No one else emerged from the stairway entrance. Not a single person came back down, including Park Jae-ri, who had just gone up, and the thirty-odd men he had brought with him. People tried to imagine the scene upstairs...
Dusk was falling. The golden glow of the setting sun spilled across the street, and the entire avenue held its breath.
A gust of wind blew past, lifting the few strands of hair Boss Dao had left.
Filio and the core members of the freelance band had never left. Now they stood stiffly by the roadside, gazing at their boss in a mixture of joy and bewilderment—at that familiar yet alien fringe of hair.
"I always said, no matter what happened all these years, Boss just never died," one of the veteran members mumbled dully.
"Yeah, and lately our band's battle record has been amazing too."
"He's stopped hiding it."
In the dead silence of the street, Boss Dao turned to face them and waved them over. Once someone hurried up, he took a cigarette, lit it from their flame, and said flatly, "Help me find a nearby hospital. Tell them to hurry and send an ambulance over to pick up the bosses upstairs for emergency treatment."
"Right away, Boss!"
Meaning the people upstairs were in critical condition... Two lackeys responded with delight and dashed off.
Boss Dao lowered his head placidly, lingering by the roadside to smoke.
Every eye was fixed on him.
Han Qingyu and Wu Xu walked over to the heavy-duty garbage truck. Rusty Sister and Zhe Qiuhong had also climbed down by now, leaning against the vehicle and blocking most of the onlookers' view.
"What, were you really worried?!" Han Qingyu glanced at the two wooden cases on Rusty Sister's back and sensed that his column sword was in the truck as well. With a wry smile, he raised a hand and patted her metal cheek—roughly along the side of her jaw—saying, "Since when were you so hotheaded?"
Rusty Sister tilted her head up and gave a huff.
Han Qingyu turned around. Out of habit or momentum, in one smooth, natural motion, he patted Zhe Qiuhong's cheek too, smiling gently. "Was Doctor Zhe very disappointed? A little bit, perhaps?"
"...Take your hand off me." Zhe Qiuhong stared straight into his eyes.
At the same time, high above their heads in a building across the street, was someone they assumed was currently roaming carefree around the world...
In truth, he really had been living pretty carefree.
"Ah... it's them!"
Having suddenly spotted familiar figures, Young Master Shiheng was currently suspended in midair, clawing and struggling toward the window. Behind him, Ye Jian held him by the collar with one hand, dragging him back with effortless ease.
"Rusty Sister, how... how did you get so pretty?! Why did you guys come to this godforsaken place? Your Brother Shiheng is here too!"
Rusty Sister's metal armor had a new appearance, but that motion of tilting her head up and huffing was something Liu Shiheng knew all too well.
Although he had always believed they weren't dead, the moment he actually saw them right before his eyes, Liu Shiheng's eyes turned red.
"Plague Chicken!"
"Tangtang!"
"Qingzi! That's Qingzi... What happened to Qingzi's face?! Sob!"
Suddenly seeing Han Qingyu turn his head, and spotting that gruesome, massive scar across his face, Liu Shiheng burst into tears, weeping as he struggled.
That was plainly an old wound. Why hadn't Qingzi shed his skin? And they had come to the City of Iniquity, seemingly not doing very well. What had happened to them?
Liu Shiheng struggled with all his might, but the man holding him was Ye Jian; he couldn't break free no matter what.
"Brother Ye, let me go see them! Brother Ye... please, I'm begging you, please! I have to ask what happened to Qingzi's face... Sob..."
"...Ye, you bastard, let me go!" Liu Shiheng turned around and bit at Ye Jian's hand, couldn't pierce his skin, and flailed with wild windmill punches.
"Fuck you! I'll kill you, you believe me?!"
"I'll poison you, burn off your hair, and castrate you in your sleep...!"
"Do you want Snow Lotus to know they're here?!" Ye Jian's hand didn't budge as he asked coldly.
Liu Shiheng froze abruptly. "..."
"Courtney is scouring the globe for us. With her strength, even I can't be certain whether she's nearby," Ye Jian continued.
"Then I... I... waaah..." The young master began wailing again.
