Gulp!
Brother Pao and his men swallowed hard, their eyes filled with terror.
Truth be told, they had seen their fair share of action in Great South City, but they had never encountered such an intimidating group of men in black.
It was even more shocking than what they'd seen in movies.
After all, movies were just on a screen—nothing compared to the real thing.
If the attire of the twenty-odd men earlier had only mildly surprised them, the sight of these hundreds of black-clad figures now filled them with sheer dread.
Sure, they had over a hundred men on their side too.
In terms of numbers, they weren’t completely outmatched.
But then...
Slap!
Brother Pao suddenly smacked himself hard across the face, his fear instantly replaced by a twisted snarl.
His eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at Yu Xin and the sea of despair-inducing black behind her.
"Brothers, pick up your weapons!" he roared.
"So what if they outnumber us? Didn’t we just beat the crap out of them earlier? Since when have we, the men of Great South City, ever backed down?!"
"Let’s kill 'em!"
Roused by Brother Pao’s rallying cry, the Great South City thugs mustered their courage and charged forward with wild shouts.
"Take 'em down!"
"Fight to the death!"
At first glance, the charge of over a hundred men was indeed terrifying.
Meanwhile, on the Wanlong Society’s side, they quickly divided tasks—some filming, others preparing to engage.
Just as the two sides were about to clash—
Whoosh—!!!
Over three hundred batons snapped open in unison, wielded by three hundred strong hands.
The movement was swift, impeccably synchronized, and the collective sound of the batons cutting through the air merged into a chilling, ear-piercing shriek!
Li Xiaohui excitedly grabbed Ma Da’s signature megaphone and yelled, "Hahaha...! Counterattack begins now! Knock 'em flat, ladies!"
The thugs from Great South City finally understood what true despair felt like.
Their crude street-fighting tactics were no match for sheer discipline and overwhelming force—they crumpled like paper toys.
The Wanlong Society’s martial arts halls weren’t just for show; they trained real fighters.
Take one rule set by the young mistress, for example: no member was allowed to have a beer belly.
Many trained like their lives depended on it!
Plenty of Wanlong members had well-defined abs under their clothes.
Though less visible in winter, come summer, when they stripped down, they’d all look like models.
Except for Ma Da, that is.
No matter how hard he trained, his belly just wouldn’t go away.
Time passed.
The men of Great South City fell like wheat before a scythe—completely overwhelmed.
Brother Pao’s face, still twisted with fury, froze in shock.
He’d seen tough guys, he’d seen ruthless ones, but never anything like this—a force as disciplined as an army, every member a powerhouse in combat.
This wasn’t some street brawl; this was a straight-up massacre!
His facial muscles twitched uncontrollably as he struggled to maintain his pitiful facade of toughness, but his eyes betrayed him.
All that remained in them was confusion.
Who am I? Where am I? I just wanna go home to Mom...
With a loud clang, someone dropped their weapon first, and soon the Great South City thugs were kneeling, hands raised in surrender.
"We surrender!"
"We give up! Seriously!"
"We were wrong! We admit it!"
"..."
Seeing the battle lost, Brother Pao’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees.
Yu Xin crossed her arms and looked down at him. "Now we can have a proper talk. About how you scammed Wanlong Supermarket in Bright Pearl City, and how you ganged up to beat our members in broad daylight..."
Brother Pao’s face turned ashen. "H-how do you wanna settle this? We’ll take whatever’s coming."
When you’re at someone’s mercy, you have no choice but to submit.
If he didn’t pay up, they probably wouldn’t let him leave easily.
As for revenge—once they dealt with Zhao Tianxing, there’d be plenty of time for that later.
Yu Xin nodded and turned to the others. "Alright, Brother Tianyi, I’ll leave this to you."
Zhao Tianyi happened to arrive just then, carrying a briefcase. After greeting Yu Xin and the others, he turned to Brother Pao and his men with a nostalgic smile.
"Been a while since I last settled accounts like this. Gotta say, I kinda missed it."
