Chapter 16: The Deal

Chapter 16 The Deal

"Though Hu Zhong isn't dead yet, the Jiedao Society is as good as destroyed, and Zhao Dou has met a fate considered worse than death in the eyes of others."

Zhao Ding paused, his expression solemn. "But this storm isn't over."

Li Jun frowned at the words, instantly grasping Zhao Ding's meaning. "Master Ding, you mean Luo Zhen will make a comeback?"

Zhao Ding waved a hand, and four burly men immediately lowered the sedan chair gently. The Paoge brothers in the muddy arena filed out at once.

Even the two bionic caregivers produced by the Fuweng Group were forcibly expelled by Zhao Ding.

Moments later, the vast Nine Dragons Boxing Arena held only three people: Li Jun, Zhao Ding, and Kuang Qingyun.

And the corpses littering the ground, the blood flowing in rivers.

"If Luo Zhen can swallow such a massive loss of face, he wouldn't be the Patrol Inspector of the Jie'e District."

Zhao Ding spoke with absolute certainty. "He will definitely strike at the Paoge Society again, and next time, it will be a fight to the death between us."

Li Jun wasn't surprised by Zhao Ding's prediction of a counterattack.

After all, a Patrol Inspector of the Garrison Guard Bureau, though not even ranking as a Ninth-Rank official, was a figure of real power.

Moreover, he had lost face to a gang within his own jurisdiction. If he didn't reclaim his prestige, Luo Zhen would become a laughingstock within the Garrison Guard Bureau.

But Li Jun couldn't understand why Zhao Ding chose to fight Luo Zhen to the bitter end.

A dying man—what did he have left to let go of?

Zhao Ding seemed to read his mind, seeing straight through Li Jun's thoughts. His voice was low. "It's not that I won't let go. It's that I *can't*."

"Li Jun, do you know why the Chengdu Prefecture tolerates the existence of a tumor like the Jie'e District?"

Li Jun pondered for a moment, replying with slight hesitation. "For stability?"

The Jie'e District sat at the southernmost tip of Chengdu Prefecture, bordering the Qingyang and Shenniu residential zones.

Though there were no isolation walls or high-voltage grids between zones, the Tianfu Garrison Guards led bionic city enforcers on twenty-four-hour patrols.

The entire district was managed with a loose interior and tight exterior—easy to enter, hard to leave.

This management model formed a cage, concentrating all the criminals and outcasts of Chengdu Prefecture in one place to prevent them from overflowing into other zones to commit crimes.

"That's only one reason."

Zhao Ding smiled, raising a hand to point at the dome of the Nine Dragons Boxing Arena.

Li Jun looked up, only now discovering a massive, damaged golden Buddha painted on the ceiling.

The Buddha's body was ruined, revealing ancient mechanical structures within. Its power source lost, the Buddha wheel behind its head had become an ugly iron ring.

Beneath the Buddha sat a lotus throne piled high with Daming Treasure Notes. A Buddha half-golden flesh, half-prosthetic, sat upon it, solemn and majestic.

Below the throne, in flamboyant spray-painted characters, were four large words: Capital Bodhisattva.

Zhao Ding's tone was wistful. "This is the *real* reason the Jie'e District has persisted. Profit!"

"Exactly. The Jie'e District is a garbage dump. But it is also this city's indispensable sewer. All things that can't see the light flow through here."

"Illegal Yellow Millet Dreams that drown the consciousness cost a mere thousand Daming Treasure Notes, yet can be reused to earn you tens of thousands."

"Prosthetics, chips, meridians, dantians... things ordinary people couldn't afford in a lifetime of work come cheap in the Jie'e District. You might think these black-market mechanical implants are shoddy goods, but to the desperate, they are life-saving straws."

"The Martial Arts Injectors you've used—since the decline of the martial sects, the largest supplier is the Daming Ministry of War. Would outcasts like us dare buy from the Ministry? No. But in the Jie'e District, you can get them."

"Even real human slaves—people dare sell them here!"

Zhao Ding's voice was deafening, each sentence chiseling into Li Jun's heart.

The truth hidden beneath the prosperous facade of the Great Ming Empire gradually clarified in Li Jun's mind.

"To outsiders, this place is a dump. To insiders, it's paved with gold. And we... we are the handpicked managers."

Managers? Li Jun's heart went cold. Plainly put: fall guys.

"Whether it's the Jiedao Society, the Annan Gang, the Paoge Society, or the minor gangs like the Korean Gang—they are all just puppets for someone else."

"We never had the qualification to walk away. If we lose, it's a dead end."

Zhao Ding lowered his gaze, his deep eyes locking onto Li Jun's. "I'm as good as dead, but the brothers who eat at my table still have to live."

"If the Paoge Society is forced out, their end will be just as miserable."

Li Jun looked at the solemn Zhao Ding, inexplicably recalling Wu Ya Hua's words:

*Zhao Ding is a bastard, but he does right by the word 'Paoge'.*

Saying this much at once was a tremendous burden for the current Zhao Ding.

He took a deep breath, shooting a reassuring glance at the worried Kuang Qingyun beside him, and continued:

"You've already advanced to the Martial Dao Sequence. By imperial decree, you are no longer an outcast. You can leave the Paoge Society anytime."

"So I'm not speaking to you as the Hall Master now. I want to make a deal with you as equals."

Li Jun raised a hand to brush his eyebrow. "What deal?"

Zhao Ding said, "I pay. You kill. Fair and square. Don't worry—Kuang Qingyun can produce an Eighth-Rank Internal Skill manual. I'm the Hall Master of the Paoge Society; my coffin savings are thicker than you imagine."

Li Jun didn't agree immediately. Instead, he asked, "Luo Zhen is a Patrol Inspector of the Tianfu Garrison Guard Bureau. An official. If he's shameless enough to deploy the Tianfu Guards, what can a mere Ninth-Rank Martial Dao Sequence like me do?"

"The Paoge Society isn't just our Muddy Water branch. If Luo Zhen truly dares use the Garrison Guard's power, someone will naturally step in to clean him up."

"Otherwise, why did Luo Zhen enter Nine Dragons Street today with the Jiedao Society, instead of the Tianfu Garrison Guards?"

Seeing Li Jun still hesitant, Zhao Ding didn't rush. He smiled. "No hurry. You have time to think. Contact me when you decide."

"Oh, by the way, a reminder."

Zhao Ding suddenly changed the subject. Li Jun looked up in shock, his dark pupils contracting sharply.

The old man on the sedan chair slowly threw off his black greatcoat, revealing a body like withered branches. Loose skin hung in bags of varying sizes.

Where his dantian should be, there was no flesh—only a pitch-black void. Even shriveled organs were visible within.

An indescribable, pungent stench permeated the air.

"Do you know why my genes are collapsing?"

Li Jun's face was full of shock. He shook his head blankly.

"Greed in my youth. I injected too many martial arts seeking power, yet my Sequence wouldn't rise. In the end, I exhausted my blood and qi."

"By the time I had the cultivation method and ritual needed to ascend, my genes were already rotten."

A brilliant smile bloomed on Zhao Ding's face. He laughed uproariously.

"Hahahaha! I was once a Ninth-Rank Martial Dao Sequence too! A pure Flesh Believer! The strongest thug in the Jie'e District!"