"Go, quick. Turn right at the next street," the man said concisely.

Zhou Chen nodded, vaulted the barricade, and officially entered the Fierce Tiger Gang’s territory. He followed the man’s instructions, turned right at the next street, and met the next undercover patrolman.

"There’s a staff entrance here that leads straight into the mall. Once you’re inside, though, you’re on your own. The place is crawling with people."

"Understood."

Zhou Chen proceeded down the staff corridor. Before long, he saw the exit and simultaneously sensed several life signatures.

’X-ray vision.’ The thought flashed through his mind.

In that instant, a faint light glowed in Zhou Chen’s eyes. The buildings in his vision turned transparent, allowing him to see through doors and walls to the enemies on the other side, who were highlighted in a striking red.

He looked up, then around. A single sweep of his gaze took in the positions of everyone nearby.

’A little peek isn’t cheating.’

Zhou Chen stood before the closed door, watching the three gang members sitting on the floor playing cards behind it. A thought sparked in his mind.

’Instant death.’

The three of them stopped breathing instantly. Their lives extinguished, their heads slumped forward.

After confirming that no one would see what had just happened, Zhou Chen pushed open the door and strolled inside as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping the area once more, taking in every detail.

The mall wasn’t large, only two stories, and it was now crawling with members of the Fierce Tiger Gang. They weren’t patrolling, however. Instead, they were clustered in groups of a few to a dozen, drinking, playing cards, and chatting, or forcing themselves on the men and women they had abducted.

Zhou Chen looked up, his gaze piercing through the now-transparent structure of the building to the scene on the second floor.

The Plague Doctor had shown him a photograph of Green, the leader of the Fierce Tiger Gang. He quickly located his target in a fairly open area on the second floor, sitting at a conference table and talking with four other people.

To Zhou Chen’s surprise, all four of them were Ascenders.

’The Plague Doctor’s intel was wrong... Wait, these people don’t look like they’re from the Fierce Tiger Gang...’ Zhou Chen sensed something was off. He immediately made a wish: ’Let me hear what they’re saying.’

·

"Green, what the hell did you drag us here for? If you have something to say, spit it out," said a woman whose face was covered in demonic tattoos.

Green, the leader of the Fierce Tiger Gang, was a burly man with a tiger head tattooed on his shoulder. He cut right to the chase. "I want to merge the Fierce Tiger Gang, the Evil Ghost Gang, the Chizuru Gang, the Blazing Fire Gang, and the Black Hand Gang into a single organization."

SLAM! A bald man slammed his fist on the table in fury. "In your fucking dreams, Green! Just two days ago, your Fierce Tiger Gang trashed one of the Black Hand Gang’s establishments and killed several of my men. I haven’t even settled the score with you for that, and now you’re suggesting this?"

"We can talk about all that. I can hand over the men who did it for you to deal with as you please," Green said, his tone surprisingly conciliatory.

This left the others bewildered. Green’s gang was called the Fierce Tiger Gang for a reason—he was ferocious, aggressive, and killed without a second thought. To see him acting so reasonably was a rare sight indeed. Even the bald leader of the Black Hand Gang was stunned, momentarily forgetting his rage.

"Stop beating around the bush, Green. Get to the point," the man from Yingzhou, dressed in a suit, said. "Why the sudden desire to merge our gangs?"

"Because of the Poisonous Sore Gang," Green said.

"The Poisonous Sore Gang? HAHAHAHA..." a young man with fiery red hair burst out laughing. "After that incident with the Nameless Clinic, the Poisonous Sore Gang took a massive hit from the Government Army. They don’t even dare show their faces now, and we’ve already carved up all their territory. You’re still afraid of them? HAHAHAHA... Green, are you on something?"

"The Poisonous Sore Gang may have suffered heavy losses, but don’t forget, the Plague Doctor is still alive. He’s a Tier Two Ascender. He could take out all five of us on his own."

Green’s tone was serious. "Today, an unknown Ascender appeared in Rusted Iron City. My men tried to rob him and got killed for their trouble. That’s not a big deal in itself... but later, I received intel that he bought data from the Rusted Iron City black market—the very same one the Plague Doctor runs."

