were easier dreamed than realized. At present, they scraped by with petty muggings and shakedowns — a rather sorry existence.

But this was only temporary.

"I know you two want to go big. But 'going big' isn't that simple. The Special Task Department isn't sitting around doing nothing — they specialize in catching outsiders like you. No telling how many skilled fighters they've put away. Even if you two have the talent, are you confident you could slip through their fingers? Because if you were, you wouldn't still be here." Li Wei continued.

"Better to come work for someone. At least you'd live well, with a big tree to lean on. Money, women, status — it's all there. And when trouble comes, you've got connections to work things out."

"How much does your boss pay you?" Duan Haibo thought for a moment, then asked.

"Eight thousand a month base. But jobs pay extra. Few days ago I went out on a job — a few days' work, and I pulled two hundred thousand. If you two had been there, each of you would've gotten at least as much as I did." Li Wei laid it out plainly.

"Even if you two pulled off a heist, got put on the Special Task Department's wanted list — the amount you'd walk away with might not be much more than that."

Hearing this, Duan Haibo was visibly tempted.

"We'll talk it over. We'll let you know tomorrow."

Li Wei could see they were hooked. He smiled. "When I first came to the Walled City, you two tried to pull me in. Now I'm doing the same for you."

"I'll wait for your answer."

After Li Wei left, the brothers went back inside and settled into chairs, treading on garbage.

"That guy walked away with two hundred thousand, and he's not even worth that much. If it were us, we'd each pull at least four hundred thousand!" Duan Haibo said, a note of indignation in his voice.

"Bro, what do you think?"

"We've been in North Port a while now and still don't know the lay of the land well enough — the power dynamics, the fencing channels, none of it. At this rate, who knows how long we'd be grinding. If they can pay, we'll work with them for a while, learn the ropes, then find the right moment to pull off one big score and disappear." Duan Haitao mused after a moment.

"That works. I want to see what this kid has that makes him boss material."

......

The next day, Chen Wujun finished his meal and pulled a red suit jacket from the wardrobe.

Today was the Dragon Head election. He ought to dress festively.

"Brother Jun..." Ah Yue wrapped her arms around Chen Wujun from behind. "I want to get identity papers for my little brother... My father and I can manage, but he's still young. He needs to go to school..."

"I'll have someone look into it." Chen Wujun said.

Ah Yue had been with him this long. Getting identity papers was the least he could do.

Besides, Li Wei also needed papers, or he'd have to live in the shadows forever.

There might be others in the future too. He should start making inquiries.

"Thank you, Brother Jun!" Ah Yue's face lit up with joy. She'd agonized for ages before working up the courage to ask, and he'd agreed just like that.

Getting identity papers wasn't easy. People like them, once exposed as illegal immigrants, would be deported immediately.

Many Walled City residents had lived there for decades without papers, forever in the shadows.

After getting dressed, Chen Wujun pulled ten thousand dollars from a bag in the wardrobe and left it out.

"This month's household allowance."

The monthly amount he gave Ah Yue had risen from three thousand to six thousand, and now to ten thousand.

Clothing and groceries were separate.

After all, he was a big shot now, and his pockets were deep.

Then Chen Wujun headed out. Downstairs, Fa Zai was waiting with Mantis, Ah Yong, and the others, smoking.

"Brother Jun!"

"Let's go — meeting time!" Chen Wujun announced, swaggering off down the alley.

Fa Zai and the rest hurried to fall in behind him.