Chapter 86: The Mysterious King

"Brother Zhang, hello, it's Li Zhi. We’ve had dinner before, remember? Yes, that’s right. I have a big deal and I’m not sure if you’d be interested..."

Zhang Hu was the right-hand man of the local gang leader. Years ago, when Li Zhi was still a doctor, he had saved Zhang Hu’s life, so Zhang Hu owed him a favor. Li Zhi had never wanted to use that favor, but now, for the sake of his own son’s future, he played his biggest card.

In the town’s “Everyday Entertainment Club.”

“Boss, there’s something I need to report to you.” Zhang Hu approached a man in a suit, looking genteel and refined, who appeared to be under forty.

“What is it?” The man named Wang smiled disarmingly—a harmless smile to most, but to Zhang Hu, it was the smile of the devil.

“It’s like this: a doctor who once saved my life wants to do business with us...” Zhang Hu explained the situation.

Wang smiled faintly when he had finished listening. “He wants half the cut? This guy has quite the appetite. He thinks he can just talk his way into taking half the profits? He really doesn’t take me, Wang Ling, seriously. By the way, what’s the name of the person you mentioned?”

“His name is Chen Yun,” Zhang Hu replied.

“Chen Yun... a master chef... How interesting, what a coincidence. Truly, killing two birds with one stone. Give the order,” Wang Ling commanded. “Intercept Chen Yun on the main road into town and bring him to me.”

“Yes, boss!”

On the main road into town, Chen Yun put away his electric scooter and began to walk, looking around as he went.

“I wonder if this town sells guns. Probably no gun shops, but even a toy gun would do. I remember the system treats toy guns as real ones. I can’t use the Deadly Handgun against a bunch of street punks—that would be overkill.”

As Chen Yun walked and watched, suddenly something covered his nose. Before losing consciousness, Ye Ming heard the system prompt:

“Player Chen Yun has been attacked with drugs by Elite NPC Zhang Hu and has fallen unconscious for 20 minutes...”

Back at the Everyday Entertainment Club.

“Is this him?” Zhang Hu pointed at the unconscious Chen Yun and asked Li Zhi.

“Yes, that’s him! My wife told me he’s a master chef and definitely has money!” Li Zhi exclaimed excitedly. “Now Hu Daniu’s family will have to come and ransom him. I’ll see to it they’re left penniless!”

“No need for a ransom,” Wang interjected, approaching. “I have another score to settle with this fellow. Zhang Hu, he’s no longer of use to us. Break his legs and throw him out. Oh, I forgot—he once saved your life. Fine, just rough him up a bit.”

Li Zhi was terrified. What was happening? Were they going to cast him aside now that he was no longer useful?

“You can’t do this! I gave you the information on this guy. We agreed—the money we find, we split fifty-fifty! Not a penny less!” Li Zhi shouted, his arms clamped by the thugs, frightened out of his wits.

“Did you make this agreement with Zhang Hu?” Wang grinned, looking at Zhang Hu. “Zhang Hu, did you agree to it?”

“N-no, Boss,” Zhang Hu stammered, unable to meet Wang’s gaze.

“See? Even Zhang Hu says no. You must be mistaken.” Wang sipped his coffee, still smiling.

“Zhang Hu, you can’t go back on your word! Have you forgotten I once saved your life!” Li Zhi’s eyes were bloodshot with rage at Zhang Hu’s betrayal.

“Hmph. Take him away and break his legs!” Zhang Hu barked, his face dark. “Being saved by someone like you is a disgrace! You despicable rat.”

“Bastard! Zhang Hu, you’ll die a miserable death! I regret it—I never should have worked with scum like you! I must have been blind—thugs are nothing but beasts!” Li Zhi screamed hysterically as he was dragged away.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Wang said suddenly, his smile vanished, voice cold as death. “Throw him into the ‘Dragon’s Nest’—let the Divine Dragon have him!”

Every gangster present shuddered in unison.

“Boss, no one but you dares approach the Divine Dragon. It eats anyone it sees...” Zhang Hu stammered, swallowing hard.

“Oh? Then beat him half to death and lock him in the dark room. I’ll feed him to it later,” Wang said, raising his coffee again.

“Yes, thank you, Boss!” The crowd was relieved, rushing to carry out the order. Zhang Hu wiped cold sweat from his back. He personally dragged Li Zhi to the dark room and threw him inside.

Inside, Li Zhi stared at the iron rod in Zhang Hu’s hand and screamed, “Why? I brought you business—why are you doing this?”

“Because we only care about money, not people.” Zhang Hu brought the rod down, knocking Li Zhi unconscious. In his heart, he muttered, “Sorry, but our boss is not human.”

Zhang Hu’s thoughts drifted back to a month before.

That day, he and the former king of the town’s underworld, Brother Chong, were drinking and eating meat here, plotting how to seize more territory from rival gangs, when a man barged into the club—Wang Ling.

He walked straight up to Brother Chong and said, “Submit to me or die.”

Of course, Brother Chong refused, reaching for his cleaver to hack this intruder to death. But what happened next was something Zhang Hu would never forget.

Wang Ling stretched out his right hand, and from it emerged a small snake, barely five centimeters long and less than two centimeters wide.

The snake landed on the table and instantly grew to an incredible size, crushing the table beneath it. With one gulp, it swallowed Brother Chong and was about to devour Zhang Hu when Wang Ling waved his hand. The giant snake immediately shrank, flew into Wang Ling’s hand, and vanished.

Every gangster in the club was scared out of their minds; their understanding of the world was shattered.

“Let me introduce myself. My name is Wang Ling. That dragon you just saw is my spirit beast. You can call it the Divine Dragon. From now on, there is only one boss here, and I am your king!”

Wang was cunning. Within a month, he unified all the town’s criminal factions, rewarding those who obeyed and sending those who defied him into the Divine Dragon’s belly.

Zhang Hu could not fathom what species the giant snake was—it could not be cut by blades or pierced by bullets. What baffled him even more was how a snake several meters long and thick could fit inside Wang’s body. Not even cultivators could perform such feats.

One thing, however, was certain: the man who called himself Wang was definitely not human.

“Wake Chen Yun up,” Wang ordered his men.

“Yes, my king!” One of them opened a bottle of beer and poured it over Chen Yun’s face.

The entire bottle drenched Chen Yun, but he didn’t stir, lying there as if dead. The henchman was puzzled—had Tiger used too much of the drug?