"I have every reason to believe the Plague Doctor will do everything in his power to partner with this new Ascender. The Plague Doctor alone is enough to give us sleepless nights. If he gets another Ascender on his side... aren’t you scared?"

Silence.

After a long silence.

"Damn it..." the woman with the demonic tattoos cursed, rubbing her face. They might all be gang leaders now, looking like they ran the city after carving up Rusted Iron City for themselves, but in reality, it wasn’t long ago that the Plague Doctor was the true king of the underground.

It was only because of the Nameless Clinic incident that the Government Army targeted the Poisonous Sore Gang, forcing them to vanish overnight and giving the rest of them a chance to rise.

They had taken full advantage of the saying "kick a man while he’s down." While the Poisonous Sore Gang was weakened, they had hit them hard, killing many of their members, seizing their territory, and even selling intel to the Government Army in hopes they would finish off the Plague Doctor. This had created a feud that could only end in death.

The Plague Doctor hadn’t come for revenge yet, but that didn’t mean he never would. The moment the pressure from the Government Army let up, the Plague Doctor, a Tier Two Ascender, would only need a few hours to hunt them down and kill them one by one.

The faces of the gang leaders turned grim. It would be a lie to say they weren’t afraid.

Green said, "Right now, the best solution I can think of is to merge our gangs. The five of us stick together. That’s the only way we’ll have a chance of survival if the Plague Doctor comes for us. If he picks us off one by one, we’re all dead. We’re all smart here, so I won’t belabor the point. What’s your decision?"

"...Let’s merge, then," the leader of the Chizuru Gang agreed first.

"Let’s merge."

"I agree."

"...Agreed." The bald leader of the Black Hand Gang was deeply reluctant, but to save his own skin, he agreed with a sullen look on his face.

"I disagree."

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice drifted over from nearby.

"Who?!" Green roared, thinking one of his own men was mouthing off.

All five of them snapped their heads in that direction and were horrified by what they saw. At some point, the members of the Fierce Tiger Gang had all collapsed, showing no signs of life. And they hadn’t noticed a thing.

Zhou Chen gave them a slight smile and casually tossed an Aluminum Thermite grenade their way.

"Happy New Year, fellas. Let’s start with a big firecracker for you."

The Aluminum Thermite grenade traced an arc through the air, moments from releasing its terrifying heat. But in the next second, the eyes of the woman with the demonic tattoos glowed pink, and the grenade disintegrated in mid-air into a shower of colorful paper streamers.

"Oh? Not a bad Ability you’ve got there," Zhou Chen remarked, raising an eyebrow. "—Seal."

The woman with the demonic tattoos froze, then realized she could no longer activate her Ability, no matter how hard she tried!

"My Ability—it’s been sealed!" she shrieked in terror.

"He’s just a Tier One Ascender! Don’t be afraid!" roared the aggressive young man with fiery hair. His entire body instantly erupted in Fiery Fire, and a wave of scorching heat spread out, causing flammable objects nearby to ignite. Wreathed in flames, his Power and speed were significantly boosted as he lunged at Zhou Chen.

’Fire, extinguish.’

Zhou Chen spoke calmly. The aggressive young man immediately felt a potent Mysterious Power "choke" his flames. The Fiery Fire raging around his body was snuffed out in an instant, and the Essence within him felt as if it had solidified, refusing to circulate.

His face was a mask of disbelief, which twisted into terror the next second—he had willingly charged right up to Zhou Chen and had no time to stop.

Zhou Chen raised his Peace Defender Shotgun γ-Type. His lips formed the word: "Bang—"

BANG—The gunshot roared, echoing like a clap of Thunderbolt.

The aggressive young man vanished. In his place was a spray of blood and a mangled mass of flesh, no longer recognizable as a human being, that slammed onto the conference table, sending blood spilling everywhere.

"The Death God is here to collect..."

Zhou Chen whistled cheerfully. It had been a while since he’d gotten to go on a proper killing spree.