Xu Tingsheng entered the room and looked around. Old Jin was nowhere to be found.

  He pulled Little Jinshan up from bed, asking, “Where’s your Dad?”


  “What the, I overslept……come on, let’s go upstairs.”


  On the top floor of the hotel.

  Little Jinshan sat by the railing, his legs dangling in the air as he drank milk. Having a fear of heights, Xu Tingsheng gingerly shifted towards him, trying to look far away rather than down.

  Lu Zhixin asked, “What’re you looking at?”


  “Watching Jin Twenty-four’s plans flawlessly come to fruition, ruthlessly, unforgivingly,” Little Jinshan replied smilingly without looking back at her.

  “Jin Twenty-four?” Xu Tingsheng asked.

  “That’s Old Jin. My Dad,” Little Jinshan said.

  “Why is he twenty-fourth?”


  “Binzhou’s thirty, ranked according to age……he’s ranked twenty-fourth which is pretty young. There haven’t been many newcomers popping up in recent years. Grandpa Jiang said that if those youngsters don’t seize this opportunity, there won’t be anything for them when I’ve grown up……”


  Despite the fact that a little brat was saying this while drinking milk, no one was surprised by this incongruity at all.

  The sky was overcast and misty. Far off in the distance, the trail of trucks appeared majestic and imposing, like a coiling dragon. It was just too calm, really. Solemnity was not calmness. It was truly calm as some people got off from time to time, washing their face or brushing their teeth.

  Vehicles congregated inside the city from all around, whizzing through the streets……ferociously charging out.

  The local snakehead was retaliating.

  Xu Tingsheng found the scene somewhat surreal as youthful hot-bloodedness surged to his head and he looked forward to seeing what would happen……

  Lu Zhixin wondered aloud, “There seems to be a lot of people. Can Old Jin handle it?”


  Little Jinshan turned and glanced at her, “A lot, you say? Don’t be shocked later.”


  “Is your Dad preparing to take them all down in one fell swoop?” Xu Tingsheng asked.

  “Yeah,” Little Jinshan replied, “Uncle Xu, do you know why Jin Twenty-four dares to do this?”


  Xu Tingsheng shook his head.

  “It’s precisely because they’re the local snakehead. Because of that, many things are different with them. For instance, over three hundred of our people came yesterday, wrecking more than a dozen of HK’s places and beating up over a hundred seventy of their men……were they normal people, the police would receive over a hundred calls from people getting beaten up in a single night. That would be a mass violence incident. Maybe even the armoured police squad would come over to resolve it. My Dad would only be able to run away with his tail behind his legs.”


  “It’s different for local snakeheads, though. This isn’t about face, it’s their custom. If they face anything, they’ll report it to their higher-ups. If they can resolve it, they’ll resolve it on their own. If things are just too major, they’ll get their Chief to communicate with the people on top. HK definitely has connections with the local government and police……if a hundred and seventy people report, the Chief of HK will definitely go communicate with C City’s government.”


  “Come on, guess-what do you think those people will think then?”


  Little Jinshan answered his own question, “Those people will sigh in relief, believing it to be fortunate that it’s a matter of the community. Rather than a societal matter, they actually very much prefer this to be the case. The former could very well cause them their positions. As for the latter? For matters of the community, they can settle it amongst themselves as long as they don’t go overboard.”


  Xu Tingsheng did not say anything as it was Lu Zhixin who worriedly asked, “Will they send out the police then?”


  “First,” Little Jinshan raised a finger, “If things really go to that extent, would the Binzhou Thirty really be afraid of just a mere city like this?”


  He raised a second finger, “Secondly, If you’re the bureaucracy of C City that’s related to HK, what would you do now? You’d wait and see. It’s not like they’re underlings. Where they don’t understand something, why be rash? If there’s no chance, they won’t act. These dudes are sly.”


  “Thirdly,” He said, raising a third finger, “HK will not request them to make a move too. Their advantages of being a local snakehead and their long-term supremacy will always make them more confident of themselves……look, aren’t they going now? So, do you now understand why we only sent three hundred people in last night?”


  “What about afterwards? What happens after we take them all down in one fell swoop?” Lu Zhixin was most worried about the bureaucracy getting involved here, even if it was just the aftermath.

  “Having overturned him, he’ll be finished. Who can protect him? What’s there left to care about? At this point, those of the government will definitely stay out of this matter. Also, they probably have found out my Dad’s identity by now. Since it’s a matter of the community that does not harm societal peace and the lives of ordinary citizens, in the end, they will only be thinking: Leave, just leave! Don’t stick around here any longer than you have to.”


  Little Jinshan laughed, continuing, “Therefore, to topple the local snakehead, the most important point is speed, precision, brutality. Before it has fully awakened and musters up all its strength to deal with you, slam them apart.”


  “Why do people often say that it’s difficult for mighty dragons to suppress local snakeheads? That’s because the snakeheads always have complex networks running locally. Activating all those networks would be very troublesome-trapping the dragon, whittling down their strength till it collapses if they have to.”


  “What we have to do is to get them to unconsciously choose to forget about this network at the start, coming in for a head-on clash. When they’ve fallen apart and the rope pulling the net is gone, the net can naturally no longer be of any use.”


