Chapter 197 -
Chapter 197: Chapter
"Let’s get going,. An Li must still be waiting." Fu Sheng muttered as I nodded.
"Should Han Fuji tag along.. ?" Fu Sheng looked towards him, "I’m not sure Fu Tong will wanna talk to me.. so let him come along."
.....
After leaving the Fu residence, Fu Sheng, Han Fuji and I headed directly toward An Li’s house.
The three of us remained unusually quiet along the way, though I knew all of us were still thinking about the disaster that had unfolded at home earlier that morning.
Fu Sheng’s expression remained cold and unreadable.
Han Fuji, meanwhile, looked as though he wanted to ask a thousand questions but was wisely holding himself back.
By the time we arrived at An Li’s house, the sun had already risen higher into the sky.
Before we could even knock, the gate suddenly opened.
An Li appeared.
The moment she saw us, a grin spread across her face.
"You people are finally here."
She leaned lazily against the gate.
"I was starting to think you changed your minds."
Han Fuji immediately rolled his eyes.
"We haven’t even arrived and you’re already complaining."
An Li snorted.
"Of course I’m complaining."
She pointed toward the courtyard behind her.
"Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?"
I couldn’t help smiling.
An Li’s gaze landed on me.
"So?"
"Are you ready?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"Ready for what?"
She looked at me as though I had asked the world’s stupidest question.
"Ready to see the people I gathered, obviously."
Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and walked inside.
The three of us followed.
The moment we entered the courtyard, I immediately noticed more than a dozen men standing around.
Some were sitting.
Some were leaning against the walls, while some were chatting quietly among themselves.
The atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed.
The moment they noticed us entering, however, the conversations gradually stopped.
Everyone’s attention shifted toward us.
An Li folded her arms proudly.
"See?"
"I told you I could do it."
I looked at her.
"You gathered all of them?"
She nodded.
"I spent the last few days running around everywhere."
Then she pointed toward the group.
"These are the people I trust the most."
"Some are good at gathering information."
"Some know every street and alley in this district."
"Some can fight."
"And some are useful because they’re smart."
Han Fuji looked around.
"Only these people?"
An Li immediately glared at him.
"Only these people?"
She pointed at him.
"Do you think trustworthy people grow on trees?"
Han Fuji instantly raised both hands.
"Fine."
"My mistake."
"Please don’t hit me."
An Li rolled her eyes.
Then she looked back at me.
"Anyway."
"What do you think?"
I slowly surveyed the group.
Honestly, considering the short amount of time she had been given, she had done an impressive job.
Most importantly, these people looked comfortable around An Li.
That meant they trusted her.
And right now, trust was exactly what we needed.
Just as I was about to speak, a familiar voice suddenly echoed inside my mind.
[Ding!]
I froze.
The system.
A translucent screen instantly appeared before my eyes.
⸻
[ New Mission Activated :
Mission One: Become Leader of Unit Fifty
Status: Ongoing
Mission Two: Defeat Tiger Alley
Status: Activated ]
Description: Eliminate Tiger Alley’s influence and establish Unit Fifty as the dominant force within the district.
⸻
I stared at the screen.
Then stared some more.
For several moments, I genuinely didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
One mission wasn’t enough.
Now there were two.
Become the leader of Unit Fifty.
Defeat Tiger Alley.
The system truly had no intention of letting me live peacefully.
After dismissing the screen, I looked up again.
An Li immediately noticed something was wrong.
"What?"
I shook my head.
"Nothing."
Han Fuji narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"That face says otherwise."
"I said it’s nothing."
An Li laughed.
"Whenever people say that, it’s usually something."
I ignored them.
Instead, I turned my attention back toward the gathered men.
Then I slowly took a deep breath.
Because whether I liked it or not, things had just become much more complicated.
And if I wanted to complete both missions...
Then Tiger Alley would have to fall.
The room gradually fell silent after An Li finished speaking, and for a brief moment nobody interrupted as the men standing before us exchanged glances with one another, their expressions carrying a mixture of bitterness, anger, and old resentment that had clearly been buried for a very long time.