Smack! Resigned, Ye Jian lightly tapped Liu Shiheng with his left hand, knocking him cold, and hauled him away.
Five hours later, Young Master Shiheng woke up on a night-sailing ship out at sea. The moment he opened his eyes and saw Ye Jian, he instantly broke into a warm, radiant grin. "Brother Ye!"
Ye Jian: "..."
"Brother Ye, why did you tie me up?" Liu Shiheng gave a little wiggle and asked with a grin.
"To poison you, burn your hair, and make you a eunuch." Ye Jian pulled out a small knife and made testing slashes in the air.
"Come on, Brother Ye, don't mess around! Look at our bond—we practically share the same pair of pants."
Liu Shiheng strained to lower his head and activated his device with his chin. With a low hum, it vibrated.
The rope didn't snap.
The rope seemed to be made of no ordinary material.
Ye Jian looked at him helplessly. "You've been rolling with me for almost half a year now, with all the source energy blocks you could ever want. Why hasn't your strength improved in the slightest?"
"Because there's no need, Brother Ye." In reality, he had improved a little bit. Liu Shiheng put on a pitiful expression as he spoke, gesturing toward the rope around him.
Ye Jian cut the ropes with the knife, looked him up and down, and remarked, "All you bloody did was put on twenty-odd jin. Honestly, if I really let you down there, I doubt they'd even recognize you."
"No way." Liu Shiheng sat up, rubbed his arms, and glanced at Ye Jian—who had actually gained over ten jin himself. "So where are we going to have fun next, Brother Ye?"
"To Snow Lotus headquarters," Ye Jian said.
"Hic! Why are we going there, Brother Ye?!"
"To have a meeting with Ne."
"Well then, safe travels, Brother Ye! I'll wait for you in Las Vegas."
"You're coming with me," Ye Jian said coldly.
"Oh. Okay." Liu Shiheng nodded.
Three seconds later, there was a loud splash out on the sea. Someone had jumped overboard from the deck.
Ye Jian didn't chase him. He merely ordered the boat to stop and sat on the deck, waiting.
Half an hour later, Young Master Shiheng climbed back onto the boat, clutching a fish. He raised his arm high from afar and called out enthusiastically, "Brother Ye, what do you think of this fish?! Would it make a good meeting gift for Boss Ne?"
Ye Jian nodded calmly. "Sure. Not bad."
***
Dressed in surgical scrubs, Boss Dao lay on a gurney outside the operating room, his composure looking on the verge of cracking.
"Relax and get the surgery, Boss Dao," Wen Jifei comforted him.
"Okay." Boss Dao nodded.
Given the current situation, there was naturally no need to turn down the next two months of work. Besides, Ah Jing had told him last night that they planned to absorb part of the Third Band's men, reorganize, and start going out to hijack wild ships.
And leave the outsiders guessing whether Boss Dao's surgery and recuperation were real or just a smokescreen.
Once a freelance band began competing for wild ships, it entered a whole different league. But that also meant vastly greater dangers. Boss Dao looked up, seeking out Han Qingyu.
"Remember to take good care of the boys."
"Don't worry, Boss Dao," Han Qingyu nodded.
Eight hours later...
Boss Dao woke from deep general anesthesia. He turned his head to look at the people in the hospital room, confirming he was still alive.
"What's all that noise downstairs?"
"Oh, it's the big bosses from the Third Band. They've been transferred to several hospitals now, but none of them could save them. They're on the verge of dying," Filio said.
"Oh."
"How about Boss Dao introduces a good doctor to them?" Wen Jifei said, standing on the other side.
Boss Dao nodded.
Ten minutes later, Zhe Qiuhong finished her examination, stepped aside, and uttered two simple words: "Can save."
The several men on the hospital beds, who had been on the brink of death, twitched weakly.
"However, it will be very expensive... The treatment is exceedingly difficult and requires long-term cooperation on all fronts. In order to save you, I must first buy this hospital."
"Yes..."
"We have it..."
"We do..."
Outside the clinic room, Wen Jifei, He Tangtang, and Han Qingyu exchanged looks. Those bastards really did have more after all—when it came to settling their debt earlier, they had sworn up and down that they didn't have another dime to squeeze out.
Chapter 453