Madman!

Chapter 42: A Business of His Own

After both sides finished signing, Master Xin spoke in a leisurely tone:

"Now that the ring match has been set, no one from either side is permitted to start any conflicts during this period."

He gave a brief nod to Lidong's Dragon Head Ma Dong and the elderly man beside him, then rose and headed for the door.

"You got lucky running fast last time!" Shark Jiu shot a sidelong glance at Wen Long before turning to leave, stretching lazily as she walked.

Once the group descended the stairs, Master Xin addressed Chen Wujun. "Work hard. I have high hopes for you."

"If you need anything during this period, just ask! You're fighting for the gang, and the gang won't treat you poorly!"

Chen Wujun's mind churned. He was sorely tempted to be shameless and say he needed a million dollars.

But he also knew Master Xin was just making pleasantries.

If he actually opened his mouth like that, he'd only be making trouble for himself.

"My people — I'll take care of them," Shark Jiu told Master Xin."Of course you will. You always look after your own," Master Xin replied with a genial chuckle.

As they spoke, a car rolled up slowly, and two foot soldiers rushed over to pull the door open.

"I'll be off then. I have another appointment," Master Xin said, turning to get in the car before driving away.

"Let's go. We'll talk back at base," Shark Jiu said, turning to head back.

Beneath the glow of countless neon signs lining both sides of the street and the ceaseless flow of headlights, a crowd of Hetu foot soldiers trailed behind them as they departed.

On the second floor of Qingyun Pavilion, Lidong's Dragon Head Ma Dong gazed at Yu Wei. "You're confident, right?"

"Relax, boss. That kid may have trained in some Old Arts, but when the time comes, I'll shatter his bones one by one in that ring!" Yu Wei's lips curled into a cruel smile.

"I honestly can't imagine how I could possibly lose!"

......

The group returned to Jindi Finance and gathered in Shark Jiu's office.

"You all know the situation. Master Xin brokered the deal with Lidong. In four months, Wujun fights Lidong's Yu Wei in a ring match. If we lose, we hand back half the territory we took. If Lidong loses, they give us another half a street."

"Yu Wei is no pushover!" Ah Hao said, looking at Chen Wujun. "Among Wen Long's people, he's not the strongest in raw power, but he's the most formidable fighter overall. Word is he came from a suppression unit in the Mining Area — trained in military combat arts. Killed someone in the army and fled here."

"His punching force exceeds 750 kilograms. His bone density, damage resistance, stamina, and reaction speed are all far beyond any ordinary person."

"When you fight him, you absolutely cannot let him land a hit!" Ah Hao's usual joking demeanor was gone, replaced by a grave warning.

"Military combat arts, huh..." Chen Wujun gave a slight nod.

"I'll brief you on the details later!" Shark Jiu declared.

"From now until the match, Wen Long won't be causing any more trouble."

"Wujun's been performing well lately, and he's taken on this fight. I'm handing over the gambling den on Longjin Street and the one in Yongfa Building to him. Any objections?"

"None at all! Congratulations, Wujun! Rising through the ranks this fast!" Ah Hao and Cun Bao both chimed in.

"Wujun, you turn over half the net profit every month. The rest is yours to distribute."

"As for the half street wagered in the match — win it, and it's yours."

Hearing the first part, Chen Wujun felt a surge of excitement. This was his own business. As for the last part, that was only natural.

He'd spent the past few days learning about the gambling den operations. The one on Longjin Street was a large-scale operation — nine tables, over three hundred customers a day, sometimes peaking at five hundred.

Each person averaged twelve bets, with an average wager of thirty dollars. The house rake was six percent, plus the built-in house edge on wins and losses, bringing the effective take to eight percent.

That came to nearly eight thousand a day, or close to 230,000 a month.

And that was based on minimum foot traffic. During peak months, it could exceed 300,000.

The Yongfa Building operation was mid-sized — only five tables, roughly a hundred gamblers per day, averaging twenty dollars per bet. With the same eight percent effective take, the monthly net was just over 40,000.

Chen Wujun did the mental arithmetic. 230,000 plus 40,000 made 270,000... hand over half, and he was left with just under 140,000.

Then there were Curry, Ah Fei, and over a dozen foot soldiers to pay. The dens also needed dealers, someone to manage the books...

The more Chen Wujun calculated, the dizzier his head got, the more agitated he became, until he simply gave up.

Better to just ask directly.

Shark Jiu was still handing out assignments:

"The remaining two gambling dens go to Ah Hao!"

"Street-level operations go to Cun Bao!"

"And the two loan companies — Wen Long's people have pulled out, but we're keeping them running. Those go to Ji Xiang..."

Moments later, Shark Jiu had laid out arrangements for every operation on their turf.

"Alright, get to it. Wujun, stay a moment!"

After the others left, Shark Jiu pulled a stack of documents from her desk drawer and tossed them onto the table.

"Had someone put these together for you."

Chen Wujun picked up the documents and flipped through them. The very first page was Yu Wei's profile.

Yu Wei. Male. Age 28. Former lieutenant in East District 10's Special Suppression Unit. Wanted for murder.

Specialties: Cold Steel Combat Arts, short-staff combat techniques.

Enhancement Reconstruction: 46%-51%.

