Chapter 57: The Power of Two Zhen

Deep in the night, the graveyard.

More than twenty burly figures emerged from the hidden compartments beneath the car seats, trunks, and specially modified partitions.

They drew gleaming machetes and handguns, and one even shouldered a submachine gun.

When it came to weaponry, Wang Kun never compromised, not even when venturing outside.

Creeping cautiously at the very back of his gang of thugs, Wang Kun wore a fierce and menacing expression.

"You dare to play games with your old man? You've got some nerve!"

"Get out here!"

"Damn it, refusing to show your face, are you? Then you'd better pray you can hide well and that I don't find you!"

"Once I find you, I'll slaughter your entire family on the spot!"

The graveyard under the shroud of night remained dead silent, echoing only with Wang Kun's venomous curses.

Yet, his fury ultimately drew a response.

Two dark objects came flying through the midair.

Wang Kun blinked in slight confusion: "What is that?"

But realization dawned upon him almost instantly, and his complexion shifted drastically: "Holy shit! Pineapples! You motherfucking bastards, playing for keeps?!"

Grenades!

And two of them!

The entire group was startled. Though still reeking of alcohol, they instantly sobered up completely, a chill gripping their hands and feet.

Due to the darkness, visibility was severely impaired.

Furthermore, Wang Kun and his men clearly had not anticipated that their opponents would be this unhinged.

Boom!

Boom!

The twenty-odd men had no time to scatter; only those with the quickest reflexes instinctively lunged outward.

Yet, due to the herd effect, those hiding deepest in the formation suffered the worst.

Wang Kun was one of them, though fortunately, his reaction time was swift.

He instantly grabbed a henchman standing beside him and shoved him directly in front of himself as a human shield.

When the grenades detonated, their destructive force was far from the roaring sea of fire often depicted in movies; it wasn't even enough to blast a man into the air.

However, the shockwave of the explosion was undeniably violent.

The deafening roar was enough to leave anyone mentally disoriented and plagued by persistent ringing in the ears.

Yet, the cruelest part of the grenades was the shrapnel scattering in the aftermath, turning everyone who failed to dodge in time into a bloody sieve.

Miserable shrieks echoed across the entire graveyard in an unbroken chorus.

And this was far from the end.

Immediately following, sharp and intense gunfire erupted from multiple angles.

Before Wang Kun's twenty-plus men could recover from their daze amidst the twin explosions, they fell to the ground permanently, one after another, in a matter of moments.

Wang Kun was terrified out of his wits by the spectacle, his mind completely unravelling.

Tombstones filled his field of vision, obscuring any clear sight of the attackers.

Yet bullets whizzed past his ears and zipped around his body!

Disregarding everything else, he scrambled and stumbled toward his car, desperate to make his escape.

Habitually arrogant as he was, this was the first time he had ever suffered a defeat this devastating.

Already heavily intoxicated, he had then been jolted awake by a pair of grenades; managing to scramble to his feet immediately was a testament to his remaining boss-like composure.

Across the graveyard, from behind various tombstones stretching across the four cardinal directions, five or six lurking figures emerged simultaneously.

Song Ren led the way, flanked by Qiu Gang'ao and his crew, all wearing satisfied smirks.

Inside the vehicle, Wang Kun's clothes were splattered with blood as he frantically attempted to start the ignition.

Having finally coaxed the engine to life, he looked up just in time to see several dark silhouettes approaching from all sides.

His instinctive reaction was to slam his foot all the way down on the accelerator and plow desperately through them.

However, the dark, menacing gun muzzles raised from multiple angles were pointed squarely at him.

Reality was not a movie; ordinary car windows and doors provided no defense against bullets.

Even if they could slightly alter the trajectory of the rounds, facing so many firearms meant that the moment they opened fire, he would be riddled with holes in the blink of an eye.

Panicking further, Wang Kun roared frantically:

"Wait! Don't shoot!"

"I have money, I have plenty of money! Tell me how much you want, and I'll pay it."

"Let's not ruin our goodwill over this."

Song Ren lowered his weapon. "It seems this gentleman is a reasonable man. Step down and let's have a chat."

A flicker of hope surfaced in the depths of Wang Kun's eyes. He stumbled out of the vehicle while hastily increasing his bargaining chips:

"My name is Wang Kun, the Wo記 headman in Mong Kok."

"I control two factories and four gambling dens; thousands of junkies hang on my every word."