  Finishing up what he had to say, Little Jinshan drank a mouthful of milk and shook his head.

  “Speaking with those not in this trade is really tiring.”


  Xu Tingsheng glanced at him rather despondently, “Did your Dad explain all that to you?”


  “Half-half. In the past, he would say it all. Now, he says half and asks half. I guess half and answer half. Uncle Xu, aren’t I fated to be a member of the community? Grandpa Jiang says I am a genius bastard,” Little Jinshan said.

  “Scram! Has the genius finished doing his homework yet?!” Xu Tingsheng laughed and scolded.

  Now that a new year had arrived, Little Jinshan was already eight. Still, the heck……shouldn’t it be said that he was merely eight? He inexplicably recalled Old Jin’s words: ‘My son will be the local warlord of this stretch of gold in the future’.

  Little Jinshan’s life was fated to be this way, colourful and at the head of a wave. As for whether he would enjoy it, perhaps only he himself would know when looking back on it someday in the future……

  5.40am. The city was still calm, with few people out and about.

  Outside C City, by the national highway, several dozen vehicles of various kinds stormed fiercely towards the long dragon of over a hundred heavy trucks. Used to their supremacy in C City, going with so many people this time……many were filled with confidence and raring to go.

  “Boss Peng said that it’s fine as long as nobody dies. Onward! Dammit, even daring to act against us HK……”


  They charged.

  Those brushing their teeth and washing their faces alongside the trucks began to run away.

  With that, the confidence of HK’s people skyrocketed as it was like a wind had arisen beneath their feet, propelling them onward in a race to their prey……

  Everyone charged into the long dragon of heavy trucks.

  One second later, the long dragon seemed to have suddenly awoken as it shivered, its scales exploding……

  Watching from a distance, the originally tranquil and normal squad of vehicles had changed all of a sudden. Those doors covered by tarpaulins were pushed open as people began streaming out like a torrential flood, instantly enveloping the entire national highway……drowning the people of HK that had just charged in, all six hundred odd of them……

  Actually, from the vantage point of Xu Tingsheng and co, these people were barely the size of fingertips. Yet, it was precisely this indistinct sight that was shocking, majestic and stimulating.

  The corners of Little Jinshan’s lips curled upwards.

  Xu Tingsheng’s blood was boiling in excitement.

  Lu Zhixin was all wide-eyed and tongue-tied.

  Old Jin’s woman had a look of total adoration and worship on her face……

  At the villa, Peng Wu was in the midst of eating breakfast with his old buddies.

  They were reminiscing on the intense battles of the past, exclaiming emotionally at how they were unable to personally take to the battlefield nowadays.

  Someone now slammed open the door and charged into the restaurant……

  “How is it?” Peng Wu wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin and inquired calmly.

  “We were, ambushed! Everyone, all……toppled. So many people, so many……”


  Peng Wu shot to his feet, his chair toppling with a bang.

  “There were two thousand five hundred people at the very least.”Peng Wu sat down dully. Still, the chair had already fallen……he ended up sitting onto the floor. Instinctually grabbing the tablecloth, he dragged down all the plates, fruits and whatever food there was on the table. As a result, they all slammed down upon his body with an awful clatter.

  The few people present all gazed blankly at him, forgetting even to help him up. It had been a very long time since they had last seen Peng Wu in such a harried state……

  They uneasily sat and watched Peng Wu call around for assistance.

  The first.

  The second.

  The third……

  The phone was flung onto the ground.

  No help was coming……this logic was very simple. If this was an entanglement scenario, even if HK had fallen to a slight disadvantage, due to their ties built up over the years and the mutual benefits existing between them, HK would surely have allies. This embodied the full extent of their capabilities.

  Right now, however, this one mere blow had resulted in HK’s instant collapse within the shortest frame of time. It was like they had aggravated someone they should never have defied……and so, no help would come.

  Like Old Jin had said, that actual area in which local snakeheads were most tricky foes was not their actual combat capabilities but the interspersed local network of connections that amounted to their foundation.

  Sadly, this local snakehead, HK, had no chance to use their actual full strength whatsoever……the fact was that they themselves had fallen, the rope that was used to pull that net correspondingly becoming nothing.

  “Jin Twenty-four……” Peng Wu said.

  Jin Twenty-four’s reputation in the community had been very great these past few years, though it was not all that good a name he had built for himself. Twenty-four was merely an age ranking. In terms of worth, it was said that this person was already in the top five of that Binzhou Thirty despite not even having turned forty.

  “No, I just don’t understand. If it’s him, he should at least give us face if there’s anything, right? How did we offend him? Is there a need to go all out against us from the get-go like this?”


  “Actually, if he didn’t do this, I’d be able to play with him in C City even if he’s Jin Twenty-four. Even if I lost, it wouldn’t be so major a loss,” Peng Wu said dully, “But alas, he didn’t want to negotiate at all……”


  “Why?”


  “Remember what I said when deciding to move against that Hucheng? I said that they will definitely be afraid, because the scariest part about us is that others can follow suit. In the meantime, they would be wholly unable to deal with it……”


  “Jin Twenty-four’s goal is for others elsewhere to be scared upon viewing our outcome, no longer daring to move. He wants to hang us up on his flagpole, hence suppressing them all.”