Fu Sheng sat calmly beside me while Han Fuji leaned against a nearby pillar with his arms folded across his chest, and although neither man spoke, it was obvious that both were waiting for An Li to explain why she had selected these particular people from among so many others within Unit Fifty.
Finally Fu Sheng asked, "Why these men?"
An Li tilted her head as a smile appeared on her lips.
She crossed her arms and looked toward the group of men gathered in the courtyard before speaking slowly.
"You asked me why I chose them."
Fu Sheng nodded.
An Li’s expression gradually became serious.
"Because apart from being capable fighters, every single one of them has a personal grudge against Tiger Alley."
The atmosphere immediately changed.
The casual mood from earlier disappeared completely.
I straightened slightly in my seat.
Even Han Fuji lowered his gaze toward the men.
An Li gestured toward a tall man standing near the front.
"You start."
The man nodded once before taking a step forward.
His face was rough and weathered, making him appear much older than he actually was.
For several moments he remained silent before finally speaking.
"Three years ago, my younger brother was beaten to death by people from Tiger Alley."
The courtyard instantly became quiet.
The man’s fists slowly tightened.
"He was only sixteen."
His voice remained calm, but everyone could hear the pain hidden beneath it.
"He accidentally bumped into one of their men while carrying goods through the market."
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"That was all it took."
The man lowered his eyes.
"They dragged him away in front of everyone."
"They beat him until he could no longer stand."
"When we finally found him later that night, he was already dying."
"My mother never recovered from it."
"She passed away less than a year later."
The man looked toward the ground.
"And the people responsible are still walking around freely."
His voice became hoarse.
"Every single day I see them."
Nobody knew what to say.
An Li quietly nodded before looking toward another man.
The second man stepped forward.
His face carried an ugly scar running from his cheek to his jaw.
Unlike the first man, his anger was obvious.
"Tiger Alley took my shop."
He laughed coldly.
"My father spent twenty years building that place."
"Twenty years."
His voice grew harder with every word.
"One day their people arrived and demanded protection money."
"We paid."
"They demanded more."
"We paid again."
His expression twisted.
"Then they demanded ownership."
The room remained silent.
"My father refused."
The man’s eyes reddened.
"They broke both his legs."
"They burned half the shop."
"They threatened my sisters."
"They threatened my mother."
He clenched his jaw.
"And after all that, they still took everything."
The bitterness in his voice was impossible to hide.
"Now my family survives by selling vegetables on the roadside while those bastards enjoy the business my father built with his own hands."
An Li allowed him a moment before motioning toward another man.
This one was younger than the others.
Perhaps only a few years older than me.
The moment he stepped forward, I noticed the hatred in his eyes.
It was deeper than anything I had seen so far.
"My wife."
Those two words alone caused the atmosphere to freeze.
The young man swallowed.
"My wife was taken by Tiger Alley two years ago."
No one breathed.
"We searched everywhere."
His voice trembled slightly.
"For three days."
His eyes became red.
"When we finally found her..."
He stopped speaking.
For several moments he simply stood there.
The courtyard was so silent that even the wind seemed to have disappeared.
Finally, he continued.
"When we found her, she had already taken her own life."
A sharp pain spread through my chest.
The young man’s face remained expressionless.
Almost too expressionless.
As though he had already cried all the tears he possessed long ago.
"They destroyed her."
"They destroyed my family."
"They destroyed everything."
His voice dropped lower.
"And I have been waiting for revenge ever since."
One by one, the remaining men stepped forward.
Each story was different.
Yet every story ended the same way.
Fu Sheng slowly looked toward An Li.
"So that’s why you chose them."
An Li nodded.
"Skills can be trained."
Her gaze swept across the men.
"Strength can be built."
Then her expression hardened.
"But hatred like this..."
She pointed toward the group.
"...cannot be taught."
The men remained silent.
Yet the determination in their eyes was stronger than before.
An Li turned toward me.
"I know Tiger Alley better than most people."
She folded her arms.
"If we’re going to move against them, we’ll need people who won’t run away the moment things become difficult."
Her eyes moved back to the men.
"These people won’t run."