Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

Seeing him get up to leave, the chief said worriedly, "Wait! Are you going alone? Pickpockets in this city usually operate in groups; there might be accomplices. It's better to call the police first..."

"Don't worry," Zhu Kuilong said with a meaningful smile, "I have companions too."

"It's just that this 'companion' is not usually seen by people."

Chapter 235: It's impolite to continue like this.

"Hahaha! We've struck it rich! We're going to be rich!"

"See that? Real pearls, and such a big sapphire. This jewelry must be worth at least $300, right?"

"Fool! You know the black market in Saint Quintak. If you pawn something here, they still give 30% to the gang. Why not go to White Torch next door? I heard their black market prices are fair, their commission is lower, and it's run by a professional..."

“If Guido heard you say that, he’d slit your throat.”

"Ha ha ha ha!!"

……

Evelyn's priceless jewelry sent the pickpockets into a frenzy of excitement, more intense than ever before. Even without much expertise, they could tell at a glance that it was incredibly valuable. They were already calculating how to spend the money they'd get from selling it.

Charles sat in the corner, not participating in their revelry, his brow furrowed, not uttering a word.

"What's wrong, Mr. Charles?" A quick-witted henchman approached and said, "Everything was done as you instructed. There was no vandalism, no one was hurt, and there was no disturbance on the road. Is there anything else you need?"

After a moment of silence, Charles made a decision after weighing the options: "The stolen items are not to be sold; they must be kept."

As soon as he finished speaking, the enthusiastic atmosphere was instantly dampened, as if doused with a bucket of cold water.

The pickpockets looked at Charles with a complex mix of emotions: shock, incomprehension, and anger at having their prize slip away.

Dude, you're just going to throw away the big money you've finally made?

“Mr. Charles, wouldn’t this be a bit…” The underling hesitated for a moment, then added, “If you’re worried about being discovered, we can ship the goods somewhere further away. They’re just a group of foreigners; they definitely won’t find the black market. As long as we keep a low profile, there won’t be any problems.”

He thought it would be a good compromise, but to his surprise, Charles's brows furrowed even more after hearing this.

"Didn't you understand what I just said?" He emphasized, repeating, "The box is not to be opened! The same goes for that pearl bracelet. If I find anyone who has even taken a single pearl from it to sell, I'll cut off their finger! Do you understand?"

Everyone looked at each other, wondering what had gotten into their boss.

Then, at the bend in the alley, came the sound of applause.

----

“Brilliant, truly brilliant…” Zhu Kuilong walked out slowly, his tone icy. “Not going to extremes and leaving yourself a way out is a rare kind of wisdom.”

The underlings were immediately on high alert, but when they realized that Zhu Kuilong had come alone, they revealed disdainful smiles, stood up, and vaguely surrounded him.

Zhu Kuilong remained calm, as if nothing was wrong. "You took my things, give them back to me."

"Hahahaha—! Did you hear that? This old Huang barbarian is out of his mind, what nonsense is he spouting!" The leader of the henchmen laughed loudly, pointing at Zhu Kuilong, and laughing in unison with his companions behind him, as if they were in the right.

“We all work for Mr. Angelo, and from the bottom of our hearts, we are very proud of this job. With him in the city, everything was orderly and running smoothly.” The younger brother, wearing a beret, jumped down from a pile of groceries and lowered his voice, “But, there are just a few ungrateful country bumpkins who, after entering the city, show no respect for Mr. Angelo… This makes him very angry.”

"He's angry, and we're angry along with him. And you, and all you ungrateful foreigners, actually dare to do business with them?!"

"Please don't point your finger at me."

"...Huh?" The underling's expression changed, as if he couldn't believe that all his words had only resulted in this bland and meaningless comment.

“I’m not interested in your grudges. You have a grudge against him? Go find him, it has nothing to do with me,” Zhu Kuilong said coldly. “Give me back my suitcase.”

“Let me tell you what’s going to happen next, you idiot! This box is ours now that it’s here. And you bunch of morons, if you want to survive in San Quintakuri, once you’re on Italian territory, you’d better keep your heads down and behave yourselves! If we find out you have any dealings with that damned yellow-skinned bastard again…”

He ignored the other person's warning and raised his hand again, pointing at him with his finger.

With that flick, a string of blood droplets flew out, and something flashed past in the corner of his eye, falling to the ground with a thud.

"..." The younger brother's brain went blank for a few seconds, which is a normal human reaction. The brain needs some time to confirm that this "thing" fell out of him. It was a hand, and his outstretched right wrist... already had a smooth cut.