"As long as you're willing to spare my life, I can give you a fortune beyond your imagination."

"Money that you could never spend in several lifetimes!"

"Tsk, a reasonable man shouldn't dish out nothing but empty promises." Song Ren chuckled lightly, then turned to leave, tossing out a final remark:

"A'ao, I'll leave them to you."

"Teach Mr. Wang what it means to be an adult."

Children make choices; adults want it all.

Wang Kun gradually realized something was amiss.

As he stepped out of the car, Qiu Gang'ao and his men had closed the distance.

It was only then that Wang Kun recognized the men who had ambushed him: they were none other than Qiu Gang'ao and his gang, whom he had met just a few days prior.

He had not expected that, thanks to Cai Shuangyu's warning, he had temporarily refrained from hunting them down, only for them to take the initiative and hunt him instead.

Wang Kun's expression altered drastically.

Dealing with this particular crew meant his chances of survival were extremely slim.

At that moment, Qiu Gang'ao stepped forward once more, greeting him with a smile:

"Wang Kun, we meet again."

"Ren哥 said you're a reasonable man, so why don't you be a little more proactive?"

Wang Kun's expression shifted violently. Realizing his grim prospects, he cast caution to the wind and cursed furiously: "Reasonable my ass!"

"Screw you!"

"If you've got the guts, shoot me!"

"You think your master Kun is easily frightened?!"

With that, he spat a glob of phlegm directly at Qiu Gang'ao.

Qiu Gang'ao easily sidestepped the spit and countered with a sharp elbow strike, slamming Wang Kun back against the car door.

Qiu Gang'ao's gaze grew increasingly razor-sharp: "If you won't be reasonable, then we'll help you be reasonable."

Coughing and clutching his chest, Wang Kun turned pale: "Fuck off! Do you think this is my first day in the triads? You can't scare me!"

Qiu Gang'ao wore a murderous expression: "Actually, I quite like the look of that stubborn mouth of yours."

"Take him. Let's move."

...

Mong Kok Regional Crime Unit.

Cao Ning, a member of the Crime Unit, hurried inside clutching a file folder:

"Bang-zhu, something's happened."

Ceasing his current work, Zhang Chongbang looked up and asked: "What is it?"

Cao Ning replied: "Wang Kun has vanished."

"Late last night, more than twenty of Wang Kun's henchmen were found dead at a graveyard in the western outskirts."

"A large number of bullet casings were left at the scene, along with traces of two exploded grenades."

"However, Wang Kun is nowhere to be found."

Zhang Chongbang immediately grew grave.

Wang Kun was a high-priority criminal targeted by their unit.

For years, they had exhausted every possible avenue to unearth criminal evidence against him.

Moreover, with the infiltration of their informant and information gathered from other fronts, the dawn of Wang Kun's official arrest was finally within sight.

Yet an accident had occurred at this very juncture!

Zhang Chongbang immediately summoned his team members to assemble.

"There are only two likely motives for whoever targeted Wang Kun."

"Either personal vengeance or financial gain."

"If it's vengeance, A'ning, arrange for men to investigate everyone Wang Kun has recently rubbed the wrong way."

"If it's for profit, Zijun, have the boys keep a close eye on the market for Wang Kun's usual contraband."

"Check who is still dumping those goods and where they're being funneled from."

...

Golden Shield Security Company.

Stepping into the office in high spirits, Qiu Gang'ao smiled directly:

"Ren哥, it's all taken care of."

"Both the money and the goods are secured."

Finally, Qiu Gang'ao sighed with emotion: "That fellow Wang Kun really has a stubborn mouth; he damn near bit through the pliers."

Song Ren paid little heed to the detail.

He had already changed into a suit, appearing ready to head out.

Still, he issued his instructions:

"Hand the money over to A'le; he has plenty of ways to launder it clean."

"The goods... throw them away. I don't touch that crap, and neither should you."

Qiu Gang'ao froze. You don't touch it? Then why have us hijack a ready batch of inventory in the first place...

You're actually throwing it away?

Is he really that extravagant?

Granted, they had merely intercepted an existing batch of contraband, but it was still worth close to ten million! How could they just throw it away?

Song Ren answered for him:

"Just dump it at Wang Bao's Chung Yee Building."

"Consider it a favor, helping him draw some extra firepower."

Let him experience firsthand the star-studded magnitude of the dual-Zhen protagonists from Sheung Wan and Mong Kok.