"Nothing but a worthless life? Fine, then I'll grant your wish today. Let's see just how worthless this life of yours is!" Brother Jun said viciously.
Upon hearing this, Liu Hao slowly closed his eyes, already resigned to his fate.
It had come to this, and that Demoness still hadn't arrived. It seemed all hope was truly lost.
Images of his glorious... no, his humiliating gangster life involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
Back in the day, he was the notorious top dog on the Internet Cafe Street in Wushui County. But then, Liu Yutong led a crew that gave him a brutal beating and had him thrown straight into the slammer.
Later, he drifted from Pearl City to Great South City, wandering from place to place. Every time his dream of making it big and getting stronger began to sprout, it was stillborn. And now, he was in a truly desperate situation.
Thinking of this, a wave of desolation washed over his heart.
"Oh, boundless heavens, why do you treat me so harshly!"
"Think of me, Liu Hao, I've been around the underworld all these years, I'm somewhat of a figure. Suppressed by the Demoness, hunted by Master Jiu... who else has had such experiences? Yet in the end, I'm still going to fall in this godforsaken place under a bridge."
"I refuse to accept this!!!"
At that moment, his few underlings couldn't hold back their tears either.
"Wah... Boss, in our next life, I'll still follow you. Just... try not to let us go hungry all the time, okay?"
"Boss, if I'm not dead yet, I promise I'll burn more paper money for you."
"Boss, have a safe journey!"
"..."
Brother Jun and his gang of thugs grew impatient listening to these guys wailing.
"Enough! Enough! Stop your damned howling! 'Boundless heavens'? The heavens don't have time for a worthless piece of trash like you! Brothers, let's teach them a good les..."
Before the word "lesson" could leave his mouth, a sudden change occurred!
"Look over there! Those anglers... it looks like they've all caught fish! They're all standing up!" one of the underlings suddenly exclaimed, pointing towards the riverbank.
His words made some of the fishing enthusiasts in the crowd immediately turn their heads.
"Really? Is it true?"
"Holy shit, are those 'air force' guys that excited? Did someone hook a monster fish over a meter long?!"
"Damn, did those 'air force' guys all get lucky today? Look how pumped they are, they're about to fling their rods away!"
"Man, I really wanna go cast a line too!"
Even the tied-up Liu Hao couldn't help but crane his neck to look.
"Damn, are there really fish in this river? If only I'd gone fishing myself."
He was now filled with regret. If they hadn't been lazy and gone fishing themselves, they wouldn't have been ratted out by that damn angler.
Of course, the main reason was that seeing so many people getting skunked, they didn't want to waste their time.
Stealing is way faster than fishing!
Just then, one of the thugs seemed to notice something odd.
"Something's not right, Brother Jun. Look at their movements... it doesn't look like they're fighting a fish. It looks more like they're backing away?"
"What do you know? It must be a monster fish pulling hard. They're in a tug-of-war with it, tsk tsk... judging by the commotion, it's gotta be at least fifty pounds!"
"Fifty pounds? Bullshit! I've fished at this spot before. If a fifty-pounder comes out of here, I'll eat this steel pipe right now."
"Hey, so many people are standing up, but why isn't anyone using a landing net? They're all just opening their mouths without making a sound, looking like they've seen a ghost."
"Maybe there really is a ghost?"
"Don't talk nonsense! There's no such thing as... whoa, holy crap!"
Everyone's movements froze. The noise died instantly, and their pupils widened in shock.
They saw the anglers who had been fishing by the river were now hastily grabbing their gear and running away.
It wasn't that they had actually seen a ghost, but they had seen something even more terrifying.
After the anglers fled in panic, Brother Jun and the others finally saw the scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
The once relatively quiet riverbank was now, at some unknown time, covered in a stretch of pure black. It felt as if a dark cloud had fallen to the ground.
When they finally saw clearly what the black mass was, they all gasped sharply.
People.
A dense, countless sea of figures dressed in black!
All of them were wearing identical black suits, and on the left chest of each was a dragon emblem. There were so many of them, the end of the line couldn't be seen.
Just the sight of this formation was enough to suffocate a person with its oppressive weight.
At the forefront of this dense black mass stood three people.
On the left was Yun Cheng. On the right were two female members of the Ten Thousand Dragons Society, also dressed in black formal attire.
Standing in the center was a very young woman wearing a black trench coat, whose aura seemed incredibly powerful.
The thugs who had been so cocky just moments ago now felt their entire bodies go rigid.
Some of them had seen this kind of formation before, but seeing it again still made them tremble instinctively.
The Ten Thousand Dragons Society, again!
Except for Liu Hao, the other four members of the Sky Eye Gang were seeing this terrifying scene—akin to a top-tier gang's entrance in a movie—for the first time. They all began to stammer.
"B-Boss... wh-who are all these people? They're so scary!"
"Wait! Look at their chests, the dragon! Is this the Ten Thousand Dragons Society, the one Boss mentioned, that Demoness's crew? Boss, you're done for, another enemy's here!"
"Boss, did you break some heavenly law? Why are your enemies each more menacing than the last? You're really dead this time! The coffin lid won't even be able to contain you!"
"Boss, don't be afraid! When they come over, I'll kneel and beg them. I'll beg them to leave your body intact, not to throw you in the river for the fish."
Liu Hao: "???"
Listening to his underlings curse him like this, he finally couldn't take it anymore and yelled, "Shut the hell up, all of you! A bunch of clueless idiots! This is the backup I called for! Backup! They're the people I summoned! If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll throw you into the river to feed the fish first!"
The four underlings instantly fell silent, but the expressions on their faces clearly showed they still didn't quite believe it.
Boss, have you gotten so hungry you're hallucinating and talking nonsense now?
On the other side, the thugs led by Brother Jun had palms slick with cold sweat gripping their steel pipes.
Just the sight of the other side standing there motionless was oppressive enough to make them want to cry for their mothers.
Brother Jun forced himself to appear calm, took a step forward, and mustering his courage, shouted towards the sea of black, "Friends from the Ten Thousand Dragons Society, this is a private matter between us and these green-haired punks. We'd appreciate it if you'd step aside!"
Liu Yutong didn't even acknowledge him. Instead, she looked at Liu Hao and the others. "Is the item still there?"
Seeing himself ignored, Brother Jun felt furious inside but didn't dare show it.
"Friends from the Ten Thousand Dragons Society, are you really willing to break with us over these worthless green-haired trash? You should think carefully about the cost..."
"Enough chatter!" Liu Yutong said coldly.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Yun Cheng, standing on Liu Yutong's left, immediately moved.
A moment later.
Thud!
Brother Jun was sent flying backward, crashing hard into the concrete wall of the bridge arch, nearly foaming at the mouth.
