Chapter 58 Loyalty

Wang Bao was much more difficult to deal with than Wang Kun.
Wang Kun was arrogant, domineering, and cursed with an impulsive and hot-tempered nature.
Coupled with his smooth sailing over the past few years and the towering reputation of the Wo Shing, these factors had made him somewhat condescending and blind to others.
As a result, when Wang Kun realized he had walked into a trap, retreating was not the first thing that crossed his mind.
It wasn't until he took two flashbangs to the face, followed by a sustained high-frequency burst of gunfire, that he was completely dazed; by the time he wanted to run, it was already too late.
Wang Bao, however, was far more cautious, especially after the incident with Ah Ji, which clearly caused him to pull in his tentacles.
Over the years, Sai Wan had been managed by him into a fortress as impregnable as an iron barrel.
Even though everyone knew Wang Bao's wife was hospitalized at Yan Wo Hospital, wanting to take Wang Bao down would require Song Ren to lose his mind and launch an assault directly inside the hospital.
Otherwise, under the current circumstances, expecting it to be as effortless as this last time was virtually impossible.
He would just have to wait and see whether the protagonist's momentum from the two Zhens could open up some breathing room.
Only if that completely failed would he choose to resort to a forced attack.
……
Song Ren had some personal business to attend to today.
Tonight at Fusheng Mansion, there was a deathmatch arena bout featuring him.
It was currently the most hyped-up weapon fight event.
This weapon clash had attracted almost all the VIP-tier clients of Fusheng Mansion.
To ramp up the popularity, Fusheng Mansion even brought back the very first champion of the arena, Chan Sang, the famed "Double-Flower Red Pole" of the Wo Shing.
The billing promoted him as the strongest in history.
The weapon tournament would consist of three consecutive matches, with rest intervals between each.
Only the fighter who secured three consecutive victories would earn the right to challenge the reigning champion of the previous era, Pugilist King Sang, who guarded the final throne.
Tonight's weapon tournament featured four fighters whose reputations eclipsed all others.
First was Song Ren, who had proudly claimed fifteen consecutive wins, displayed razor-sharp skills in both striking and grappling, and enjoyed immense popularity.
Second was the inaugural arena champion, also the Wo Shing's Double-Flower, Pugilist King Sang.
Third was the Human Butcher Du Youbang, who had repeatedly gone on murderous rampages in the realm of weapon combat.
And the fourth was Park Jung-shin, who had risen from obscurity among the throngs of fighters to surpass many.
This man had previously been a national award-winning member of the South Korean fencing team, enjoying widespread fame at a young age due to his exceptional talent.
However, he was later forced out of the national team after a scandal regarding his personal conduct was exposed.
This time, through special channels, he made his direct debut in the weapon tournament at Fusheng Mansion.
Park Jung-shin possessed a naturally high level of popularity.
Combined with his flower-boy facial features and several graceful displays of swordsmanship in the arena, he genuinely attracted a massive following of wealthy female patrons who cheered him on with fanatical devotion.
In terms of popularity, he even showed a subtle momentum of overtaking the others.
When Song Ren arrived at Fusheng Mansion, his usual manager, Little Plane, had been replaced by Li Yuhao, who was dressed in a dragon-and-phoenix embroidered qipao.
The slit of the qipao was cut rather high, revealing the plump, silk-clad thighs underneath with every step she took.
Her raven-black hair was coiled into an elegant aristocratic updo, which, paired with her naturally alluring and commanding mature-woman face, made her radiate an intense magnetic charm from the inside out.
This woman was undeniably far too eye-catching, making even Song Ren feel compelled to keep a slight distance from her.
Yet Li Yuhao immediately closed the gap, asking, "Why are you standing so far away? I'm your manager now, you know."
Song Ren casually replied, "Then do me a favor and pour me a cup of water, will you?"
Li Yuhao looked displeased. "Aren't managers human beings too?"
Song Ren: "Then hurry up and get me that water."
Li Yuhao: "You got it!"
Song Ren: "..."
Watching Li Yuhao sway her petite waist as she went to fetch the tea, Song Ren rubbed his forehead in helpless resignation; this woman was truly an enigma he couldn't quite figure out.