"Ah!! Ah————!!" In extreme terror, he instantly collapsed to the ground, his voice rising an octave, "My hand, my hand!!"

……

Everyone was stunned by this scene.

No matter how ferocious someone is, people will instinctively avoid bloodshed; this is due to the primal instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm. The people who had been surrounding Zhu Kuilong immediately scattered. Firstly, they hadn't expected Zhu Kuilong to actually attack them; secondly…

No one saw how he removed the hand from the wrist.

The most terrifying things are those that are completely unknown.

“I hope you don’t misunderstand, this matter is not about personal grudges.” Charles remained calm and composed, maintaining the composure of the situation. “Mr. Angelo is insisting on this, and we are merely his subordinates with no other choice. I simply hope to keep the situation under control.”

"At least you tried," Zhu Kuilong said expressionlessly. "Can you give me back the box now?"

“We haven’t touched anything inside, and we’ll return the bracelet and brooch to you as well.” Charles nodded. “Let’s leave it at that. Please don’t make a fuss, lest it cause further trouble. In the Italian gang, there are people like me, and naturally, there are also people like Mr. Angelo who act radically.”

Zhu Kuilong nodded, acknowledging the deal.

The hand-chopping gesture was merely a deterrent; after all, this was their territory, and even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. Given Zhu Kuilong's personality, he was unwilling to engage in conflict unless absolutely necessary. He knew very well that Charles on the other side also needed such a small show of force before he would be willing to back down and negotiate properly.

To put it bluntly, aren't the underlings in this line of work just there for this job?

As Zhu Kuilong passed by the boxes and jewelry, he paused briefly and squatted down.

"Ah! You...don't come any closer!" The henchman clutched his severed hand, panicked and ignoring the pain, he retreated repeatedly, "Don't come any closer!"

"Remember this lesson: when you go out again, don't point at others with your finger." Zhu Kuilong looked around, expressionless. No one dared to meet his gaze, and they all turned their heads away.

"How impolite is that, isn't it?"

Chapter 236: Fishpond Bureau in Chaos

"Mr. Pete?" The person receiving the payment was startled when they opened the door and saw the figure sitting in their chair. They quickly took small steps to greet him. "You've arrived?"

"What, can't I come?" Pete's tone was playful. He crossed his legs and leaned on the table, his posture exuding unbridled arrogance as he took big bites of an apple.

“No, no, how could that be? I just thought…” The person receiving the payment lowered their voice, “the news of the casino robbery is all over the place. Plus, the mayor is about to hold a banquet and there are a lot of things to deal with. Everyone thought that Mr. Angelo was too busy and had called you over as well.”

"Everyone has their own food to eat, just focus on your own bowl and don't think about these other things."

Pete took a couple of bites of the apple, then lost interest, tossed it out the window, and spat on the ground. "Nothing's been wrong these past few days, has it? Let me see the ledger."

"There are a lot of bettors, and the boxing matches have been going on for a while. In just these few days, the turnover has already reached around $3700. Taking advantage of this opportunity, we've issued a lot of loans, and we expect to get a significant amount back. Now it's the quarterfinals, and the atmosphere is incredibly lively. It's just..."

Pete keenly caught the shift in thought, looked up, and raised an eyebrow.

His extensive work experience told him that once this word appeared, everything before it became automatically invalid.

"An outsider has been promoted from the top eight."

"What?" Pete frowned. "Who got eliminated?"

“Crazy Pepe, that Mexican, got beaten by a red Indian called Chief.” The payee said worriedly, “Mr. Pete, if the quarterfinals aren’t all ours, things will get complicated. This Indian is now the favorite to win the championship, but if he goes all the way up and doesn’t cooperate with our script, then…”

Pete frowned and glared at him impatiently. "How could you let someone like that attack? What were you doing all this time? Send someone to snipe him!"

“It was sent, but…”

Seeing the recipient stammering, Pete grew increasingly irritated. "But? Keep going, did someone pull out your tongue?"

"I couldn't stop him. That guy's fighting style was strange. In the first round, he was always even with his opponent, kind of trying to waste time. But in the second round, he suddenly became very aggressive and took his opponent down in no time. I sent many fighters, and it was the same result."

From this eerie description, Pete sensed something was amiss.

"Did he come to box alone? Was anyone with him?"

"Uh...yes, there is. There's a yellow-skinned guy who helps him with his clothes and water when he's fighting. But he's probably not a boxer; he doesn't seem to know anything about boxing. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"You idiot!" Pete snapped, immediately standing up. "Take me to see it right now!"

----

"Hit him, Golden Retriever! Hit him hard, beat him until he can't get up!"

"I've invested almost $150 in you, you *****!"

