Chapter Twenty: The Black Rat Gang — Conflict

Nothing else happened that night.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes to morning. He climbed out of bed, stretched with a long yawn, washed up, and stepped out of the room.

Li Qinghe hadn't come home. Working overtime, probably. It had happened a few times before — not seeing her in the morning. He didn't give it much thought.

He planned to find a shop and sell off the gray stone carapaces from yesterday's haul. He needed the cash. No money meant no rent, and no rent meant living on the streets.

The slum district was already busy at this hour. People moved in quick, purposeful streams, and more than a few figures in tattered clothes were bent over the roadside garbage before the day had properly begun.

Lu Yuan made his way to a roadside breakfast stall and smiled at the lean, dark-weathered vendor behind the counter.

"Two meat buns and a sweet soy milk, please."

The vendor bowed slightly with a humble smile. "Of course — just a moment."

"No rush."

In the past, he would have made a point of steering clear of the kinds of punks who prowled this district. He'd had good reason: Li Qinghe had warned him that small-time gang thugs were always backed by organizations. What those organizations got up to behind closed doors, nobody could say for certain — drugs, organ trafficking, all manner of things. A good number of the homeless who disappeared from the slum were probably their handiwork. In a place like this, a vagrant could vanish on any given night, and no one would ever ask questions.

Back then, he'd been someone who had no choice but to keep his head down. Now it was different. He was a Gene Warrior, one who had even encoded an elite gene. Going out of his way to dodge a pair of low-level street punks was beneath him.

Based on his predecessor's memories, he had no goodwill toward gang types like these. He wouldn't be pulling any punches.

While Lu Yuan waited, two men with garishly dyed hair and leather armor sauntered up to the stall.

The one with primarily red hair spoke first. "Hey, boss! Can't you see we two are still waiting? How dare you serve someone else first? You gone blind?! Looks like you don't have much respect for the Black Rat Gang around here!"

Cold sweat broke out on the vendor's forehead. He sputtered, a fawning smile spreading across his face. "Tw—two big brothers... It's entirely my fault. Your breakfast is on the house — I'll get right on it!"

The two punks gave a satisfied grunt.

While they were putting on their little show, the vendor quietly finished packing Lu Yuan's order and slid it across the counter. "Young man, your buns and soy milk."

The red-haired punk's head snapped around. "He called you 'young man'? You should be calling me Big Bro!"

The green-haired one turned to Lu Yuan with a lazy grin. "Pretty young, aren't you? Kid, you all grown up yet? Not bad looking — which establishment are you from? I might swing by and sample your services sometime."

He patted Lu Yuan's cheek while he talked.

"He called you 'little bro'? Then call me Daddy! …Actually, never mind — afraid you might filial-piety me to death. Just say Big Bro."

Lu Yuan's expression didn't change. He casually reached out and caught the green-haired punk's wrist.

The punk tried to pull free. His hand didn't move. Lu Yuan's grip was an iron clamp.

He strained harder, face going crimson — and still nothing gave.

"I— kid, you'd better let go right now," he snarled, "or I swear I'll kill you later!"

Lu Yuan's right hand slowly tightened.

*Crack. Crack. Crack.*

The fury drained from the green-haired punk's face all at once. A piercing shriek tore out of him.

"AHHHHH!!"

Lu Yuan let go. The arm hung at a grotesque angle, bones shattered. The green-haired punk clutched the mangled limb with his good hand, already sobbing, and crumpled to his knees.

The screaming made the red-haired punk jump. He wheeled around — stared at the twisted arm — and his eyes went red.

"Green Hair, what the hell?! What are you—"

He hadn't finished the sentence before Lu Yuan's palm cracked across his face and sent him sprawling.

*Bang.*

He lay on the ground for a few dazed seconds, blood welling at the corner of his mouth.

Then he hauled himself upright, yanked a folding knife from inside his jacket, and drove it at Lu Yuan's stomach without the slightest hesitation. Killing was second nature to a man like him; the thrust carried no more weight than a reflex.

