(A 3K-word mega chapter, released on schedule~) And just like that, a brand new gang was born in a rundown house in a rundown neighborhood—no ceremony, no fuss. The gang had no money, barely any guns, and their headquarters was a peeling old shack. The acting boss? A mysterious figure wanted by half the city. Still, the gang was established, joining the ranks of countless new upstarts, fighting to stay afloat in the wild waves of the underworld.
Even the smallest gang needs a flashy name. Something like "Crush the Universe, Invincible Under Heaven"—even if that's a bit much, it's gotta be catchy.
First Hall Master Xiao Di suggested sticking with "Gunfire Angels"—a nod to his roots (a.k.a. getting shot). The boss said, at best, that could be a hall name.
Second Hall Master Pierce proposed "Tumor," representing his main business (also: getting shot). The boss replied with the same: hall name at best.
Acting boss Yang Qi suggested "Peach Blossom Stronghold," even tossing in a poem: "Where peach blossoms pass, not a blade of grass survives; where money drops, heads roll." The nickname fit the gang, but—shot down. The two hall masters vetoed it, still salty about their names getting axed.
Basically, the three of them were like parents naming a kid—racking their brains for a name for a gang of just three people. This one's too girly, that one's not tough enough, this one's taken, that one just sounds dumb. After half a day of hair-pulling, Pierce finally suggested: "How about 'Saints'? The Underworld Saints—sounds kinda righteous, doesn't it?"
"Underworld Saints?" Xiao Di mulled it over and nodded. "I like it. What do you think?"
"I think..." Yang Qi propped up her chin, thought for a bit, then shook her head hard. "Absolutely not. No way."
"Why not?" The two hall masters were totally surprised.
"No means no."
"Then you decide. You're the boss—name the gang!"
"If you ask me, let's just go with this name." Yang Qi grabbed a pen and scribbled four big Chinese characters on a piece of paper. The two hall masters leaned in, puzzled. "Looks kinda like the stuff Mr. Reliable sticks on his face—must be some ancient script nobody uses anymore." "Boss, you're pretty cultured, huh? Using ancient characters for a gang name is kinda trendy. So, uh... how do you pronounce these four words?"
Yang Qi crossed her arms and declared proudly, "Remember this—our gang's name is: No One Under Heaven!"
And so, 'No One Under Heaven' was born.
Gangs don't need registration or approval; if you want to make a name for yourself, there's only one way—fight. So that same night, the three main officers of No One Under Heaven headed to a quiet neighborhood.
Given that their boss was basically a total underworld newbie, Xiao Di started explaining: "Me? I'm good at fighting for turf. Queens District has sixteen sectors, a hundred and eighty-eight blocks. For our first operation, we're picking this spot." She tapped the ground with her baseball bat. "This area is mostly residential, a few supermarkets. The folks here are all decent citizens—pretty dry, not much to squeeze. Why that look? Sure, it's poor, but it's easy to take over. For our first battle, we gotta win big, right?"
Yang Qi, baseball cap flipped backwards, pouted and slung her bat over her shoulder like Sun Wukong in 'A Chinese Odyssey.' She looked around—block after block of apartments, not a single light on, not even an AC running in the heat. Dead silent. Not a soul on the street, not even a ghost. "Forget squeezing money—what I wanna know is, even if we take over, what do we get? How do we make cash? Are we supposed to rob that sad little supermarket over there?"
"Of course not. Our business model is—protection tax."
"Protection tax?" Well, that's new—heard of protection fees, but never protection 'tax.'
Xiao Di continued, "You know Steelbull City is split into Daytown, Nighttown, and the Maniac Zone. For the good folks living in Daytown, Nighttown is way too dangerous. Even if you stay home, trouble finds you."
Yang Qi thought back to yesterday, when she was just walking down the street, minding her own business, and suddenly ran into a price-gouging pork vendor and a mutant cat. For regular folks, this place really is way too dangerous. So Yang Qi nodded in agreement: "The Hall Master's got a point."
Xiao Di rolled her eyes and continued, "Anyway, we offer protection, and those protected have to pay the tax. I won't bore you with the details of collection and calculation, but this whole block gives us about—ten bucks a day."
"What? In a residential area this big, with at least three thousand people, and we only get ten bucks a day?" Looks like the working class really is struggling. Of course, money's worth a lot in this world—a ten-spot isn't as little as it sounds.
"Why do you think we showed up with baseball bats? None of the big gangs would bother with this place. It's just us—three people, just three!" Xiao Di was exasperated. "If I had a hundred men, I'd go for that red-light street from yesterday. It may look small, but I bet you could squeeze two hundred a day out of it."
