It was the height of summer, and the sun rose early. Before five o'clock, the red sun broke the horizon—turns out the day-night cycle here is pretty much the same as back on Earth.
At eight in the morning, rush hour hits, and the streets are packed with cars. Jill Young and Pierce are strolling down the avenue. Xiao Di went off solo to lay down the law with the local big shot—it's a tiny district, and honestly, Xiao Di can handle it alone. Starting today, that patch of turf will be paying No One Under Heaven a steady stream of cash—okay, just ten bucks a day, but hey, it's a start.
A garbage truck rumbles past, and Jill Young can smell corpses and blood wafting from the trash bin. Clearly, these trucks have the extra job of picking up bodies no one bothered to clean up. "Daytime's totally normal, just like any regular city. Nighttime? It's a den of sin—anything goes. Weird kind of order, huh?" Jill Young can't help but marvel at how bizarre this city is.
"What can you do? Even the gangs don't want total chaos. Not even the crazies make moves during the day—gotta leave time to rebuild and clean up, right?" Pierce shrugs, then flashes a sly grin. "But you know, Day City isn't all sunshine. Plenty of shady deals go down—just gotta keep it out of the cops' sight."
Jill Young adjusts her fake Mario mustache. "So basically, as long as nobody sees you, anything goes?"
"You catch on quick. First rule of being a gangster: gotta have a car." Pierce lectures as they walk, sharing his hard-won street wisdom. "Cars are magic—fight, run, attack, escape, and if all else fails, sell it for cash. C'mon, follow me. There's a repair shop up ahead, gotta show you something cool."
They follow Pierce a short way and end up at a storefront. The counter's loaded with car parts, looking totally legit. But as Pierce explains, this place is the go-to fence for stolen rides. Car thieves drop off their loot here, and the boss will trick it out so even your own mom wouldn't recognize it.
And if you've got the cash, you can get all sorts of upgrades. Special tires, custom glass, armored plates, boosters—even Roman chariot-style blades on the wheels. Rumor has it, one car at the Reckless Rally had those blades, and when it rolled through the crowd, it was pure carnage—limbs everywhere, guts dragging down the street.
Pierce spent three grand souping up his beloved ride. Jill Young can't see what's so special, but Pierce is thrilled. "I'm calling it 'Drug Lord One.' In this baby, nothing short of a hail of bullets can touch us. Come on, let's go make some money!" Pierce is all fired up as he drives off with Jill Young riding shotgun.
Pierce dabbles in all sorts of stuff—he's been a middleman, an informant, even a pimp, but his main gig is drugs. He used to be big-time, but now he's just the last link in the chain. Yep, he's that guy in the movies, hanging out in sketchy alleys, swapping cash for product with junkies—your friendly neighborhood drug retail dealer.
Pierce floored it, totally stunned. "You—you just robbed a deal?!" He sniffed, and his pro instincts told him one crate was packed with drugs, the other was either guns or cash. "How’d you even know there was a deal going down here?"
"Just happened to spot it. Well, not all luck—I saw them fifteen minutes ago, dressed exactly like Syndicate goons, so I figured they were in on it. Normally I wouldn’t bother with small fry, but after hearing your sob story, I had to grab some extra cash." Jill Young had zero guilt taking on Syndicate lackeys. She popped open the crates. "One full of guns, the other full of powder—looks like they were swapping goods. How much could you make off this powder?"
Pierce stared at the crate of powder, eyes wide. "I haven’t seen this much powder in ages. This box alone’s gotta be worth ten grand!" Ten grand was a massive windfall for Pierce—his eyes were practically sparkling with excitement.
But Jill Young just snorted, leaned back with her arms behind her head, and said coolly, "Let me ask you—if you had this powder, these guns, and your supplier suddenly dropped dead, could you take over?"
"Take over? You gotta be kidding!" Pierce’s dark face turned red. "With my skills, I could corner the whole district’s supply!"
"Then I’m giving you one week to pull it off." Jill Young peeled off her fake mustache, smirked. "No One Under Heaven—we’re about to expand, fast."
"Oh, you’re that confident?"
"Yep, totally confident. Turns out, even if I don’t love it, I’m actually pretty good at this."
[Author’s Note: Just got back, totally wiped out. Going to sleep early tonight—double chapters resume tomorrow. By the way, anyone wanna guess what ‘No One Under Heaven’ really means?]
Pierce had no idea what was up, but he did as told. He parked in a corner, and Jill Young gave him the same instructions: "Stay in the car, keep the engine running, wait for me." Then she hopped out. As she got out, Jill Young flipped out two handguns, loaded them, and with a baseball cap and a ridiculous fake mustache, she strode into a quiet alley, looking ready for trouble.
A moment later—shouts, screams, gunshots—and then silence. Jill Young swaggered back, reeking of gunpowder, lugging two big crates. She tossed them in the car and jumped into the passenger seat. "Step on it, before the cops or anyone else come after us."
Pierce floored it, totally stunned. “You—you just robbed a deal?!” He sniffed, and his pro instincts told him one crate was packed with drugs, the other was either guns or cash. “How’d you even know there was a deal going down here?”
“Just happened to spot it. Well, not all luck—I saw them fifteen minutes ago, dressed exactly like Syndicate goons, so I figured they were in on it. Normally I wouldn’t bother with small fry, but after hearing your sob story, I had to grab some extra cash.” Jill Young had zero guilt taking on Syndicate lackeys. She popped open the crates. “One full of guns, the other full of powder—looks like they were swapping goods. How much could you make off this powder?”
Pierce stared at the crate of powder, eyes wide. “I haven’t seen this much powder in ages. This box alone’s gotta be worth ten grand!” Ten grand was a massive windfall for Pierce—his eyes were practically sparkling with excitement.
But Jill Young just snorted, leaned back with her arms behind her head, and said coolly, “Let me ask you—if you had this powder, these guns, and your supplier suddenly dropped dead, could you take over?”
“Take over? You gotta be kidding!” Pierce’s dark face turned red. “With my skills, I could corner the whole district’s supply!”
“Then I’m giving you one week to pull it off.” Jill Young peeled off her fake mustache, smirked. “No One Under Heaven—we’re about to expand, fast.”
“Oh, you’re that confident?”
“Yep, totally confident. Turns out, even if I don’t love it, I’m actually pretty good at this.”
[Author’s Note: Just got back, totally wiped out. Going to sleep early tonight—double chapters resume tomorrow. By the way, anyone wanna guess what ‘No One Under Heaven’ really means?]