Chapter 89: The Mafia

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: The Mafia

"Not again."

More gangsters. Xiang Yi felt like he’d been running into these random punks a lot lately. They were as annoying as flies.

He had no idea how to get rid of these bastards for good. Inside the city, he couldn’t just kill them all like he would outside the walls, which made things very troublesome.

The robot that had been wielding the shotgun walked out of the factory, locking the door behind it to prevent the gangsters outside from rushing in.

Xiang Yi had thought the situation outside would be over quickly, but this new batch of gang members was clearly much bolder than the last.

The moment the robot stepped outside, a dense volley of gunfire erupted.

The robot collapsed, smoke billowing from its frame. The remaining gang members quickly fanned out, approaching the factory and Master Chang’s residence.

They were planned and organized, completely different from the few who had shown up yesterday.

’Looks like I can’t just sit back and watch anymore.’

’I just finished preparing a new weapon, and now someone shows up to be a free test subject. How nice of them.’

However, since Xiang Yi was on Master Chang’s turf, he figured he should check with the old man first.

’If the scene gets too ugly—gang members in pieces here and there—it’ll be a hassle to clean up...’

Just as he was thinking that, a call came in from Master Chang. "You see those guys outside? As long as they don’t break into the factory, just leave them be. I’ve already called the police. A nearby patrol will be here soon."

"Alright."

It seemed the gangsters couldn’t get into Master Chang’s residence, either.

The doors and windows of Master Chang’s rooms were specially reinforced; bullets only left white marks on the surface.

But the gangsters didn’t seem to be giving up. A few of them went back to their vehicle, retrieved several buckets, and started splashing something onto Master Chang’s house.

’Are they splashing paint?’

Xiang Yi peered through the crack in the door. He couldn’t see any obvious color in what they were splashing. ’It’s not paint... surely it isn’t piss, is it?’

Suddenly, a familiar scent drifted through the air.

Gasoline!

The gang members had splashed a circle of gasoline around Master Chang’s residence, and a few more were now heading toward the factory with buckets in hand.

Patrol cars usually passed by every few minutes, and Master Chang had said he’d called the cops, yet there was still no sign of them.

’What’s going on?’

He watched as the gang members finished splashing the gasoline. The next step would be to light it.

Xiang Yi felt he couldn’t wait any longer.

He was just about to send Shi Tie out to take care of them all when a rapid burst of gunfire suddenly erupted nearby.

At the same time, the screams and wails of the gang members rang out.

Xiang Yi froze for a moment.

"Ah... oh..."

He remembered. He had placed the newly built machine gun turret behind the factory, and he hadn’t turned it off.

The turret had just been swiveling back and forth between the factory and the junk pile; no one would have triggered it unless they deliberately walked into its path.

But in their quest to splash gasoline, these gangsters had circled around to the back of the factory...

Xiang Yi walked over to the door on the other side of the factory. Blood was already seeping in from under the door.

Peeking through the crack, he could see the fragmented corpses of several gang members strewn across the ground.

The men standing nearby were scared stiff, frozen in place.

Then, after its programmed three-second cooldown, the machine gun turret pulled the trigger again. Unfortunately for them, this gun had plenty of ammunition; Xiang Yi had taken some from the robot earlier.

In the next instant, those gang members were torn apart by machine gun fire.

Xiang Yi quickly shut down the turret.

’Well, since it’s already come to this, there’s no need to wait for the police anymore.’

Shi Tie rushed out of the factory. After a flurry of rapid gunshots and the thud of flesh-on-flesh impact, the junkyard quickly fell silent.

Being inside the city, Xiang Yi still tried to abide by the law, somewhat. He didn’t have Shi Tie kill anyone, merely restraining all the gang members. He also took the liberty of dragging a rather nice-looking motorcycle into the factory.

As for the shredded corpses next to the machine gun turret, he’d leave them for now. Let the police clean up the bodies.

The gang members were huddled together in an open area, looking for all the world like they’d just been rounded up in a brothel raid.

Some of them stared stubbornly at Xiang Yi, while others chose to lower their heads and play dead.

Their gazes held only hostility and hatred, no other emotions.

It seemed they didn’t recognize him.

Xiang Yi scanned the crowd and realized the leader had probably been killed by the turret.

He had no choice but to grab a punk who looked scared out of his wits and ask, "Who sent you?"

"Our... our boss."

"Isn’t that obvious? Who is your boss?"

"Guo... Guo..."

Before he could finish, someone next to him bumped him.

Xiang Yi slapped the troublemaker who had done the bumping, shutting him up before he could say anything else.

But the punk in front of him seemed to realize the problem and corrected himself. "Guowei! Wang Guowei!"

Xiang Yi frowned and continued his questioning. "Why did you come here?"

"Because... this junkyard is profitable..."

’So they wanted to force Master Chang out and take over the junkyard.’

"Did you know the owner here is a veteran?"

"Huh?!"

The man Xiang Yi was holding was completely stunned. It was clear he was just a low-level punk following orders to stir up trouble.

’It’s one thing for this guy not to know Master Chang is a veteran, but the gang’s boss doesn’t know either?’

’Master Chang can’t have been here for only a few days. What gives these local gangs the balls to try this?’

"Do you guys have any businesses?"

The troublemaker whom Xiang Yi had slapped earlier retorted, "You’re not a cop. What right do you have to interrogate us?"

"I’m not a cop, you’re right. But the cops aren’t here yet, are they?"

Xiang Yi pulled a pistol from his pocket and aimed it at the man’s forehead. "If I kill a few more of you, do you think the police will know who did it?"

"Of course they will. But I’ve got people watching my back. If you die, will anyone be watching yours?"

The troublemaker had wanted to talk back, but after hearing that, he didn’t dare move.

The punk Xiang Yi was interrogating quickly blurted out, "The Night Beauty Bar! The whole street with the Night Beauty Bar is ours..."

He’d never heard of the place, but the word "bar" made Xiang Yi subconsciously recall the bar that Pingyu had mentioned—the one frequented by the gang informant from prison, Lu Qi.

Previously, Pingyu had died right after getting information from Xiang Yi. Since that information started spreading the very next day, Xiang Yi hadn’t bothered investigating that bar; he doubted Lu Qi would still show up there.

’Gangs might be connected. Maybe these two are even the same one.’

But these people in front of him...

Xiang Yi scanned them carefully again.

Among the men he had restrained, not one of them looked at him in any particular way.

He couldn’t kill them all, either. Master Chang had said he’d called the police, and he apparently had a good relationship with a few of the officers. Even though they were taking their sweet time getting here, Xiang Yi had to give Master Chang some face.

’Leave a few for questioning. That way, Master Chang will have a target to go after.’

Xiang Yi didn’t waste any more time on them and turned to head back into the factory.

However, he failed to notice that behind the factory, in a corner near the deactivated machine gun turret, a man was lying prone amidst a pile of body fragments shredded by the gunfire.

His fists were clenched, and his whole body was shaking like a leaf. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he bit down hard, desperately trying to control his trembling, terrified that the slightest movement would be noticed by Xiang Yi.

He had been incredibly lucky. The instant the turret opened fire, someone in front of him had taken a bullet for him, giving him the chance to dive for cover behind the corner, where he had survived until now.

When he heard the machine gun power down, his first instinct was to get up and run.

But then he saw Shi Tie burst out of the factory.

A realization instantly struck him, and he froze, not daring to move.

He waited until Xiang Yi turned and left.

Finally, he lifted his head and glanced at the closed factory door.

His face showed an irrepressible mix of fear, excitement, and exhilaration.