Cai Shuangyu had also arrived, and noticing the absence of a certain clingy best friend, she asked with mild curiosity, "Where's Yaoyao?"
Song Ren: "Went to pour tea."
Then, glancing around the room, he asked, "Where is my wealthy patroness?"
Cai Shuangyu: "You mean Miss Chu?"
She then gave Song Ren a rather strange look and asked, "Have you been entirely too busy lately?"
Song Ren was taken aback: "What do you mean?"
Cai Shuangyu: "Or rather, aren't you being a bit too indifferent toward women?"
Song Ren's face darkened slightly: "...What on earth are you getting at?"
Cai Shuangyu: "Miss Chu is currently the wealthy patroness of that fiercely popular swordsman Park. You mean you didn't even know?"
"..." Song Ren: "I really have been quite busy lately."
Ever since he established Golden Shield Security, he hadn't had much spare time to deal with extraneous matters.
During that period, Chu Bao'er had invited him out on several occasions, all of which he had politely declined because he genuinely had no time.
He simply hadn't expected that the relatively agreeable Miss Chu would have already found a new target.
Still, that was probably for the best; Song Ren genuinely had no romantic interest in Chu Bao'er.
Cai Shuangyu sat down on the sofa and remarked, "With your current popularity, you don't even need a wealthy patroness to back you up anymore."
"Besides, you're hardly short on money these days, are you?"
She was naturally well aware that Wang Kun's recent misfortune was the handiwork of Song Ren.
Not only had the man vanished, but a massive chunk of the assets under Wang Kun's name had been transferred away by the following morning, and a batch of ready stock from his processing factory had been looted as well.
That alone constituted a massive and highly impressive cash flow.
Song Ren did not dispute it.
In truth, he really wasn't short of money right now.
Even leaving aside the fortune taken from Wang Kun, just the periodic payouts extorted from Fok Siu-tong, coupled with the vast funds Ah Lok had siphoned out and deposited into Golden Shield Security's accounts, added up significantly.
That kid was now the largest shareholder in Golden Shield next to Song Ren himself.
Backed by these substantial sums of capital, Song Ren had never lacked financial resources.
Furthermore, ever since its inception, Golden Shield Security had continuously landed high-paying contracts within the top-tier circles of Fusheng Mansion.
If not for a shortage of manpower, Golden Shield could have grown even larger.
Cai Shuangyu sized Song Ren up.
She was indeed astonished by his methods.
That fellow Wang Kun, arrogant and overbearing though he was, shouldn't have been so easily eradicated.
A group of twenty men, armed with firearms—including a submachine gun—had been wiped out down to the last soul without putting up even a fraction of effective resistance.
If it wasn't because Wang Kun was utterly useless, then it meant Song Ren and his crew were extraordinary indeed.
In reality, although Qiu Gang'ao and his gang might not have been peerless martial artists, they were all elite veterans of the Serious Crime Unit, and their marksmanship was unquestionable.
Combined with the disorienting impact of Song Ren's two grenades that seized the initiative right from the start, the battle was blown wide open.
Before they could mount any effective defense, the opportunity was seized and they were completely annihilated.
Such a calculated ambush on opponents who were all dead drunk was nothing short of a crushing steamroller.
Unless they realized the danger and immediately bolted the moment things felt wrong, the outcome would have been the same no matter who was in their shoes.
At that moment, the tea arrived.
Li Yuhao walked into the VIP lounge carrying a tea tray, followed closely by two people.
One was Chu Bao'er.
And walking right beside her was a fair-skinned, handsome... pretty boy.
Park Jung-shin, the former ace fencing champion of the national team.
Though he had been booted out due to personal conduct scandals that violated his traditional loyalty to his surname, his prowess at the time had been aggressively marketed with the title of "the greatest in history."
Granted, such "first-in-history" titles had been beaten to death with overuse in both South Korea and Japan.
Yet Park Jung-shin actually possessed genuine skills in the field of fencing, to the point where, upon transitioning into practical combat, he had demonstrated a formidable offensive talent.
However, Song Ren's initial impression of this Fencer Park—or rather, his overall impression of South Korea—now boiled down to just two words:
Loyalty!
Simida...