Punching force exceeds 750 kilograms. High damage resistance, fast reflexes, exceptional speed.

Combat style: short movements, linear attacks, almost no hip rotation for power loading. Relies primarily on upper body drive and forward step-pressure. Fights like a bulldozer.

Prefers to trade blows for kills.

"This guy doesn't have any weaknesses?" Chen Wujun raised an eyebrow.

Tremendous strength, blazing speed, sharp reflexes, and iron-clad durability — practically no flaws at all.

"The weakness is right there on the page!" Shark Jiu replied.

"Bulldozer? Swimming Dragon Palm?" Chen Wujun pondered for a moment, then understanding dawned.

This opponent excelled at linear aggression. Going toe-to-toe with brute-force Wolf Fist would be suicide against him. But Swimming Dragon Palm specialized in lateral entries, angled advances, twisting pivots and flowing turns — the perfect counter to this type of fighter.

"Exactly. I had a feeling it would be him," Shark Jiu confirmed with a nod.

Wen Long had several skilled fighters under him. Yu Wei might not have the highest level of New Arts enhancement among them, but he was the most dangerous in a real fight — the strongest in overall combat ability.

Chen Wujun nodded, then flipped further through the stack and found profiles on other people as well.

"And study this when you have time — familiarize yourself with his attack patterns." Shark Jiu tossed him a yellowed booklet. Chen Wujun's eyes immediately caught the title on the cover: "Cold Steel Combat Arts."

"His advantage is his physical conditioning. His disadvantage is that he knows nothing about your fighting style. Your advantage is knowing both yourself and your enemy — so don't try to match him blow for blow."

"Understood. By the way, Senior Sister, how much do those two gambling dens actually make in a month?" Chen Wujun asked bluntly. His math wasn't great, so asking directly was easier.

Shark Jiu burst out laughing at his straightforwardness, then answered:

"Gambling dens depend on luck. These two bring in anywhere from 260,000 to 270,000 on the low end, over 300,000 on the high end. After you hand over half, you'll have around 130,000 to 150,000 left. Subtract payroll for your people and the den staff, and you'll clear fifty or sixty thousand in a slow month, seventy or eighty thousand in a good one."

This answer satisfied Chen Wujun greatly.

Fifty or sixty thousand a month wouldn't put him in a mansion or behind the wheel of a luxury car, but it would easily cover his crystal expenses with twenty or thirty thousand to spare each month.

In the Walled City, that was a fortune.

And it was recurring, month after month.

This was his own business!

"Senior Sister, I'll head out then. I promised the family I'd be home for dinner." Chen Wujun gathered up the documents and took his leave.

"After dinner, swing by the gambling den. I've arranged for someone to be there to help you get set up."

The moment Chen Wujun stepped outside, he booted a nearby trash can and sent it clattering across the ground.

"Screw math!"

All that mental arithmetic earlier had left him frazzled and fuming.

......

Walking back along Longjin Street, he passed Li's Roast Meats and stopped in to buy a slab of roast pork to bring home.

He barely crossed the threshold before spotting his little brother Chen Wuqi bouncing on the sofa, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Dragon Ascension Sword!"

At the same moment, the TV blared the exact same line.

"This late and you're only now coming home?" His mother Huang Meizhen poked her head out of the kitchen, only to see Chen Wujun dressed in slacks and a dress shirt — and not even the same ones as last time.

She wiped the grease from her hands with a rag, stepped out of the kitchen, and looked him up and down.

It suddenly struck her that her second son had grown up.

"That fabric looks really nice. It wasn't cheap, was it?"

"Just over a hundred!" Chen Wujun immediately halved the actual price.

"Don't go wasting money. Save it up for when you get married someday," Huang Meizhen admonished.

Chen Wujun handed her the roast meat.

"This much?" Huang Meizhen winced, feeling he was being too extravagant. A dress shirt for over a hundred, plus the pants and shoes, and now a whole slab of roast pork on top of it.

"Wujun's home!" The eldest brother hobbled out of the bathroom, limping with every step, a fawning smile plastered across his face.

Chen Wujun glanced down at his brother's leg. Something flickered behind his eyes.

......

Meanwhile, news of the Hetu-Lidong ring match gradually spread through certain circles within the Walled City.

Among the foot soldiers of both Hetu and Lidong.

Among the outposts of other factions operating within the Walled City.

In a gambling den somewhere, several Lidong foot soldiers leaned against the wall smoking when another rushed in.

"News just dropped — there's going to be a ring match!"

"What ring match?" one of them asked, confused.

"Shark Jiu and Wen Long are each putting up a fighter. One-on-one in the ring!"

At those words, the others immediately perked up with interest.

"Word is Shark Jiu's sending some new recruit she picked up. Apparently the guy's only been training for half a year..."

"And Wen Long's side is sending Yu Wei!"

"Half a year? Against Yu Wei? That's a death sentence!" one of the soldiers blurted out immediately.

"Yu Wei is the most vicious bastard around. I once saw him punch a guy so hard he shattered his spine. The man spent the rest of his life bedridden."

"That's not even the best part. Shark Jiu's putting up half the territory she just seized from Wen Long, and our side is wagering another half a street!" the messenger continued.

"Damn, stakes that high? We've got this in the bag!"

"With a match this big, think anyone's going to set up odds on it?"