"What are we waiting for? Let's get moving! We earn some cash, recruit some muscle, then go take over that street!" Yang Qi swung her steel bat with a flourish, rubbed her fists, took two steps forward, and banged the bat on the ground, shouting, "Any building manager, come out! From today on, this turf is mine!"
At Yang Qi's shout, the distant supermarket quickly pulled down its shutter, moving faster than lightning. Meanwhile, a crowd of people poured out of a small alley—maybe thirty or forty in total, all random street toughs. Seeing Yang Qi and her crew, they started cursing and swaggering over, only to promptly drop to the ground in waves.
This chapter doesn't have an ending ^.^ Click next page to keep reading!
Yang Qi flipped the pockets of these wannabe thugs inside out, collecting a grand total of twelve bucks and twenty-seven cents (in this world, there's no cents, just a hundred-to-one split between units). Besides the pitiful cash, she also scored a handful of steel bats, a handful of bent bats, a handful of cricket bats—over forty sticks in total. Plus three handguns, all with tiny calibers and weak firepower, not even as good as the ones Strong Nason cobbled together.
This kind of haul left Yang Qi pretty unsatisfied. So she glanced at the thugs lying on the ground: "The five of you playing dead—get up."
Nobody on the ground moved, like they were all dead for real.
With a wave from Yang Qi, Xiao Di and Pierce went over and whacked them with their bats. Sure enough, five dazed guys groaned and crawled to their feet. Yang Qi pointed at the pile of bats: "Pick those up and come with me." The five, confused but not daring to argue, scooped up the bats and followed Yang Qi.
Yang Qi marched straight to the supermarket, banged on the door twice, and the shutter was reluctantly lifted from inside, revealing a shopkeeper forcing a smile. Before he could say anything, Yang Qi swept her gaze over the store, nodded, and asked, "So, you buy stuff like this?" She pointed at the bats clutched by the thugs.
That's right—Yang Qi was basically acting like she just wandered out of a video game camp, picking up whatever junk she spotted, even if it was just whiteboard gear, and trying to sell it to the shop.
"What, you don't wanna buy?" Yang Qi raised an eyebrow, perfectly nailing the tough-guy intimidation you'd expect from a proper gangster.
"Buy, buy, buy—of course I'll buy!" The shopkeeper was sweating bullets, face pale with terror. The three swept up thirty bats; tonight's toughs aren't to be messed with. The shopkeeper was already bracing for pain—losing money beats losing your life.
"That's right. Stuff like this is good for self-defense—never short on buyers. Second Hall Master, how much are these bats worth?"
Pierce thought for a moment. "On average, probably a buck each." "Alright, bundle them up—give us thirty."
"Right away, sir..."
Before the shopkeeper could finish, Yang Qi turned to Xiao Di: "First Hall Master, when there's a transaction, shouldn't we also collect protection tax?" "Of course," Xiao Di replied, calculating quickly. "A thirty-buck deal means a three-buck protection tax." Yang Qi turned back to the shopkeeper: "So all together, that's thirty-three."
The shopkeeper's face twitched, his smile painfully fake.
"Alright, lose the face. I collected your protection tax, so from now on, you're under our protection. Tell all your neighbors: as long as I'm around, keep the lights on and have fun at night. This turf belongs to No One Under Heaven." With that, Yang Qi turned and left, not waiting for the shopkeeper's reply.
The five thugs followed along silently, looking dazed. On Earth, losers would still talk trash, like, 'You better watch out, if you don't kill me today, I'll get you tomorrow.' Anyone who says that stuff thinks the other side won't dare kill them, so they mouth off with no fear.
But in Steelbull City, no loser would ever say that.
Counting the forty-five bucks in her hand, Yang Qi looked back at the two hall masters: "So, what do you think—do I have real gangster potential or what?"
Xiao Di smirked: "The way you scared those shopkeepers, you looked just like a second-rate punk. By the way, are you really gonna protect them?"
"Of course I am," Yang Qi said matter-of-factly. "If you're gonna do a job, you gotta love it. Since we're a gang, I'm definitely collecting protection tax. But if I take people's money, I gotta deliver. These folks are so broke, they can't even run an AC in summer. And those thugs earlier weren't protecting anything. Listen up: from now on, if anyone dares steal, rob, or cause trouble on my turf, no matter what, they're not getting away with it."
Xiao Di sighed and shook her head, but her eyes were shining: "Classic logic—you're such a goofball. But hey, you're the acting boss, so fine, let's do it your way. Just saying, if we stick to this plan, things won't stay quiet for long."
"Quiet, not quiet—whatever. You think I'm scared?" Yang Qi shot a look at Pierce. "You're pretty low-key tonight, not making much noise."
Pierce shrugged: "Nighttown isn't my turf. Tomorrow, come with me in Daytown and I'll show you how to make real money."