"Honestly, that didn't feel like a challenge at all."
After finishing the game, Evan Lin stretched lazily, couldn't be bothered to return to class, and headed straight out of the school.
He hailed a cab, gave the driver an address, and the car headed straight for SK Bar.
It was still early, and there were hardly any people inside SK Bar yet.
Evan pushed open the door and was immediately met by a man with yellow hair. Seeing Evan come in, the man sized him up and frowned: "Sorry, we're not open yet. You'll have to leave."
"Get Big Tank for me." Evan glanced at him and spoke slowly.
"Big Tank?" The man raised his eyebrows at Evan's words. "You think you can just call him that? You need to call him 'Big Tank Bro!' Don't act like you don't know the rules! Watch your mouth, or I'll beat you to death!"
Evan narrowed his eyes at this, let out a cold snort, and reached out with one hand, fist clenched, punching straight at the man's chest.
"What the hell, you bastard! You dare hit me!"
The man shouted angrily, but before he could react, he suddenly felt his whole body go light. The next moment, he was rolling far across the floor, crashing into several tables.
The bartenders nearby all turned pale when they saw what happened.
Someone had already run inside to get Big Tank.
Evan just pulled out a chair and sat down on his own.
"Who the hell dares to cause trouble in my place!"
Soon, Big Tank's voice rang out. He burst out from a back room with five burly men.
Ever since Tyler Zhou was beaten senseless by Evan, all his people had been cleared out. Now the place was back under Big Tank's control.
Big Tank had been living it up these past few days.
Just now, Big Tank was fooling around with a bar madam, pants already off and only one step from the finish line, when someone suddenly knocked on the door saying there was trouble and someone got hit.
Big Tank immediately yanked up his pants and came out.
"Not bad. Haven't seen you for a few days and your aura's even stronger." Evan sat there, playing with a glass on the table, face cold.
Big Tank was stunned when he saw Evan, then his face changed and he hurried over with a fawning smile. "Ah, Brother Nine Mysteries! What brings you here?"
Big Tank rushed toward Evan, but when he was about three steps away, Evan suddenly stood up and, before anyone could react, slapped Big Tank hard across the face.
The slap sent Big Tank flying, crashing into chairs and tables, rolling several times before stopping. Five clear finger marks appeared on his chubby face.
"Big Tank Bro!"
A few young guys turned pale and grabbed chairs, ready to go after Evan.
But those who'd seen Evan beat down Tyler Zhou before all stayed silent, not daring to step forward, their eyes full of fear.
"Don't move!"
Big Tank was dizzy from Evan's slap, struggling on the ground for a long time before crawling over to Evan. Deep down, he didn't dare have any ideas about Evan.
He knew that everything he had now was thanks to Evan Nine Mysteries.
"Brother Nine Mysteries, why did you do that?" Big Tank knelt in front of Evan, clutching his face, full of grievance.
"From now on, tell your men to keep their eyes open. And don't call me 'bro.' You're not even qualified to be my dog." Evan said coldly, his face icy.
Big Tank's face twisted, but in the end he nodded hard. "Got it, got it. That new recruit was clueless—please, Master, forgive him!"
The new recruits watched in shock as the usually swaggering Big Tank, especially these past few days, now willingly knelt before a high-school kid and called him 'Master.' None of them dared say a word.
"Get up now and come outside with me." Evan turned and walked out, hands behind his back.
Big Tank struggled to his feet, rubbed his waist, ignored his underlings, and hurried after Evan.
"Here you go, Master!" Big Tank said eagerly, opening the door of an Audi A4.
The car used to belong to Tyler Zhou, but after Evan crippled him, Tyler was still stuck in the hospital, so Big Tank naturally took it over.
Evan got in, Big Tank took the driver's seat, and glanced at Evan, who was resting with his eyes closed. He asked cautiously, "Master, so... where are we headed? Should I call a few more guys?"
Big Tank's eyes flickered as he looked at Evan beside him, his tone uneasy.
"Is your real name actually Big Tank?" Evan ignored the question and instead asked something completely unrelated.
Big Tank was stunned, then nodded. "Yeah, my name is Niu Dazhuang."
"I know you're not happy about it. After being a big boss for so long, suddenly becoming someone's dog must feel pretty awful, huh?" Evan spoke slowly, eyes still closed, his tone faint.
Big Tank's face shifted again and again, then he forced an awkward smile. "No way, being Brother Nine Mysteries' dog is all I could ever ask for."
Back at Imperial Grand, seeing how Victor Yu treated Evan had left Big Tank unable to figure out Evan's background.
And when Evan single-handedly took down Tyler Zhou at SK Bar, it had completely shocked Big Tank.
But just like Evan said, after finally making it as a boss, now being called less than a dog in public—if you said Big Tank wasn't upset, that'd be a lie.
"I don't care if you have other thoughts. Like I said, you're not even qualified to be my dog." Evan's icy tone made Big Tank shudder all over, his face stiff, eyes flickering.
Evan still didn't open his eyes, continuing, "Right now, it's just the two of us in this car. There's a three-inch knife with reverse barbs hidden under the seat on your right. Don't you want to give it a try?"
"For the sake of your pathetic pride, why not see if you can catch me off guard and send me to the grave with one stab?" Evan's tone was playful. Big Tank was sweating bullets, said nothing, and glanced at the knife hidden by the gearshift.
"If you can stab the knife into my heart, I'm sure Victor Yu would thank you for it. Really don't want to give it a shot?" Evan's eyes snapped open, gaze sharp as a blade, staring straight at Big Tank.
Big Tank gritted his teeth, met Evan's gaze, but finally lowered his head and croaked, "Sorry..."
"If there's a next time, I'll kill you."
Evan turned away, his face calm again, looking out the window. "Still, you actually found yourself a good master. Relax—as long as you obey, I'll let you be my dog."
"From now on, all of Brightsea will be the bones I feed to my dog."
Evan's gaze was icy, his tone tinged with a faint, lonely chill.