Madman!

Chapter 39: Business Needs Sustainable Development

Master Xin's gaze settled on Shark Jiu. She leaned back in her chair and declared:

"I'm definitely not handing anyone over. The territory's been taken, it's mine now, and nobody's getting me to spit it back out."

Master Xin withdrew his gaze. "Elephant wants to fight, the other two have no objections, and Shark Jiu — the one directly involved — has already seized Wen Long's territory... In that case, I'll arrange a meeting with Lidong's Dragon Head. See what their stance is."

"If they want war, we'll give them war. If they want to talk, we'll see what terms they're offering."

Clap, clap, clap!

Guan Laosan slapped his palms together. "Whatever Master Xin decides is fine by us!"

Afterward, Master Xin Lin Jianxin brought up a few other matters, though none were particularly important.

Half an hour later, the meeting was adjourned.

"Let's go!" Shark Jiu rose to her feet.

Chen Wujun followed her out the door, with Ah Fei and Curry trailing behind.Exiting through the Welfare Association's back entrance, Shark Jiu pointed at a secondhand goods shop across the way. "You said you wanted to buy Magnetic Field Crystals, right? That's the place."

A few tough-looking young men were chatting by the entrance. The moment they spotted Shark Jiu approaching, they sprang to their feet. "Sis Jiu!"

Shark Jiu stepped inside and addressed an old man in his fifties or sixties who sat reading a book:

"He's one of mine. He'll come back later for crystals!" Shark Jiu told the old man.

"Understood!" The old man glanced at Chen Wujun, committing his features to memory.

"He's the only one who needs to come."

After they left, Shark Jiu continued talking as they walked. "The entire Magnetic Field Crystal smuggling market in East District 9 is controlled by Hetu. And the Flowing Firefly Ointment those New Arts dojos use — most of that comes through us too."

"The type of Magnetic Field Crystal you use costs 8,000 a piece on the open market. Here, it's 5,000."

Shark Jiu had mentioned this in passing before, but only now did Chen Wujun truly grasp the scale of Hetu's operations.

He'd used up his last Magnetic Field Crystal today. He'd need to bring money tonight and pick up two more.

The group made their way to a bar outside the Walled City. There were hardly any patrons at this hour. Shark Jiu ordered two bottles of beer and sat at the bar counter, chatting casually with Chen Wujun.

"Elephant — he looks straightforward, but he's actually greedy as hell."

"Tall Guy always waits until everyone else has spoken before saying a word. He permanently plants himself on the winning side."

"Now Guan Laosan... why do you think he said what he said?"

When Chen Wujun first heard Guan Laosan suggest handing someone over, murderous intent had flooded his heart. But then Guan Laosan immediately backed down, which left Chen Wujun bewildered.

He'd been mulling it over for a while now.

When Shark Jiu posed the question, he hesitated briefly before answering. "A test?"

"Testing what?" Shark Jiu pressed.

"Testing whether you'd protect me?"

Shark Jiu smiled. "He was testing Master Xin. He wanted to see what Master Xin's true intentions were — and how Master Xin's health is holding up."

Chen Wujun was genuinely taken aback by this answer.

"Master Xin is injured? His health is failing?"

"Has been for many years," Shark Jiu replied.

"Come to think of it, the Walled City still exists because of Master Xin. You know the East District 9 government has been trying to demolish it, right?"

"Seen it on TV," Chen Wujun said. Every time his father brought up the subject, the man would curse up a storm.

"Master Xin used to be a Magnetic Field Level expert," Shark Jiu said.

"Used to be? He's not anymore?" This was the first Chen Wujun had heard of it, and curiosity burned through him.

"This was forty years ago. The Federation tried to forcibly demolish the Walled City, and Master Xin raised absolute hell. He was gravely wounded in the aftermath, and he's never recovered since." Shark Jiu gave a brief explanation.

"Not only can't he recover his strength — he's old now. The fire in him is gone." Shark Jiu tilted her head back and drained her glass of beer.

Hearing this, Chen Wujun realized that Shark Jiu... seemed to harbor serious grievances toward Master Xin.

And then there was Guan Laosan...

The relationships among Hetu's upper echelon were far more complicated than he'd previously imagined.

Moreover, what these people showed on the surface was merely a facade. Every sentence carried layers of hidden intent.

Compared to them, he was utterly green.

A quiet realization dawned in Chen Wujun's mind — the underworld wasn't just about being able to fight.

What others displayed wasn't necessarily their true thoughts. Every word had to be carefully parsed.

"Senior sister, a toast to you!" Chen Wujun raised his glass and downed it in one go, genuine gratitude swelling in his chest. "No matter what happens, I'm behind you. Always."

If Shark Jiu hadn't guided him, who knew how long it would have taken him to figure these things out on his own.

"You're one of mine, after all!" Shark Jiu patted him on the shoulder.

Then a thought suddenly struck Chen Wujun. If Master Xin was a Magnetic Field Level powerhouse forty years ago, how old was he now?

"How old is Master Xin?"

"I've heard he's over ninety! Didn't see that coming, did you?" Shark Jiu laughed heartily.

Chen Wujun's face was a picture of shock.

"Once you reach the Magnetic Field Level, you can use your own magnetic field to influence your cells. Living past a hundred is easy. Master Xin may have been injured all these years, and his strength may have plummeted, but extending his lifespan? That much he can still manage." Shark Jiu explained.

Hearing this, a spark of longing and aspiration ignited in Chen Wujun's eyes.

Magnetic Field Level!

...

That evening, Chen Wujun took his money and bought two Magnetic Field Crystals. Emerging from the secondhand shop, he carefully tucked the two crystals away, then patted his pants pocket. His mood soured considerably.

Broke.

He'd been paying for his underlings' meals these past two nights as well.