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. He caught the knife hand mid-thrust.

*Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack.*

Even denser than before.

"I— let go— I'll kill you—" The threat dissolved under the wave of pain. The anger drained away, replaced by something cold and shaking. His face went white, sweat breaking out across his skin. He wrenched at Lu Yuan's grip with everything he had. Lu Yuan's hand was iron.

"L—little bro, please—"

Lu Yuan increased the pressure until the hand bones were nearly powder.

The red-haired punk's scream was worse than the green-haired one's had been.

Green hair's first shriek had drawn every eye on the street. Parents scooped up their children and backed away. Others clustered at a distance — some curious, some frightened. The breakfast vendor stood frozen, eyes glassy, staring at the kneeling figure of the green-haired punk like a man who had forgotten how to think.

Lu Yuan released the red-haired punk's hand. The arm was bent wrong, bones wrecked. The knife lay on the ground. The red-haired punk's legs buckled and he dropped to his knees beside his partner.

Both of them, then — kneeling in the street, faces bloodless, forcing twitching smiles, nodding over and over.

He was stunned for a moment, then cried out with a miserable expression: "Daddy! — no, wait — Big Bro! Big Bro! I was wrong!"

"Big Bro! Big Bro, please stop! I'm wrong, I'm wrong!"

Lu Yuan glanced at them, then turned a smile toward the dumbfounded vendor.

"You knocked over his stall. Aren't you going to pay for that?"

Whatever remained of their color drained away.

"P—pay! We'll pay!"

Under the vendor's disbelieving stare, they scanned the payment code and pushed the money through.

Lu Yuan gave a satisfied nod. He turned to look at the green-haired punk, who was still trembling.

"Not bad. Quite cooperative." He looked them over. "Why are you still kneeling? Makes it look like I'm bullying you. Get up."

They struggled to their feet, bodies still shaking with the pain.

"Come on," Lu Yuan said. "Follow me."

They exchanged a glance and fell into step behind him, reluctant and limping.

Lu Yuan turned back to the vendor, who was still standing motionless, mouth half-open.

"Vendor — you still haven't told me how much I owe you."

The vendor opened his mouth. He lowered his head without a word.

*Why is this man so scared of me?* Lu Yuan felt something twitch at the corner of his mouth. *I'm not some kind of monster. I just didn't like the look of those two.*

"I'm paying — how much? Don't worry, I'm a decent person."

"No, no, no — young man, I mean — boss, how could I possibly take your money..."

After a few rounds of this, Lu Yuan gave up arguing and just scanned the code. Ten yuan.

"There. Paid. Don't argue with me. Or I'll hit you."

The vendor startled. His face crumpled like he was about to cry.

Lu Yuan took his buns and soy milk and walked away. Behind him, the two punks watched his retreating back and very nearly burst into tears themselves.

The vendor, left alone at his stall, watched Lu Yuan's figure grow smaller in the morning crowd. Something moved in his eyes. He wiped the corner of one eye with his wrist, then turned back to the overturned condiments and, with brisk, practiced motions, set everything right again. Back to work.

As Lu Yuan walked, the voices of two men nearby drifted into his ears.

"God, that business yesterday was seriously messed up."

"Right? I heard from Xiao Man — he saw Lao Dao get possessed by some kind of evil ghost, and then Lao Dao just dropped dead. Just like that."

*Evil ghost. Sudden death.*

Lu Yuan's stride faltered. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

"Damn. Lao Dao sold off his daughter a few days back — isn't that karma?"

"Karma for something that small? Come on."

"I'm just saying. You really think he ran into something... unnatural?"

"Who knows. The boss and his people are personally looking into it. Should be fine — they're powerful Gene Warriors."

"Hope the boss figures it out fast. The whole thing gives me the creeps..."

Lu Yuan stopped walking.

The memory of last night's shadow rose instantly in his mind.

*Could someone else have run into that thing?*

He stood quietly and listened.