Madman!

Chapter 90: The Advantage Is Mine

"How much of recorded history do you think is actually true, and how much is fake?" Chen Wujun asked casually as he lay on the sofa.

"The war was real. Global resources were already critically depleted before it began... As for the fifty dark years that followed, opinions vary. There are all sorts of theories. I don't know which ones are true..." Ah Qi replied cautiously.

She did not care much for these historical mysteries or grand events.

She was just an ordinary person from the Walled City who wanted to live a better life.

Chen Wujun did not press further. He knew someone who likely understood the situation.

His master—Zhou Qing.

If he really wanted to know, he could ask Zhou Qing directly. The man might be willing to share a thing or two.

But in truth, he wasn't that curious.

History belonged to the past.

Ah Qi set down the history book and picked up General Science: Volume One. As she flipped through the pages, she said, "I need a blackboard...""I'll have someone send one over tomorrow." Chen Wujun sat up on the sofa.

He was content to lie there and listen to Ah Qi tell stories about history, but general science covered a vast range of topics and was a subject he was genuinely interested in learning.

...

The next day, Chen Wujun emerged from the warehouse and strolled to the arcade on Longjin Street. It was packed shoulder-to-shoulder.

Even with ten Street Fighter II cabinets installed, people were still queuing up to play.

Although people played the other machines, they were nowhere near as popular as Street Fighter. Some cabinets even sat empty.

"Brother Jun, you're here! The place is exploding with customers!" A subordinate hurried over as soon as he saw Chen Wujun.

"It's fine, just get back to work," Chen Wujun said, glancing around from the doorway before turning to leave.

After all, this was his own business, so he had to show some concern.

Seeing the arcade bustling with activity set his mind at ease.

He did a lap around the gambling den, reminding Ah Fei about the recruitment efforts, and then departed.

For the next month, he spent every day training in the warehouse. He moved across the grease-slicked wooden stakes and struck the sandbags as if walking on flat ground, his body steady and unshakable.

During this period, he went to Shark Jiu's place to hand over the earnings and had another confrontation with Ji Xiang.

"Bang!"

As Chen Wujun landed a punch, the sandbag exploded. It split open in the middle, the bottom half sagging as sand poured onto the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Broken again..." Chen Wujun darted several yards away, feeling a rising irritation.

This was the one downside of the warehouse.

Anywhere else, he could just have a subordinate clean up the mess and replace the bag.

But here... he had to do everything himself.

He was becoming very impatient with these menial chores.

However, although Zhou Qing had never explicitly said so, Chen Wujun tacitly treated this place as a secret base and never brought his subordinates here.

After cleaning the warehouse, he lost the mood to continue training. He grabbed his clothes, dressed, and left.

That evening, Chen Wujun soaked in a wooden tub. His body emitted a low rumbling sound, like thunder rolling across the horizon.

This was the vibration of his muscles and bones, constantly absorbing the medicinal potency to nourish and restore his body.

A technique like the Tiger Roaring Golden Bell Cover required medicinal baths for recovery. Without them, the body would be crippled before the technique was ever mastered.

This was especially true given the addition of Magnetic Field Crystals to the bath, which constantly stimulated and strengthened the cells within his body.

In the old era, many practitioners of Horizontal Training Kung Fu had shortened lifespans precisely for this reason.

After the bath, Chen Wujun put on his jacket and went to the martial arts hall.

"Brother Jun!" At any given time, there were many subordinates training and working out in the hall, hoping that one day they could rise through the ranks to become a big shot and achieve great success.

He went up to the small room on the second floor. Several subordinates were sitting there smoking, but they stood up to greet him as he entered.

Beside them lay several steel rebars, each as thick as a thumb and over three feet long.

In his practice of the Tiger Roaring Golden Bell Cover, he had progressed from wooden clubs to iron rods, and finally to steel rebars.

"Let's begin." Chen Wujun took off his jacket, standing in the room wearing only a pair of athletic shorts. He took a deep breath, and muscles all over his body swelled, even the smallest fibers bulging prominently.

He seemed to grow an entire size larger, yet unlike bodybuilders whose veins snaked across their skin, his blood vessels remained hidden.

Chen Wujun's veins were not visible, but his skin turned a deep red.

This was the physical transformation caused by circulating qi and blood as his Horizontal Training progressed.

The subordinates paid no mind to the change; they were long accustomed to it.

"Brother Jun, here we go." The men gave a warning, then donned gloves and swung the steel bars, lashing them against Chen Wujun's body.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The steel bars struck Chen Wujun's body with a sound that didn't resemble metal hitting flesh at all.

Even wearing gloves, they could feel the recoil vibrating through the steel.

"Roar!" Chen Wujun could no longer hold back the breath in his chest. It erupted from his throat, unleashing a tiger-like roar.

The roar carried a concussive tremor, instantly scattering the majority of the subordinates' qi and blood flow. Their heads buzzed, and the strength vanished from their arms as the steel bars landed on Chen Wujun.

The subordinates were terrified. Brother Jun's roar was becoming more terrifying by the day—it was truly like that of a tiger.

Worse, their strength had been instantly dispersed, leaving them unable to even lift their arms.