His total remaining assets: 2,000 dollars.

'Money flows like water. Before, twenty-something thousand felt like a fortune — I couldn't even figure out how to spend it. Now, crystals alone cost 25,000 a month.'

'Two crystals only last twelve days. I need to do something about this,' Chen Wujun thought.

No money... meant he needed to find a new source of income.

A living man couldn't let himself be done in by a full bladder.

Life finds a way.

"That loan shark operation... With Hetu and Lidong at war right now, nobody would suspect it was me."

"Sure, this kind of thing breaks the rules. But as long as nobody knows I did it, then no rules were broken!"

Chen Wujun's logic was refreshingly simple.

He went home, changed his clothes, pulled on a cap, slipped the folding knife into his pocket, then grabbed a bag of spare clothes and headed out.

After the bloodshed of recent days, his nerve had grown terrifyingly bold.

Master Bing's people were still investigating the culprit from last time, but months had passed, and the search had become little more than going through the motions.

Chen Wujun arrived in the alley where the loan shark operation was located. He didn't rush over immediately, but instead waited in the shadows.

These loan shark outfits all had safes. The cash was usually kept locked up.

He needed to wait for the right moment.

After roughly an hour of waiting, he spotted two people entering the alley. One of them walked with hesitant steps, but ultimately gritted his teeth and pushed through the door of the loan shark office.

This was exactly the opportunity Chen Wujun had been waiting for.

He pulled a strip of cloth from his pocket and wrapped it around his face, then waited five minutes before approaching the entrance.

The place consisted of two rooms, front and back. The outer room was about twenty or thirty square meters, where several thugs sat playing cards.

Beyond that was another doorway, left open, through which he could see several people inside.

Chen Wujun strode in briskly. The card-playing thugs glanced up, and just as their mouths opened to speak, they froze.

Standing before them was a man wearing a cap, face wrapped in cloth, with only his eyes visible.

Before any of them could react, the hand Chen Wujun had been holding behind his back moved with sudden violence. Two flashes of cold steel swept through the air, and two throats were slit open.

The remaining thug felt every hair on his body stand on end. He let out a scream: "Murder!"

Then he ducked beneath the card table, scrambling for a weapon.

Chen Wujun ignored him entirely. He stomped his foot and surged into the inner room. Inside, one man had his back turned, pulling money from the safe. He whipped around at the commotion outside.

Chen Wujun burst into the room and vaulted clean over the desk blocking his path. Still mid-air, his blade lashed toward the man's throat.

The man lurched sideways to dodge and lashed out with a kick aimed at Chen Wujun.

Chen Wujun slashed first, carving into the man's leg, then stepped forward and drove his foot squarely into the man's groin.

He heard something crack beneath his sole.

The man's entire body went rigid, mouth agape, unable to produce a single sound.

Chen Wujun knew the man had lost all ability to fight back. Only then did he turn to survey the rest of the room.

Two other people remained — a thug who worked as a tout at gambling dens, and a man who'd come to borrow money.

The thug reacted quickly, snatching up a vase from nearby and hurling it at Chen Wujun.

Chen Wujun sidestepped the vase and circled around the desk. The thug tried to bolt, only to collide head-on with the thug rushing in from the outer room. Chen Wujun plunged his blade into the first one's back, then booted him forward. Both men went tumbling across the floor.

Chen Wujun advanced two more steps and finished the other one off.

Of the loan shark's five men, the strongest had been the New Arts practitioner retrieving cash from the safe.

But caught completely off guard, he'd been crippled by Chen Wujun in a single exchange.

As for the rest — just ordinary thugs.

Half a month ago, even these would have given Chen Wujun some trouble. But now, they posed virtually no resistance whatsoever.

He turned and walked back into the inner room. The gambler who'd come to borrow money was trembling like a leaf, hands raised in supplication. "Boss, I don't know anything. I didn't see anything."

Chen Wujun flicked his blade toward the corner, gesturing for the man to face the wall and squat.

Then he walked behind the desk. The New Arts practitioner was still on the ground, clutching his groin and convulsing. Chen Wujun stepped over and drove the blade into his throat, then wiped the blood off using the dead man's own clothes. His hands, however, wouldn't come clean so easily.

Standing up and glancing around, he spotted a fish tank in the room. Chen Wujun walked over and washed his hands in the tank water. Only then did he fold the knife away and crouch before the safe. Inside sat stack upon stack of cash.

Bills of every denomination — fives, tens, fifties, hundreds.

Chen Wujun estimated there had to be at least forty or fifty thousand.

Beyond the money, there were also several watches and gold jewelry — collateral, most likely.

He pulled open a drawer, found a bag, and stuffed all the cash, watches, and everything else inside.

He fished out a sheaf of IOUs and flipped through them. After confirming his old man hadn't taken out any new loans here, he put the IOUs back.

His father's dental clinic gave loyal regulars a discount. Karen's dance halls sent complimentary fruit platters to their VIP clients.

Business required sustainable development.

A steady trickle, not a drained pond. You don't fish by poisoning the lake.

He turned and rummaged through the other drawers. Finding nothing of value, he went over and searched the body of the New Arts practitioner on the floor, tossing the wallet, watch, and rings into the bag.

There was also a flat, circular tin — roughly the size and shape of a balm container.

Chen Wujun popped it open. Inside was a gray ointment flecked with tiny, brilliant blue crystalline specks, giving off a cool, refreshing scent.

Chen Wujun recognized it immediately — Flowing Firefly Ointment, the kind New Arts practitioners used.

He went through the rest of the bodies scattered across the floor, packing anything of value into the bag. Then he gave the cowering gambler a kick, signaling that the man was free to get lost.

Only then did Chen Wujun saunter out, casual as could be.

On his way out, he even had the courtesy to close the door behind him.