"Let this barbarian see the might of Saint Quintak!"

"Give him a piece of your mind, you golden retriever! Yes, that's it! Beat him up, beat him up!"

……

Pete mingled in the crowd, with his underlings clearing a path for him. He quickly squeezed to the front and got a clear look at the two boxers who were fighting each other.

"Golden Hair" was one of the eight they had pre-selected. Perhaps seeing the Mexican get knocked out made him feel threatened, so he put in extra effort in this fight, throwing all sorts of punches and kicks at the chief. His punches were very dense, forcing him to raise his arms to defend and retreat repeatedly.

Fortunately, he was physically strong enough that he didn't fall down despite taking so many hits and continued to fight back on the field.

The crowd cheered, mostly those who had bet on the Mexicans in the previous round but lost a lot of money, and naturally they hated the sheikh to the core.

Seeing him beaten up like that, the person receiving the payment breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems to be just a coincidence. He's about to lose. He's a complete novice and no match for the blond guy."

"..." Pete remained silent, staring intently at Zhang Renfeng standing in the crowd, not even blinking.

Standing on a safe dry bank and watching people fight to the death is a bloodthirsty instinct lurking in human blood.

Amidst the cheers, screams, and applause, the sheer volume of energy is enough to make any calm person lose their composure—that's the allure of underground boxing. Blood and sweat, fist against fist—most people lose their minds in this atmosphere, awakening the primal instincts within them.

However, the yellow-haired man standing in the crowd had a very calm expression, as if he were in a completely different world from the people around him. He was also staring intently at the arena, but he was not distracted by the two men's boxing matches. His gaze remained fixed on the blond man, as if he wanted to engrave every move of his into his mind.

Pete suddenly had a bad feeling. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a gunshot, and the first round was over.

In this era, boxing rules were not yet fully established, but both sides were fighting bare-knuckle. If this continued, their wrists and fists would be ruined. For better viewing and to protect the boxers to some extent, the concept of "timeout" had already been introduced in underground boxing matches in San Quintak.

Pete remained vigilant, keeping a close eye on the chief. In the first round, he adopted a rather conservative strategy, primarily focusing on defense.

The blond-haired man was already chatting and laughing with his companions, clearly not taking the chief seriously at all. Based on his performance in the first round, he was just a punching bag who wouldn't fight back, nothing to be wary of.

But he saw with his own eyes that the yellow-skinned man whispered something to him. The chief nodded, his expression serious, a stark contrast to his extremely arrogant opponent.

After the break, the two boxers stepped forward again. The chief took a deep breath, shook his arms, and loosened his muscles.

"Watch out, you red-haired devil." The blond guy grinned, his expression defiant, showing him a full set of teeth. "Don't let me kill you!"

……

"boom!"

Gunshots.

The second round begins!

Suddenly, the chief pushed off the ground and lunged forward, using his superior weight to slam directly into the golden retriever's right leg. Caught off guard, the golden retriever staggered back half a step, his expression immediately turning panicked.

"Snapped!"

A powerful slap landed directly on his ear, making him see stars.

Golden Retriever's face twitched twice, and his hands and feet froze instantly. Before he could come up with any worthwhile counterattack, the chief pressed forward, turning his hand into a bird's beak shape and pecking hard twice at the side of his neck. Finally, he kicked him in the area between his diaphragm and his lower chest and upper abdomen.

"Thump—!!"

A smooth, quick combo left him sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath. The enthusiastic shouts from the crowd instantly ceased, as if a mute button had been pressed.

"Oh...ah..."

The golden retriever struggled for a couple of moments, but ultimately couldn't get up again.

……

"How the hell did they suddenly get so excited..." one audience member complained.

----

The recipient was stunned and couldn't help but wonder if the chief had deliberately shown off his strength by holding back in the first round.

“Mr. Pete, I… I didn’t know this would happen. Golden Retriever is already a very strong boxer, and he was defeated so quickly. To be honest, the other boxers we have aren’t that much weaker.” The cashier’s tone was tense. “What do we do next? If he keeps fighting, I’m afraid…”

……

"Hmph." Pete looked at the two celebrating their victory not far away and sneered, "What's the panic? The chessboard is all ours."

"Can one or two chess pieces really cause any trouble?"

Chapter 237: I can only say that you don't know him very well yet.

"Honestly, it's unbelievable!" The chief was still reeling from the brief victory. He wrapped his hand, which was covered in ointment, with bandages, and his voice trembled slightly. "How did you know that guy had a wound on his right leg? I bumped into him just now, and he obviously panicked. His movements became a complete mess, which is how I managed to take him down."

How would you know?