Chapter Sixteen: Wealth and Fortune Are Heaven’s Decree

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At the entrance of the prison yard restroom, a crowd had already gathered, yet the atmosphere was unnervingly silent. One of the prison guards had pupils that contracted violently—he was the very guard bribed by Fat Dog. He had some knowledge of what was about to unfold inside the restroom, as the table legs involved had come from him through special channels. He had been promised a handsome reward if the plan succeeded. Even if he were caught later and stripped of his uniform, he would not regret it. However, considering the potential consequences, the guard dared not smuggle in too many weapons; he only passed in a few detached table legs, and at Fat Dog’s insistence, also procured a sack. With this arrangement and his deliberate negligence during patrol, the outcome should have been predictable. Yet reality chilled the guard to the bone. Nearly all of Fat Dog’s gang lay severely wounded, and Fat Dog himself was nowhere to be found, his fate unknown. “This can’t be real…” Cold sweat beaded on the guard’s forehead; the situation was serious. Qiu Gang’ao frowned deeply, stretching his neck in astonishment—he had never imagined the scene inside would be like this. Meanwhile, Song Ren’s icy glare had faded, and the violent rage within him had been fully vented. Dropping the table leg he held, he raised a hand to wipe the blood from his brow, then offered a faint smile. Only then did he belatedly feel the swelling pain coursing through his body and couldn’t help but groan, breaking the silence: “Tch… my whole body aches.” Inside, the head prison guard was the first to react, raising his baton and sharply ordering, “Get down! Hands on your head!” Then he approached the motionless Fat Dog who was kneeling. Song Ren obediently crouched down, hands clasped over his head, his voice remarkably calm: “Don’t worry, he’s not dead yet.” The lead guard shot him a long, sharp glance. Soon, news of the bloody incident in the prison restroom spread throughout Stanley Prison. Compared to the previous bathhouse incident, this one was far bloodier, more violent, and attracted even more attention. Fat Dog was rushed to the emergency room with severe injuries and barely survived. Another inmate had a broken hand, one had four fractured ribs, another suffered a cracked jawbone, and yet another had a shattered shoulder bone.

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The minor injuries among the others were too numerous to detail. Remarkably, all these injuries had been inflicted by a single man fighting eight armed assailants barehanded—an almost unbelievable feat. This fight firmly established Song Ren’s terrifying reputation among the inmates at Stanley Prison. In the cell block where Song Ren resided, virtually everyone shuddered at the mere mention of his name. Even the usually wild members of the Loyalty and Righteousness faction avoided saying it aloud. The hitman Aji, soon to be released, was quite eager to have a showdown with Song Ren. However, with his imminent release and his specialty in close-quarters knife combat rendered useless here, Aji restrained his urge to intervene on behalf of the Loyalty and Righteousness faction. Compared to the bathhouse skirmish, this incident was far worse, with more grievous injuries and one inmate nearly dying on the spot. Yet the prison authorities imposed a much lighter punishment on Song Ren, even more lenient than the previous one-day blackout cell confinement. This was because the event implicated a guard’s abuse of power and coincided with the warden’s pending promotion. The warden desperately suppressed the matter to avoid tarnishing his prospects. Fat Dog’s gang had thoroughly offended the warden through this affair. The warden, aware of some details, made a call to Inspector Chen Guozhong, aiming to downplay the incident and dissipate its negative fallout outside the prison. Consequently, Fat Dog’s group could only accept their misfortune. The guard who had abused his authority was quietly stripped of his uniform and expelled from Stanley Prison without ceremony. Although this incident caused a major uproar inside the prison, it stirred little commotion outside. Song Ren was simply placed in the infirmary for three days, officially recorded as spending three days in the blackout cell. After that, he was smoothly released. However, the large eight-bed cell where he had been housed was now noticeably emptier. Aside from those severely injured in the hospital, the remaining members of Fat Dog’s gang were so frightened they refused to return to that cell. Out of humanitarian concern, the guards reassigned the terrified inmate to another cell. He had suffered severe psychological trauma and would likely be incapacitated even after release. But as some left, others naturally came in. Besides two fierce new underlings brought in as replacements, two more new inmates arrived. When Song Ren returned, many prisoners in the yard greeted him with nods and bows. “Brother Ren.” “Brother Ren, you’re back.” “Good morning, Brother Ren.” The timid avoided him, while the bold approached to greet him respectfully, even with a hint of flattering deference. Even those from rival gangs like the Numbers Gang and Loyalty and Righteousness chose to steer clear upon seeing him. The previous bathhouse incident had already made him somewhat famous, but this latest brutal clash with Fat Dog’s gang firmly established his notoriety in Stanley Prison. A tall, slender inmate approached at a jog. He glanced around furtively and, in a secretive corner, pulled out a crooked cigarette from his clothes. With a sly smile, he offered it to Song Ren: “Brother Ren.” Song Ren paused and shook his head: “I don’t smoke that stuff anymore.” In the past, he would occasionally indulge when the craving hit, but after taking the Martial Essence Pill, which rebuilt his constitution, his addiction vanished. Cigarettes impaired lung and heart function and negatively affected reflexes and motor nerves, even in the slightest degree. For someone like Song Ren, who now pursued physical perfection relentlessly, cigarettes were strictly forbidden. Without beating around the bush, Song Ren asked directly, “What’s up?” The lanky inmate beamed with admiration: “Heh heh, I want to switch teams and follow you, Brother Ren. You’re really powerful this time!” Song Ren glanced at him: “Who are you?” The tall inmate replied, “My name’s Zhao Zhiming, but everyone calls me Snake Zhiming. I’m currently under the boss of Loyalty and Righteousness, Zaige—the suit guy around here.” “But I really admire you. You’re so strong, so I want to switch and follow you.” Although Song Ren wasn’t familiar with gang politics, he knew switching allegiance wasn’t simple. While not as terrifying as the rumored ‘Three Cuts, Six Holes’ initiation, transferring fully to another gang without the original gang’s unconditional consent was nearly impossible.