The men rested for a moment, then hefted the steel bars again to strike Chen Wujun.

It was over an hour later when Chen Wujun finally sat down to rest.

'Back then, Master's single roar scattered my qi and blood entirely. That is the power of the Tiger Roaring Golden Bell Cover... Now I can do the same to my subordinates, though it would likely be useless against an expert on my level.'

'Experts of the same rank have surging qi and blood, and extreme control over their bodies. They wouldn't be affected so easily. But if I keep training this technique, perhaps one day I will achieve that.'

'However, the strength of my muscles and bones has increased drastically, and even my internal organs are much tougher. When I circulate my qi and blood, my muscles swell and harden significantly, protecting my skeleton and organs.'

'If I focus my qi and blood to a single point, the defense is even greater. As long as I'm not hit in a vital or weak spot, I can take a few hard hits without sustaining major damage—at least enough to maintain combat effectiveness.'

Chen Wujun felt he was ready to start preparing.

...

Meanwhile, two tall men walked together, deep in conversation.

One was a tall, long-haired man named Gao Fei. He used to manage Lung Kong Road, but he had been forced to cede half of it to Hetu.

Fortunately, the Lidong Dragon Head and Wen Long had compensated Fire Dragon, and Fire Dragon had, in turn, compensated him, covering part of his losses.

Wen Long's men sold Number 4 in his territory, paying him a cut every month.

The other man, sporting short hair, was Li Zhijun, a subordinate of Wen Long.

Entering the dance hall, Gao Fei swept his gaze around. Seeing few customers, he beckoned the manager over.

"What is going on here? Why are there so few people? Have the people of the Walled City all become vegan monks?"

"Brother Fei, a lot of our girls have been poached recently. Coco and Li Zhen are both gone..."

"F*ck! I pay them so much every month, and they still got poached? What good are you people? Who took them?" Gao Fei's face fell instantly, anger rising in his gut.

"It's the Hetu dance hall on the south side... They pay 100 bucks a session, and only take a fifty percent cut of tips..."

In Gao Fei's establishment, dancers only received 60 bucks for a half-hour session. The house took seventy percent of tips and fifty percent of the escort fee.

Worse, since losing one venue, if the girls wanted to get on stage, they had to slip the manager a 50-buck red packet daily, or they wouldn't even get a shift.

Originally, this wouldn't have mattered, as the girls had nowhere else to go.

But when Lidong gave up half the street, they took all the dancers with them. Chen Wujun's place didn't have any girls, so lately, Ah Fei had been aggressively poaching talent, offering extremely high terms.

100 bucks a set, fifty percent tip cut, forty percent escort cut, guaranteed stage time every day, and no red packets required.

Once Hetu guaranteed their safety, the most popular girls were all poached away.

Only the few who were long-term addicts of Number 4 and couldn't leave remained.

"Dammit!" Gao Fei kicked the manager aside, his expression darkening.

He was already furious about being forced to give up half the street. Now that they were stealing his people, he wanted nothing more than to charge over, cause trouble, and teach those treacherous women a lesson.

However, remembering how Chen Wujun had beaten Yu Wei to death in the ring, his courage faltered.

But doing nothing wasn't an option either.

As he stood there hesitating, Li Zhijun noticed his indecision and smiled. "Hetu is going too far. Gao Fei, you aren't just going to let this slide, are you?"

"If you let this go, word will get out that you're scared of Chen Wujun... Your reputation will be ruined..."

"Scared? My ass!" Gao Fei raged, but then he shrank back slightly. "But that guy really isn't easy to deal with. Yu Wei was beaten to death, and you guys didn't do a damn thing about it, did you?"

"We followed the rules set by the Dragon Head. We had to accept the loss. But your situation is different," Li Zhijun said with a sly tone.

Wen Long had long instructed them to find a way to provoke a conflict between Fire Dragon and Shark Jiu. Lung Kong Road, split between Chen Wujun and Gao Fei, was the perfect flashpoint.

With just a little manipulation, they could get them to fight.

And here was the opportunity.

Seeing Gao Fei still wavering, Li Zhijun leaned in and whispered in his ear, "How about this? We are on the same side, after all. I can't watch you get bullied like this; it makes all of Lidong look bad. If you want to make trouble for him, I'll help you. With the two of us stepping up, he'll have no choice but to swallow the insult."

"Besides, you're just going to teach those people a lesson, not start a full-blown war..."

Hearing this, Gao Fei's heart began to stir.

Li Zhijun was right. If he did nothing, everyone would think he was afraid of Chen Wujun. He would lose all face.

He wasn't staring a war, just teaching those cheap women a lesson.

Chen Wujun was strong, but with himself and Li Zhijun together? The advantage was his.

If it came down to it, they could each take a step back, and his reputation would be saved...

Li Zhijun, that bastard, wants to use me as a gun. If a fight really breaks out... I'll make sure he's the one on the front line.

"You said it."

"Don't worry. I've found him an eyesore for a long time. I'll back you up on this," Li Zhijun promised, patting his chest.

Having made up his mind, Gao Fei turned a furious look on his subordinate. "Go call the men."

Li Zhijun rolled his eyes and also instructed the subordinate behind him: "Notify some of our people to come over."