Back when he’d first joined the Wanlong Society by chance, his first job had been handling accounts.
But that had also been his ticket to the fast lane.
As his career took off, his law firm grew more prestigious, and he went from being a no-name lawyer to one of Bright Pearl City’s most renowned attorneys.
Especially in the underworld—his name carried weight.
Like that high-profile case not long ago, where he got a gang leader’s son acquitted.
A case everyone thought would land the kid at least a decade in prison, maybe even the death penalty, and he’d overturned it.
It had caused quite a stir in the circles.
These days, Zhao Tianyi rarely dealt with trivial matters, leaving minor disputes to other lawyers at Tianyi Law Firm.
Now, suddenly revisiting his old role, he couldn’t help but feel a thrill.
Adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses, he introduced himself.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. What a lovely day for some legal education."
"I am Zhao Tianyi, chief attorney at Tianyi Law Firm. It’s both an honor and a slight regret to represent Wanlong Supermarket in this case regarding your fraudulent activities, as well as the subsequent civil—and potentially minor criminal—liabilities stemming from your actions."
Brother Pao: "???"
Great South City thugs: "???"
Big-shot lawyer? Fraud case? Civil? Criminal charges?
What the hell are you even saying? Can you speak human?!
Ignoring their confusion, Zhao Tianyi opened his briefcase and pulled out a freshly printed document over a dozen pages thick.
The title read: [Compensation Claim and Legal Basis (First Draft)].
He flipped it open and began reading.
"First, regarding your fraudulent activities at Wanlong Supermarket, involving electrical appliances of various brands, XX items in total... the compensation demanded is 435,000 yuan at original price..."
Brother Pao and his men winced at the number, but they were willing to accept it.
They had swindled a fair amount, and now that they’d been caught, paying up was only natural.
Besides, 400,000 to save a hundred brothers’ lives wasn’t a bad deal.
Zhao Tianyi turned the page and continued.
"Secondly, you have openly engaged in illegal assembly within the jurisdiction of Bright Pearl City, using violent means to unlawfully restrict the personal freedom of members of the Ten Thousand Dragons Society, causing severe damage to their physical and mental well-being, as well as... um... their expensive clothing (which, to be honest, just got a little dirty)."
"These actions constitute attempted intentional homicide under Article 234 of the Criminal Law, assault under Article 43 of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, and a clear violation of XXX provisions regarding the infringement of the right to life, physical integrity, and health. Oh, and let’s not forget Article 5 of the Ten Thousand Dragons Society Employee Care Regulations, which stipulates special compensation for mental distress caused by harassment from societal riffraff during work hours..."
As Zhao Tianyi continued listing increasingly severe charges and increasingly absurd legal clauses, one of the thugs couldn’t take it anymore. He timidly raised his hand and muttered, "Uh... Lawyer... we didn’t kill anyone? We just... got into a fight. How does that turn into murder?"
Before he could finish, one of the black-suited underlings smacked him hard across the face. "How dare you! You address him as Great Lawyer Zhao! Know your place!"
The thug, now dazed from the slap, looked utterly wronged, wondering—what’s the difference between a "lawyer" and a "great lawyer"? Aren’t they the same thing? And since when do lawyers hit people?!
Zhao Tianyi, of course, didn’t bother explaining. He adjusted his glasses and coolly responded, "Sir, subjective intent is a matter for judicial determination. However, objectively speaking, your group was numerous, armed with weapons, and acted with extreme brutality, posing an immediate and grave threat to the lives of our members! This fully meets the judicial interpretation of 'aggravated circumstances' under the crime of intentional assault!"
"As for whether it was attempted—well... you should thank our Ten Thousand Dragons Society members for their diligent fitness routines. Their well-developed muscles provided superior defensive capabilities, significantly mitigating the damage. Additionally, our reinforcements arrived promptly and heroically intervened to halt your criminal actions. But none of this changes the fact that you are guilty of attempted homicide!"
