Chapter Twenty: Tyranny

Outside the Security Bureau.

“Mr. Zhao Bing, would you like a ride home with me?” Lin Lei looked toward Zhao Bing.

Zhao Bing shook his head with a smile. “No, I still have somewhere else to go.”

As he spoke, he turned to Qi Fangyan.

“Miss Qi, I don’t think this matter is as simple as it seems. That floral-shirted man—I know him. He’s one of the loan sharks operating in our Upper District, and he has considerable ties to the underworld.”

At the word “underworld,” Qi Fangyan could not help but panic. “Then what should I do?”

Beside her, Lin Lei narrowed his eyes.

The Zhou Haoran who had been pestering Qi Fangyan all this time had a fair amount to do with the Purple Dragon Gang. Could that floral-shirted man have also been someone Zhou Haoran sent?

Rejected in love, did he turn to hatred?

Zhao Bing remained quite calm. “Miss Qi, there’s no need to be afraid. I have a friend who knows some people in the trade. I can ask around and see if there’s another way to handle this.”

Qi Fangyan’s eyes lit up as though she had seen hope. She hurriedly nodded.

“Then I’ll be troubling you, Mr. Zhao.”

Zhao Bing smiled and shook his head. “You’re thanking me too soon, Miss Qi. If I really can settle this, then you can treat me to a meal later.”

Then he turned to Lin Lei. “Young man, hurry and take your sister home. Don’t worry. My friend has quite a bit of influence, so there’s still a good chance this can be resolved.”

With that, he turned and left.

Lin Lei watched his retreating figure and lifted a brow slightly.

...

It was deep night.

Clouds covered the sky, and no moonlight could be seen.

Lin Lei sat before his computer desk, staring out at the dark world beyond the window.

“Moonless, windy, and dark... perfect weather!”

He set the bureau-issued PDA on the desk, put on a pair of black leather gloves, and glanced at the knife bag on the bed. Then he shook his head and quietly opened the door.

The Investigation Bureau’s PDA was powerful, but the higher-ups at the bureau might have even greater authority.

If he was acting on his own, of course he had to make sure he avoided the Investigation Bureau.

Lin Lei wore a black hoodie, and under Night Walker he vanished completely into the night.

Earlier, at the Security Bureau, he had left a Blood-Tracking Mark on the floral-shirted man.

...

Half an hour later.

In the darkness.

Lin Lei looked toward a building in the distance, its neon lights flashing, and raised a brow.

“Starlight Singing Hall...”

It was a fairly well-known entertainment venue in Bi City.

“People from the underworld showing up in places like this is only normal. Good. If something happens in a place like this, no one will know...”

He glanced at the security cameras by the entrance in the distance, confirmed that his current position was outside their range, then pressed a hand against his face.

His entire body began to twist and change, and in the blink of an eye his build and features were completely transformed.

Shapeshift!

He had casually pinched together a face of his own making. If someone looked exactly the same, that could only mean they were unlucky.

After completing the transformation, he rolled his neck and stepped out of the shadows, hands in his pockets, walking straight into the singing hall.

Music pulsed through the dance floor, where countless figures writhed in frenzy.

Lin Lei frowned and headed for the staircase on the side.

“Sorry, the upper floor is for VIPs...”

A tall man in a black jacket immediately stepped in front of him.

Lin Lei curled his lips and revealed a set of white teeth. “What did you say?”

The man in the black jacket raised an eyebrow and moved closer. “I—”

Taking advantage of the approach, Lin Lei drove a palm strike at the side of the man’s neck just beneath the ear.

The burly man let out a muffled groan and went limp at once.

Lin Lei supported his collapsing body against his own chest with his other hand.

“Bro, how much did you drink? You’re already out?”

The spot Lin Lei had struck was where the carotid artery lay. With the right force, temporarily depriving the brain of blood would make a person lose consciousness.

Of course, the placement and force had to be exact.

Too much strength, and he might have struck the man to death.

Over the past few days, Lin Lei had been practicing control over his strength in the meditation room. Combined with his understanding of the human body, he could knock the man out so easily.

He supported the burly man and went straight upstairs.

Up there were private rooms, one after another. Lin Lei casually dumped the man in the corridor, glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner, and walked directly toward one of the rooms.

“This is it!”

He stopped at a particular private room door.

His keen senses allowed him to clearly hear the hoarse cries of “I can’t take it anymore, I can’t take it anymore” coming from within, along with a man’s savage laughter.

He rolled his neck and lifted a foot.

Boom!

The door gave a dull thud, but it still did not open.

“Who the hell is it?!” a furious roar came from inside.

Lin Lei clicked his tongue.

“I’ll just use a bit more force...”

Because of the surveillance cameras, he had deliberately restrained his strength, so as not to reveal that he was above the ordinary level.

However precise his control was, he still did not know exactly how much force it would take to kick open the door in front of him.

He raised his foot again and increased the force slightly.

The door burst open with a bang.

“Who the hell are you? Do you know whose turf this is?”

A man in black boxer briefs, bare-chested and holding a black baton, strode out to meet him.

At a glance, Lin Lei recognized him as one of the lackeys who had followed the floral-shirted man during the day.

He snapped into a high kick and drove it out hard.

It landed squarely on the man’s jaw.

Crack!

The force drove up through the man’s head, collapsing his jaw inward as his body spun backward and flew away with a heavy crash.

A scattering of bloodstained teeth pattered across the floor.

Click.

Lin Lei casually shut the door and stepped into the private room.

This was clearly a luxury suite, spacious and fragrant, the air thick with a faint sweetness mixed with the smell of burning candles.

Just as Lin Lei crossed the corridor at the entrance and stepped into the room—

“Stop!”

From the side, a slightly trembling voice rang out.

Lin Lei raised a brow and glanced at the broad, pale body on the bed, trembling all over, then turned his head to look to the side.

The floral-shirted man stood naked, a black pistol in his hand, aiming it straight at Lin Lei.

“Who are you?”

Facing the dark muzzle, Lin Lei bared his teeth in a grin.

“I’ll bet you... can’t pull that trigger.”

Then he took the initiative and stepped forward.

The floral-shirted man’s heart jolted. Seeing Lin Lei so fierce even with the gun pointed at him, he instinctively took a step back. “Damn it!”

His index finger on the trigger pressed down sharply...

Snap!

Lin Lei’s hand moved like a phantom, reaching out at a terrifying speed beyond human capability and clamping over his hand first.

Cold sweat broke out on the floral-shirted man’s forehead.

The trigger was only a slight squeeze away, yet he could no longer pull it.

Crack!

A scream burst out as the man’s hand was forcibly bent upward and broken.

It was not merely the bone that snapped; Lin Lei ripped the entire hand clean off.

Blood sprayed everywhere, and with the floral-shirted man’s agonized howls came a woman’s shrill scream from the room as well.

Lin Lei took the pistol from the severed hand, then forcibly shoved that bloody stump into the floral-shirted man’s mouth, tearing his lips open so he could no longer cry out.

Only then did he turn to look at the bed.

The glamorous woman wrapped in a sheet cut off her scream abruptly. Her body shook uncontrollably as she stared at Lin Lei approaching her.

“Don’t... don’t...”